FasterSkier

Category: XCFeeds

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

  • A new town and new faces

    In the next month I will be moving to Minneapolis, MN. I will still get to see everyone at the ‘LCO Club’ while I am in town for training camps, but I am also meeting a whole new group at the Boys and Girls Club in North Minneapolis.

    Devontre after setting a record in the obstacle course
    at the park in front of the Boys and Girls Club

    Yes, that is one huge dog. Getting ready to start a chess and mankala tournament
    after Power Hour and Homework time.

    The Gerry Gamble Boys and Girls Club is just a mile up the street from Caitlin and my new house. It is fun to talk to the kids about the neighborhood and realized that they live practically right next door. I am still learning names and faces while I build my street ‘cred’ at the new ‘Club.’ I am already thinking about how we can get the city kids up to Hayward to visit the LCO Club and the north woods. Similarly it would be fun to give the LCO kids a chance to experience life in the city.
    I will still be up north in Hayward quite a bit for training camps.

  • A new town and new faces

    In the next month I will be moving to Minneapolis, MN. I will still get to see everyone at the ‘LCO Club’ while I am in town for training camps, but I am also meeting a whole new group at the Boys and Girls Club in North Minneapolis.

    Devontre after setting a record in the obstacle course
    at the park in front of the Boys and Girls Club

    Yes, that is one huge dog. Getting ready to start a chess and mankala tournament
    after Power Hour and Homework time.

    The Gerry Gamble Boys and Girls Club is just a mile up the street from Caitlin and my new house. It is fun to talk to the kids about the neighborhood and realized that they live practically right next door. I am still learning names and faces while I build my street ‘cred’ at the new ‘Club.’ I am already thinking about how we can get the city kids up to Hayward to visit the LCO Club and the north woods. Similarly it would be fun to give the LCO kids a chance to experience life in the city.
    I will still be up north in Hayward quite a bit for training camps.

  • Food Matters

    As an elite athlete, I’ve always known it is important to fuel your body properly. When the body does not receive the nutrients it needs, the effects on the body are felt tremendously and therefore performance is compromised! I’ve more recently been informed that proper nutrition is not only important for elite athletes but it is also very important to the everyday ordinary person!

    I recently watched a documentary called “Food Matters” (which I strongly recommend watching). The message of the movie comes from Hippocrates quote “let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.” The effects of food on health is an issue that keeps arising over and over in my daily life. We live in a society that feeds on nutritionally-depleted foods with chemical additives and we have a tendency to rely on pharmaceutical drugs to cure our illnesses. The focus of the film helps us rethink what we have been taught about modern medicine and health care. In this movie, several leading experts in nutrition and natural healing express their thoughts on the how we are harming our bodies with improper nutrition. They claim with the right kind of foods, supplements and detoxification, we can treat chronic illness as serious as terminally diagnosed cancer!

    As my biology teacher always said “you are what you eat!” I encourage you to watch the film. It can be found on instant netflix or at any movie store. I guarantee you, it will make you rethink what you eat and the effects is has on your health.

  • Food Matters

    As an elite athlete, I’ve always known it is important to fuel your body properly. When the body does not receive the nutrients it needs, the effects on the body are felt tremendously and therefore performance is compromised! I’ve more recently been informed that proper nutrition is not only important for elite athletes but it is also very important to the everyday ordinary person!

    I recently watched a documentary called “Food Matters” (which I strongly recommend watching). The message of the movie comes from Hippocrates quote “let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.” The effects of food on health is an issue that keeps arising over and over in my daily life. We live in a society that feeds on nutritionally-depleted foods with chemical additives and we have a tendency to rely on pharmaceutical drugs to cure our illnesses. The focus of the film helps us rethink what we have been taught about modern medicine and health care. In this movie, several leading experts in nutrition and natural healing express their thoughts on the how we are harming our bodies with improper nutrition. They claim with the right kind of foods, supplements and detoxification, we can treat chronic illness as serious as terminally diagnosed cancer!

