January 19, 2008 (Canmore, Alta.) – World cup frenzy shifts into a higher gear every day. The superstars of cross-country skiing bouncing around the stadium at the Canmore Nordic Centre like wildly agitated molecules. Agitated but also agile; somehow collisions are rare. Watching them zip around the stadium where I took my first steps on skis as a toddler – and have skied basically every day since – is tremendously exciting. Just thinking about the races without even moving, I can feel my heart rate spike and I wonder what it would actually feel like to rock 200 beats per minute while sitting in a car… like a Formula 1 driver or something. I don’t consider any of this for too long as the need to move soon takes me back on course to continue searching for speed.

Home course advantage takes the form of simple pleasures and luxuries that are not available to me when holed up in a hotel in Scandinavia waiting for a race. Beyond the comforts of my own bed (where I sleep with the serenity of a recumbent marble statue), my own kitchen (where I consume more fresh vegetables than the entire population of Finland combined) and my own bath (where I soak away the day’s training nearly every night), there are the people I miss when I’m away. They’re all here! The missing is replaced by gratitude for the connections and supportive energies I’m surrounded by in this town.

I can ski my cool down after intervals with my dad and walk the 10-minute trail down from the Nordic center to the Crawford residence where I stock up on local organic chicken, buffalo and eggs courtesy of my mom. I can see my physio, my friends and go to my favorite yoga class. I can smile in recognition of a familiar face every few kilometers as I train on the perfect trails of the Nordic centre and I can ski a loop with the most inspiring training partners of all: the local ski club kids.

I feel gratitude and I feel great. For the first time in months I’m tapering the training hours right down and doing my favourite kind of training every second day: short, fast intervals. The different sharpening workouts include pure speed works (10-15 second sprints), lactic acid tolerance (1-minute intervals), and aerobic capacity work (3-4 minute intervals) as well as fast and light ‘unloading’ workouts in the gym. Whatever it is seems to be working and I feel completely energized.

All I have to do now is continue to cultivate the speed and try not to waste the excess energy. With lots on the go with Fast and Female and the persistent feeling that I’m overdue for a dance party this isn’t always easy for me… but I’ll be doing my best to channel everything into the classic sprint on Wednesday, January 23rd, and skate sprint on Saturday, January 26th. It’s almost time to rocket into my favorite ski stadium world wide and see just how fast this heart that beats for Canmore, Alberta will take me.

Hope to see you there,

Chandra

Canadian National XC Ski Team member Chandra Crawford is in Canmore, Alta. where she lives, and is preparing for the upcoming 2008 Alberta World Cup. She sent us the first of a series of ski journals… check out her official web site here and good luck Chandra!