June 05, 2013 (Montreal, QC) – What is it about writing postcards and then realizing on the plane that you didn’t have that pleasant short conversation with the postal worker that is critical to getting them sent out? It’s amazing what comes to you while confined in a steel cylinder hurtling itself at an elevation of 35,000 ft. Like why is every morsel of food ingested on a travel day more salt-laden than sucking on a pair of drying boardies after five hours of swimming in the Dead Sea. Now I am seriously digressing. Is “digressing” even a word?

The Bend camp is dust. Well, this Bend camp. On this year’s schedule Canadian xc skiers will be polluting the Bend area with our “eh’s,” florescent yellow One Way garb and our striking good looks (har-har) not the traditional “once a year” but twice – although the snow will surely be gone upon our return to Central Oregon come late June.

It was a small crew here athlete-wise for this year’s spring-fling-on snow- thing. Consisting of three guys (Babs, Lenny and I) and Peri. Coupled with a great staff, it was another winner of a camp. Aside from the soreness and some frustration and feelings of worthlessness with regards to my skiing ability, it exceeded my expectations. I almost forgot how great this camp is, as last year I was both an emotional disaster and completely exhausted. I really felt like it was a great combination of great training, great friends, decent weather, excellent skiing conditions, good attitudes and even some time spent in the Pacific.

As previously mentioned last Wednesday, the big focus for me was working on progressing my technique, which apparently just wouldn’t do. Justin was extra “on it” harping on me to a) get my god damn hips forward, b) lead with the elbows and c) hands up, hands up, hands up (and no rocking good times music was blaring at the time… Weird I know) and d) some colorful quotes that probably aren’t Blog.Wednesday approved.

While it’s hard to feel like you don’t know what you are doing, it’s better than the alternative. Mainly, losing. The reality is that once you start resting on your laurels you’d better be a tenured professor at a small teaching university if you hope to keep your job. While my technique has carried me to some enjoyable days on the ski tracks, both Justin and I agreed at the beginning of the season that efficiency would be the “mot-du-jour” for every “jour.” Not just in keeping things simple, managing energy and distractions better, but also getting “more – for less” with regards to gliding efficiently over frozen surfaces.

With that in mind, my offset (uphill skating technique) and double poling have taken the brunt of the “tough love” lately. With the fantastic trails at our disposal coupled with a surfeit of snow conditions encountered it was a very productive time at Bachelor. We made some small improvements and I had many sessions that I felt good about in that regard. The takeaways are clearer and hopefully by New Zealand it’ll feel less foreign.

On the actual training side of things, at this time of year we do pretty basic stuff. Train twice a day, do some intensity (pretty much all level 3 work), bang out some strength, eat healthy (for the most part) and recover well to be ready for the next day’s assault on the mind, body and spirit.

Aside from a few beautiful runs along the Deshutes River and some morning skis where the time seemed to slip through my hands like a fist full of sand there were two really fun highlights/observations that I feel compelled to share. 1) Justin and Lenny are addicted to the ocean. I’ve diagnosed it and based on all evidence I feel very comfortable defending that as fact.

For our rest day the men’s crew (Justin, Babs, Lenny and myself) decided to drive a scant 3 hours West to the Pacific Coast – them to go surfing, Babs and I to get munched and smunched (a hybrid between munched and smashed) by 9 degree water propelled by distant storms that created a “swell” that has travelled thousands of miles seemingly for one purpose and only one purpose only – smunching Babs and I.

Nothing is better for team building than the excitement of a couple of addicts mixed with a couple excitable dudes as we drove West listening to great tunes. Upon arrival Justin broke all “van to water” records and was surfing before I figured out how to free my foot from my flip-flop and just like that we were in the ocean.

I got completely cold, demoralized and crushed that first night. Justin and Len put in a cool 2hrs compared to my 45min (at best). The following day, after a good night’s sleep at Scotty-Y’s place in Pacific City (thanks so much for the hospitality man!!) we were back in the water. I floundered around, took a few good turns in the washing machine, and lasted 1:45hr before high-tailing it back to the van, changing and chugging about 1L of Green Tea. Len and Justin? 3.5hrs. Straight. That’s love.

We had great times on the rest day – sharing experiences like that with great friends are the things I remember most. Laughing at one another biffing it into the green and just bobbing out there thinking of nothing except the beauty that surrounds you – it’s a trip. The great skis in the Alps as the light fades to night, the runs that just go that little bit – and sometimes more than a little bit – too long, and the laughing, splashing and just being so fully present with your buds in the ocean like we had in Pacific City. Those who play together stay together and hopefully in our case – win together.

The other highlight/observation – while dorky – was just the entire Bend camp in it’s entirety. With everyone staying under one roof, working towards our goals, laughing together, being there for one another, training hard and most importantly – enjoying it – it was sweet. Sure, we bitched about being sore, some mornings were harder to get up than others and being greeted with rain up at Bachelor some mornings I can admit we did not break and “van to skiing” records – but we all lived it together. That’s what sets us apart. We spend so much of our lives together, living out of over stuffed duffel bags in rooms that were never meant for two grown men to share and live in. Hell, just like that I’ve been doing this for over a decade. A highlight? Damn rights it’s a highlight without the good times, hard work and preparations there are no podiums.

Ok – you know how they say that you are way more likely to cry while watching movies on airplanes? I don’t want to become a statistic, so I’ll leave it there.

Changing gears, I finished “Indian Horse” – fast read. I’ve started “Canada” by Richard Ford and here are two must reads from the last two weeks in the New Yorker:

“The Manic Mountain” by Nick Paumgarten

“Lines in the Sand” Elizabeth Kolbert

Also – buy the National’s latest – “Trouble will find me.” It’s a beaut.

DK