    As my biology teacher always said “you are what you eat!” I encourage you to watch the film. It can be found on instant netflix or at any movie store. I guarantee you, it will make you rethink what you eat and the effects is has on your health.

  • Food Matters

    As an elite athlete, I’ve always known it is important to fuel your body properly. When the body does not receive the nutrients it needs, the effects on the body are felt tremendously and therefore performance is compromised! I’ve more recently been informed that proper nutrition is not only important for elite athletes but it is also very important to the everyday ordinary person!

    I recently watched a documentary called “Food Matters” (which I strongly recommend watching). The message of the movie comes from Hippocrates quote “let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.” The effects of food on health is an issue that keeps arising over and over in my daily life. We live in a society that feeds on nutritionally-depleted foods with chemical additives and we have a tendency to rely on pharmaceutical drugs to cure our illnesses. The focus of the film helps us rethink what we have been taught about modern medicine and health care. In this movie, several leading experts in nutrition and natural healing express their thoughts on the how we are harming our bodies with improper nutrition. They claim with the right kind of foods, supplements and detoxification, we can treat chronic illness as serious as terminally diagnosed cancer!

    As my biology teacher always said “you are what you eat!” I encourage you to watch the film. It can be found on instant netflix or at any movie store. I guarantee you, it will make you rethink what you eat and the effects is has on your health.

  • Food Matters

    As an elite athlete, I’ve always known it is important to fuel your body properly. When the body does not receive the nutrients it needs, the effects on the body are felt tremendously and therefore performance is compromised! I’ve more recently been informed that proper nutrition is not only important for elite athletes but it is also very important to the everyday ordinary person!

    I recently watched a documentary called “Food Matters” (which I strongly recommend watching). The message of the movie comes from Hippocrates quote “let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.” The effects of food on health is an issue that keeps arising over and over in my daily life. We live in a society that feeds on nutritionally-depleted foods with chemical additives and we have a tendency to rely on pharmaceutical drugs to cure our illnesses. The focus of the film helps us rethink what we have been taught about modern medicine and health care. In this movie, several leading experts in nutrition and natural healing express their thoughts on the how we are harming our bodies with improper nutrition. They claim with the right kind of foods, supplements and detoxification, we can treat chronic illness as serious as terminally diagnosed cancer!

    As my biology teacher always said “you are what you eat!” I encourage you to watch the film. It can be found on instant netflix or at any movie store. I guarantee you, it will make you rethink what you eat and the effects is has on your health.

  • Food Matters

    As an elite athlete, I’ve always known it is important to fuel your body properly. When the body does not receive the nutrients it needs, the effects on the body are felt tremendously and therefore performance is compromised! I’ve more recently been informed that proper nutrition is not only important for elite athletes but it is also very important to the everyday ordinary person!

    I recently watched a documentary called “Food Matters” (which I strongly recommend watching). The message of the movie comes from Hippocrates quote “let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.” The effects of food on health is an issue that keeps arising over and over in my daily life. We live in a society that feeds on nutritionally-depleted foods with chemical additives and we have a tendency to rely on pharmaceutical drugs to cure our illnesses. The focus of the film helps us rethink what we have been taught about modern medicine and health care. In this movie, several leading experts in nutrition and natural healing express their thoughts on the how we are harming our bodies with improper nutrition. They claim with the right kind of foods, supplements and detoxification, we can treat chronic illness as serious as terminally diagnosed cancer!

    As my biology teacher always said “you are what you eat!” I encourage you to watch the film. It can be found on instant netflix or at any movie store. I guarantee you, it will make you rethink what you eat and the effects is has on your health.

  • Food Matters

    As an elite athlete, I’ve always known it is important to fuel your body properly. When the body does not receive the nutrients it needs, the effects on the body are felt tremendously and therefore performance is compromised! I’ve more recently been informed that proper nutrition is not only important for elite athletes but it is also very important to the everyday ordinary person!

