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From the FasterSkier archive — posts syndicated from athletes’ and coaches’ own blogs between 2004 and 2012, kept online as published. Current coverage is at fasterskier.com.

Author: Lenny Valjas

  • . 2012-11-08 03:36:00

    It begins again. I am sitting in the Frankfurt Lounge pounding a few cappuccinos trying to wake myself up. Like last year, our team is heading over to Ostersund, Sweden for some skiing before the races start next week in Bruksvallarna.
    As you can see in the picture, I have a cast on my hand. A couple days ago I broke a bone in my hand. Pretty bad timing… I am giving it some time to rest and heal and I am really hoping to be back racing soon!

  • World Cup Finals

    Here are some videos of the final three World Cup races that I reached the podium on last season.


    Drammen:
    First ever podium. It was such an amazing feeling crossing the line in second. Reaching the World Cup podium had always been a lofty goal in my eyes, so to actually reach the podium was an unbelievable moment for me.
    Stockholm:
    Not even a week later the World Cup Finals sprint was held in downtown Stockholm. This was a really cool venue, situated right on the King’s Royal Palace. I had a horrible qualifier in this race. I tried to double pole the classic sprint qualifier but I did not have the arm endurance to lug my body up the hills with just my arms. Luckily I just squeaked in with a 30th place qualifier.
    The heats were a different story. I went back to skiing with classic skis and it felt much better. I advanced to the final and had a close finish at the end for a bronze medal.


     Falun:
    My final podium of the year came in the 15km Classic race in Falun, Sweden. My strategy in this race was to keep my heart rate controlled. On the long and steep climb I would let the rest of the guys gap me and then I would efficiently catch them again on the downhill and the gradual sections.
    When I crossed the finish line I was in complete shock. I still really hasn’t set in yet. I never thought I could ever reach the podium in a distance race.
    I hope you undertand russian! this is the only video of the 15km race I can find.

  • Otepää World Cup

    After the Milano World Cup it was time to head up north to race the Otepää World Cup races in Estonia. Luckily a big snow storm was dumping lots of fresh snow on the race trails. Winter hadn’t arrived yet to  Estonia, so this storm brought enough snow to finally groom all the race trails, including the huge ski jump hill on the 15km course.  Our hotel this year was amazing. It was a brand new place serving us really great food. Every morning we would wake up to homemade juice and jams. We were about a kilometre away from the race site, perfect for a warmup jog before racing. 
    The first race was a classic sprint, only the second one of the year so far. I was excited to finally get to stride up hills…  The day before the sprint there was a lot of talk about possibly double poling the classic sprint on skate skis. There was only one way to find out which technique was faster. We decided to do two fast laps of the course, one with skate skis and one with classic. The result was actually really shocking. The double pole lap was significantly faster than the striding one, by 7 seconds! SO the choice was easy, we all had to try double poling.





    I qualified without any problems, but I could definitely feel that my arms did not feel very fresh anymore. I had our therapists try and massage them and flush them out before the heats. In the Quarter-final, I skied exactly how I wanted to. I stayed near the front of the group and made a move to the front going up the big hill. Alex and I came into the final 200 meters in 1st and 2nd  place. I thought I had this in the bag… about 50 meters later my arms completely gave out. My triceps were in spasm and I felt like I lost all control of them. I ended up getting passed by 4 guys and finishing in 5th in the heat. My arms were toast after that race, even if I made it through to the semi-final I would have had to put classic skis on. I just didn’t have the arm endurance for the last 200 meters. Now I know what I can improve on for future double pole races. Congrats to Alex for his 4th place finish. Really impressive man. 

