Category: XCFeeds

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

Blackjack Loppet and Ensuing Commendations

This past weekend I took a trip back to Rossland, B.C. to participate in Blackjack Ski Club’s annual 30km Loppet. The weekend included a 10km classic race on Saturday and the 30km on Sunday and it was to be a good way to get some hard training in leading up to the last few SuperTours of the year in mid- and late-March.

With Scott still in Norway with Torin and no one in the Methow willing to take the plunge with me I opted for a bare-bones trip. I checked the forecast in Rossland for the weekend and seeing that it was supposed to be wicked cold I waxed up two pair each classic and skate skis with cold wax, threw in a horsehair brush and a few choice cold kick waxes and called it good. I found a hostel in Rossland for $25 a night and headed up.

The races ended up being really fun. They were true local events – parents and kids both raced each day, and after each race, volunteers and racers alike joined together to take down the course and trailside fencing. Before Sunday’s Loppet the starter announced that the overall man and woman would receive a brand new pair of Zeroes. I thought that’d make a nice gift for Mom for her birthday and decided to win. After I crossed the finish line the owner of Kootenay Nordic Sports, Dave Gibson, came up and asked me how much I weighed so he could pick the right pair of Zeroes for me. “Um…145?” I said cautiously. “Really? I’d figure you more than that,” he said. “How dare you!” I shouted, then relented. “Actually, I was hoping to get a size that would fit my Mom,” I explained. He admitted he only had one soft pair, selected for whichever woman won the race, and I would have to settle for a larger pair. No matter, I thought. Maybe they’d fit Dad.

I was anxious to get on the road home. The weather had been snowy all morning and didn’t show any sign of letting up, and I figured with the fatigue from the race I would be better to get driving the 5 hours home sooner rather than later. I stayed around for a bit talking with the local racers and organizers, who were all super-friendly and excited that there was some cross-border traffic for the races. I finally pulled myself away and put the pedal to the floor, pointing south.

Somewhere just east of Republic, WA I was cruising along nicely to some Nine Inch Nails, munching on a few odd jelly beans I found under my seat. Then the lights flashed in my mirror, red and blue. Curious, I pulled to the side of the road.

“You know why I’m pulling you over?,” the stoic-looking officer asked. “Well, no,” I said. “You were going pretty fast back there,” he said, still stone-faced.

“Geesh, thanks Officer. I mean, I don’t ski many 30K races but I really tried to put the hammer down on that second lap and well, it paid off! Do you ski too?”

“License and registration, please.”

“Sure thing. I mean, I could just write all that on a napkin if you want. If you’re that interested, we’ve got a blog and a websi…” He walked off, apparently too excited to have some tangible proof of my existence in his hands. I waited for a few minutes but started to get slightly peeved; he was taking his sweet time back there and I was wanting to get going.

When he finally returned I swallowed my annoyance and smiled politely. “This here’s a ticket for speeding. You can either mail it in or appear at the Courthouse on this date. Thanks for obeying traffic laws.”

Well, you can imagine how excited I was – not only did I get an odd smattering of prize wax and and a new pair of skis from the races, but now I had received a glowing commendation of my speed from an officer of the law, and a chance to be recognized for such at a district courthouse!

I called my mother as soon as he left to tell her the good news. She wasn’t as excited as I was; I suppose it just takes being a racer to really feel it.

February 28, 2011
Blackjack Loppet and Ensuing Commendations

This past weekend I took a trip back to Rossland, B.C. to participate in Blackjack Ski Club’s annual 30km Loppet. The weekend included a 10km classic race on Saturday and the 30km on Sunday and it was to be a good way to get some hard training in leading up to the last few SuperTours of the year in mid- and late-March.

With Scott still in Norway with Torin and no one in the Methow willing to take the plunge with me I opted for a bare-bones trip. I checked the forecast in Rossland for the weekend and seeing that it was supposed to be wicked cold I waxed up two pair each classic and skate skis with cold wax, threw in a horsehair brush and a few choice cold kick waxes and called it good. I found a hostel in Rossland for $25 a night and headed up.

The races ended up being really fun. They were true local events – parents and kids both raced each day, and after each race, volunteers and racers alike joined together to take down the course and trailside fencing. Before Sunday’s Loppet the starter announced that the overall man and woman would receive a brand new pair of Zeroes. I thought that’d make a nice gift for Mom for her birthday and decided to win. After I crossed the finish line the owner of Kootenay Nordic Sports, Dave Gibson, came up and asked me how much I weighed so he could pick the right pair of Zeroes for me. “Um…145?” I said cautiously. “Really? I’d figure you more than that,” he said. “How dare you!” I shouted, then relented. “Actually, I was hoping to get a size that would fit my Mom,” I explained. He admitted he only had one soft pair, selected for whichever woman won the race, and I would have to settle for a larger pair. No matter, I thought. Maybe they’d fit Dad.