    I recently watched a documentary called “Food Matters” (which I strongly recommend watching). The message of the movie comes from Hippocrates quote “let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.” The effects of food on health is an issue that keeps arising over and over in my daily life. We live in a society that feeds on nutritionally-depleted foods with chemical additives and we have a tendency to rely on pharmaceutical drugs to cure our illnesses. The focus of the film helps us rethink what we have been taught about modern medicine and health care. In this movie, several leading experts in nutrition and natural healing express their thoughts on the how we are harming our bodies with improper nutrition. They claim with the right kind of foods, supplements and detoxification, we can treat chronic illness as serious as terminally diagnosed cancer!

    As my biology teacher always said “you are what you eat!” I encourage you to watch the film. It can be found on instant netflix or at any movie store. I guarantee you, it will make you rethink what you eat and the effects is has on your health.

  • Week 2 Update

    It was a wet week here in Waitsfield, but we got in lacrosse games, our first roller-ski, some good bike rides and had a school-wide Community Service Day.  Perhaps one of the highlights was a hike up Scrag Mountain — the steep west face of the mountain challenged us and required a bit of teamwork in places.  It also offered some great and seldom seen views of the Valley from the east.  We steered clear of any noticeable trails — following a stream drainage and some of the Headmaster’s sap lines straight up the fall line.

    Scrag Mountain from Route 100.

    All smiles, and scratched ankles :), taking in the view to the West.

    That’s right — there’s still snow up here.  Some of us will ski Thursday.

    On Friday the school split up throughout the state to help organizations from the Maritime Museum, to Special Olympics, to the Mad Path right here in the Valley.  It was one of our first beautiful days and it is always nice to interact with the outside community — and answer the, “so you guys get to go to school and train and travel all year? questions.  Yes, indeed we are all very lucky.

    My group went to the North End of Burlington to help with a community garden where food is directly consumed by the Public High School.

    Our first roller-ski was quite enjoyable — the skies parted and gave us a nice window to start the year off.  We focused on easy distance with some L2-3 double poling.

    This coming week we are stepping up the volume a bit with another roller-ski, several lacrosse games and a bike time trial in Middlesex.  Our local nordic alums are trickling home from college and joining up for the workouts, which is always a boost.  Saturday, Dylan Grald joined us for a two gap ride over Middlebury and App Gap — already training for the LAMB ride! Mark your calendars AUGUST 17th.

    Stay tuned!

  • Apple Blossom Run: In Images




  • Apple Blossom Run: In Images




  • Apple Blossom Run: In Images




  • Back to It

    My spring break is over, and I’m back in Lake Placid after a relaxing month at home and on vacation around the west and in Mexico. It was really nice to be away from the OTC for a while and see my family, but it’s also nice to be back in the rhythm of training. A new season has started, and with it have come some surprises.

    Getting glittered up at a Fast and Female event in Sun Valley, Idaho.

    Getting in some shooting training at a fair in Mexico.

    The coming months and season will be a different one for me as my boyfriend, companion and training partner Zach Hall has decided to retire from biathlon. He’s excited about the chance to do something different, but it will mean some adjustments for me. Perhaps I’ll be doing more training in Alaska…

    Zach and me in Mexico.

    Another change in the team is the retirement of Haley Johnson. She will be missed next year, but as all athletes know, sometimes it’s just time for a change. We all wish her the best.

    Perhaps the biggest difference this year is harder to see from the outside. The women’s team underwent several big changes last year: mid-summer we got a new coach, we had three women qualify for mass start races throughout the year (among other stellar team results), and we gained one more World Cup start spot. This year, we are beginning things with new confidence, and a sturdy coaching staff that will allow us to begin quality and consistent work right away. It’s a very exciting time for the USBA women, and I’m looking forward to beginning this new season on the right foot.

    Already back to dry-fire…

    So far, it’s been a very rainy spring in Lake Placid. Hopefully sun will return to the north country soon, but in the meantime, we’ll be training full-time and trying not to float away!

  • Back to It

    My spring break is over, and I’m back in Lake Placid after a relaxing month at home and on vacation around the west and in Mexico. It was really nice to be away from the OTC for a while and see my family, but it’s also nice to be back in the rhythm of training. A new season has started, and with it have come some surprises.

    Getting glittered up at a Fast and Female event in Sun Valley, Idaho.

