After my last competition in Klingenthal, GER I returned to Park City and decided to head back to Aspen. I ended up spending the whole month of March there which was a nice change of pace. It has been great being able to see my family and friends who came into town for spring break. While at home I also got a job up at a restaurant on Snowmass ski area. It has been great working in a new environment and I have really enjoyed the job. On top of work, I have also been training. My first weeks back in Aspen, I trained with the cross country team from my local club, AVSC. It was fun to be able to ski with the kids right before they headed off to Junior Nationals. One of the days I joined them for classic intervals. For those of you who don't know, nordic combined only uses the skate technique rather than classic technique. I was hurting the next day to say the least. In the past couple weeks, the snow has practically vanished making me move my training to "higher" elevations. I have gone on several skis up to the Maroon Bells and up Independence Pass. Below are pictures of me and my friend Riley and his dog, Daisy, skiing up to the Maroon Bells.
Sorry for being out of touch lately. I hope everyone is enjoying the "summer-like" weather! I have had a wonderful spring! The weather has been warm and absolutely beautiful in Colorado. After my last competition in Klingenthal, GER I returned to Park City and decided to head back to Aspen. I ended up spending the whole month of March there which was a nice change of pace. It has been great being able to see my family and friends who came into town for spring break. While at home I also got a job up at a restaurant on Snowmass ski area. It has been great working in a new environment and I have really enjoyed the job. On top of work, I have also been training. My first weeks back in Aspen, I trained with the cross country team from my local club, AVSC. It was fun to be able to ski with the kids right before they headed off to Junior Nationals. One of the days I joined them for classic intervals. For those of you who don't know, nordic combined only uses the skate technique rather than classic technique. I was hurting the next day to say the least. In the past couple weeks, the snow has practically vanished making me move my training to "higher" elevations. I have gone on several skis up to the Maroon Bells and up Independence Pass. Below are pictures of me and my friend Riley and his dog, Daisy, skiing up to the Maroon Bells. And because the cross country trails are now all gone, I have been skinning up to work at the restaurant on the mountain. I finally decided last week that it was time to break out my roller skis. For the first roller ski of the year, I went on a great roller ski around Aspen. The weather was beautiful! Below is me half way up Castle Creek. The time at home was much needed. I am now back in Park City for a couple days for physical testing with the rest of the team. Today we tested our skate VO2 max and my test went better than expected. Below is a picture of Taylor Fletcher mid-test and his brother Bryan warming up in the background. Tomorrow is our last day of testing. We will do the double pole VO2 test in the morning followed by the hemoglobin tests in the afternoon. On Saturday I will head back to Aspen for the annual hut trip. I will be back in Aspen for about a week and a half and then I will be going on a short vacation before returning to Park City for the summer. Again I hope everyone is having a great spring and I will keep you posted!
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Michael WardHi! My name is Michael Ward. I am a 23 year old from Aspen, CO now living in Park City, UT to continue my career as a Nordic Combined athlete. I am on the 2015-16 US Nordic Combined Team and am honored to live and train with the best in the world. Archives
February 2016
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