FasterSkier

Category: XCFeeds

A collection of live feeds from cross-country ski blogs around the web.

  • October at Altitude!

    The countdown has truly begun…. in just a short 29 days I will be headed on another 30-hour travel to Europe to kick off the 2012-2013 ski season. With less than a month to go, nerves and excitement are starting to brew in my belly and the anticipation is high.  
    I find our sport to be qualitative to a fault.  It’s usually this time of year when I start to wonder, am I fit? Have I prepared well enough? What page of the results will I be on for the first race of the season?  Unlike running, biking, or baseball we have comparatively few ways to measure our progress or improvements.  We don’t measure wattage, we don’t keep stats, and skiing isn’t as simple as running a repeatable track workout. We can repeat intervals on roller skis but weather and temperature change the speed of the pavement up to 20%.  We can do a running test or a strength test but realistically, just because you can do more pull ups than 6 months ago doesn’t guarantee that you’re double pole is going to improve.  
    Physiological testing at the USSA headquarters in Park City, Utah is just one of the reasons why US Ski Team members make an annual trip here to train come October.  The weather is generally beautiful, we can use the facilities at the Center of Excellence & we can “test” with the sports science department. On top of all this, we can take advantage of the opportunity to live & train at altitude.  In fact, as I type this, I am sitting at our condo in Deer Valley @ almost 9,000 feet! For those unfamiliar with altitude training it is basically a natural way of increasing your red blood cells & hemoglobin – both of which are responsible for carrying & delivering oxygen throughout your body.  All said and done I will have been here for a full 18 days which should be enough time to spike my hemoglobin. I took a test upon landing and will take another one just before departure to track the change. 
    In addition to the hemoglobin tests I was scheduled to do a series of “max effort” tests on the ski treadmill to measure my Vo2max among other things.  Unfortunately, I’m suffering from a bit of an intercostal muscle pull and at this point, have been unable to test or use my left arm to it’s full capacity.  Some of you may remember seeing this from a post I wrote in May: 
    I was hoping to repeat this test (and see improvement!) but the priority is on fully healing my muscle so that I can do on-snow intervals in Alaska before departing for my first race in Munio, Finland!  One of the advantages of being near the COE is that we have in-house trainers & physical therapists.  I am seeing them daily and think that I should be 100% healed in no time! 
    Aside from using the COE and testing, my trip to Utah has given me a much-needed change of scenery, pace, and WEATHER.  While the weather at home in Alaska had been quite “challenging” the weather in Utah has been gorgeous. It’s motivating to get out the door and in fact, sometimes you have to keep an eye on your watch because it’s tempting to stay outside all day! 
    Last week I got to do something I’ve been wanting to do for a while now and that is climb Timpanogos, an 11,700 foot peak just an hours drive from Park City.  Lucky for me I got to climb it with a huge group of friends as it was part of my dear friend, Katie Ronsse’s pre-wedding activities! 
    The bride on the way to the summit! 

    Our entire crew – all with either AK or skiing connections! Left to right: Katie, Me, Paige, Corky, Justin, Mandy, Julia & Shannon 

    With my old training partner, Katie, at the summit!  (This is true Holly & Katie style – both with huge smiles and Katie doing the splits!) 

    Another thing I’ve been able to take advantage of here in Utah is the FOOD.  I love ethnic food, particularly Mexican food.  There is plenty to be had here – you can see by the site of this salsa bar…. last week I also went to a farmer’s market and just about died of happiness as there were fresh local fruits and veggies for REALLY affordable prices!

    Post-training tamales! 
    Skiing from Salt Lake City up Emigration.  We gained a couple thousand feet!
    My coaches – Erik w/APU & Matt with USST

    The boys train headed up the pass

    Gorgeous Utah fall colors. 
    (Special thanks to my husband, Rob Whitney for taking some awesome pictures!) 

    Another huge highlight of the past week and a half was attending Katie and Justin’s wedding.  Rob was able to join me for the wedding and a small respite from the Alaskan rain.  He was “happy as a clam” biking 8 hours a day on the extensive Park City mountain bike trails!

    Katie with her father, Dennis – also the wedding officiant

    The day after the wedding we were able to do one of the nicest road rides in Utah up highway 92 towards American Fork. The aspens were incredible and we had fun hanging out with Morgan and Chris! 