I was anxious to get on the road home. The weather had been snowy all morning and didn’t show any sign of letting up, and I figured with the fatigue from the race I would be better to get driving the 5 hours home sooner rather than later. I stayed around for a bit talking with the local racers and organizers, who were all super-friendly and excited that there was some cross-border traffic for the races. I finally pulled myself away and put the pedal to the floor, pointing south.

Somewhere just east of Republic, WA I was cruising along nicely to some Nine Inch Nails, munching on a few odd jelly beans I found under my seat. Then the lights flashed in my mirror, red and blue. Curious, I pulled to the side of the road.

“You know why I’m pulling you over?,” the stoic-looking officer asked. “Well, no,” I said. “You were going pretty fast back there,” he said, still stone-faced.

“Geesh, thanks Officer. I mean, I don’t ski many 30K races but I really tried to put the hammer down on that second lap and well, it paid off! Do you ski too?”

“License and registration, please.”

“Sure thing. I mean, I could just write all that on a napkin if you want. If you’re that interested, we’ve got a blog and a websi…” He walked off, apparently too excited to have some tangible proof of my existence in his hands. I waited for a few minutes but started to get slightly peeved; he was taking his sweet time back there and I was wanting to get going.

When he finally returned I swallowed my annoyance and smiled politely. “This here’s a ticket for speeding. You can either mail it in or appear at the Courthouse on this date. Thanks for obeying traffic laws.”

Well, you can imagine how excited I was – not only did I get an odd smattering of prize wax and and a new pair of skis from the races, but now I had received a glowing commendation of my speed from an officer of the law, and a chance to be recognized for such at a district courthouse!

I called my mother as soon as he left to tell her the good news. She wasn’t as excited as I was; I suppose it just takes being a racer to really feel it.

February 28, 2011
Blackjack Loppet and Ensuing Commendations

This past weekend I took a trip back to Rossland, B.C. to participate in Blackjack Ski Club’s annual 30km Loppet. The weekend included a 10km classic race on Saturday and the 30km on Sunday and it was to be a good way to get some hard training in leading up to the last few SuperTours of the year in mid- and late-March.

With Scott still in Norway with Torin and no one in the Methow willing to take the plunge with me I opted for a bare-bones trip. I checked the forecast in Rossland for the weekend and seeing that it was supposed to be wicked cold I waxed up two pair each classic and skate skis with cold wax, threw in a horsehair brush and a few choice cold kick waxes and called it good. I found a hostel in Rossland for $25 a night and headed up.

The races ended up being really fun. They were true local events – parents and kids both raced each day, and after each race, volunteers and racers alike joined together to take down the course and trailside fencing. Before Sunday’s Loppet the starter announced that the overall man and woman would receive a brand new pair of Zeroes. I thought that’d make a nice gift for Mom for her birthday and decided to win. After I crossed the finish line the owner of Kootenay Nordic Sports, Dave Gibson, came up and asked me how much I weighed so he could pick the right pair of Zeroes for me. “Um…145?” I said cautiously. “Really? I’d figure you more than that,” he said. “How dare you!” I shouted, then relented. “Actually, I was hoping to get a size that would fit my Mom,” I explained. He admitted he only had one soft pair, selected for whichever woman won the race, and I would have to settle for a larger pair. No matter, I thought. Maybe they’d fit Dad.

I was anxious to get on the road home. The weather had been snowy all morning and didn’t show any sign of letting up, and I figured with the fatigue from the race I would be better to get driving the 5 hours home sooner rather than later. I stayed around for a bit talking with the local racers and organizers, who were all super-friendly and excited that there was some cross-border traffic for the races. I finally pulled myself away and put the pedal to the floor, pointing south.

Somewhere just east of Republic, WA I was cruising along nicely to some Nine Inch Nails, munching on a few odd jelly beans I found under my seat. Then the lights flashed in my mirror, red and blue. Curious, I pulled to the side of the road.

“You know why I’m pulling you over?,” the stoic-looking officer asked. “Well, no,” I said. “You were going pretty fast back there,” he said, still stone-faced.

“Geesh, thanks Officer. I mean, I don’t ski many 30K races but I really tried to put the hammer down on that second lap and well, it paid off! Do you ski too?”

“License and registration, please.”