    Getting in some shooting training at a fair in Mexico.

    The coming months and season will be a different one for me as my boyfriend, companion and training partner Zach Hall has decided to retire from biathlon. He’s excited about the chance to do something different, but it will mean some adjustments for me. Perhaps I’ll be doing more training in Alaska…

    Zach and me in Mexico.

    Another change in the team is the retirement of Haley Johnson. She will be missed next year, but as all athletes know, sometimes it’s just time for a change. We all wish her the best.

    Perhaps the biggest difference this year is harder to see from the outside. The women’s team underwent several big changes last year: mid-summer we got a new coach, we had three women qualify for mass start races throughout the year (among other stellar team results), and we gained one more World Cup start spot. This year, we are beginning things with new confidence, and a sturdy coaching staff that will allow us to begin quality and consistent work right away. It’s a very exciting time for the USBA women, and I’m looking forward to beginning this new season on the right foot.

    Already back to dry-fire…

    So far, it’s been a very rainy spring in Lake Placid. Hopefully sun will return to the north country soon, but in the meantime, we’ll be training full-time and trying not to float away!

  • Back to It

    My spring break is over, and I’m back in Lake Placid after a relaxing month at home and on vacation around the west and in Mexico. It was really nice to be away from the OTC for a while and see my family, but it’s also nice to be back in the rhythm of training. A new season has started, and with it have come some surprises.

    Getting glittered up at a Fast and Female event in Sun Valley, Idaho.

    Getting in some shooting training at a fair in Mexico.

    The coming months and season will be a different one for me as my boyfriend, companion and training partner Zach Hall has decided to retire from biathlon. He’s excited about the chance to do something different, but it will mean some adjustments for me. Perhaps I’ll be doing more training in Alaska…

    Zach and me in Mexico.

    Another change in the team is the retirement of Haley Johnson. She will be missed next year, but as all athletes know, sometimes it’s just time for a change. We all wish her the best.

    Perhaps the biggest difference this year is harder to see from the outside. The women’s team underwent several big changes last year: mid-summer we got a new coach, we had three women qualify for mass start races throughout the year (among other stellar team results), and we gained one more World Cup start spot. This year, we are beginning things with new confidence, and a sturdy coaching staff that will allow us to begin quality and consistent work right away. It’s a very exciting time for the USBA women, and I’m looking forward to beginning this new season on the right foot.

    Already back to dry-fire…

    So far, it’s been a very rainy spring in Lake Placid. Hopefully sun will return to the north country soon, but in the meantime, we’ll be training full-time and trying not to float away!

  • Beyond Birkie Fever Cover Preview

    Hey all!
    So I just got a hold of the official cover for “Beyond Birkie Fever.”  I believe you can click on the above image to enlarge it if you’re curious (I wrote about this book before here in case you want some more information on it).
    In all honesty, this book is a large part of the reason why we’ve been a little slack on our posting lately…but rest assured things will get back to normal in

  • Beyond Birkie Fever Cover Preview

    Hey all!
    So I just got a hold of the official cover for “Beyond Birkie Fever.”  I believe you can click on the above image to enlarge it if you’re curious (I wrote about this book before here in case you want some more information on it).
    In all honesty, this book is a large part of the reason why we’ve been a little slack on our posting lately…but rest assured things will get back to normal in

  • For Whom the Bell Tolls: A Story of Duty and Honor

    photo from USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) Album. May 1, 2011

    The moment arrives. At this moment both opportunity and duty collide. The bell tolls. Without having to ask, without hesitation or delay, you know its for you. You answer the call.

    Its at this moment you have a destiny to fulfill. When Theodore Roosevelt said “The man in the arena… knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; he spends himself in a worthy cause” that’s exactly what he’s saying to me.

    photo from USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) Album. May 1, 2011

    Hemingway’s For Whom The Bell Tolls opens with a John Donne poem of the same name. In it, he says:

    any man’s death diminishes me,
    because I am involved in mankind,
    and therefore never send to know for whom the bells
    tolls; it tolls for thee.”

