FasterSkier

Category: XCFeeds

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

  • Hallo aus Deutschland!

    The end of the summer is pretty much upon us, and that means it’s time for our final summer camp…Germany!  This year has been pretty similar to our camp here last year: we spent two weeks in Ruhpolding and are now in Oberhof for one final week before heading back home.  The main difference has been that Ruhpolding, which was busy and a bit crazy last year with all the different teams around preparing for World Championships, was much quieter and not quite as hot (which was nice).  Even without all the other teams, we had a very effective and intense couple weeks training on Ruhpolding’s world-class venue.  Here in Oberhof, we’re spending mornings in the skihall testing skis and getting some on-snow time to work on technique, and spending afternoons cross-training and shooting.  It’s been a great camp so far, and, as usual, I figure the best way to convey what we’ve been up to is through pictures!  Look for my next update after our camp is over and I’ve settled in back in Alaska!

    Overlooking Inzell, near Ruhpolding. (photo: Susan Dunklee)
    My rifle all set for our Salzburg shooting test/analysis. (photo: Armin Auchentaller)
    Susan and me enjoying a beverage after hiking up to an alm (hut) near our hotel.
    Getting started on the brutal Rossfeld uphill time trial (it takes about 1hr to complete). (photo: Jonne Kahkonen)
    Beautiful view while out on a mountain bike ride.
    Running near Inzell. (photo: Susan Dunklee)
    Rainpolding!  Actually, the weather was mostly very nice. (photo: Susan Dunklee)
    The Oberhof Skihall. (photo: Susan Dunklee)

  • New Zealand Day Off

    I had a full day off in New Zealand today. Of course, this was the nicest day we’ve had yet.

    I hope tomorrow is just as good.

    By all reports, the skiing was very good today. Kris Freeman decided to train today because it was such a nice day. I just relaxed all morning.

    In the afternoon I went to the nearest town, Wanaka (about 30 minutes away) with the Canadian team.

    They lifted weights, and I sat in the sun reading The Atlantic. Then we walked around town a bit.

    Above are Ivan Babikov (left) and Len Valjas.

    We stayed in town to go to dinner at a good pizza place. It was a fun evening and good to get off “the rock” for a bit.

  • 100 km Ski-a-thon

    This weekend the SMST2 Team skied 100 km as a team fundraiser.  Donations were given to the athletes from generous individuals on a per kilomteter basis.  The athletes will use this money for training/racing expenses throughout the year.
    We began the day at 8am just over the New York border near Andy’s stomping grounds.

    The ski started with several wrong turns.  Here Andy and I demonstrate our exemplary directional skills.

    It was a fantastic day to be outside.

    If the men’s group got too far ahead, they’d simply turn around until they met back up with the women.

    The group started out classic skiing but, switched to skate skis at the 50 km mark.

    One fun twist to the workout was our summer version of the secret santa.  Here Annie Hart models her fine sweat bands from Andy Newell.  They came in handy by the end of the ski as it started to get pretty hot!

    The SMS PG’s joined us too.  Paddy Caldwell skied pretty much the enitre time glued to Andy.  Not a bad way to learn technique!

    The women finshed the 100 km in fine fashion.  This is a great group to work with!

    Eric Packer, always the overachiever logged an extra .94 km on the day.

    Obviously, we found a swimming hole after the ski.  The water could have been a little deeper but, tough to pass up a good rope swing.

    Skyler practicing good hygiene.
    It was a great day and several of the athletes were able to enough money to make a real difference this season.  Thanks to everyone who donated!!!!

  • New Zealand Race

    We woke up to some fresh snow!

    Yesterday, the groomer didn’t go out because it was too wet. They were worried about losing the snow if they tried to groom it. They were able to get out today though.

    Kris Freeman and I joined the Canadian team for a 10 kilometer individual start skate race this morning. Kris had a good day, winning the race. I struggled. I started 30 seconds in front of Canadian Ivan Babikov and a minute in front of Kris. They both caught me after three laps of the five lap race. I was able to stay with them until one kilometer to go when I fell and broke one of my poles. I’m not too worried about the fall and pole, but I am disappointed to be caught from a minute down. It is not a big deal. It’s early September; I wrote about how unimportant summer racing is in a post about the race in Oberhof last month, but it’s still hard not to worry about it.