    The next day I decided to try my luck in the 15 km distance race. Estonia’s distance course is by far the toughest I have ever skied. My arms were still sore from the day before, so I made sure my classic skis had enough grip to climb those huge hills. During the race I had no idea what place I was in. I didn’t receive any splits from the coaches during the race. I honestly thought I was going to finish in around 50th place. When I finally saw the results, I found out that I just missed the top 30 by only 1 second. So it ended up being my best World Cup distance race of my life, but missing the top 30 stung a little bit. Many thanks to our wax techs, on both days, my skis were fantastic! The highlight of the weekend was definitely Devon’s race. I could hear splits during my race that he was leading. He skied like an animal to a 3rd place finish less than a second from the silver! Kersh, You da man! 

    Estonian fans are super supportive of cross country skiers. It didn’t matter what country you skied for, they would cheer for you along the race course. Cross country skiing is their national sport and to have all the WC racers in their backyard is very special for them. Before the races, I was asked to do a couple of interviews for Estonian TV (in estonian) and so many people I spoke with afterward, were surprised that I could still speak the language I learned as a child. They embraced me as one of their own. I’ll never forget my 3rd and final climb up massive Tehvandi Hill; the whole way up the crowd was chanting “Lenny, Lenny, Lenny”. It was actually quite emotional for me and gave me a huge boost.

    Next up, the city sprints in Moscow.

  • Milano City Sprint

    World Cup action was back under way this weekend for me in Milano, Italy. The race venue was really cool. The races were held right downtown near the city centre inside the walls of an old castle. It was two laps of a small and flat 625 meter course. The weather was amazing all weekend. Overnight the temperature would go just below zero which helped firm up the track, and in the day time the sun was shining and the temperature was around 5.

    I felt like I had a really solid qualifier and finally broke my curse and made it into the heats in a city sprint. I qualified in 17th for the afternoon heats. 
    I had one of the best heats of my life. I was feeling really good and was skiing in 2nd most of the way. Coming into the last 50 meters, the leader Josef Wenzel started to drift to the left and took the lane that I was planning on taking into the finish. I ended up being stuck between Wenzel and Eirik Brandsdal with no lane to ski in. I had to let up and try and make a quick move behind Wenzel and pass on the right but there was no chance. After skiing 95% of the heat perfectly I got caught up in this mess. As it turns out, Brandsdal and Wenzel ended up winning the race finishing 1st and 2nd overall. I ended up finishing 14th. I was happy with my race, I know I am in great shape and can’t wait for the next race. 
    In other news, Chandra and Peri raced in the team sprint the next day and absolutely killed it out there and finished in 3rd!!!! It was one of the most exciting races that I have ever seen, so much broken equipment and lead changes. Two North American teams ended up on the podium, the Americans Kikkan and Jessie finished the day in 2nd! Congrats to all four girls!!
    After the race we drove up to Toblach/Dobiacco to meet up with Alex, Devon and Louis. We will be training there until Wednesday, then it is off to the grandmother land… ESTONIA!! 
    I’m excited for this race, I have a good feeling about this sprint coming up.
    L-R Eirik Brandsdal, Josef Wenzel, me!

  • Race two, Black Forest Germany

    The second race of the weekend went well for me. It was a rare chance for me to race in a distance race that really didn’t matter. I was able to experiment with some new tactics during the race. In all of the distance races that I’ve done this year I have started way too slow. For this race I made it my mission to have an extremely fast start. After the first 2.5 km I had an 11 second lead over 2nd place. I was able to hold onto my lead and finish off the weekend with 2 gold medals. I may have started a little hard, but I still feel it was an improvement over my previous distance races. Next time I will still start just as fast but start toning it down a little bit before the 2.5 km mark and get into a good rhythm earlier to save some energy.
    It ended up being a great weekend for the Canadians, Chandra also won both of her races and Devon and Alex ended up 4th and 12th overall in the Tour de Ski!! Congrats!!
    At the moment I am training in Val di Fiemme Italy getting ready for the World Cup sprint on the weekend.
    There is a big race happening in Canada today, first race of the Junior and U23 trials in Whistler. Good luck to everyone, I cant wait to see the results!