    Biking with my hubby! 
    Biking with Sadie! 

    I have another four days here in Utah and its action packed with training sessions, physical therapy appointments, meetings with our new team sports psychologist & travel agent, getting outfitted with gear for the new season & an National Nordic Foundation fundraising meet & greet. (More on that and the Drive for 25 later!) 
    In the meantime, for all you folks up in Alaska – we’re having a fun(d) run for Mary this upcoming Sunday!  I hope to see some of you there! Please help spread the word: 
    That’s it for now from Utah! Smiles & thanks for reading, 
    Holly 🙂 

  • Snow, Bounding, and Birthday Party

    It snowed up high in Park City today!

    The US Ski Team did max bounding intervals this morning. I did 6 by 3-4 minutes race pace to maximal with Tad Elliott, Erik Bjornsen, and a few club skiers. We started and finished at the same place each interval and our times were: 4:00, 3:43, 3:43, 3:39, 3:19, 3:29. The last minute of the last two intervals were maximal. It was a tough and productive workout. Here’s some video from US Ski Team coach Bryan Fish.

    This afternoon I classic skied for an hour and fifteen minutes with Kris Freeman. Then we had a pizza party to celebrate Kris’s birthday.

    Above from left to right, Kikkan Randall, Tad, Toni Adams, Kris, and Ida Sargent.

    Bryan also enjoyed the pizza:

    Even though Kris is diabetic, he was still able to enjoy some of his birthday cake. (And the rest of us enjoyed it as well.)

  • Back home for Fall Break!

    On Thursday, we had all school “Mountain Day”, a surprise day where school is cancelled and all students are sent to Tumbledown Mountain to hike for the day.  The nordic team tore it up!  Here is the lake just below the peak where we stopped for lunch:

    Friday and Saturday were parent’s weekend here at Gould, and now skiers are home for fall break until Thursday.  Until then, here is an interesting rendering found of the wall of Holden (boys’ dorm), depicting what the basement of Ordway was SUPPOSED to be used for :) .

  • 10/12 Double Pole Test

    Yesterday was the first day of our Parents Weekend and also a double workout day for us!  Double pole test in the morning and all-school obstacle course relay in the afternoon.  It was a tough day for setting PRs with a headwind, cold weather, wet pavement, and a small dirt chunk on the road that needs to be repaved. 🙂  Nevertheless, great efforts by everyone and as always the disclaimer that times are dependent on rollerski speed and, especially today, conditions.

    Hamish 4:19
    Jack 4:32
    Koby 4:37
    Paddy 4:37
    Calvin 4:48
    Gino 4:50
    Tyler 5:27
    Katharine 5:51
    Scott 5:52
    Mollie 6:00
    Mackenzie 6:09
    Ana 6:35
    Tegan 6:36
    Pip 6:52
    Alex 6:53

  • Wet Soldier Hollow Ski

    This morning’s workout for the US Ski Team camp was two hours of distance skate roller skiing at Soldier Hollow (on the roller ski track at the 2002 Olympic Venue.) We included 30 minutes of no pole skiing in the session to work on lower body technique. Some athletes did one pole skiing. Here’s some video of the session from US Ski Team coach Jason Cork. It includes Kris Freeman following me no pole skiing and me following Kris and Tad Elliott. Also, check out Andy Newell’s little demonstration of how slick the pavement was with the rain.

  • 2013 Alberta Youth Cross Country Ski Championships

     
    2013 Alberta Youth Championships – Bragg Creek, AB
     
     
    I’ll be honest, I am crazy about cross country skiing – not in an insane sort of way – but in a ‘I really love this stuff’ kind of way.  A few years ago, I had the opportunity to organize the Alberta Youth Champs in Calgary (2009) – no club had picked this event up in previous 3 years.  I didnt really know what I wanted it to be, i just wanted to make sure that it happened.  It worked out OK – I learned that hosting an event in Alberta in January can result in cold weather cancellations. 
     
