Full Steam Ahead

My summer training season is in full swing, and after a month's rest in April, it's nice to get back into the groove of training. Things started off summer with a short three night-camp to Kaslo, BC, with the Alberta World Cup Academy. Similar to my last camp a year ago in New Denver, training here encompassed the long 216km Silver Triangle road ride. This route starts from Kaslo, over the pass to New Denver, then on to Nelson and finally back to where we started. This sort of workout makes you really appreciate the support  given by the coaches who where there to fill up bottles, feed us some gels and be there incase of the odd mechanical problem. With the help of a couple extra guys to spread out the pulls, this year's ride was 30 minutes quicker than last time around, and my legs were thankful for that!

Myself at the far side starting off our ride. Only six and half hours to go!

The watch says it all: it doesn't take much to fall asleep after a workout like this.

Other than riding, we did a couple roller ski workouts out towards New Denver on some of the quietest and smoothest roads around (which is a rare occurrence for roller skiing). After some serious training hours clocked in, the camp was over as soon as it started.

Beautiful British Columbia as usual. This was the destination on my roller ski workouts.

Training didn't really slow down after that. Marking my second year on the National Ski Team, the World Cup and Senior Development teams joined together in a short, two night camp up on the Haig Glacier. Because of the more than usual amounts of snow in the mountains, we flew up in a helicopter rather than running in. Here the camp focus was some long on-snow workouts to keep the technique tuned up and using the 2650m elevation to our bodies advantage. It was pretty incredible how noticeable the change in altitude was, going from the parking lot at 1600m to jumping on skis more than 1000m higher took a couple minutes getting used to.

No complaints! The 8 minute flight from the road saved us from doing a snowy and slow three hour + run/hike into camp.

Not much in the way of clouds as we flew into the glacier. The view from the helicopter shows the 4.25km track groomed out in the distance.

This is the most snow I've ever seen up here in the summer. Taken right outside the camp huts, there normally wouldn't be snow in the lower half of this photo...

...but that made for some awesome skiing, which made long workouts like this one fly-by.

After a couple days of perfect weather, our luck ran out and we were greeted with hail and an absurd amount of wind on our last day. Because of the wind gusts and poor visibility, the helicopter that had planned to pick us up couldn't take off from Canmore, leaving us with the run out as our only option to return to civilization. After a snowy trek back to the parking lot, and the misfortune of our team van running out of gas (nothing was really going for us that day) we finally made it back home, and I successfully ended a five-week training block alive.

Things are slowing down a bit now, with a week to rest up and then back into a long block of training. The new 2011/2012 line up of CamelBaks looks pretty badass and I can't wait to get a hold of some. When would be a good time to email a wish list in regards to winter budgets and such?

Enjoy the summer!

Kevin Sandau
Canadian National Development Team
Alberta World Cup Academy
Canmore, Alberta
www.sandau.ca 

sponsored athlete

Kevin Sandau - End of season

Well the ski season is all said and done. The end of March consisted of lots of racing action, with the Canadian National Championships in Canmore, and the US Super Tour in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Having this years Nationals on home turf was a great advantage. After the back and forth travelling from Europe and Canada in January and February, it was a nice break to be able to stay at home and prepare for these races.

The big goal for the week was to bring home my first ever medal from a Canadian Championship, something that has eluded me for the past seven years. Last year in Whitehorse I came close with a 5th place finish, but after some very strong results earlier this season I was confident I could finally walk on to the podium.

The 10km skate race was the first race of four and perhaps one of my favourites. Although a bit shorter than what I prefer, the course was hard enough to make up some good time. After everyone crossed the finish, I ended up 3rd, and just 20 seconds from the top. Other highlights from the week was my 3rd place finish in the 50km, after which the season usually comes to an end, but not this year. I packed up my things one last time and drove down to Sun Valley for the US Nationals 50km, and the Super Tour Finals.