  • Black Forest Sprints (Germany)

    I was back racing today after a long three week break since my last race in Rogla. I spent Christmas in Davos, Switzerland this year because Toronto had no snow for me to train on over the holidays.
    With such a long time between races, I didn’t know how my body would feel getting back into racing. The qualification was the hardest part of the day for me. It was a real lung burner, my body hadn’t put in an effort like that for a while. Throughout the heats my shape came back in a hurry. I was feeling better and better as the day progressed. In the Final I opened a gap on the first big hill and kept pulling away. I crossed the line easily about 50 meters (6 seconds) ahead of second place.
    With the Milano Sprint just a week away, this was a perfect warm up race for me. Tomorrow I will race the 10km skate race and then pack up the vans and drive to Munich to spend the night at the Movenpick with the Tour de Ski boys!!!

    Incase you haven’t seen this already, here is a video I made on Christmas day with my teammates in Davos.

  • Past couple weekends

    Dusseldorf:

    The weekend after the Ruka Triple I raced the city sprints in downtown Dusseldorf. My individual sprint went pretty poorly. My preparations leading into the race weekend were brutal. I was planning on doing my pre race intensity on the racecourse on Friday, but as it turned out, they still had not put down any snow on the course so I was forced to skip the intensity and just run instead. I felt so flat and slow in the qualifier and missed the top 30 by over a second. I hate missing the heats; it is the worst feeling ever. I couldn’t stay upset for too long because Drew and I had a big team sprint race the next day.  I was feeling much better the next day in the team sprint. In the semi final Drew and I skied smooth and easily advanced to the Final.
    I had a really good feeling about the final. Drew was skiing incredibly strong all day and I was feeling much better than the day before and wanted some revenge on Dusseldorf. The Final started off really tactical. The pace was really slow and we stayed in last place for the first 4 laps of 6.  There was no need to try and make moves early on, it just would have wasted energy. On Drew’s final lap the Swedes attacked and spread the group out. Drew was able to get by a bunch of teams and tag off to me in 5th place about 4 seconds from the leaders. I started the last leg of the race quick because I knew there was a group of guys right behind me. I caught the 4 leaders mid way through the lap. One Austrian skier got by me so coming into the finishing stretch I was 6th. I made a big push and was able to pass the Austrian skier just before the finish ending our day in 5th just four seconds from the gold medal. I couldn’t have been any happier. The top 6 teams were invited on stage to the medal ceremony after the race to receive our giant cheques. I feel like Drew and I both skied well and exceeded our expectations.

    Davos:
    I had some more bad luck in Davos a week later. I had no problem qualifying for the heats this time. I crossed the line in 14th place 2.5 seconds from the lead. I made sure I had a good pre race intensity.  In the quarter final I was in perfect position, I was sitting in third place with 300 meters to go. My skis were much faster than the other racers so I knew with the downhill finish I could pass at least one skier. On the tightest corner in the race I was following the leaders when a Finnish skier came tearing up the inside taking both of us out of the race. I went from being right in the fight to move to the semis, to finishing dead last…  I have never had a fall in a sprint race before. It is such a rough way to finish your day. I feel like I did everything right but just ran into some serious bad luck.
    It was really awesome that my parents were able to fly out and see me race these last couple weekends. It was a treat to see them since I will not be coming back to Canada until March.

    Rogla:
    I was planning on doing both the 15km distance race and the sprint this weekend. On the Friday before the race, I woke up with a sore throat. This is the worst feeling to have the day before the race. I pulled out of the distance race and sat in bed Friday and Saturday. I tried to go for a run on Saturday evening, but I didn’t feel that great. On Sunday morning I was feeling surprisingly better, good enough to try the race. Warming up my energy was actually pretty good. I somehow managed to fight my way through the qualifier and make it into the heats ranked 23rd. The top 30 were separated by only 3.9 seconds. I am pretty sure that is a new record for the tightest qualifier.  In the quarterfinal it took me a while for me to feel good. I skied the whole way at the back of the group until the final 200 meters where I was able to pass a Swiss and a Swedish skier to finish 4th in the heat and 18th overall on the day. I was happy with this result considering I was lying in bed the past two days.
    I will update photos asap, my internet is super sketchy. 