    Where I really got a sense of the potential of an event like Alberta Youth Champs was when I attended the 2010 Quebec Noram Midget Champs.  Organizer Tom Silletta and his crew from Joliette really have it nailed down.  An incredible mix of kids stayiing in an ‘athletes village’, representing their ski clubs, skiing in a few races, in what was for me the biggest and best organized provincial level kids cross country ski event I had ever been to.  What Tom and company have created is not just 2 or 3 races, but an event that has created its own set of traditions, its own exciting anticipation built collectively by skis clubs primarily from Quebec, but also from Ontario, New Brunswick, and New England.  It almost feels like a mini-nationals, where kids and clubs gear up for this event, circling it on their event calendar the year before, where people are willing to sleep on school classroom floors and shower in high school showers to be a part of what is truly the most important event on the calendar for clubs from this region. 
     
    I’ve been lucky to be a part of this event twice.  I’ll tell you, Tom Silletta, was beaming when our club from Canmore won the club aggregate banner in 2010 – because I think for him it was a dream to have kids from the west joining in on this event and winning.  For our kids from Canmore, they were fired up about racing, about being in the east – I think for some it was a turning point where they said to themselves, I want to get faster and for all of those kids, they have.
     
    When we returned to Joliette in 2012, our club kids from Canmore once again skied excellently, winning aggregate banners for the midget boys and girls – almost every skier finishing in the top 10 of single year age categories of 60-80 kids.  I was incredibly proud of them, but in the back of my mind, i realized these kids were fired up about this event and the magic that Tom and his crew from Club Defi St Therese Martin ski club and the whole of the Quebec ski community had created.  This event is bigger than a ski race – its a place where kids dream.
     
    One of the magical moments at the event in 2012 was when Alex Harvey spoke in a short video clip and talked about how the Quebec Noram midget champs were a pivotal experience for him in his career as a ski racer – that it was a jumping off point.  You could have heard a pin drop in the room when Alex was speaking – this guy is a rock star in Quebec (and in Canmore I think).  Having been a part of the Joliette event a couple of times, I can see why so many young Quebec skiers are dominating our national level events curently – Raphael Couterier, Alexis Turgeon, Anne Marie Comeau, Emilie Stewart Jones all participated in the Noram Midget champs.  Athough it would be difficult to establish a cause effect relationship between participation in Quebec Noram Midget Champs and the rising level of Quebec junior racers at Canadian Nationals, I would say there is a strong correlation.  Kids and clubs in Quebec are fired up about racing and i think because of events like Quebec Noram Youth Champs dream of how far they can go.  At Quebec Norams its not just one club that dominates, but clubs from across the province.  They are doing some things really well in Quebec – starting with the Quebec Noram Midget Champs.
     
    And so, setting out last year to create the 2012 Alberta Youth Champs, I set out to not replicate the event that happens in Quebec, but to try to create an event that fits for Alberta, that creates a culture that includes the same excitement, anticipation, and fun for our kids here in Alberta, because this is where we are.  We set out to create something that reflects the priorities of our ski community, that fits for here.  We have great clubs in this province, and every where i know of, people are working hard to build something extraordinary, something where kids get hooked on a great sport – cross country skiing.  My goal is to help make that a bit easier by creating an event that brings clubs together once a year, where every kid (born in the four year age group targeted by this event) in Alberta who wants to attend, can attend – no qualifications, just interested in participating – then after having participated having kids say ‘that was awesome – i want to come back’.

    I have had some questions about whether children younger than the four year age group can attend (1999-2002) – I have responded with a ‘no’ – I think it OK for kids to wait, to develop that sense of anticipation of ‘I cant wait till I am old enough to participate in the Alberta Youth Champs.

    In 2012, I was amazed by XC Bragg Creek ski club – here is a club that was formed in 2009 – has never had a child who attended a regional or provincial level race before.  Yet here they were, stepping up to host a provincial event.  I now live in Canmore, but I had lived in Bragg Creek for 15 years and skied on the trails at West Bragg a million times with my own family, and I had always said to myself – this would be a great venue for a childrens event – trails that are challenging, hold snow well, have great grooming (recently) and a bunch of summer camps that could be used for hosting children at an event.  they did an incredible job and hopefully provided a good example of how a small club can go about doing something big.

