Greetings
from the United lounge at Lax…I can’t believe how busy it is here. Just had some very good Mexican (check out
Harah Fresh Mexican if you’re passing through…they make a nice little quesadilla).
It's November...let's take a quick look at what’s happening during November, as
well as what our staff are up to;
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Luc is currently consulting with the Kabdalis
team (www.kabdalis.com) up in the Swedish
lapland (north of the Arctic Circle). During his time at Kabdalis, Luc
will work w. IR program athletes, as well as consult with the team during their
November preparation phase. He will also be actively involved with hill
preparation (injection) for training arenas and delivering coach education
clinics to coaches from the Nordbotton region (here’s a sneak peak at some of
the content that Luc and I put together for the clinics, which are based on IR
methodology -
Luc will keep plugging in Sweden for the next 3 weeks, and will arrive in
Canmore in early December.
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I (Jeff) am on my way to Copper Mountain,
Colorado for a speed block with the Australian World Cup Ski Cross team.
I will be working as an alpine consultant to the team, and working primarily
with veteran ski cross athlete (& former Alpine world cup racer &
Olympian) Jenny Owens (www.jennyowens.com).
We will train at Copper through to November 17 with a focus on SG. We
travel to Panorama on the 17 for a 5 day SG-GS block. We’re then off to
the Windtower on November 24 (Canmore – Nakiska) for a 2 week block at Nakiska
in preparation for the season opening world cup at Nakiska on December
7-8. I return full time to the IR program after these races.
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Brett is currently in Vancouver…busy with last
minute planning details and looking after the branding and design of this
year’s schwag (more information on the new uniform pieces below). Brett
will travel to Canmore on November 15 and spend a few days setting up shop at
the Windtower before starting at snow on Norquay on November 18 for a 6x day
slalom camp with members +of the Boston College Ski Team (Mike, Eddie, Taylor
& Kelly) as well as Andrew, Willy, Luci and Hannah. Those sticking
around will take a well-deserved rest before heading into a 6 day GS block at
Norquay. A few more arrive on the 27-28 November...Zach, Ned, Tom,
Imogen, Meg, Max, Annie, Oliver, Sarah, Harrison, Jack and Louis.
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Trent is running the VIC Alpine conditioning
programs in Melbourne…Trent and a dozen athletes are on the ice as I write this
for a 2 day ice hockey skills camp at the Medibank Icehouse in Melbourne.
This is our 5th camp at the Icehouse, a great venue (www.icehouse.com.au). We are big
believers in the benefits of ice hockey…we see it as a valuable for lower leg
skills, energy system development, athleticism, coordination, decision making,
team building…and maybe even a bit of fun. Check out this
article from Alpine Press on how a few other teams integrate ice hockey into
the programs (it’s certainly not uncommon by any means) http://alpinepress.com/article/dryland-training-power-play/
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Jennifer is enjoying some down time in
Melbourne…playing some bike polo (www.bikepolo.com.au).
If not familiar w. bike polo, it is what it sounds like…polo on bikes. I
swung by Flagstaff Gardens in Melbourne last weekend to check out one of
Jennifer’s games…it’s a really quite a cool sport (probably best not to try
unless you’re reasonably handy w. a bike). Jennifer flies to Toronto this
week and will spend a few weeks in Ontario before embarking on the relatively
lengthy (3700’ish km’s) from Toronto to Canmore in late November.
The uniform…
As I mentioned, Brett has been hard at work getting the new
uniforms put together…details:
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Spyder puffy jacket
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Spyder soft shell training jacket
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Adidas track suit (top & bottom)
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Adidas dry wick t
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Cotton t
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Ball cap (2x styles)
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Toque (or beanie if you prefer)
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| IR dryland t - included for all program participants |
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| The new IR hoodie |
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| Luc modelling the new track suit top |
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Some pieces are included with IR programs
(inclusions vary based on program length)
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All pieces are available for purchase (purchase
information will be available separately)
Keep the foot down with the conditioning in the lead up to
your time on snow…success is in the last 5% (of intensity & effort)…get it
done. I’ll wrap this up w. something that Brett said a few days back that
stuck with me;
“Winners never quit, & quitters never win.”
At press time I’m not sure if this is his quote or not, or
if it originates from somewhere else…so I will loosely give the quote credit to
Brett, apologies if the credit is due somewhere else (maybe from a Red Bull add
or something like this?...ha), it’s a fitting statement either way
PS – check out the ‘IR Yellow Jersey’ blogpost if you
haven’t seen it already
On behalf of the IR team, over & out for now
Jeff
Books
Athletics Director
& Partner
International Racer
Mobile: +61 (4) 31
071 121
Skype: jeff.books
