FasterSkier

Author: chad.gregg

  • Marine on St. Croix, MN Training Camp

    School is out for summer and the entire 2010/11 CXC Team is together for the first time.  We have a big crew this year with 18 athletes on the roster.  Unfortunatly the marathon team athletes are not at training camp a solid group of 10 athletes and 3 coaches have been pushing each other and having fun this week.

    Morning Exercises

    Morning Exercises

    Everything is very green here in Marine on St. Croix, MN.  We have had a bit of rain everyday.  Some might complain about this, but it is just fine with me because it keeps the temperatures mild.

    lots of kilometers this week

    Volume has been a big theme for me this year.  I am keeping many things similar to last year, but increasing the volume when I am fresh and feeling good.  There are plenty of nice roads and variety around town to keep me entertained.

    St. Croix Falls OD 3.75hr

  • Finally a perfect day

    Spring in Washington has been surprisingly rainy and wet.  On Saturday the weather finally broke and we had a beautiful spring day.  One of my favorite workouts is to roller ski up Washington Pass.  We had a good group, Me, Chad, Mom, Dad, Mac, Mark and Margaret.

    Dad setting the pace

    Chad, my favorite all-time training partner

    Rollerskiing?

    Our June CXC Camp starts today in Marine on St. Croix, MN.  The weather is beautiful and I am ready

  • Lactate Minimum Testing with Mom

    Heart Rate 135, 140, 145, 150, 155, 165, 170, 175

    Mom testing my blood lactate

    Margaret is helping me with some training zone definitions through blood lactate testing.  Thanks Margaret for loaning me the equipment and thanks Mom for running the test.  I ran two 30 second intervals, took a lactate bath for 7 minutes and then ran 5 minutes at a steady heart rate.  Values looked good with lactates staying below 2.3 until 170 heart rate.

    Track intervals were extra fun this week because I was coached, taped, and tested by my Mom.  Plus, I had new orthodics from Andrew, lactate testing equipment from Margaret,  and new shoes from Rita.  It is fantastic to be part of such a strong community.  Thanks!

  • Final Ski race of the year… Ski to Sea 7.5km

    Chad and Hons battling to the finish line (timing cards in hand) Photo: Bellingham Herald

    Mom and Dad Camping Out the night before the big race

    I like to camp

    Warm Temperatures but plenty of snow at Mt. Baker. Fun Fact: Mt. Baker holds the record for the most snow fall in a season 1,140 inches (1999)

    Mom and Chad post race

    How sweet is it to have a ski race in May?  Each year the Ski to Sea multi-sport relay race kicks off with a xc ski race on Memorial Day Weekend Sunday.  This year was one of the most competitive fields ever.  Ivan Babikov made the trip and he is one of the best climbers in the world (plus he was 5th at the Olympics)

    A blast of dynamite starts the 450+ cross country skiers.  A pack of 10-15 elite skiers formed pretty quickly at the front of the race.  I started off conservatively and let drafting and my skis do most of the work on the downhills.  We began the big climb (9-10 min) and Babikov, Koos and I had a small gap on the field.  About halfway up Koos showed signs of tiring and Ivan started breaking away.  I decided to just go for it and made a surge to bridge the gap.  I haven’t skied near Ivan very much but it was easy to see why he is such a good climber.  He pulled over to let me lead but I didn’t have much interest in that and stayed behind.  After asking me several times to take a pull I reluctantly went to the front.  I wanted to do my fair share of the work, but perhaps this was a mistake.  With about 1km to go Ivan took the lead and a few feet slowly turned into 24 seconds.  Still a great race for me and a good position for my team Sportmans Challet.  I tagged off to my high school friend Sol Woras for the downhill ski.

    Me, Martin, Dave, Torin and Kent enjoying a long cool down. Martin (15th Vasaloppet gave us some good double pole tips and advice, thanks!)