     
    I wanted to let you know that we are two months months out from the early registration deadline (Dec 15, 2012) for the 2013 Alberta Youth Champs in Bragg Creek. Registration at https://zone4.ca/onlinereg.asp?id=5043 We invite you to join us at what will be a fun and eventful weekend. Our goal with this event is to create something that is perceived as a ‘big event’ for midget and minimidget age kids (1999-2002) – the sort of event that when kids get to the end of it they say “I cant wait for next year”, that kids who are not old enough to attend say to their families “I cant wait until i am old enough to attend the Alberta Youth Champs”. We think this kind of magic is exactly the type of event that will hook kids on skiing and racing.
    For those of us that were lucky to be there last year, my sense is that we got a good start on this mission – to hook kids on skiing and racing. I have attached the race notice for the event here and for those of you who attended last year, you’ll recognize some familiar parts – based on some feedback from club coaches, we have altered the distances for the minimidgets in one of the races (ind skate race) – only the midgets will do the stairway to heaven climb in the skate race, the minimidgets will get a chance to challenge themselves on that climb during the wave start classic race on sunday. As event organizers we’ve heard the feedback and are making a change.
    New this year we will be using Venturer Lodge at Kamp Kiwanis, a newer multipurpose building that sleeps about 60 in addition to all of the spaces we had last year – this will bring our capacity to about 200 people (including coaches and chaperones) for the 2013 event (this is why our costing is a bit higher this year).
    A question that has come up often is how many coaches and chaperones need to attend. the answer is about 1 adult for every 8-10 kids.
    The Alberta Youth Champs was a huge event for this age of skier in 2012 – and we would love to see some skiers from your club attending. the host clubs for this event – XC Bragg Creek and Canmore Nordic – are excited about collaborating on thsi year’s AYC. Thank you for selling this event in your club and community – you folks did such an incredible job of promoting this event last year that we had a much larger than expected turnout of kids.
    It will be winter in no time – i look forward to seeing you at events over the winter!
    cheers

  • Settling into Fall in Vermont

    See below for more bounding pictures!
    We’ve had great and varied training since returning from Italy to Vermont. It is nice to settle into the daily routine, and we have a great rhythm going with the team firing on all cylinders. Below are photos from a max-speed workout we did on the sweet Bragg Hill pavement. With athletes skating, classic skiing, and running, it was a fun day of mix-and-match on the hill.
    The sprint workout is a great opportunity to think about what actually makes us go fast. The athletes quickly realized that big smooth motions are the secret to success, and they cruised up the hill.

    Later in the week we took advantage of a beautiful fall morning to do bounding intervals up Mad River. We could see the first snow of the year above us and the amazing colors of fall all around us. The bounding workout was a new one: instead of measuring “on” time by seconds, we counted steps. The format was a ladder: first a 10-step bound, then a 20-step bound and so on up to 100 steps. When we made it to 100, we went back down the ladder, starting with 90 steps and continuing back down to a final 10-step bound. A little video from the workout is on the previous post.

    It was a great day to be on the mountain and we saw some impressive bounding out there!

  • USST Double Pole

    This morning the whole US Ski Team plus several elite level club athletes did a two and a half double pole only session. Here is Stratton Mountain School athlete Eric Packer (left) and US Ski Team athlete Andy Newell post workout:

    Coach Matt Whitcomb road along for the session.

    And here’s my teammate Ida Sargent:

    Teammates Liz Stephen (left) and Kikkan Randall are two of the three girls on the US Ski Team A Team:

    This afternoon I ran for an hour then did “session 2″ of my new core strength program. We had a delicious team dinner cooked by new US Ski Team nutritionist Matt. (I don’t know his last name.)

  • Skate Distance

     This afternoon Scott and the girls headed over to BMD for a skate distance ski, while the older boys skied from school and did a similar workout.  The BMD crew warmed up with some no pole skiing for 15 minutes and then did a few technique drills, including trying to ski in a synchonized pack (varying levels of success!).  The bulk of the ski was spent skiing back and forth over an up and down section of terrain and doing a pick up into and out of the “dip”.  15 minute cool down ski and back up to school!  Tomorrow is the first day of Parent’s Weekend so we have no classes, but we will have two workouts – double pole test at 10am and the obstacle course relay with the whole school at 2:30pm!  Stay tuned for lots more photos from the weekend!
     Attempt #1 at synchronized skiing!
     Sverre explains the next part of the workout.
     Kate is becoming very good at no pole skiing – and she’s seen some huge improvements to her technique because of it!
     Tess leading Katharine and Tegan.
     Pippin and Scott battle it out.
    Mollie is working on trying to not land heel first when she V2s.  She’s getting there!