“Sure thing. I mean, I could just write all that on a napkin if you want. If you’re that interested, we’ve got a blog and a websi…” He walked off, apparently too excited to have some tangible proof of my existence in his hands. I waited for a few minutes but started to get slightly peeved; he was taking his sweet time back there and I was wanting to get going.

When he finally returned I swallowed my annoyance and smiled politely. “This here’s a ticket for speeding. You can either mail it in or appear at the Courthouse on this date. Thanks for obeying traffic laws.”

Well, you can imagine how excited I was – not only did I get an odd smattering of prize wax and and a new pair of skis from the races, but now I had received a glowing commendation of my speed from an officer of the law, and a chance to be recognized for such at a district courthouse!

I called my mother as soon as he left to tell her the good news. She wasn’t as excited as I was; I suppose it just takes being a racer to really feel it.

February 28, 2011
WSC Pursuit Recap: North Americans
Ok, now we can talk about how the North Americans fared this weekend. Once again with the very large graphs, starting with the women:

Not a ton of racing experience at this level in this group, obviously. It’s tempting to focus on the fact that Stephen, Brooks and Diggins were all in the top thirty, and to be sure that’s better than a lot of alternatives. But we should keep in mind that the field at WSCs is actually a bit weaker than a typical WC field, since Norway, Russia, Sweden, etc. are all limited to only 4 skiers per race. These nations have deep benches and a typical WC race will feature at least an additional 8-10 strong Europeans, more depending on where the race is and the composition of the Nation’s Group skiers.

So strictly looking at the standardized percent back from the median, I’m inclined to call this a decent, but not outstanding race for Stephen. In the cases of Brooks and Diggins, we have almost nothing to compare these races to. In Diggins’ case, literally nothing. But in my experience, races in the positive zone (above zero) are fairly unlikely to place a woman in the top thirty in a regular WC race. (Not impossible, but not likely.)

On the other hand, we could note that the bulk of the results by Stephen and Arritola (both US Ski Team members) have fallen between 0-1. So it’s notable to see both Brooks and Diggins show up and lay down performances right in that zone as well.

And man, what a bummer of a season is Morgan Arritola having? I really feel bad for her; with one exception, she hasn’t really had a whole lot to be excited about so far this season. I don’t know what to say except that I really hope she turns things around, and soon.

A lot more data to look at with the men:

Obviously there was a certain amount of disappointment for the Canadian men, but Kershaw, Harvey and Babikov all put in some of the strongest efforts of their respective seasons. On a day when the top twenty are all within 30 seconds, the difference between a medal and 15th can be very, very small, even if you’re racing well.

George Grey didn’t fare so well, sadly. This might totally be crazy talk on my part, but I almost wonder if they’d be better off going with Len Valjas for the relay.

The American men had another so-so day. Freeman had another race that was just ok; sadly there have been a few too many of those this season. I’d still keep my eyes out for him on Tuesday, though. He really does like those 15km classic races.

Related posts:
February 28, 2011
The Pilgrimage

A pilgrim–thats what I felt like as I made the trip out to my first-ever American Birkebeiner. As I got closer and closer to the start of the Birkie I was joined by more and more fellow pilgrims. I started the trip alone, flying out to Madison, Wi, where I met up with my friend Zoe. We made the next stage of the pilgrimage together, the almost 5-hour drive north to Springbrook, which is just south of Hayward, where the Birkie finishes. There we joined up with Chelsea, Ollie, Matt, and Alex, and were later joined by Zoe’s brother as well. On the day of the race, the numbers grew at a frenetic pace as we got closer and closer to the start. We drove to Hayward, during which time we listened to the Birkie radio station, which played the Birkie song. It consisted almost entirely of the word “Birkebeiner,” said faster and faster as the song went on. It was perfect! We loaded onto a school bus packed with racers, which took us north to Telemark Resort. Bus after bus after bus unloaded, and the lodge was so packed with people that it was hard to move around without stepping on sleeping master blasters. Or maybe they weren’t sleeping, but instead just visualizing the course and hoping that this would be the year they’d move up the the 3rd wave, or earn their 25% club pin. In the midst of the excitement I drastically underestimated how long the line at the porta-potties would take, and sort of ran out of time to warm up. I grabbed my skis and bag and joined the teeming masses as we slipped and slid down the icy trail to the start. It felt sort of like I was going to battle–the kind of battle depicted in some old movie by a cast of thousands. It was exciting! It was the peak of the Birkie Fever.

