.: Ski XCOttawa.ca :: Skiing in Ottawa and Gatineau Park

Weekend training in the park...
By:  Vesta Mather   (2011/10/25)

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This past Saturday morning, the usual convoy of cars pulled into P5 for our morning rollerski on the parkway. From Matthais blaring his classical music to Ingrid’s bright orange socks, it was clearly a great day for some intervals. With time on snow getting closer and closer, the decision was made to mix the intervals up a bit – starting with classic, we would be switching techniques near the end of each interval, then coasting back to the bottom of the hill with 5 minutes of rest. Then, in the second technique we would arrange ourselves on the pavement, according to our delusions of the distance we could cover as well as individual rollerski speed! 

I hadn’t yet had the opportunity to partake in these 10 minute intervals in the season, so I was a little apprehensive. Putting on my skate skis and carrying the rest of my equipment directly uphill was definitely not easing into the morning, but Ingrid reassured me that they were fine and we only had to do three anyways (turns out we had 4...sneaky!)

The whole thing was a lot of fun overall – I would say the benefits of pursuit boots might be even greater for rollerski workouts! I also got to wear my brand-new bright green Rudy Project helmet, which I like to think brightened up the whole day. Switching techniques is a good way to keep a long fall of rollerskiing interesting, and is definitely good practice for upcoming pursuit races.


Katie and Andre always bring the most keen-ness to morning practice!


Andre and Peter cresting the hill with their equipment.


The boys working together to keep their pace appropriate.


Megan leading into the exchange zone.

With the parkways now closed for the winter, there are high hopes that snow is in everyone’s future, but in the meantime, us XCOttawa-ers will be out on the parkway, prepping for the exciting upcoming race season!

 
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