  • Lenny Valjas .com 2012-01-02 14:26:00

    Sorry for not updating this sooner. Good news is that there is an update coming tomorrow.

  • Ruka Triple

    After finishing 5th in my first World Cup sprint of the season, my weekend of racing was far from over. The next day I raced the 10km skate race on one of the toughest courses on the circuit. The weather was super windy which made it hard to ski the flat sections of the course, it felt like I had no recovery time at all. It was hard for me to warm up for this race. After such a hard effort in the sprint the day before my body felt sore and tired. During the race I felt ok, not great but ok. The hills really put the hurt on me and I really suffered out there trying to salvage my overall ranking. I finished the day in 55th spot which bumped me to 17th overall in the mini tour after two races. I was happy to remain in the top 30 leading into the final day.
    The last race was a 15km Classic Pursuit start race. I had a bunch of the best distance skier starting within 15 seconds behind me so I knew it was going to be tough to keep top 30. The pace at the start of this race was pretty ridiculous, I was pretty much going as hard as I could for the first 5km. There was no way I could keep up the fast pace so I was hoping that everyone would start getting tired and slow down. For the next couple laps I skied with Kris Freeman (us), the pace was still fast but it definitely slowed down a bit. I was sitting in 30th place with 5km to go. There was a group of 10 guys about 15 seconds ahead of me, and I could hear the guys pretty close behind me. Pretty stressful… I really wanted a top 30 overall so it was go time. I started picking up the pace trying to catch that group just in front of me. As the race progressed, I started to feel better and I could see some of the other guys hurting. On the final lap, I caught up to two Norwegian skiers and was able to beat one of them to the line. I finished off the day in 29th place! top 30, Yeah Buddy!!!
    Ruka triple treated me well this year.
    Now I am off to Sunny Davos for the week to get some training in before the Dusseldorf city spritns next Saturday and Sunday.

    Harvey pulling me in the final stage.

  • Kuusamo Sprint

    Yesterday was the first World Cup Sprint of the year. I had a really solid day of sprinting. The conditions were very unusual for Kuusamo… Usually its really cold and slow, but this year it was right around the freezing point and all ice. It made for some fast laps out there. I finished 4th in the qualifier and felt confident going into the heats. I made the call before the race to pick a pair of skis that would have tons of grip for the climbs but I knew that I would have trouble keeping up with the pack on the downhills. At the start of all of my heats I would lose contact with the other guys on the first big downhill, and have to work my way back to them. When I got to the final big hill I was always 5th or 6th…  I had such amazing grip going up that hill, I could glide up without any slips and make up all the time I needed.
    This was the first time I have ever made the final in a World Cup sprint. It was a pretty good feeling at the start line knowing that the worst I could finish off the day was in 6th. About 10 minutes before the start of the final, it started to snow pretty hard. I was skiing on full klister, which would ice up on the fresh snow if I stopped moving my skis. On the start line I was just focussing on keeping the skis moving. I could feel them wanting to ice up… I got off the line without any problems until the top of the downhill. My ski must have got caught up on some fresh snow and my klister grabbed and almost threw me face first down the hill. Luckily I was able to hold on and not wipeout.  The final went exactly like the other heats, I got dropped on the downhill and bridged the gap back up the last hill. Coming into the final straight I was still in contact with the leaders but I was sitting in 6th. I was able to pass the Finnish skier in the final straight and I was gaining on the Norwegian but ran out of time. I finished the day in 5TH! I couldn’t believe it, I didn’t think I would be making the final at all this year.
    There are two more races in this Kuusamo mini-tour, today is a 10 km Skate, and Sunday is the 15km Classic pursuit start.
    Here are a few photos from the heats.

