I hope everyone is enjoying the fall like weather and getting ready to dust off the skis!
The leaves are changing colors here in Park City and the mornings are getting a little chillier. This is one of my favorite times of the year, not only because of the beautiful colors, but also because the ski season is just around the corner! I have been training hard here in Park City and I feel like I am making progress both on the cross country side and and ski jumping side! Last week was a rest week and I focused on ski jumping. This week we have started to increase on the hours of training again. I started the week off with a long easy distance roller ski around Park City. Tuesday we were back on the HS100 again. The session went really well! I jumped with more confidence and I finished the session on a positive note. We then went to the Center of Excellence after jumping for a strength session. Today, the team headed down to Soldier Hollow for an interval session. I felt great warming up and skied really well through most of the intervals. However on the last two my legs started to fade. This week has started off really well and I am looking forward to jumping tomorrow and finishing the week off strong! Saturday, my teammate Bryan Fletcher is getting hitched! I want to congratulate Bryan and his fiancee! Bryan is one of my biggest role models and I wish him all the best!
I hope everyone is enjoying the fall like weather and getting ready to dust off the skis! This past week was another intensity block. I wasn't feeling very rested going into the week so I had to make sure I stayed in the correct heart rate(HR) zone. For those of you who aren't familiar with HR zones, here is a quick explanation. There are 6 zones/levels:
Level 1=easy (HR 90-130 BPM) Level 2=moderate (HR 130-155 BPM) Level 3=steady state (HR 155-170 BPM) Level 4=interval (HR 170-185 BPM) Level 5=Race (HR 185-195 BPM) Level 6=Overspeed (HR 195-205 BPM) *Levels are different for everyone. Now because last week was an intensity block, we focused mainly on Levels 4-5. Monday we had two interval session. Monday I didn't feel great and I think I was still tired from the Steamboat Stage Race. On Tuesday we had planned to have a nordic combined competition, but due to bad weather, we got the day off. I really need the rest. The competition was moved to Wednesday. We jumped the HS140 and roller skied a 10k down in Soldier Hollow. My jumping was ok but not where I need to be. I hadn't jumped the HS140 since Springer Tournee, so I didn't really know what to expect. I surprised myself with an ok jump. The roller ski race went well. I started about 10 seconds behind Taylor Fletcher, Adam Loomis, and Bill Demong, but couldn't reel them in. I wasn't feeling great but I had improved my time from the previous time trial so I was happy about . Thursday was another double interval day. We did running intervals with poles up the Canyons Ski Resort. Friday I did running steady states on my own at the Olympic Park. I haven't been running very much, so it felt good to change up the training. Saturday was another day of intervals and they went really well. We finished up the intensity block on Sunday with a 10k hill climb near Heber. I had never done it before but I had heard it was a very hard time trial. I was feeling good and skied very well finishing with the 3rd fastest time behind Brett Denney and Taylor Fletcher. I was really happy with the way I finished the week. Now we have a rest week to help us recover. We have jumped twice and both sessions have been going really well. Today we did another interval session up the ski area. This will be the only hard session of the week. Hope everyone is enjoying the fall colors! It has been a busy couple weeks lately! I have been training everyday, working as much as possible, and taking a few online college classes which has limited my time for updated my website. Here is what I have been up to the past couple weeks. After a poor showing at Springer Tournee, I stayed in Park City and had some private jump sessions with my coach. I really focused on everything we had been working on and I slowly but surely started making improvements. The next couple weeks I focused mainly on ski jumping because I know that if I want to ski on the World Cup, my jumping is going to have to change dramatically. The following week, I traveled back to Aspen with the rest of my teammates for a training camp and fundraising event. One of the real plus sides for going home was that the USA Pro Cycling Challenge was in Aspen the exact same time. I drove over with Adam. When we arrived we went for a easy run along the Government Trail on Buttermilk ski area. The next day we went on a ride with several of Bill Demong's friends like former Tour de France rider, Christian Vande Velde and some locals. Needless to say, we had a blast. On Saturday we put on a US Nordic Combined fundraiser at a family friends house. We had a great turnout and ended up raising almost $22,000! On Sunday I was entered in a bike sprint down main street during the Pro Challenge. I did pretty well. In the qualification round I had the second fastest time. Taylor had the third. Unfortunately we all got beaten in the quarter finals. All in all the trip was a great success and we had a lot of fun. It was the first time the team was in Aspen and everyone really wants to go back. I returned to Park City for just one week before I headed to Steamboat for the Steamboat Springs Stage Race. It was a bike race I have wanted to do for the last couple years. I went a couple days early to train a little more. The week started off rough because of the weather but turned around. Saturday started with the time trial. I felt ok and did well for the first half, but lost a lot of time on the second half. I finished the day in 27th. The next day was the 60 mile road race. My legs were really tired from the day before and couldn't jump onto the break early on. However I was able to get in the chase group. I chased the leaders for almost 55 miles and then with 5 miles to go, I got a flat tire and fell off the chase group. I had a lot of trouble the last couple miles but I finished, so I would be able to race the following day. After day two I actually moved up the 23rd overall. On Monday, Labor Day, was the final stage which was a criterium in down town Steamboat. My legs today actually felt a lot better. I bike ok, and had a good sprint finish, starting from the back of the pack to 17th. After the three days of racing I finished 22nd overall but a long ways behind the leader. I plan on coming back next year and have some better luck.
Now I am back in Park City and we just started an intensity block. I have been feeling pretty good. Yesterday we had a competition on the HS140 and a time trial in Soldier Hollow. These were my first jumps on the HS140 since Springer Tournee, and although they were not WC caliber jumps, I was not disappointed. I am slowly making progress and not trying to overthink anything. I am going to be in Park City now until mid October when we head to Lake Placid, NY for U.S. Nordic Combined Nationals. Then from Lake Placid travel to Europe for two weeks before the season gets underway. I am sorry for not keeping you more up-to-date with my training and travels. I will try and be better from here on out. I hope everyone enjoyed their summer and are ready for the "white stuff" to start falling. I know I am! P.S. I just added my Strava account to my blog page, right above the Twitter feed in the side bar. Thought it would be good to show you what I have been up to this summer! |
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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