Norway 2011

Greetings from Norway!

We have been here for just about a week now and have been training lots, eating lots, and trying to rest during the time in between. Originally we stayed as the only guests in Hotel Hornsjo. We had the entire place open to us including the sauna, ping pong table, miles of beautiful trails for running/hiking, and the big lake for which the hotel is named. Every night we were served a different Norwegian dish and were given second and third helpings as we wished. I think that everyone is happy to have some solid and hearty Scandinavian food for a while; there is a big difference between the type of energy you get from eating Cheerios's and from eating a variety of cold meats, cheese, and bread in the morning. Trust me, the latter is better and the energy actually lasts.

And we have needed that energy! Just yesterday the group did an uphill high intensity skate rollerski. The workout was not meant to be at race pace, but it was still meant to be hard and we all found it pretty difficult. The younger athletes skied a 5.5 km course and the older group started 2.5 km below in order to make their course a solid 8 km of hard climbing. From talking to the others, I think that everyone enjoyed the workout in some sense and if they couldn't call it enjoyable they at least felt like it was productive. That workout was difficult but from what the coaches have said it looks as though there is harder stuff yet to come.

Excepting the rain we have been extremely lucky with our training. We have done a couple training sessions with a Norwegian club including a skate rollerski, run, and strength session. We also met up with the NTG (which is the Norwegain Academy of Elite Sport) for a timed uphill run. It was great to see the type of focus that the Norwegian skiers have during training and we all enjoyed the opportunity to train with and talk to them. We have also gone to the rollerski track a few times and ran a bit on the trails surrounding our hotel, which are practically unlimited. Overall we have had lots of time for good training and enjoyed every minute of it.

We are staying in Lillehammer for the next few days and will still benefit from the good rollerskiing and running before we head off to Sognefjell to get on snow. We are all looking forward to the next leg of our camp!