    Results

    1 00:00:00 1 00:00:00 Ivan Babikov 00:18:15 74 Boss Construction Competitive Open
    2 00:00:24 2 00:00:24 Brian Gregg 00:18:39 60 Sportsman Chalet Competitive Open
    3 00:01:06 3 00:01:06 Eric Bjornsen 00:19:21 3 TEAM ISLAGIATT Competitive Open
    4 00:01:12 4 00:01:12 Martin Rosvall 00:19:27 18 Boomer’s Drive-In Competitive Open
    5 00:01:29 5 00:01:29 Dan Roycroft 00:19:44 1 clippercanoes.com Competitive Open
    6 00:01:41 6 00:01:41 Torin Koos 00:19:56 35 Barron Heating Competitive Open
    7 00:01:43 7 00:01:43 Josh Smullin 00:19:58 75 Boss Construction 4 Western Football Competitive Open
    8 00:02:00 1 00:00:00 Kent Murdoch 00:20:15 471 Boss Construction, MASTERS Masters
    9 00:02:31 8 00:02:31 Sam Naney 00:20:46 50 POS-X Competitive Open
    10 00:02:45 9 00:02:45 Jed Hinkley 00:21:00 27 BAGELRY Competitive Open
    11 00:04:03 10 00:04:03 Sarah Konrad 00:22:18 61 Dr. Hogan’s Heroes Competitive Open
    12 00:04:07 1 00:00:00 David Christopherson 00:22:22 494 Win or Die Veterans
    13 00:04:10 1 00:00:00 Dasha Gaiazova 00:22:25 39 BOUNDARY BAY BREWERY Competitive Women
    14 00:04:16 2 00:02:16 Rune Harkestad 00:22:31 475 @tdcurran Masters
    15 00:04:34 11 00:04:34 Joshua Korn 00:22:49 53 Frank and Lola Competitive Open
    16 00:04:36 2 00:00:29 Olav Stana 00:22:51 488 Bank of the Pacific Veterans
    17 00:04:45 12 00:04:45 Karl Hochtl 00:23:00 73 Nomad GCS Competitive Open
    18 00:05:04 1 00:00:00 Jacob Hartsoch 00:23:19 128 BEAVERS TREE SERVICE Whatcom County Open
    19 00:05:11 3 00:03:11 Vesa Suomalainen 00:23:26 470 Pape Rents/Bobcat West Masters
    20 00:05:48 13 00:05:48 Inge Scheve 00:24:03 28 Questionable Motives Competitive Open
    21 00:05:52 2 00:00:48 Steve George 00:24:07 167 RunningShoes.com Whatcom County Open
    22 00:05:59 14 00:05:59 Mike Argue 00:24:14 2 MRSAnaries Competitive Open
    23 00:06:22 1 00:00:00 Evan Turner 00:24:37 451 Made in the Methow-Mazama Store High School
    24 00:07:05 1 00:00:00 Luke Heckrodt 00:25:20 511 Moore Sharp Heckrodts On the Way Family
    25 00:07:24 1 00:00:00 Chad Gregg 00:25:39 214 Self Serve Recreational Open
    26 00:07:27 3 00:02:23 Chad Honsinger 00:25:42 125 Chisels of Fury Whatcom County Open
    27 00:07:35 2 00:00:11 Kristina Owen 00:25:50 312 Viking Football Alumns For Bring Back WWU Football Recreational Open
    28 00:07:39 3 00:00:15 Bruce Christopherson 00:25:54 340 RAM / WATTS Recreational Open
    29 00:08:18 1 00:00:00 Dan Froula 00:26:33 123 CrossFit X Whatcom County Mixed
    30 00:08:21 4 00:03:17 Vern Latta 00:26:36 166 HOMECRAFTERS NORTHWEST Whatcom County Open

  • Training with MOD in Bend


    Eric, Torin, Sam (Team MOD) and Me (CXC) after our final ski in Bend

    Smith Rocks Climbing Take 2

    Naney

    First lead climb in a long time

    Great time in Bend. Rest/Travel day and Ski to Sea tomorrow.  Good Times

  • Smith Rocks

    Sam and Erik express their opinions of not being able to climb

    We dropped Scott off at the airport yesterday afternoon and decided to take advantage of being so close to Smith Rocks.  A beautiful area that has held a firm place in my memory after my junior coach ‘Flash’ took Sam, Chad, and I here when we were in Bend for J3 Championships back in the day.  Our plan was a nice run and climb, unfortunatly the rain and lightning made the trip a run only.  Perhaps we can climb this afternoon.

  • Brian in the Holmenkollen World Cup

    The 50km Holmenkollen  mass start freestyle World Cup is tomorrow in Oslo Norway.  Brian has been looking forward to this event all year and we (his family) are excited to be able to watch the race (via streaming in the US) even though it starts at 3:45 AM Pacific Time.  (Can you say Coca Cola)  In case anyone else is up here is the link for the live video feed:
    http://www.fromsport.com/video-199376.html 

    Note: since the video is live it can only be viewed between 2 and 5:45am PCT

    Results and race updates can also be found at the fis web site:
    http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/604/1228.html?cal_suchsector=CC&event_id=27073

  • Brian’s first European World Cup

    The best skiers in the world are gathered in Norway for the Drammen World Cup Sprint.   This will be Brian’s first European World Cup.  The qualifier will be at 5am PCT with live results at:
    Live Results of Drammen World Cup
    GO Bri GO! We are all rooting for you back home.