    Just as any death diminishes, every act of of kindness or greatness enhances us; both as individuals and as a community. In sport, we continually redefine ourselves with every honest, taxing effort given. As a MH-60 Black Hawk or F/A-18C Hornet Pilot like my cousin Mike Shaughnessy provides close air support in last week’s Pakistan theatre of operations they redefine what it means to be an American. I feel emboldened by their attainment of skill, sense of purpose and composure in answering an incredible call of duty.

    As a token to the tenderest of debts, I hope in this small way today to honor those who have honored us all. By answering the call of duty, you have set a standard for us all to live up to. Bonne Chapeau.

    same day at the track with the mountain lion distance crew.

    “For whoever much is given, much is expected.”
    -Paul Tergat

    After a short talk with Coach Peck and Coach Wolfman, 4x400m await the kids. Wait, what is that I hear ever so faintly in the distance?

  • For Whom the Bell Tolls: A Story of Duty and Honor

    photo from USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) Album. May 1, 2011

    The moment arrives. At this moment both opportunity and duty collide. The bell tolls. Without having to ask, without hesitation or delay, you know its for you. You answer the call.

    Its at this moment you have a destiny to fulfill. When Theodore Roosevelt said “The man in the arena… knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; he spends himself in a worthy cause” that’s exactly what he’s saying to me.

    photo from USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) Album. May 1, 2011

    Hemingway’s For Whom The Bell Tolls opens with a John Donne poem of the same name. In it, he says:

    any man’s death diminishes me,
    because I am involved in mankind,
    and therefore never send to know for whom the bells
    tolls; it tolls for thee.”

    Just as any death diminishes, every act of of kindness or greatness enhances us; both as individuals and as a community. In sport, we continually redefine ourselves with every honest, taxing effort given. As a MH-60 Black Hawk or F/A-18C Hornet Pilot like my cousin Mike Shaughnessy provides close air support in last week’s Pakistan theatre of operations they redefine what it means to be an American. I feel emboldened by their attainment of skill, sense of purpose and composure in answering an incredible call of duty.

    As a token to the tenderest of debts, I hope in this small way today to honor those who have honored us all. By answering the call of duty, you have set a standard for us all to live up to. Bonne Chapeau.

    same day at the track with the mountain lion distance crew.

    “For whoever much is given, much is expected.”
    -Paul Tergat

    After a short talk with Coach Peck and Coach Wolfman, 4x400m await the kids. Wait, what is that I hear ever so faintly in the distance?

  • For Whom the Bell Tolls: A Story of Duty and Honor

    photo from USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) Album. May 1, 2011

    The moment arrives. At this moment both opportunity and duty collide. The bell tolls. Without having to ask, without hesitation or delay, you know its for you. You answer the call.

    Its at this moment you have a destiny to fulfill. When Theodore Roosevelt said “The man in the arena… knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; he spends himself in a worthy cause” that’s exactly what he’s saying to me.

    photo from USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) Album. May 1, 2011

    Hemingway’s For Whom The Bell Tolls opens with a John Donne poem of the same name. In it, he says:

    any man’s death diminishes me,
    because I am involved in mankind,
    and therefore never send to know for whom the bells
    tolls; it tolls for thee.”

    Just as any death diminishes, every act of of kindness or greatness enhances us; both as individuals and as a community. In sport, we continually redefine ourselves with every honest, taxing effort given. As a MH-60 Black Hawk or F/A-18C Hornet Pilot like my cousin Mike Shaughnessy provides close air support in last week’s Pakistan theatre of operations they redefine what it means to be an American. I feel emboldened by their attainment of skill, sense of purpose and composure in answering an incredible call of duty.

    As a token to the tenderest of debts, I hope in this small way today to honor those who have honored us all. By answering the call of duty, you have set a standard for us all to live up to. Bonne Chapeau.

    same day at the track with the mountain lion distance crew.

    “For whoever much is given, much is expected.”
    -Paul Tergat

    After a short talk with Coach Peck and Coach Wolfman, 4x400m await the kids. Wait, what is that I hear ever so faintly in the distance?