    Top of the hill in the qualifier
    rocking my MO

    climbing the last hill in the 1/4 final with all the coaches watching on from the sidelines

    semi final start

  • Ostersund Ultra Slo Mo!

    Things have really slowed down here in Ostersund. Check out this video made by Kevin Sandau! (sandau.ca)

  • One down, Many to go!

    It has begun. Last weekend, Bruksvallarna, 15km Skate, very little snow.

    I was very happy with my race. The course suited me very nicely, fairly flat with short steep hills. It was like doing a buch of 10-15 seconds sprints uphill and then hammering the flats.
    I finished the day in 18th place overall and 2nd Canadian behind Alex. For the first race of my season, I cant ask for anything more, especially since almost all the World Cup skiers were racing at this race due to lack of snow in all of Europe.

    Results:     http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/604/610.html?sector=CC&raceid=19621

    Kevin racing up the hill with Peter our wax tech cheering along side

  • Room clean timelapse

    This is Alex Devon and I packing up our room on our way to the Bruksvallarna race. This is my life for the next 5 months.

  • Room clean timelapse

    This is Alex Devon and I packing up our room on our way to the Bruksvallarna race. This is my life for the next 5 months.

  • Room clean timelapse

    This is Alex Devon and I packing up our room on our way to the Bruksvallarna race. This is my life for the next 5 months.

  • A cool time-lapse of the Ostersund sunset

    Suur aitäh to Scott Edmunds for the video.

  • A cool time-lapse of the Ostersund sunset

    Suur aitäh to Scott Edmunds for the video.

  • A cool time-lapse of the Ostersund sunset

    Suur aitäh to Scott Edmunds for the video.

  • brief summer update

    This update is way over due. I am going to start bliggidy bloggin more often now that the races are about to begin.
    It’s been a really good summer for me. I was able to get in some high quality training, in places that I had never been before. Training with the World Cup Team for the first time was amazing. Alex, Devon, and Ivan are incredible athletes; I am trying to soak up all the helpful advice that they give me.
    First, though I took a month off and my summer started off with a little bit of fun in the sun.  I spent two windy weeks in Maui windsurfing. This was my first time in Hawaii, and I LOVED it. I rented a beauty of a car while I was there. Let me tell you, it’s not your usual rental car that’s for sure. Before leaving Toronto, the owner of the rental car company left me a voicemail saying “Aloha, the car will be waiting for you in the parking lot just outside of Arrivals. It’s a grey Nissan Sentra, and the keys are in the ignition.” The man wasn’t kidding; I found the car at the end of the parking lot ready to rock.
    I contemplated waiting in Maui for an additional 4 weeks until our team training camp, but then I remembered that I am a Cross Country skier not a windsurfer.  
    Our first team training camp of the summer was held in Bend, Or. This place was really cool, we stayed in amazing rental houses in the warm desert climate, and skiing was only a 25-minute drive away. This camp was a perfect time for Justin to help me dial in my technique, it was time to get rid of my old bad habits. The US national team was training in Bend at the same time as us. It was good to meet the new members of the team and do some intensity workouts together. 
    After the Bend camp, it was time for the first ever Hawaii training camp. The training was absolutely amazing. We pounded out two weeks of really quality training. Most of our training was done climbing the hot and steep roads of the Haleakala Volcano. This is a big hill, its 38 miles of steady climbing. 4 hours of biking/rollerskiing/running still left us short of the summit. We had a couple easier days during the camp, so we all went to catch some Hawaiian Waves. I am sure that the whole team would agree with me, saying that this was the best camp ever. We then flew straight to Canmore to finish off the second half of the training block.
    I spent the next couple weeks training on my own. I spent 6 days fishing in Alaska with my teammate Dave Greer, and then made my way home for some RR by the lake.
    Before I got too settled down at home, it was time for the New Zealand man camp and the NZ Winter Games races. Skiing was amazing at the snow farm this year. Almost everyday was sunny. We were able to put in some long hard training days.

