Rangeley Camp

Hey y'all-

Here is a quick update as to what we have been up to since practice officially began on the 6th of October.

RANGELEY CAMP

We left for Rangeley, Maine on the 15th of October ready for another grueling 5-day intensity/volume camp. The boys team were housed at Camp Cushman and the girls at Camp Flynn right down the road (thanks to both families for letting us use your camps as our headquarters).

*Wednesday*...We went immediately into lactate testing making sure that everyone is training at their proper levels. For those that don't know much about lactate testing, it looks at lactate threshold which is the exercise intensity at which lactic acid starts to accumulate in the blood stream. This happens when it is produced faster than it can be removed. This point is sometimes referred to as the anaerobic threshold, or the onset of blood lactate accumulation. When exercising below the LT intensity any lactate produced by the muscles is removed by the body without it building up. The lactate threshold is a useful measure for deciding exercise intensity for training and racing in nordic skiing.

*Thursday*...Again another tough day. We had our third annual Saddleback Hill Climb. Tim Whiton set a new course record 14 minutes 48 seconds. The girls record is still held by Megan McCllelland 17 minutes 57 seconds in 2007. The afternoon was again no walk in the park with an uphill double-pole test. Men and women went on equal speed skis up an incline lasting at the fastest 2 minutes and 41 seconds.

*Friday*...Our easiest day of the camp, we had a distance ski (1.5-2 hours) in the morning and then a run on the Saddlback Ski Trails in the afternoon (1 hour).

*Saturday*...A very eventful day. We had a 10k classic time trial in the morning. It took us over some rolling terrain and then at about the 6k mark climbed to the lodge at Saddlback. A great time trail for everyone. Hard to compare results from past years because there was a slight course change. The afternoon was exciting as the 2nd Annual Rangeley Bowl was played amongst the men's team. Team Woop Woop made up of Sylvan, Sam, Tim, Dylan, and Liam took on Team Booyah made up of Harry, Connor, Ben, Nathan, and Jimbo. It was a tight game with Woop Woop taking a lead at the beginning but Booyah coming back strong and going ahead at the end. A last minute hurry-up touchdown put the game into overtime. Woop Woop came out in the end, but a close game to say the least. The girls team at this time was most generous enough to let the meatheads play their game while they went out to buy ingredients for that nights APPLE PIE CONTEST. The winners of the pie contest was Ingrid, Harry, Dayna, and Liam.

*Sunday*...Our last day at camp we went on an Over Distance run/hike to the top of Saddleback Mountain and then down. It was much nicer and exciting experience than the year before. A great camp overall.