"Frozen Thunder" photo: Matt Wylie
October typically brings some unique seasonal challenges to a snow dependent sport. The first major obstacle I was able to avoid this year was "on-snow" hours. Thanks to the Canmore Nordic Centre I have been able to ski twice a day on a 2km loop attached to the Biathlon range. The snow was stored over the summer under a sawdust pile and pushed out in mid-October. The second obstacle is often battling undesirable training weather and conditions. Fortunately the usually prolonged transition from summer to winter this year did not drag on and we went straight from good rollerskiing to good snow skiing! Finally, October is the hardest, most intensity packed training month of the year. Despite pushing my body's limits several times a week (which isn't everybody's idea of fun) the hard work is simply leading into what I love to do. The first race of the year is November 24-25 with Biathlon Noram#1/IBU Cup Trials!