    During my time at home, I had the privilege to go and help out at the SOD training camp at Hardwood Ski and Bike. Hardwood is the ski centre where it all began for me, they were the ones who taught me how to ski! I was really excited to help coach, talk, and train with the 120+ kids that came out to the camp.  

    The final training camps were held in Park City, Canmore, and Whistler. The first three weeks were at altitude with lots of hours, and the week in Whistler was a low altitude intensity camp. I was feeling pretty tired after all the altitude training that I didn’t perform all that well in Whistler. It was all part of the plan to be tired in Whistler and enjoy a nice easy week after to recover.
    The final three weeks I spent in Quebec preparing for the Fall World Cups in Scandinavia.
    This was a super brief rundown of how my summer went, I will keep you updated regularly now with news from Europe.
      

  • brief summer update

    This update is way over due. I am going to start bliggidy bloggin more often now that the races are about to begin.
    It’s been a really good summer for me. I was able to get in some high quality training, in places that I had never been before. Training with the World Cup Team for the first time was amazing. Alex, Devon, and Ivan are incredible athletes; I am trying to soak up all the helpful advice that they give me.
    First, though I took a month off and my summer started off with a little bit of fun in the sun.  I spent two windy weeks in Maui windsurfing. This was my first time in Hawaii, and I LOVED it. I rented a beauty of a car while I was there. Let me tell you, it’s not your usual rental car that’s for sure. Before leaving Toronto, the owner of the rental car company left me a voicemail saying “Aloha, the car will be waiting for you in the parking lot just outside of Arrivals. It’s a grey Nissan Sentra, and the keys are in the ignition.” The man wasn’t kidding; I found the car at the end of the parking lot ready to rock.
    I contemplated waiting in Maui for an additional 4 weeks until our team training camp, but then I remembered that I am a Cross Country skier not a windsurfer.  
    Our first team training camp of the summer was held in Bend, Or. This place was really cool, we stayed in amazing rental houses in the warm desert climate, and skiing was only a 25-minute drive away. This camp was a perfect time for Justin to help me dial in my technique, it was time to get rid of my old bad habits. The US national team was training in Bend at the same time as us. It was good to meet the new members of the team and do some intensity workouts together. 
    After the Bend camp, it was time for the first ever Hawaii training camp. The training was absolutely amazing. We pounded out two weeks of really quality training. Most of our training was done climbing the hot and steep roads of the Haleakala Volcano. This is a big hill, its 38 miles of steady climbing. 4 hours of biking/rollerskiing/running still left us short of the summit. We had a couple easier days during the camp, so we all went to catch some Hawaiian Waves. I am sure that the whole team would agree with me, saying that this was the best camp ever. We then flew straight to Canmore to finish off the second half of the training block.
    I spent the next couple weeks training on my own. I spent 6 days fishing in Alaska with my teammate Dave Greer, and then made my way home for some RR by the lake.
    Before I got too settled down at home, it was time for the New Zealand man camp and the NZ Winter Games races. Skiing was amazing at the snow farm this year. Almost everyday was sunny. We were able to put in some long hard training days.

    During my time at home, I had the privilege to go and help out at the SOD training camp at Hardwood Ski and Bike. Hardwood is the ski centre where it all began for me, they were the ones who taught me how to ski! I was really excited to help coach, talk, and train with the 120+ kids that came out to the camp.  

    The final training camps were held in Park City, Canmore, and Whistler. The first three weeks were at altitude with lots of hours, and the week in Whistler was a low altitude intensity camp. I was feeling pretty tired after all the altitude training that I didn’t perform all that well in Whistler. It was all part of the plan to be tired in Whistler and enjoy a nice easy week after to recover.
    The final three weeks I spent in Quebec preparing for the Fall World Cups in Scandinavia.
    This was a super brief rundown of how my summer went, I will keep you updated regularly now with news from Europe.