October 13, 2009 (Lake Placid, NY) – Well, we made it back from our last camp in Lake Placid, NY without any problems. We were able to do some pretty intense workouts on some serious hills, which is always nice at this time of year. We did all of our intervals uphill and took advantage of the OTC’s recovery center almost everyday. They have a great ice tub filled with around 50 degree water that can hold up to 6 people at once.

As always, the second week of camp ended with the infamous Whiteface Rollerski race on Wednesday. This race is about 5 miles of straight uphill skating with an average grade of around 8%. This makes it very similar to a road bike race where you have to pace yourself right at the redline without going over because there is no recovery. The race went much better for me this year compared to last year, which made me happy. The U.S. Nordic Combined team was in town for the race, and they used their race rollerskis to get ready for their national championship races they had later in the week. Needless to say, they put the hurt on all the rest of us using our Marwe rollerskis.

We then drove back to Marquette in time for the NMU cross-country running race where NMU’s Jenny Wiedmeyer pulled away to a convincing win in the 5km. The men’s Nordic team fared pretty well in the 7.5km as well.

Then Maria, Gus, and I celebrated the 40th NMU Ski Team reunion on Saturday night at Marquette Mountain. There was a great turnout and the band was awesome. It was really fun to hear how the team started and all the stories from year’s past. It was also great to reconnect with some of my past teammates that I have not seen in years.
To finish out the week I raced the UP Cross race on Sunday at the Fit Strip here in Marquette. I think the week had finally caught up with me because I did not have the legs to stay with the leaders. I managed to sneak into the top ten despite rolling on a single speed 69er courtesy of Rick Bagley at the Sports Rack. I really could have used a few more gears on the high speed course.