Ski Season - Planning, Goals

It's Fall people...  the sooner we accept it the sooner we can all get over the passing of summer.  I thought the painting above was particularly appropriate for this time of year.  It is by Kesler Woodward and is only one of many cool paintings on his site...  Check it out HERE.

Now that the post is adequately decorated, onto the main topic for today:  Ski season is approaching.

I have been working out the key races, dates, locations etc. that will make up my 2008/2009 Nordic Racing campaign.  The season is pretty short, just December - March, but there is a lot of racing packed into that time.... 

Season Goals:  Move up from National Development Team to National Team.  Qualify for Paralympics.

Here are the key events on the schedule:

Dec 6 - 9  Nor Ams 

Vernon

Dec 13 - 14  Nor Ams 

Callaghan Valley

Jan 24 - 25  BC Cup #2

100 Mile House

Feb 7 - 8 BC Championships

Kelowna

Mar 4 - 7  IPC World Cup

Callaghan Valley

Mar 11 - 14 IPC World Cup

Mt. Washington

I suspect we will be racing almost every weekend because there are smaller races in between these larger ones.

A lot will be decided in the first two races.  They are qualifiers for the IPC World Cup races that come later in the season.

Key races in early December present some issues because I will have limited access to snow prior to these very important races.  The current National Team skiers will have been in New Zealand for a few weeks of training over the summer, and also Finland (in a futuristic ski tunnel) in October.

The challenge is to crack the squad without the advantage of the 'on snow' training.  Ultimately, I have to focus on the things I can control - like my workouts, my fitness, my recovery, my equipment, my mental preparation etc.  It would have been great to get on snow this summer but it wasn't in the cards.  C'est la vie...

If all goes well I will find myself traveling to these places next summer and fall to prep for the Paralympics:

Snow Farm in New Zealand

Vuokatti Ski Tunnel in Finland

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