    Kris skied really well; I think he would have had a good result if today had been a World Cup Race. Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey (who finished second and fourth toady) finished second and sixth respectively in the overall World Cup standings last season, and Babikov has had several World Cup top-10 finishes. The race results are at

    http://webscorer.com/race.aspx?raceid=3675

    On a completely different note, today was NFL fantasy draft day for the Canadians. It was a loud, passion-filled afternoon in front of their computers:

    From left to right, Devon, Len Valjas, and Alex.

    Lastly, here’s a picture of Kris warming up for the time trial today (nobody got any pictures of the race):

  • New Zealand Rain

    We woke up to rain in New Zealand this morning.

    We had a wet day of training with two hours of classic in the morning. We did a speed workout (14 by 10 second speeds on varying terrain) with the Canadians. In the afternoon Kris Freeman and I did an easy hour classic ski. We were on rub skis (also called harries, zeros or waxless skis, good when the temperature is close to zero degrees Celsius) for both sessions.

    It precipitated all day but couldn’t make up it’s mind between rain, sleet, and snow. There are ponds in the middle of the trail. This wasn’t what our snow supply needed. This evening it seems to have changed to snow so hopefully it will be good skiing tomorrow.

  • September, be kind.

    Your bodies number one job is to keep itself alive.  (this is where you yell, “Thank you Captain Obvious!”)

    As an athlete you ride the fine line between pushing your body to adapt and get stronger and pushing your body to freak out and get over protective.  This happens often times when athletes get sick, injured, or are under-recovered while trying to maintain their ‘normal’ training habits.

    I’ve been feeling flat for over a month now.  Lack of concentration, increased fatigue (wait you’re passing out at 9pm again?)… I feel lazy and have a hard time motivating to train.  This isn’t normal for me. I generally struggle with the opposite!  Frustrated, I brought out all the old training logs, combed through numbers, data, how have you been feeling? blahblah.  But nothing was different.  I wasn’t training more than normal.  I was left scratching my head, and teetering on terrified.  How did I mess this up!?!?!   

    Panic was setting in.  “Am I setting myself up for another horrible season?”    “I can’t go through that again!”  ”Body why do you hate me!?”  It’s funny how the mind forgets the months of injury and sickness and dwells on the general disappointment.  “Snap out of it crazy!” 

    …Then I got my blood results back.    Anemic.

    I suppose I shouldn’t be excited to hear the news.  But Yes.  I am excited that something is wrong.  And yes.  I am excited to get better.  Because somehow knowing that I can do something (even if that something is taking those nasty dirty penny flavored pills every day) feels like good news.

    So it might be September.  And I might be in salvage mode already… but every day I’m going to get a little better.  My crazy anemic gasping for air will stop.  I won’t bonk every 20 minutes.  Everything will stop feeling like resistance training.

    It won’t be tomorrow.  Or next week.  ….I just guess it’s a good thing I like going up hill.

  • Maine Camp Report From Erika

    On Friday the SMS T2 team finished up our mini camp in Maine. We had a solid four days of speed, intensity, kayaking, lobster and surfing.

    After a 3 hour running and roller-ski workout Wednesday morning, the camp headed to the coast for the afternoon and jumped in kayaks for some good “recovery.” We tried to follow the lead of coach Gus and Welly Ramsey of Maine Winter Sports who looked like total naturals in their boats and led the charge around some small sea islands. Unfortunately not everyone made the transition from skiing to water so easily. Skyler and Andy spent more time on the rocks than on the water while trying to navigate a tricky tandem kayak and the girls were easily distracted by starfish and eagles, looking for any excuse to rest our arms from the rapid paddling pace set by the leaders. Our efforts were rewarded however by an incredible lobster bake courtesy of the Fuller family and Flying Point photography.  Annie tried her first lobster and we all stuffed our faces with copious amounts of clams, mussels, and homemade blueberry pie.