My coach pushing me on in the final 2km

Surprisingly my body wasn't feeling too bagged from the 50km in Canmore, and the 50km across the border went very well. After having to fight back up to the front mid-way through the race, and then fighting to hang on with the leader, I finished 2nd. In the Super Tour, I finished 3rd in the 15km individual day, and placed 8th overall after all four races.

Podium of the 50km

Leading the 15km classic race

Now that it's April, it's time to relax and enjoy some sun. Training starts back up in early May, so I have to cram in as much relaxation as possible! Thanks for the support over the past years, I really appreciate it, and hope to continue it next season.

Regards,

Kevin Sandau
Canadian National Development Team
Alberta World Cup Academy
Canmore, Alberta
www.sandau.ca 

sponsored athlete

Sandau : 2011 Canada Games

I was in Halifax Nova Scotia, the host city for the 2011 Canada Winter Games. This being my second Canada Games, these games sure lived up to the standard set by the previous games in 2007. My races at here went fairly well for the most part, and I was able to take home two gold and one bronze.

My first race was a 10km individual skate race; a bit shorter distance than what I'm used to. The trails at the Martock Ski Centre (an hour bus ride from Halifax) aren't as challenging as other venues, and with only a few climbs, every second would count. By the end of the race, I was able to secure the gold medal, but only by a slim two-second margin over second, and four seconds from third. Not a bad start to the week!

Less than a kilometre to the finish, which was awkwardly positioned at the bottom of a downhill.

The Men's 10km podium

My next two races were the skate sprint, something I'm still trying to figure out, and the 15km classic race. I ended the sprint day in 8th, missing out on the A-Final due to a poor finishing lane selection.

The race I was looking forward to all week was the 15km mass start classic race, a long enough distance to gradually wear skiers down. Right from the start, it was myself and two of my other Albertan teammates fighting for the podium positions. Just like in the first race, it was a tough course for dropping guys, and after two unsuccessful attempts on the largest climb, I finished 3rd in a sprint to the line. On the podium, it was an awesome sight to see an Alberta sweep of the medals!

There was plenty of time to check out Halifax while I wasn't skiing. Most of the athletes were staying in a few hotels right on the shore front in downtown Halifax, so there were limitless things to do. Whether it was a night out tasting Halifax's own lobsters, or checking out Great Big Sea perform live, I'd have to say its a pretty cool place to be.

Who knew? There is actually a Theodore the Tugboat in Halifax

The last race of the games was the team relay, something that really fosters some "friendly" rivalries among skiers. In 2007, Team Alberta lost the gold medal to Ontario and it has been our goal since to take it back. After some strong results by the men, we were entering as the favourites for the win, and that's exactly what we did. With a sizeable lead into the finishing straight, our anchor was able to grab the flag and ski it in. An awesome end to the week, that's for sure.

Celebrations at the line

After returning back to Canmore, that concludes my travel for most of the season. I have a week to recover from what has felt like non-stop traveling (to Estonia, back to Canmore, then to Ottawa, back to Canmore, off to Halifax and finally back in Canmore in the span of 1 1/2 months) before the next set of races, our National Championships taking place in Canmore on the 12th. Looking forward to it!

Hope your enjoying the snow,

Kevin Sandau
Canadian National Development Team
Alberta World Cup Academy
Canmore, Alberta
www.sandau.ca 

sponsored athlete

Sandau : Off to Estonia !

Last week I traveled to Thunder Bay for our first set of races for 2011. These races were one of my more important ones because they were also the selection races for the Under-23 Championships in Estonia at the end of the month. Generally if you are the top skier under 23 years of age in any of the three races, you automatically qualify for the trip. My first race was the 30km pursuit, which starts off with a 15km long classic leg, and switches to the skating technique mid-way through the race for the final 15km. Despite some numbingly cold weather, I finished the race in 4th overall and was the top Under-23 athlete to cross the line, stamping my ticket to Estonia.

The pursuit race podium, I'm 2nd from the right.

