After a summer of California Dreamin’, Team Black Jack headed down to Mammoth Lakes for the 4th annual instalment of the
Mammoth Camp. After a short pickup in Reno, the team finally made it to the condo that we would call home for the next two weeks. With David and Daniel being the two returning veterans, they showed the rest of the team the ropes early on. A nice little run to the locally famous Mammoth Rock kicked off the first day and gave us newcomers a taste of the beautiful scenery that would become our playground.
The first week included a long skate/running workout up to 3200m at Mono Pass, some easier workouts exploring the variety of rollerskiing destinations, the arrival of a guest teammate in the form of Katie Weaver from Vancouver, and two hard intensity sessions. The first of those being long skate zone 4 intervals in Paradise (yes that’s the real name) on Thursday. Saturday brought a hard ski striding intensity session down in the town of Bishop, and with the strong California sun and maxed out heart rates greeting us, the team had to power through the pain. Everyone was cooked afterwards, but pain thresholds were pushed and gains were made, which eventually makes us athletes satisfied.
The second week boasted a similar schedule but for the long day we opted for a 2-hour rollerski up to the upper Mammoth Lakes with an additional 2-hour run afterwards (3 for David). This took us up to Duck Lake and, for some, over the Duck Lake pass revealing some beautiful alpine lakes for our viewing pleasure. With the air getting thin at over 3200m we could feel the effects of our surroundings. To finish off the week we did the same intensity that we did the previous week and watched to see how our fatigued bodies would hold up in comparison. Again we felt the pain that the mountains had for us but pushed through to acheive the training benefits that we strive for.
The week was filled with tasty food, including homemade sushi, a local Mexican restaurant trip, and homemade pizza to name a few. This just added to the enjoyment of the camp and was the perfect way to top off the great training that Mammoth had in store for us. After my first Mammoth Camp I can only hope this won’t be my last.
