Icebreaker - Pure Merino

The Speight’s Coast to Coast traverses the South Island of New Zealand from Kumara Beach on the Tasman Sea to Sumner Beach on the Pacific Ocean. Over either two days (individuals or two person teams) or the one-day event (individuals only), competitors cycle 140 kms (three stages of 55km, 15 km and 70 km), run 36 km (including a 33 km mountain stage that crosses the Southern Alps) and kayak 67kms of the grade two Waimakariri River through the Grand Canyon of New Zealand, the Waimakariri Gorge.  Icebreaker is sponsoring this event in 2010, and a bunch of us are competing.  Here’s an excerpt about the lead up from one of our team members:

So why am I doing the one day Coast to Coast?  Mainly I believe, because it is a fantastic opportunity to learn about myself.  I know that to get there I have to push myself to my physical and mental limits.

So with only weeks separating me and the start line, do I feel ready?  Well yes I think I do, but I am sure there will be some nerves and doubts…  But that is part of why I’m doing it really.  We face challenges because they test us and make us stronger.  In the act of thinking about the question of “am I where I want and need to be?”,  I have to reflect on where I was when I was told I would be on the Icebreaker Team.  I was nowhere fit enough (7kg heavier than I am now), and I had no kayak or decent road bike.  All I really had was a desire to find a new challenge and a giant opportunity.

So now here I am, metaphorically putting the last strokes of the first rapid that we call preparation.  The next rapid is more of the same but longer and I know from experience that to do well in a race, a rapid or life in general you need to be prepared, relaxed and focused on where we are going.  Bring it on!

- Dave Tait, Speight’s Coast to Coast competitor – Team Icebreaker

February is just six months away. While that may sound like a long time, to me it feels like it’s rapidly approaching.  I am right smack in the middle of my training season, doing my best to prepare myself to make the 2010 US Olympic biathlon team.

Training so far has been…wet. I can count the number of days is hasn’t rained on one hand. Thank goodness I don’t melt.

Truthfully, the cool, wet weather isn’t bad for training. I’ve spent all of July here at home in northern Maine, making the most of the two world-class training facilities at my disposal. My training has mostly consisted of rollerskiing and of course shooting, with a good amount of running and cycling mixed in there as well.

While I have enjoyed my time at home, training, working and playing in my garden, I am now packing for what feels like the start of the season. Tomorrow I’m off to Jericho in Vermont for rollerski races and a three-week training camp.

This camp will be followed by a brief few days at home before I’ll be packing for another training camp. I will be heading to Stelvio Pass in northern Italy to ski on a glacier for a couple of weeks to get some much need on-snow time before winter begins.

The ball just keeps rolling after that – home for one week, gone for another couple of weeks, back and forth until December! It’s almost scary how close we are to the first race of the season!

I have a lot more work to do from now until then, so I will continue to focus on the day in front of me. I’ll keep you posted with updates and photos from the road. Right now, I’d better go start packing!

-  BethAnn Chamberlain, 2010 US Olympic hopeful and Icebreaker athlete

Hi Icebreaker!

I am at Lake Placid for just over a week for the first ever Women’s Team National Camp (the first portion). Despite a little rainy weather, everything has gone very well so far.

After spending the spring training mostly on my own, it is great to be in good company while training and shooting. It pushes me both physically and mentally in a way I can’t quite do on my own. The camp is three weeks long. After the Lake Placid portion we head north, closer to my home up in Fort Kent, ME. There we can take advantage of the extended rollerski loop that is connected to the shooting range.

It’s going to be a tough three weeks of training. We had a great workout yesterday doing uphill mass start intervals together. We all scramble with the sound of our coaches voice, starting us off, and then come close to collapsing with the honk of the horn telling us to stop. Take a two minute break and repeat. There is nothing quite like training camp.

We also do a session of rollerski intervals on a huge treadmill here at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid. I have attached a photo for you to get an idea of what this looks like. Luckily I didn’t fall off the back this time. I was happy to have my Icebreaker GT tank top to wear while skiing hard and going no where! There is no wind to cool you down during this workout! Icebreaker kept me as cool as possible. Thank you!

More updates from the trail and range to come.

Thanks again,

BethAnn Chamberlain, US Biathlete

Biathlon is a Winter Olympic sport consisting of Nordic skiing and rifle marksmanship.