    Our last day in Maine finished with a complete round of classic sprints from qualifying to final heats. Pineland farms offered some good rolling terrain for an out and back sprint that mimicked the course profile of many city sprints. Cows, pigs and chickens lined the course for the race and some light cloud cover made for perfect sprint weather. Famished after some hard racing Sophie and Annie came up with the ingenious idea to cool down with a ski to the local market to pick up some tasty sandwiches for lunch.

    We were sad to leave the beautiful Maine coast but had an awesome time with the Maine Winter Sports Club. Thanks for a great camp!

  • Sprint Simulation with Burke and Sinclair

  • "Travel Teams" — what are they? How to qualify?

    Skate sprint at 2005 Junior Nationals

    Scoreboard at U-23 World Champs in 2004

    Here are a number of exciting events that take place every season. They are in order by ascending age (and degree of difficulty to qualify!):

    • BKL Festival: A weekend-long festival for kids up to age 13 (K-8th grades). This is not just a “race” weekend — the event is more like a fair with different theme each year. Kids get to enjoy face-painting, mini-tours, some short races if they desire, food, friends, and a great time. Typically 400-600 kids participate each year! This event is open to anyone in this age group. Venue changes each season: Weston Ski Track hosts in 2013.
    • New England J2 Championships: A weekend-long race series for the top J2’s in the region (ages 14-15). Athletes must qualify to participate (at the EHS/J2 qualifier races in mid-February each year). 2013 J2 website. Each state in New England has its own qualifier races. Vermont has a 3km classic followed by a 3km skate. Finishing time = the sum of your 2 races and the top 20 J2’s from Vermont earn a spot on the J2 Champs Team.
    • Eastern High School Championships: a 3-day weekend of racing for the top high-school skiers in the region. Athletes must qualify to participate (at the EHS/J2 qualifier races in mid-February each year). The qualifiers are a 3km classic + 3km skate, with the top 24 high school athletes being named to the team. At the EHS Champs, athletes compete for individual honors, and also represent their home-state in a team competition. Events include a sprint prologue, a relay, and 2 short distance races. 2013 EHS Champs website.
    • Junior National Championships: athletes from age 14-19 qualify to represent their region at this week-long race series, which includes a sprint race, 2 distance races, and a relay (as well as a dance that kids get really excited for). Skiers compete against their age group for individual honors (J2 = 14/15; J1= 16/17; OJ = 18/19). There is also a team competition which pits the 12 regions against one another. New England has won the team competition for the past 4 years!! 2013 Junior Nationals take place in Fairbanks Alaska. To qualify in New England, racers must participate in the Eastern Cup races and score NENSA Points. After the last Eastern Cup, the New England coaches use the NENSA Points in each age-group to select the team: 6 J2’s of each gender, and 15 J1/OJ’s of each gender (total = 42 athletes). There is an entire section of the NENSA website dedicated to athletes that would like to participate at JN’s.
    • J1 Scandinavia Cup Championships: This is an international trip sanctioned by the US Ski Team. Based on results at Senior Nationals, the top-6 boys and girls from the J1 category are named to this team (age 17 or younger). The competitions take place in Scandinavia in late-January or early February. Link to J1 Scando Cup blog.
    • Junior World Championships: Another international trip. Location varies from year-to-year; typically it takes place in Central Europe or Scandinavia. Athletes qualify based on results at Senior National Championships. The top-6 boys and girls (age 19 and younger) are selected each season. 2013 JWC’s take place in Czech Republic.
    • U-23 World Championships: International trip that overlaps with the Junior World Championships. This is for athletes up to age 22. 2013 U23WC’s take place in Czech Republic.
    • World Championships/Olympics: we all know about these! Only for the best-of-the-best. There is no age limit — you’re never too young or too old!

    Senior National Championships: held annually in early January. Typically a 4-race series that includes 2 sprints (skate & classic) and 2 “short” distance races (approx 5/10km for gals, 10/15km for boys). These events are open to anyone with a USSA license. The best juniors in the country will participate in hopes of qualifying for the J1 Scando Trip, Junior Worlds, and U-23 Worlds. The races are hosted by Soldier Hollow (Midway, UT) in both 2013 and 2014.

