Saturday 22 February 2014

James at the Pentathlon 2014

This was my first time doing this event and what an amazing event it was! 

After a huge weather warmup the day/night before the race and some rain, freezing rain, and snow overnight, the course was in surprisingly good shape considering everything. The sun was shining, temps around zero celcius but there was a very stiff wind of 30-50km/h blowing on les Plaines d'Abraham. Getting ready was a little chaotic, but it was due to my own organizational challenges - the race organization was very dialed in... and necessarily so, given the complexity of having singular transition area for all 5 disciplines, the finish in the middle of the skate oval, and easy access to the course for each discipline. 

Nat at the Pentathlon 2014

After the two last races I decided to approach the Pentathlon in a much smoother way. I didn't get to train properly this winter in between recovery from the worlds, injuries when I took back training etc. So yes I am not a fast skier or skater due to my technique, or lack of, but I did as much I could do to try and enjoy the race.
I decided to go there to aim for a top 10 women…I failed miserably.
The week before the race I got sick and that wasn't totally solved by the end of the week.
We left on Friday and got to Quebec City that same evening. When was time to go to bed I realized I had a swollen redness on the side of my knee that was pretty painful. I thought it might be a zit or something but it ended up being an infection (or at least it’s one of the possibility after a check in in the hospital two days later because the redness was expending). Anyway went to bed still in the mood of everything is gonna be fine. How can it be that horrible??

Wednesday 19 February 2014

Nathalie at the Loppet 2014

It was my first pure ski race too and I was fairly scared.
The plan was to ski with a friend the whole 27km (skate ski). I knew she would be faster than me at the start so I would have to try to push hard but in the meantime it was a double poling start which I can't do very well. We were in wave D.
From the start on I lost my friend, she was gone...and I knew it would be a long race from there on. People all around me were falling on the ground, stepping on each others skis or poles and as the little group I was with was getting slower and slower I could see her going away further and further. 
I was fairly stressed so I decided to not panic and I just took it easy thinking that worst case scenario I could stop after the first lap (8km).
At the end of the first lap I didn't want to keep on going that much. It was a cold day which made the condition slow and I wasn't competitive which annoyed me. After a quick chat to my partner James who was cheering me on he convinced me to keep on going.
The second loop was the hardest as we were going on a trail more narrow, blue first turning into a black later.
Weirdly that's the part that I preferred. I actually had enough power to gain back some ground on people and started to enjoy the ski.



At the very end I decided I would pass a few more people so I sprinted (or what I thought was a sprint) and managed to get a last person right before the finish line, stumbling a little and almost falling in front of the crowd :/.
I finished my 27km in 2h23min which maybe not that bad for my technique capabilities so far skiing but I swore to myself that if I do it again one day I would be 1. a lot more trained and competitive and 2. a lot more used to have people around pushing and stumbling. Overall it was a great event very well organized though and the volunteers were great cheering on every single racer :)

Nathalie

Saturday 15 February 2014

James at the Gatineau World Loppet

James at the Gatineau World Loppet on Feb 15th. His first "real" cross-country ski race - the 51km classic ski. Finished 87th out of a field of 500 racers.

Photo 

Wednesday 12 February 2014

Osprey Sponsorship!

We will be ready to go and well-equipped thanks to Osprey, who have graciously provided us with 18L Rev backpacks, 33L Talon backpacks, Tempest (Women's) 20L and 30L packs for Nathalie, large travel duffels, pack covers, and extra water bladders. Can't wait to put these to good use!


Sunday 9 February 2014

James & Steve at the Canadian Ski Marathon


On Feb 8 & 9, James & Steve both participated in the Canadian Ski Marathon, a 2-day 160km+ classic skiing tour that began in Gatineau, Qc
and finished in Lachute, QC. With all of the snow we've had this year, the trail conditions were some of the best in the CSM's 48 year history.

Here's James on the trail on Day 1.



James completed his 4th Gold "Coureur de Bois" while Steve was attempting his first Gold, which involves skiing the full 80kms+ of trails both days while carrying all of the gear necessary to camp out overnight Saturday night.  All that is supplied at the Gold Camp is hay to sleep on, a fire to stay warm, and hot water for preparing meals and beverages. Temperatures dropped to around -20C overnight but James & Steve both managed to stay warm in his sleeping bag.

Gold Camp



Overall it was a great weekend of skiing. Despite breaking a ski early in Day 1, Steve managed to make it to the Gold Camp before the cut-off time (on borrowed skis and boots 3 sizes too big!) and complete his first Gold Coureur de Bois. Year after year, no matter what kind of snow and weather conditions we get, the CSM is always very well run and tons of fun for skiers of all levels. 

Steve and James took photos and videos from the weekend, which are posted on the CSM Facebook Page



Saturday 1 February 2014

Winter ITU triathlon St Donat-9th Overall for James-5th woman for Nat

I did this triathlon last year, or should I say a winter triathlon there last year.
Daniel Poirier, Endurance Aventure, contacted me last year two weeks before the triathlon to invite me to this triathlon. The distances were 10km run, 14km ski and an 8km skate to finish. I told him then that I didn't know how to skate and his answer was that I would be fine, I had two weeks to learn. So I did, poorly but I did. I went to the race and was able to stay up right on skates (barely). Thanks to the run and a little bit the ski I managed to win last year. This year would be a totally different story.
To start with the distances changed totally. This year it would be not even half running and with snowshoes this time, so 4,2km, followed by a 12km skate and to finish with a 6km ski so pretty much half of the disciplines that I can manage for almost double of the one I can't... Anyway I thought, I will give it a shot.
Well this is the story of how I got my ass kicked!