Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Update from REG

REG is off to a great start here in Park City. REG is a weeklong training camp for elite junior skiers from the western region. After a recovery run and team meeting on Sunday afternoon/evening, the training really got underway yesterday morning with level three skate roller ski intervals at Soldier Hollow. As always, the main focus is on body position: mainly achieving the correct hip position and proper ankle flex. Doing level three intervals gives everyone a chance to focus on their race technique in addition to getting in a great aerobic workout. After completing the intervals on the access road to the ski center, we headed out to the trails for our cool down. Wow is it great to have paved (and swept) ski trails at our disposal.The workout was a huge success and we coaches even got a chance to grab some video footage to review later this week. Day one was finished off with an easy recovery trail run along some rolling trails with views of the Olympic Jumps and Bobsled track.



Today was day two and we again woke up to blue bird skies and headed out for a classic roller ski on the Mirror Lake Highway. My van was rocking out to Queen and Rod Stewart on the drive out to the start of the ski. Today’s focus was on double poling, as the road was mostly flat or gradual uphill. USST coach Pat Casey came by last night to show some video and demonstrate exactly what we were to focus on during today’s ski. The answer: body position. We were to focus on bringing the hips and hands forward together, getting the hands up high in front of our face, then exploding down with a hard crunch (punishing the pavement)! The ski session ended at the base of a waterfall, but no kayakers today. This afternoon we are heading down to do strength at USSA’s Center of Excellence.

The big excitement is about tomorrow. Early in the morning is Agony Hill Climb, followed immediately by a trip to a water park. Look for some more updates to come!

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