  • Snow Farm Skiing

    The skiing here at the Snow Farm in New Zealand is good but not as good as it has been in years past.

    The snow is thin and spring like. It is freezing and hardening at night, and softening as we ski in the morning. Today was a grey, overcast day.

    This isn’t really a fair picture to put up because it’s the only section of trail that looks like this:

    The skiers above are Canadian Devon Kershaw (leading), Canadian Alex Harvey, and my teammate Kris Freeman.

    Yesterday afternoon we did a 90 minute skate, this morning we did a two hour skate, and this afternoon we are going to do a two hour classic. We’re starting with pretty basic training to recover from the travel and set ourselves up for a good camp for the entire time we’re here.

  • GMVS Starts: Mad River Hike

    We celebrated the start of school with a hike up Mad River this week. It has been an unbelievable stretch of weather for training in the Valley and we have capitalized with some fun workouts all over the map. The feeling of Fall is starting to creep into the mornings and evenings here, and it’s amazing that we’re about to depart for Italy in just over a week! For now we’re enjoying the comforts of home and remembering that we don’t have to travel far to find a beautiful place outside.

    It’s a great crew this year: we are 5 skiers strong and will be joined by alums and guests on training camps and even at regular practice over the course of the year. We would of course like to officially welcome Maddy Pfeiffer, Ian Moore, and Elliot Ketchel to the team. With Devlin Shea and Heidi Halvorsen captaining the group we are set up for a great year full of success and fun! The pictures here are from our hike two days ago, but there are many more to come. Stay tuned for daily updates on training as well as retrospectives of our great summer camps from these past few months. We’re looking forward to another great year at GMVS!

    The theme of the hike turned out to be finding the primary colors in nature… kicked off when Elliot found these red mushrooms hiding under the roots of a tree above a riverbed.

    Elliot expresses his excitement at the first find! 

    Heidi, fresh off the NTG camp in Utah, and Maddy, a PG from New Hampshire, are sure to be excellent training partners this year.

    The same can be said for Dev and Ian Moore, who joins us as a junior from Maine.

    And Elliot will be with us the whole way, dazzling us with his local knowledge and inspiring us with his enthusiasm.

    The second primary color: a yellow iris carried up from where it had fallen off the stalk at the base lodge.

    Justin found a brown praying mantis blending into the grass. Nice eye!

    Elliot stands on his favorite rock at the halfway point.

    Up through the ferns.

    Justin takes a break with an overheated Rafter, who’s hanging out on the moss pillow.

    Looking back to campus from the top of the double. We could see the White Mountains in the distance.

    Camels Hump to the North.

    It won’t be long before these guys are humming up the line.

    The final color: a blue berry. But probably not one that Elliot wants to eat, even if it matches everything he’s wearing.

    A view from Campus in the morning: we’re settling into the routine here in Paradise. Stay tuned for frequent updates throughout the year!

  • New Zealand Travel

    My teammate Kris Freeman and I made it to the Snow Farm, not far from Wanaka, New Zealand without any trouble. After my long ride yesterday (or two days ago, depending on how you count,) I slept for nine hours uninterrupted on the long flight, without sleeping drugs. I didn’t find Kris until we were a couple of hours from Auckland. I was glad to know he’d made the flight.

    He says he spilled “water” on his pants.

    The sun was rising as we walked from the international terminal to domestic terminal in Auckland.

    On the flight from Auckland to Queenstown we were on an Air New Zealand plane decked out in the New Zealand All Blacks (Rugby) logo.

    The flight into Queenstown is gorgeousness.

    There is less snow then there has been the last couple of years.

    But it’s really nice to be back!

    We went for a short ski when we got here. I didn’t take any pictures of the skiing today, but the snow is a little thinner and more spring like then it has been in years past (but we’re here almost a month later in the season then we have been in the past.)

  • Double Pole Distance

    Another gorgeous day in Vermont!  This afternoon we headed out for a double pole distance workout near the town of Stratton.  Matt took the older boys on a longer point to point ski, Sverre worked with the older girls, and Liz had the J2 crew (above).  Tomorrow we’ve got morning yoga with Mrs. Tait and a L3 workout.  Stay tuned for more photos tomorrow!  