Midway through Sunday's 15km skate race, which wasn't as great as my pursuit race

Today is a travel day for myself and the team, as we travel from Calgary --> Toronto --> Frankfurt --> Helsinki, making for a really long couple of days. I will be training in Helsinki, Finland for a couple days to adjust to Europe, and then we will drive to Otepaa, Estonia which is our race venue and home for the remainder of the two week long trip. The championships begin on the 27th, but I get the special opportunity of racing the World Cup's next weekend on the same trails, acting like sort of a primer before my bigger races.

I'll be sure to update you once the racing begins; wish me luck!

 

Kevin Sandau
Canadian National Development Team
Alberta World Cup Academy
Canmore, Alberta
www.sandau.ca 

sponsored athlete

Where's the Snow?

Things seemed to have been slow off the start for this winter season. After returning from the Haig Glacier in late October, the weather took a turn for the worse (or better, depends who you ask) and warmed up considerably. The "Frozen Thunder" loop at the Canmore Nordic Centre turned from a 1km loop of snow to a much shorter track of sawdust and rocks. Within a week, the skis went back into storage and my roller ski tips resharpened.

Me leading out some roller ski intensity on November 5th.

Last year we were enjoying endless skiing all over the bow valley.

By mid-November we can usually do some skiing up Moraine Lake Road in Lake Louise which has some awesome early skiing snow. This year however we had to cancel our camp and train locally in hopes that the weather would change in our favour. Well, it sort of did. Last week I was able to ski up at Sunshine Village, which is just outside Banff and a 30-minute gondola ride from the parking lot. Here there was just enough snow to set a classic track; definitely easing everyones giddiness for snow.

 

One of my two long skis up at Sunshine Village. Although there

was a decent amount of snow, there were quite a few of those

"O crap"moments when your skis would hit a giant rock.

And finally after the long wait, Canmore and the surrounding mountains got hit with some cooler weather, and a good amount of snow to boot. I am now back skiing at the Nordic Centre, and the trails are growing as more and more of the man-made stuff is made. Ironically enough, the weather being called for the weekend will be around -25 degrees, but I'm not complaining.

Snow in the stadium.

 

November is that transitional period between pavement and snow, so this sort of delay is to be expected. This month was my final tune-up before the races begin, and I'm pleased to say everything is looking great. With almost two weeks to go until my first set of races in Canmore, my long hours of training will soon be put to the test again.


Kevin Sandau
Canadian National Development Team
Alberta World Cup Academy
Canmore, Alberta
www.sandau.ca

 

Sandau up Haig Glacier

Here's news from Camelbak cross-country skiing sponsored athlete, Kevin Sandau.

Hiking up the final ridge to the glacier.

"I just received the Camelbaks, and look forward to using them this season!

This past week I went up to the Haig Glacier for our final on-snow training camp before winter. This was the second time I've been up there this year, having a week long camp in the Summer. This Fall camp was only four days, and had a bit more focus on long training hours and short exposure to high altitude, which up on the glacier is 2700m. It definitely feels like winter in the Rockies, with freezing temperatures and skiffs of fresh snow. For the four days I was up there, I completed just over 18 hours of training."

Despite the ever lasting wind, the weather was quite nice for the first three days.

 

"This is what we woke up to on our final day. 10cm+ of fresh snow at camp. This made the 45 minute hike up to the glacier a bit more challenging with strong winds, hidden ice, and near white out conditions.

Upon our return to Canmore, the Nordic Centre pushed out a huge snow pile they had been saving all summer (covered with 1-meter of wood chips to insulate it) into what they call "Frozen Thunder". Just like last year, we now have skiing in Canmore mid-October, even if it is just a 1km loop. Although I am not too keen to get skiing on the hamster wheel just yet, I'm sure I'll break down soon enough. Next week commences my teams testing week, and soon after hopefully the snow starts to fly!"

Thank you for your support, 

Kevin Sandau
Canadian National Development Team
Alberta World Cup Academy
Canmore, Alberta
www.sandau.ca