August 14, 2009 – I’m packing up my bags today and am taking off for a seven week Europe camp tomorrow. I will spend the first two weeks of the camp training in Ostersund, Sweden and the next five weeks training in Germany. My last block of training went pretty well in Lake Placid, minus one sizeable mistake at the end of the training cycle. Everything had been going extremely well for the first 2.5 weeks of the training block; I was feeling great in all of my intensity sessions, setting many PR’s, and I was able to put quite a bit of volume in as well. Along with feeling good, we finally were receiving the summer weather that I had eluded us all summer.

Ironically, it was the heat that I had been asking for all summer that ended up giving me problems. I went out for a 4.5 bike ride and seriously miscalculated my fluid intake. By the time I realized what was going on, it was too late. I ended up losing 7.5 pounds (3.4kilo) in 4.5 hours. I had never experienced such crazy dehydration before, and I surely hope to avoid it in the future. After my ride I completely lost my appetite and I was freezing cold, even though it was over 80 degrees outside. I spent the rest of the day in my bed under every blanket that I could find. My body was so shocked that I was pretty messed up for a few days and I really had to cut back on the training. I had planned on competing in two summer races in Jericho, Vermont but I decided to play it safe and recover back to 100% before trying any hard efforts again. I would say that it took me about 4 to 5 days before I stopped getting headaches everyday and feeling sluggish. The worst part about this experience is that it was totally my fault! It was definitely a rookie mistake that I should have avoided.

Anyway, things have come around and I am back to feeling 100%. I am really excited for our camp and I look forward to being back with the rest of the team and the coaching staff. I will also get a chance next week to compete in 3 different summer races in Sweden. The first will be a 15k skate race and the next two will be a sprint and pursuit biathlon races. These races normally have a strong international field so it will be a great opportunity for me to see where I stack up.

Check back soon for updates from Sweden!