And then we were off, and it was just a ski race, not a battle. It was the widest ski trail I’ve ever skied on. Fifty kilometers of it. Also the most spectators I’ve ever seen at a ski race, especially given that it was about zero degrees. My race went pretty well. I skied with the lead pack for the first 15 k or so, and then just sort of lost touch as we were passing groups of men from the men’s elite wave. I was a little bummed about this, but really it may have been for the best. I actually felt stronger in the last 10k than in the whole middle half of the race. The finish was my favorite part–right down main street in Hayward, with cheering crowds lining the street the whole way! This was awesome, I had no idea that this many people could be this excited about a ski race outside of Scandinavia! It really gave me a whole lot of newfound respect for the midwest. After the race, as I was confusedly looking for my teammates and trying to get warm in a bar, a local elderly couple bought me a hot cocoa, just for being a racer. I chatted with them–they had a summer house in Hayward, but always came up from Chicago to watch the Birkie, just for the excitement of it. They later bought the whole team a pitcher of beer.

I’m hoping to go back to race the Birkie every year. Eventually I want to be one of those old lady’s in the “birch leggings” club (meaning you’ve raced at least 20 times), coming back year after year regardless of whether not I’ve been training very much.

Wow, this has turned into a really long blog post. I apologize! But you see, I’ve been sitting in the Chicago airport for 6 hours and still have a few more to go, and so I’ve just really been relishing having something to do.

February 28, 2011
Maple Cotton Candy, Face Paint, and Bill Koch @ the Festival
Mad River BKL Crew:

Theron and Carl:

BKL Coaches / Parents: Rob and Dori:

Staking our Claim:

GMVS’s Dani LeBlanc painting faces:

Anneka (C) and Isabel (R):

The 2011 Bill Koch Festival took place this past weekend, practically in our own back yard. Many of the kids I talked to said it was the best event in recent memory. There was food, races, a mini-marathon featuring hot-cocoa and brownies at the Robert Frost Cabin, maple cotton candy, forest-creatures, and face-painting (not to mention great weather and great conditions).

Thirteen of our Mad River BKL athletes took part in the weekend. Some were there for the mini-marathon, some for the relays, and some for both days of racing. The BKL Festival is a unique opportunity to have exposure to the joys of skiing and racing, with the atmosphere of a Carnival to keep the pressure low. All of the Mad River BKL parents and athletes bought into the idea of having lots of fun. Coach Kate was well-prepared, as usual, with her never-ending pocketful of Swedish Fish!

We started Saturday with some of the BKL’ers (along with Coach Kate) joining me in a GMVS van for the ride to Breadloaf. Oddly enough, the BKL’ers like the same music as most of the athletes on the GMVS team. Hmmmm. Throughout the morning, athletes took part in 2-person relay races. Competitions are divided by gender and grade, so kids race against the similar ages and abilities. After our lunch break, most of our skiers got to meet and receive autographs from Bill Koch himself! Bill was decked out in a coonskin cap (keeping with the forest creature theme), and he was also cheering on his son who is a skier in the West River BKL program in Southern Vermont.

In the afternoon there was a non-competitive “Mini-Marathon”. This loop took skiers approximately 5km through the woods. Along the way, there were facts about certain plants and animals, as well as poetry by Robert Frost:

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

The poem started with just the first line written on a tree. After every few hundred meters, there was another line of poetry added, keeping the kids motivated to ski all the way to the Frost Cabin. Upon reaching the cabin there was hot-cocoa and brownies. A few lucky skiers even got some powder tele-turns on the descent. And I’m pretty sure every one of the 500+ athletes got their hands on some of the delicious Maple Cotton Candy that was being handed out in the stadium area.

On Sunday the kids raced individual classical races. Some clubs have race suits for all of their members, while others opted for “jeggings” which look just like blue-jeans. I think our Mad River BKL’ers were somewhere in the middle: functional clothing, but not too much lycra! I’m happy to say my choice of kick wax worked, and the kids skied well.

This year, we had 13 Mad River BKL athletes take part in the Bill Koch Festival. Next year, let’s shoot for 20 or more:
1. Carl Kellogg
2. Nina Kellogg
3. Theron Williams
4. Anneka Williams
5. Noah Eckstein
6. Nathanael Kuzio
7. Parker Sheinfeld
8. Mackenzie Greenberg
9. Isabel Jamieson
10. Anna Jamieson
11. Anda Gulley
12. Maia George
13. Willa Morton
Several of the GMVS athletes made the short trip over to Breadloaf to help with face-painting and bib-collecting. Justin helped with timing on Saturday, and Tim was there both days with the Mad River BKL crew. It was an awesome weekend, and many thanks are due to the crew at NENSA, Frost Mountain Nordic, Breadloaf, and the Middlebury College volunteers that put in a TON of effort.

Here is a link to the NENSA write-up: New England BKL Festival article.

