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XCOttawa Lake Placid Training Camp
By:  Liza Rozina   (2014/08/31)

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This labour day weekend, XC Ottawa made our way to Lake Placid for our annual training camp at the Olympic Centre. This training camp is my favourite, it is a great opportunity to catch up with team mates, and learn a few things about some of them.

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The first thing I learned was to never underestimate Ingrid's arrival time prediction when driving to Lake Placid. Never bet against her because there is a high chance that you will lose, and end up having to bake her a cake, which is the predicament that I currently find myself in. The second thing I learned is that Holly could easily open her own beauty parlour, if she really wanted to. Experimenting with pink and blue hair chalk to get pumped for a weekend training camp was pure genius!

Saturday morning began with the traditional "loosener", a 20 minute pre-breakfast run. Next on the menu, were 4min zone 4 skate rollerski intervals, starting from the Jay Covered Bridge. There were a few friendly cows along the way that insisted on joining the girls for a few cow selfies.

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Having only recently acquired my first cellphone, I have not yet perfected the art of taking selfies....especially while trying to capture cows in the background.

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After such an intense set of intervals, a dip in the Ausable River was a necessity.

The afternoon was a 2 hour hike up Haystack mountain. This time, I learned that our mechanical engineering students, Andre and Steffan are both pretty excited about some course called mechatronics (I'm not even sure if I spelled that right, but it sounds pretty hard!). Meanwhile, Arthur can climb like he is a mountain goat at heart.

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The boys at the top of Haystack Mountain

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The girls post-hike. Very well coordinated in their xcottawa tanks, I might add.

Sunday was the really long day. If Ingrid has amazing arrival time prediction skills then Steffan's are seriously lacking. Sunday's hike was supposed to be a maximum of 4h, but under Steffan's leadership, it ended up being 6 hours long. Lesson learned here: never trust Steffan. The hike was definitely my favourite part of the weekend, we ended up hiking Rooster Comb, Hedgehog, Lower Wolfjaw and Upper Wolfjaw Mountains. Whew! During this hike, I noticed/learned that Matt almost always gets red running shoes. Coincidence?

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Katie and Holly probably wondering about the "Mystery Trail" up ahead.

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Matt (in his bright, shiny red shoes) and I enjoying the view at the top of Rooster Comb.

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Arthur, Matt, and Steffan looking somewhat pleased at having made it up Hedgehog Mountain.

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A good spot for a quick dip

Needless to say, the planned workout for Sunday afternoon was cancelled after the grueling hike. It was definitely time for dinner, and then a milkshake. That's when I discovered that Megan can make one killer milkshake! Meanwhile, Karl is an excellent resource for vintage ski racing videos, which are a great way to spend a recovery evening, while getting pumped for intervals the next day.

Monday began bright and early with our last workout in Lake Placid. The team got ready to tackle some zone 5 skate rollerski intervals. This year, we started right from the Olympic Centre, on a freshly paved road, which made all the difference. I was very impressed by Mark's positivity after all the training we did up to that point. I was on the verge of defeat, but a positive environment is sometimes all you need to keep going, and Mark is an expert at providing one.

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An unexpected discovery on the pavement!

On the way back, the girls got a sing-a-long going. I was pretty impressed at how many Disney songs Katie knows the words to! Our best song was a rendition of the classic "Summer Nights" from the musical Grease. That pretty much concluded what I would consider a perfect training weekend. On the way back, I once again decided to bet Ingrid on arrival time in Ottawa, and naturally lost, again. I wonder what kind of things the team learned about me this weekend?

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A big thank you to everyone at the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center! And see you next year! 

 
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