  • How long will Freeman and Randall remain on top?

    Kris Freeman and Kikkan Randall have been basically the top US skiers for quite some time now. (I’m sort of brushing Andrew Newell under the rug here, mostly just due to time contraints. I’ll do a follow up on him next week.)

    Freeman has been more or less unquestionably the best US male distance skier for what seems like forever, and Randall has been fairly dominant domestically in both distance and sprint events. How long can this last? Not forever, of course. Nothing lasts forever.

    But it seems like the shift may happen sooner on the men’s side than the women’s. Here’s what I mean:

    This shows the head-to-head results of Freeman against a handful of the better US men’s distance skiers in recent years. Certainly, Freeman has way more wins (above zero, in the pink) than losses (below zero, in the blue). But the gaps are generally narrowing.

    Now, there’s a big caveat here in that I can’t say much about whether Freeman is getting slower, or these guys are getting faster, or even if Freeman is getting faster but these guys are getting faster faster. (That made you think for a second, didn’t it?) Or maybe they’re all getting slower, and Freeman is getting slower faster. (See, now I’m just having fun messing with your head.) The point is that these are just relative comparisons, not absolute ones.

    In any case, what does the similar picture look like for Kikkan Randall?

    This is the same graph for Randall, in distance events. Jessie Diggins seems to be chipping away at the gap, but the other three look fairly flat. The seemingly steep decline for Brooks is mostly an illusion, and is due to her injury struggles this past season. Without those races, her trend would be mostly flat, or perhaps very slightly down.

    Things look even more dramatic in sprinting, as you might expect:

    Again, this probably reflects Randall’s recent improvements more than any decline on the other ladies’ parts. But my point remains that it seems likely that Randall will remain on top in the near future, but I’m less certain about Freeman.

    Related posts:

    1. <Victims & Nemeses: Kris Freeman
    2. <Is Qualifying In The Top Ten A Good Sign For Kikkan?
    3. <Top 10 Qualification vs. Making The Final


  • Cutthroat Classic

    My top 5 favorite trail runs of all time are:

    1. Cutthroat Pass, North Cascades, WA
    2. Chilkoot Trail, Skagway, AK
    3. Cascade/Paintbrush Canyon, Grand Teton NP, WY
    4. Grasshopper Pass, Pacific Crest Trail, WA
    5. Porcupine Rim Trail, Moab, UT

    In 1999 MVSTA started a trail running race from Rainy Pass over Cutthroat Pass and down the other side.  The last time I ran the 11.1 mile race was in 2001 when I was a junior in High School and I finished 8th running 1:22:38.  I have been looking forward to this race all year.  My focus is ski training so I did not taper or adjust my training for the race but I have been visualizing and planning to reach my goal of breaking 1:12:56 and setting a new course record.

  • SMST2/MWSC Maine Camp

    On Monday the SMST2 crew went up to Pineland Farms, Maine for a short 4 day training camp with the Maine Winter Sports Center.  The camp has an intensity/speed focus so the athletes have had plenty of opportunities to push themselves.  Below are several photos of a L3 skate workout and a skate speed session.  A big thanks to Will Sweetser and the MWSC crew for hosting us!

    Skyler putting down the L3 hammer!

    Jessie, Sophie, Annie, Erika and Hilary M.
    Annie Hart will be joining us this fall during her semester off from Dartmouth.  Here she enjoys a post workout snack compliments of Powerbar.

  • Travel Day Over-Distance

    Two years ago, my coach John Callahan and I came up with a strategy to help me sleep while travelling: do long over-distance sessions (over-distance sessions, called ODs, are any session longer than the length of my longest race, about 2.5 hours) the day of or day before travel. When I do these sessions, I have to be careful not to get too dehydrated and to eat well because it is hard to replenish in an airplane. I have never heard of anybody else doing this, but I believe it has helped me handle travel and be ready to train or race when I arrive at my destination.

