October 31, 2005 – This past month and a half have been spent training at my home in Thunder Bay with the NTDC. So for we have done a lot of quality training together. We have done two training camps, one exclusively with NTDC and one with the local ski club Big Thunder. Both camps were great opportunities for me to get know the team better and to learn new things from my teammates.

The camps were a nice change from the mountainous views of Canmore that I had grown used to this summer. They provided me new training partners and a chance to train with younger athletes still at the club level. It was good to see everyone taking their training so seriously and preparing for the upcoming winter. Most recently the NTDC did a 3 X 7km running relay.

NTDC put in two teams, my team was Eric Bailey, John Rennie, and I, and the other team was Phil Wood, Andrew Casey, and Jesse Winter. It was a pretty hard race with lots of hills and twisty single track, made even harder by the slick mud. In the end skier Steve Hart showed off some of his mad running skills by winning the race solo, beating all of the teams by a fair margin. Second went to Big thunder who with the help of Adam Kates put in a solid performance staying just ahead of the two NTDC teams who finished 3rd and 4th.

Although the race was running and was nothing like skiing, it was a great way to get the pre season race jitters out of the way and a chance too see if the form is coming together for winter. Everyone on the team looked to be in top shape performing very well. Even coach Bailey looked to be in top form keeping up with the athletes. It looks like it is going to be an exciting winter of racing.