I’m happy, I’m focused and I’ve been training with gusto over the past 4 weeks. I couldn’t have been more excited to be training again in la Belle Province, this time with the National Training Centre in Mont-Ste-Anne and with the B2ten organization in Montreal.

The purpose of me training here is quite simple: develop into a better sprinter for the upcoming winter. Nothing less, nothing more. Usually my year goals would include things like becoming a better runner over the summer, improving my 10km race times, building up the endurance to be able to tough out back to back racing such as mini-tours and multi-race Championships. This year though, my coaches and I are going to try something different and focus only on specific ski sprinting. I am excited to work on just one thing, one type of race, and I’m also very curious to see the changes this new focus will bring to my racing.

The Training Centre team is truly wonderful. We are training in Mont-Ste-Anne and Quebec city, and enjoy an idyllic countryside life in St-Ferreol Les Neiges. My training group includes five very talented young ladies, and somedays I even get an occasional opportunity to train with the team boys as well. Just like in the mountains, the people here are truly passionate about the outdoors. The Mont-Ste-Anne has more kms of summer trails for running and biking than groomed winter tracks. They are even adding a rollerski trail just for our summer training!

When I am in Montreal, I train with other amazing B2ten athletes, and in my case, working on improving ski-specific sprinting power and speed. There have been some mornings when I find it hard to believe how lucky I am to be doing a stairs workout alongside Alex Bilodeau and Eric Guay on the Mont-Royal. We all share the same amazing coaches and specialists and B2ten is a sort of a dream team capable of turning great athletes, some of the world’s best, into unbeatable champions. What can I say? When I train here I feel like I’d won jackpot in the lottery.

Thank you for reading and enjoy the few pictures I’ve attached below.

Happy summer everyone!
Dasha