  • Fall Foliage

    Fall is one of my favorite times of the years.  Colorful leaves, the last garden harvests with pumpkins, squash, and apples galore, and that frosty chill in the air which is an exciting harbinger of the upcoming winter.  This year we had a very dry summer and early autumn and this nice weather became the gift which kept on giving with awesome fall foliage.  Here are some pictures of the fall leaves around Craftsbury.

    A rainbow of leaves

    A rainbow of leaves

    A neon tree which Caitlin and I marveled at while rollerskiing on the Creek Rd. in East Albany

    A neon tree which Caitlin and I marveled at while rollerskiing on the Creek Rd. in East Albany

    The treeline next to our favorite bounding and grass skiing hill

    The treeline next to our favorite bounding and grass skiing hill

    The view from our parking lot at Elinor's

    The view from our parking lot at Elinor's

    I think the new windmills are enhancing the fall panoramas. Here you can kind of see the turbines in the distance.

    I think the new windmills are enhancing the fall panoramas. Here you can kind of see the turbines in the distance.

    Lots of reds and oranges

    Lots of reds and oranges

    Jay Peak

    Jay Peak

    P1010438

    P1010454

    P1010173

    P1000889

    It's past peak now but that only highlights the trees which continue to shine

    It's past peak now but that only highlights the trees which continue to shine

    And now that the leaves are falling, it's time to start our snow dances. The first snow of the year left some accumulation on Mt. Mansfield.

    And now that the leaves are falling, it's time to start our snow dances. The first snow of the year left some accumulation on Mt. Mansfield.

    With the peak of foliage over, I headed west to Park City for an altitude training camp with the US Ski team.  There are some yellow birch trees here but the colors are nowhere near as vibrant.  On the upside, the drier climate  means lots of sunny weather and my vitamin D stores are feeling happily replenished.  Check back soon for updates from Utah.

    Thanks for reading and happy fall!

  • October Stone Grinding Schedule

    You’ve been training this summer and fall to get the most from your skiing, so make sure your skis aren’t a limiter.

    Prepare all of your skis to run their best with a fresh grind and hotbox service. At Nordic Ultratune, a grind batch starts every Thursday and those skis are ready for shipping on the following Monday — just 4 days later.

    Return shipping is typically FedEx Express Saver, which is 3rd day delivery. So, skis that are shipped out on Monday will arrive back to you on Thursday.

    Here’s the upcoming service schedule at Nordic Ultratune. Use these dates to make sure you get your skis ready before your most important races.
    • Skis in by Oct 11th will ship out on Oct 15th and arrive back to you by the 18th.
    • Skis in by Oct 18th will ship out on Oct 22nd.
    • Skis in by Oct 24th will ship out on Oct 29th.
    • Skis in by Nov 1st will ship out on Nov 5th.
    • Skis in by Nov 8th will ship out on Nov 12th.
    • Skis in by Nov 15th will ship out on Nov 19th.

    You can see that there are still service batches scheduled before the big Thanksgiving week training camps (and races…). There is still time to get a fast grind on your skis before the season kicks off! But don’t delay… …fast boards are a joy to ski on, and they’re a real advantage.

  • Development Patterns In Detail

    As promised from last time, I’m going to show you the un-aggregated data from Tuesday’s plots. This means we’re going to have some big graphs, bigger than I typically think is useful, but no matter.

    I’ve plotted FIS points versus age for each of the male and female skiers with a podium result in a major international competition, and indicated the age at which each skier attained their first WC start, their first points and their first podium. If you only see two (or fewer) vertical lines, that means that some of those events happened at basically the same age. (Keep in mind that my age data is only at the resolution of a whole year.)

    First the men’s distance podium skiers (these are big; click through for full versions):

    And the women’s distance version of the same thing:

    I won’t offer much commentary, except that it’s interesting to browse through these graphs and notice the variety of different paths different skiers take. I’ll have the sprint versions on Tuesday.