And more photos can be viewed at: Bill Koch Festival Photos.
February 28, 2011
Maple Cotton Candy, Face Paint, and Bill Koch @ the Festival
Mad River BKL Crew:

Theron and Carl:

BKL Coaches / Parents: Rob and Dori:

Staking our Claim:

GMVS’s Dani LeBlanc painting faces:

Anneka (C) and Isabel (R):

The 2011 Bill Koch Festival took place this past weekend, practically in our own back yard. Many of the kids I talked to said it was the best event in recent memory. There was food, races, a mini-marathon featuring hot-cocoa and brownies at the Robert Frost Cabin, maple cotton candy, forest-creatures, and face-painting (not to mention great weather and great conditions).

Thirteen of our Mad River BKL athletes took part in the weekend. Some were there for the mini-marathon, some for the relays, and some for both days of racing. The BKL Festival is a unique opportunity to have exposure to the joys of skiing and racing, with the atmosphere of a Carnival to keep the pressure low. All of the Mad River BKL parents and athletes bought into the idea of having lots of fun. Coach Kate was well-prepared, as usual, with her never-ending pocketful of Swedish Fish!

We started Saturday with some of the BKL’ers (along with Coach Kate) joining me in a GMVS van for the ride to Breadloaf. Oddly enough, the BKL’ers like the same music as most of the athletes on the GMVS team. Hmmmm. Throughout the morning, athletes took part in 2-person relay races. Competitions are divided by gender and grade, so kids race against the similar ages and abilities. After our lunch break, most of our skiers got to meet and receive autographs from Bill Koch himself! Bill was decked out in a coonskin cap (keeping with the forest creature theme), and he was also cheering on his son who is a skier in the West River BKL program in Southern Vermont.

In the afternoon there was a non-competitive “Mini-Marathon”. This loop took skiers approximately 5km through the woods. Along the way, there were facts about certain plants and animals, as well as poetry by Robert Frost:

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

The poem started with just the first line written on a tree. After every few hundred meters, there was another line of poetry added, keeping the kids motivated to ski all the way to the Frost Cabin. Upon reaching the cabin there was hot-cocoa and brownies. A few lucky skiers even got some powder tele-turns on the descent. And I’m pretty sure every one of the 500+ athletes got their hands on some of the delicious Maple Cotton Candy that was being handed out in the stadium area.

On Sunday the kids raced individual classical races. Some clubs have race suits for all of their members, while others opted for “jeggings” which look just like blue-jeans. I think our Mad River BKL’ers were somewhere in the middle: functional clothing, but not too much lycra! I’m happy to say my choice of kick wax worked, and the kids skied well.

This year, we had 13 Mad River BKL athletes take part in the Bill Koch Festival. Next year, let’s shoot for 20 or more:
1. Carl Kellogg
2. Nina Kellogg
3. Theron Williams
4. Anneka Williams
5. Noah Eckstein
6. Nathanael Kuzio
7. Parker Sheinfeld
8. Mackenzie Greenberg
9. Isabel Jamieson
10. Anna Jamieson
11. Anda Gulley
12. Maia George
13. Willa Morton
Several of the GMVS athletes made the short trip over to Breadloaf to help with face-painting and bib-collecting. Justin helped with timing on Saturday, and Tim was there both days with the Mad River BKL crew. It was an awesome weekend, and many thanks are due to the crew at NENSA, Frost Mountain Nordic, Breadloaf, and the Middlebury College volunteers that put in a TON of effort.

Here is a link to the NENSA write-up: New England BKL Festival article.

And more photos can be viewed at: Bill Koch Festival Photos.
February 28, 2011
Butterflies…with Stingers

Do you get butterflies before big races? Getting nervous before a big event is normal. Some might argue it’s essential. That’s why, when I woke up last Wednesday morning with some good butterflies in my stomach, I knew it was going to be a good weekend. Birkie weekend.

Allow me to explain a little about the Birkie. It is the largest Nordic ski race in North America, with a rich history starting at Telemark Resort in Cable, Wisconsin in 1973. The Birkie means a lot of different things to a lot of different people (this year’s 11,000+ total participants made it the biggest year ever). There are Birkie Founders, who have skied every Birkie, Birchleggers who have made the trek between Telemark and Hayward over 20 times, and countless others who have their own unique Birkie stories.

The Birkie and I, however, have a very rocky relationship. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got a great relationship with the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation. They are a significant supporter of my team, CXC Skiing, they are the most significant reason that I moved to Hayward five years ago; I love skiing the trail in the winter, running it in the summer, and biking in the fall, and all the people involved with the organization, from administrators, to groomers, to volunteers, have been huge supporters of my ski career.

No, it is with the Birkie – the epic, the myth, the legend – that I don’t see eye-to-eye. As Gerry Hanson reminded me yesterday, my very first Korteloppet in 1998 was cancelled due to a lack of snow. That’s how we got started together. Unimpressed, I missed the following decade’s worth of Birkies for other races: Junior Nationals, the Swiss Engadin, and NCAA Championships. It wasn’t until 2007 when I joined the CXC Team and moved to Hayward that I decided to rekindle the flame. I ran the entirety of the trail, point-to-point, that summer. I logged volunteer hours cleaning it and getting it ready for winter. I skied all my intervals on the trail. Yes, I was ready for the Birkie. Race week, however, the weather took a turn for the worse and the race was shortened to finish at “OO.” While, technically, I completed the race, it was still not my idea of a Birkie–skiing from Telemark all the way down to Main Street in Hayward.

Once again, I missed the next three Birkies to compete in European World Cups, World Championships, and the Olympics. This year, however, was different. I was back in town and ready to ski the race. Training? Solid. Conditions? Phenomenal. Ready? Fired up!

Back to Wednesday morning. A healthy dose of butterflies in my stomach when I woke up was a good sign for the weekend ahead. I went for a relaxed ski with my teammate Brian Gregg to get the butterflies flying in formation. Afterwards, my appetite was less than normal and I took a brief nap instead of eating lunch. As the afternoon progressed, the butterflies got worse. I got an email from Mikey Sinnott saying that several of the skiers staying at Telemark had gotten a stomach bug. Oh no, I thought, I’m going to get the flu three days before the Birkie.

At that point, I made sure to stay clear of my roommates, Brian and his wife-to-be, Caitlin Compton, and could stomach only a small bowl of rice for dinner. Wanting to avoid getting sick, I went to bed early and passed out immediately. After what felt like a full night’s sleep, I awoke at 11:30pm. This time, the butterflies had congregated in my right lower abdomen. It felt like they’d stung me. Hard.

The rest of the night was restless, until the pain became too much for me to even roll over. “Maybe I’m being a pansy,” I thought, “but I need to get to the hospital.” At 5:30am I was on my way to the emergency room. I knew that was the right decision when a deer walked across the road in front of me and I quickly moved my foot from the gas to the brake. Ouch! Possibly the most searing pain I’ve ever felt.

Sure enough, the ER nurse diagnosed my symptoms as appendicitis. The ER doctor diagnosed my symptoms as appendicitis. The surgeon, preliminary tests, and CT scan all diagnosed my symptoms as appendicitis. Before I knew it, I was getting knocked out by the anesthetic. The last thing I remember before going under was hearing the nurses laugh when I told them I was still going to be competing in the Birkie on Saturday. . .

It just so happens that my nurses were Sarah Krasean, her Mom Martha, and Aunt Susie. In fact, we’d all been skiing together the week before. Needless to say, they took great care of me. For my first (and hopefully last) visit to the Hayward hospital, I was very impressed. Coach Gus stopped by right after the surgery and entertained me with stories of his appendectomy, Donovan & Chris Dums stopped by and Chris, an ER doc himself, informed me of what would have happened if had I arrived just a few hours later and my appendix had actually burst (at least another week in the hospital, to say the least), then Gregg, Mikey, and Gelso stopped by in the evening and had me laughing so hard I thought my appendix actually was going to burst! I damn near bit my tongue off trying to stop laughing.

The visitors and hospital staff were awesome. The food, on the other-hand, was terrible. Remember, I hadn’t eaten in about 36 hours, so I was hungry and could’ve eaten anything. Instead, they kept me on a liquid diet to be sure that everything went okay. My first meal: ice chips, hot water, a packet of dry chicken broth (think Ramen – hold the noodles), apple juice, orange juice, decaf coffee, red jello, and orange sherbet for dessert.

Hungry?

It was a disaster. I accidentally poured the dry broth into the decaf coffee instead of the water. Yuck! Then I proceeded to give myself Type II diabetes with all the sugar water they’d given me for “dinner.” Some people may hold McDonald’s and fast food responsible for the diabetes outbreak in the US. From my experience last week, I’d say hospitals aren’t much better and will be writing to both the hospital and the Sawyer County Record to inform them of my opinion. For breakfast, I received my first solid food in 48 hours: a dry cinnamon roll caked with sugar frosting. My departure from the hospital depended on my ability to hold down solid food and that roll was my only option. It was a battle, but I forced it down and was soon on my way home. Albeit s l o w l y.

The subsequent days have been good with steady, but again, very slow improvement. I enjoyed watching Saturday’s Birkie on the side of Highway 77 from a folding chair. Seeing my friends and teammates ski by really made me want to be in the race helping with the battle. It was certainly exciting to see Caitlin Compton win the Birkie, Jennie Bender take the Classic Birkie, as well as Karl and Eric rounding out the Classic Podium, and Cook getting into the Top-5 of the men’s race. Congrats to the crew!

As for me, I’ve gained an utmost appreciation for the skiers who have been able to successfully race and complete the Birkie year after year. While it won’t be this year, I know that one year, I will be able to tame the Birkie beast and finish skiing down Main Street in Hayward. . .

February 28, 2011
Oslo Worlds Medal Table

The only medals table I can find is the Worlds organizers’, which includes all the sports being contested at Oslo – cross-country, jumping, and nordic combined. Here’s a table of just the cross-country skiing medals. Scroll right to see a details the medalists and events.

February 28, 2011
Oslo Worlds Medal Table

The only medals table I can find is the Worlds organizers’, which includes all the sports being contested at Oslo – cross-country, jumping, and nordic combined. Here’s a table of just the cross-country skiing medals. Scroll right to see a details the medalists and events.

February 28, 2011
Oslo Worlds Medal Table

The only medals table I can find is the Worlds organizers’, which includes all the sports being contested at Oslo – cross-country, jumping, and nordic combined. Here’s a table of just the cross-country skiing medals. Scroll right to see a details the medalists and events.

February 28, 2011
Oslo Worlds Medal Table

The only medals table I can find is the Worlds organizers’, which includes all the sports being contested at Oslo – cross-country, jumping, and nordic combined. Here’s a table of just the cross-country skiing medals. Scroll right to see a details the medalists and events.

February 28, 2011
WSC Pursuit Recap Addendum
Just to follow up from my previous post, here’s a look at a few other women who had particularly good or bad days on Saturday:

I suspected that Nicole Fessel would have some strong races this week and this was certainly a good one. There were just too many people who skied faster. After a blistering start to the season, Krista Lahteenmaki really struggled on Saturday with what is easily her worst race of the season. Similarly, Arianna Follis had a pretty terrible day. On the other hand, Saarinen actually had a fairly decent race compared to the rest of her season; unfortunately her injuries this year have made this season a bit below what she expects.

I suspect that Bjørgen will continue to streamroll through these races, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of notable performances taking place behind her!

Related posts:
February 28, 2011
Skate TT in Sleet

Today we had a skate TT scheduled. The weather was not cooperating (sleet was falling at the rate of 1″/hr.) and the trails that had been perfectly groomed last night looked as if someone had laid a big white blanket over them.
All the better! Sometimes the weather isn’t pretty, but nordic skiing is an outdoor sport and you have to deal with it.
Because of the 2-4″ of sleet, ski flex and pacing became critical. Times for the team were all over the place. On the boys side, Skyler crushed it and no two boys were within 1 minute of one another. Then…on the girls side, Cam and Heather tied to the second. Go figure….
Regardless, it was a good hard workout for everyone. Here are some pictures.
Austin nears the lap lane.
Nick V2’s up the hill..
Tyler won the J2 race handily.
Charlie charges the first hill.
Mac starts the 1 km downhill.
Brooke finishing strong.
Hallie hammers the last big hill.
Sometimes you just gotta do it…and besides…sleet is better than rain!

February 28, 2011
Race Snapshot: WSC Women’s 10k Classic
It sounds like Kowalczyk actually made it interesting this time around, although I have to say that while Bjørgen is impressive, this might actually get boring after a while. Or maybe Bjør-ing?

Anyway, it’s nice to see Lahteenmaki get a strong result in at World Championships after having so many good races this season. And how about four Norwegian and four Finnish women in the top ten? I’m off to look up some historical stats on that one…

Related posts:
February 28, 2011
WSC Pursuit Recap
After some wild racing this weekend, let’s take a step back and look at some of the top and notable performances again more closely. Starting with the women, here’s a graph showing the top six finishers in Saturday’s 15km pursuit (click through for full version):

People keep pestering me about making my graphs bigger; so these will be bigger than usual. If you’re unfamiliar with this style of chart you can check here for a more detailed introduction. Saturday’s result is circled in blue and the blue line marks each athlete’s median performance over time. The values plotted are percent back from the median skier, adjusted for race format differences (mass start, interval, etc) and placed on a common scale, so that -1 corresponds to 1 standard deviation better than the mean percent back from the median.