    Today I am flying to New Zealand. I departed Salt Lake at 5:10P.M. Before I left I did a 5 hour, 100 mile bike ride around the Oquirrh Mountains. It was a fun, new loop for me, but it was hot. When I came through Tooele, with about 45 minutes to go, one of the digital thermometers read 90 degrees Fahrenheit. And parts of the route were long, straight, and lonely:

    There were some nice views of the Great Salt Lake (in the distance):

    I am currently in the Phoenix, Arizona airport. From here I fly to Los Angeles, then Aukland, then Queenstown, before driving to the Snow Farm. It’s going to be a long day.

  • Wednesday Workouts: Agility & Distance Run

    What a BEAUTIFUL day in Vermont!  Not a cloud in the sky, crisp cool morning, warming up gradually during the day – perfect weather!  We took advantage of it and got outside twice today: once in the morning for our 11am to noon training block, and again in the afternoon for practice between our last class of the day and dinner.  It’s a packed schedule here!  
     This morning we headed up to Lot 1 where we worked on agility, balance, and speed as a group.  
     This afternoon we headed out for a run around the back of Stratton and out to Stratton Pond.  No pictures from that adventure – coaches were running too!  
     Tomorrow we’ve got a double pole workout on the schedule!   More pictures from today HERE.
     If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the article that FasterSkier put together about our SMS T2 Team.   FasterSkier also posted a few videos earlier in the week of the SMS T2 group during summer training.  Check out the tab above on the toolbar (SMS T2 Team) for more info and news about that group.  They’re up in Maine at a training camp right now and we look forward to their updates and photos when they return this weekend.

  • Bonnie Raitt

    This evening I went to Bonnie Raitt at Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City with my sister and Toni and Greg Adams.

    Red Butte is a beautiful place to see a concert.

    Bonnie Raitt was fantastic. I know her music well and really enjoyed the concert.

    And the mountains around Salt Lake are gorgeous.

    And there was a beautiful sunset during the show.

    Here’s a little video from the concert.

     

     

  • 8/28 Uphill Run Test

    This afternoon we had a nice big crew out for our uphill run test.  After a solid warmup for everyone, we got things rolling at the bottom of County Road and everyone raced 2 miles up around County Road, onto Mountain Road, past the Sunbowl and almost back to school.  Pretty challenging course! We had five people testing for the first time (all new PRs!) and eight more athletes (Alex, Austin, Brooke, Hamish, Izzy, Koby, Mollie, and Pip) set all-time PRs on the course today.   Several others ran very close to their PR.  Well done to everyone!  More photos HERE.
    Calvin (6:46) 12:56
    Austin (6:56) 13:07
    Jack (6:57) 13:09
    Gino (6:56) 13:23
    Hamish (7:09) 13:33
    Koby (7:27) 13:45
    Scott (7:39)  14:25
    Izzy C (7:46) 14:29
    Tyler (8:07) 14:34
    Mollie (7:52) 14:48
    Issy P (7:54) 14:52
    Tegan (9:09) 16:46
    Katharine (9:09) 16:47
    Kate (9:20) 17:18
    Tess (9:31) 17:31
    Alex (10:02) 18:16
    Ana (10:02) 18:25
    Mackenzie (9:54) 18:32
    Brooke (10:21) 18:35
    Pip 19:52
    Runners of the day go to seniors Hamish & Mollie.  Hamish eclipsed his best time from last fall and Mollie took a minute off her time from earlier this summer.  
     Calvin set the pace for the team.
     Gino, Austin, and Jack made up the chase group for the boys team.
     Hamish kept that chase group in sight and finished strong to improve on his PR.  
     Koby gets faster every time he does this test!
     Scott Mooney took his first crack at the uphill run test today! 
     Izzy Caldwell paced the girls today and ran her best time on this course.  
     Mollie and Issy work together as they hit the mile mark.  
     Tyler cruising uphill.
     Katharine and Tegan ran the whole test together.
     Kate working the uphill.
     Tess knocked over a minute off her time from earlier this summer!  
     Mackenzie stretches it out before one of the few gradual downhills on the course.
     Alex and Ana running hard together.
     Pip was consistent – in her second time running this test, she was a second faster! 
     Happy Tess after a great run!
     Katharine & Tegan heading out for a cool down.
     All smiles! 
    Cool down time!