     

    Related posts:

    1. <Post-WJC/U23 Development: Canada
    2. <FIS Points Development Guide
    3. <Applying FIS Point Development Curves To The USST


  • Ski Like Noah Contest

    Madshus, my ski, boot and pole sponsor is running a contest where they’re giving away top of the line skis, boots, and poles to one lucky winner. I truly believe they make world class products. I can think of multiple races on the world cup where I have felt I had the best skis in the field. To enter for a chance to win visit

    http://madshus.com/ski-like-noah

  • Little Cottonwood Canyon

    My only workout today was an hour and a half road bike ride. I was too much of a wimp to go out early this morning in the cold so I waited until mid day and drove down to Salt Lake. I road Little Cottonwood Canyon.

    I had never been up the canyon and it was beautiful. Someday I want to ski the two famous ski areas at the top.

    The tram at Snowbird looks amazing.

    I hear they get a lot of snow up there.

    And the terrain at Alta looks fun to ski.

    I liked the church in the “town” of Alta.

    It’s hard to read but it’s called Our Lady of the Snows.

    The canyon was steep. I was taking it easy, but it took me more than an hour to go the 8 miles (13 kilometers) from bottom to top. It was a cool ride.

    After the ride I played disc golf with my friend Graham Watanabe. I achieved my goal of better than bogey golf with 19 under for 20 holes.

  • Doping and Lance Armstrong

    People have asked me about my views on doping and Lance Armstrong. The defense I have heard most often of Lance is that everybody was cheating so he was still the best when he won his Tours. I have also heard people say that USADA is too late. They should just give up because his career is over, he has given lots of money to charity and bringing him down now does more harm than good.

    I have to strongly disagree with these arguments.

    First let me put this out there just so we’re on the same page: I want to be the best skier in the world BUT there is much, much more I’m looking forward to doing after sports. This is not my life. It is not even remotely worth cheating for. My goals do not include making as much money or being as famous as possible. They are simply to try to be the best in the world at something. The only way to do that is by sticking to the rules. I will never take performance enhancing drugs or knowingly cheat to better my ski career.

    Now that I’ve been clear, my views on Lance basically echo those feelings. Somebody, whether they got picked for a Tour de France team or not, is bike racing clean. I don’t care if you have to go 150 people deep on the list, it is the job of the governing bodies of sport to find, punish, and ban every cheater. In my opinion it boils down to why we have sport in modern culture. Is it purely for entertainment? If so, is it more entertaining to watch athletes cheat and win or win clean? Or is sport about bonding over a common cause? I don’t have answers to these questions but I have no interest in being involved in sports if the rules are not definitive. The biggest draws to my career goals are that they are fixed and quantifiable. I don’t play by loose rules.

    As for Lance’s potential innocence, I believe today’s report from USADA proved beyond reasonable doubt that he cheated.

    I met Lance once when I hiked half way up Aspen Mountain with him. He was friendly, but I never had another encounter with him.

  • Black Corduroy: New Pavement on E. Bethel Road

    15 km of new pavement has been put down on East Bethel and Interval roads, two of our favorite spots for rollerskiing in Bethel because of the terrain and the low traffic count, which makes about 30 continuous kms of great rollerskiing less than 5 minutes from campus.  Maine Department of Transportation’s gift to Gould Nordic!!  They seem to have paved Route 2 and Grafton Notch as well…. the rollerskiing around here is looking pretty good!

    Black Corduroy from Gould Nordic on Vimeo.

  • L3 Intervals

    Today we did L3 intervals on East Bethel road.  Sadie did the intervals sans poles due to her broken finger (and her coaches’ interest in hammering the speedskater drill into her brain… success!), and Ashton did them DP only.  The interval was 2.6 km long over rolling terrain.  Jeremy Blazar (our new assistant coach – see the coaches page) and I stayed dry inside the van and took times and lactates!

    Sadie / Time / Lactate / HR

    10:06 / 6.1 / 167
    9:00 / 5.5 / 166
    9:38 / —- / 169
    8:55 / —- / 167

    Ashton / Time / Lactate / HR

    10:30 / — / ”somewhere between 117 and 177″
    8:50 / 4.1 / 167
    9:30 / —- / 168
    8:56 / —- / 168

    The first one was going up, second one down, third up, fourth down (explains the time variation).  At L3, the “scientific” measure we looking for is a lactate between 4-6 mmol – then we try to correlate a HR and a feeling that a skier can stick, so that a skier can ski at L3 without getting poked with a needle all the time.  As for timing the intervals – we are just looking for speed improvement for a given level of exertion.  Either over time from fitness gains, or over one workout from technique cues.