Bjørgen, Kowalczyk and Johaug easily outpaced the field, placing their races firmly in the “Inhuman” zone. While Bjørgen obviously has mostly owned the region more than 2.5 standard deviations better than than the mean all season long, Kowalczyk and Johaug have had performances that strong this season, just not nearly as many. By this measure, Saturday’s race was actually Bjørgen’s best of the season and hence of her career. Johaug also turned in a race that was solidly her best of the season.

Both Kalla and Longa had what were for them fairly strong performances, but they just weren’t enough on that day to reach the podium. Maria Rydqvist has had quite the heartwarming story this season and capped everything off with a performance that was miles better than anything she’d managed before. A huge achievement, but that also means it’s less likely to be repeated. (One can always hope, though!)

Here’s the same graph but for the top men:

This race played out very differently, with a large group of skiers withstanding several strong attacks to all finish fairly close together. Indeed, the top 22 skiers finished within 30 seconds of each other. This means that most of the top twenty skiers had performances that, by this measure, easily qualify as ‘Elite’ (~1.5 standard deviations better than the mean) and with that many skiers fighting things out over the final few kilometers lots of factors other than physiology can easily play a big role. Most notably, the Swedes apparently had some bad luck with their skis.

Northug’s race was at a level that had been worryingly sparse this season for him. I’m betting he’ll be much more relaxed for the rest of the season and possibly more dangerous because of it. Ilia Chernousov is certainly a strong skier, but it took an exceptional performance from him to land on the podium. Hellner had a fairly good race for him this season, but was certainly hindered by his skis, as were his teammates.

Something must be said about Sergei Dolidovich, as well. Here’s a closer look at his graph, along with three others I found interesting:

Dolidovich certainly had one hell of a race, particularly since he’s often struggled this season. However, he did finish 12th back in Davos, and every few years he’s managed to pop a great race at the upper end of the Elite range. Interestingly, the oft-cited 5th place at the 2009 World Championships is not one of those times; that result was only ~-.75 standard deviations better than the mean, but on that day that level of performance happened to be good enough for 5th.

Dolidovich’s race is an excellent example of the sort of “unusual” things that can happen in mass starts these days. If all you have to do to put yourself within 10-15 seconds of the podium is to put yourself solidly in the top 20 for much of the race, a lot of unpredictable stuff can play out over the final few kilometers. As I suggested to a commenter yesterday, if the Swedes had had better skis, if Cologna hadn’t been tripped up late in the race, if Harvey’s legs hadn’t suddenly given way, Dolidovich may have been looking at a more “pedestrian” finish back near 10th. To put it another way, lots of World Cup skiers are good enough be in the top 20 on any given day. If the pack is going to let that many skiers be within striking distance of the podium, you have to expect to see some unusual names near the top simply because they manages to eke ~5-10 seconds out of the final few kilometers.

The other three guys here are just folks that also had fairly strong races, just for comparison.

Related posts:
February 28, 2011
Review of the 2011 "Dermatone" Birkie

Holy cow! I don’t know about you guys, but I thought that was a tough Birkie. As much as a skiing fanatic as I am, I really can’t say that I get all excited about skiing when the Mercury is at -4 at the start. Usually that’s not a big issue in late February since the sunlight is so much more potent than, say…early January. But when it’s an overcast day, nothing can save you.
The only reason

February 28, 2011
Barnebirkie

1,000 skiers

kids only

kickoff to Birkebeiner weekend

joy

Delaney and Garrott at the start early and excited for the Barnebirkie

What is the best way to find your kid at the end of the race. This wasn’t this brother and sister’s first rodeo.

Neeandweah, Shaylena, and Jayden part of the crew representing the

Boys and Girls Club of Lac Courte Orielles

I want a dragon suit in my size.

Get Outside

Ski

Have Fun

February 27, 2011
Barnebirkie

1,000 skiers

kids only

kickoff to Birkebeiner weekend

joy

Delaney and Garrott at the start early and excited for the Barnebirkie

What is the best way to find your kid at the end of the race. This wasn’t this brother and sister’s first rodeo.

Neeandweah, Shaylena, and Jayden part of the crew representing the

Boys and Girls Club of Lac Courte Orielles

I want a dragon suit in my size.

Get Outside

Ski

Have Fun

February 27, 2011
Barnebirkie

1,000 skiers

kids only

kickoff to Birkebeiner weekend

joy

Delaney and Garrott at the start early and excited for the Barnebirkie

What is the best way to find your kid at the end of the race. This wasn’t this brother and sister’s first rodeo.

Neeandweah, Shaylena, and Jayden part of the crew representing the

Boys and Girls Club of Lac Courte Orielles

I want a dragon suit in my size.

Get Outside

Ski

Have Fun

February 27, 2011