    From the few tests we did today, it seems like everyone was pretty much on target for L3, plus or minus a few variations (restricted technique being a complicating factor).  But, good enough work for one day!  And excellent leg and arm workouts were had!

    Ashton getting a poke:

  • L3 Intervals

    Today we did L3 intervals on East Bethel road.  Sadie did the intervals sans poles due to her broken finger (and her coaches’ interest in hammering the speedskater drill into her brain… success!), and Ashton did them DP only.  The interval was 2.6 km long over rolling terrain.  Jeremy Blazar (our new assistant coach – see the coaches page) and I stayed dry inside the van and took times and lactates!

    Sadie / Time / Lactate / HR

    10:06 / 6.1 / 167
    9:00 / 5.5 / 166
    9:38 / —- / 169
    8:55 / —- / 167

    Ashton / Time / Lactate / HR

    10:30 / — / ”somewhere between 117 and 177″
    8:50 / 4.1 / 167
    9:30 / —- / 168
    8:56 / —- / 168

    The first one was going up, second one down, third up, fourth down (explains the time variation).  At L3, the “scientific” measure we looking for is a lactate between 4-6 mmol – then we try to correlate a HR and a feeling that a skier can stick, so that a skier can ski at L3 without getting poked with a needle all the time.  As for timing the intervals – we are just looking for speed improvement for a given level of exertion.  Either over time from fitness gains, or over one workout from technique cues.

    From the few tests we did today, it seems like everyone was pretty much on target for L3, plus or minus a few variations (restricted technique being a complicating factor).  But, good enough work for one day!  And excellent leg and arm workouts were had!

    Ashton getting a poke:

  • NNF Drive for 25

    The National Nordic Foundation  is an awesome organization that supports the development of US skiing.   The NNF helps fund trips such as the J1 Scando Cup, World Juniors, U23 World Championships, and World Cup Competitions.  Last year the NNF cut the cost of attending World Junior Championships (the premier international competition for skiers under 20), from a prohibitive $4,125 down to $2,200 per athlete.

    This year, the NNF is working to continue cutting the cost of competing internationally through a grassroots fundraising effort called the Drive for 25, with the goal of raising $125,000 for US skiing.  To foster the involvement of athletes in the fundraising effort, an anonymous donor has stepped forward promising to contribute $5 for every $1 raised by athletes, up to $50,000.  This match ONLY counts toward money raised by athletes.  This is an incredible opportunity to spread the word about the NNF and really raise a lot of money toward the development of US skiing.

    My personal goal is to raise $1000 for NNF, which with the matching donor, will raise $6,000 overall for US skiing.  To donate to the Drive for 25, click here.  Remember, your donation will be QUINTUPLED by the matching donor!

    Here is how NNF jump starts the growth of skiing in the US at all levels.

    Thanks for reading!

  • USST Pictures

    The US Ski Team October Camp started today. This is a split camp that starts here in Park City for 10 days then moves to Canmore, Alberta (on-snow) for 10 more days. Most of my teammates are testing for the first two days of camp. They roller ski on a giant 6 foot wide treadmill, breathe into a tube and go as hard as they can while the treadmill either goes faster or gets steeper until they fall off. In this way they measure their VO2 max, max heart rate and max lactate.

    I tested consistently for the first three years I was on the US Ski Team. The last two years I have chosen not to test because I didn’t feel I was getting a benefit from it. I never received any results or information from testing that helped me ski fast in the winter. I never had a treadmill test tell me something I didn’t already know (i.e. I’m in good shape or I’m not in good shape.) This is not to say I will never test again. If there is a good reason to test in the future I will absolutely do it.

    So, I worked out on my own today. I did a two hour run this morning followed by 10 minutes of short hill bounding on real skis. This afternoon I went for a two hour mountain bike ride. This may have been my last ride of the season and it was really fun.

    We also did US Ski Team head shots and group photos today. Here is my teammate Holly Brooks getting her head shot:

    Picture day requires a lot of waiting around:

    And waiting for instructions:

    But we finally got the sweet team shot we were looking for: