FasterSkier

Category: XCFeeds

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

  • BKL Camp Craziness

    We hosted our first BKL camp of the summer this past week. The heat was intense but it just meant that we had to go swimming a lot more – definitely not a bad thing! Coaching the BKL camps makes fitting in our own training and other work projects a little difficult but it’s also really fun to work with kids that are so enthusiastic about all the various activities we throw at them. I know it’s cliché, but their excitement is certainly infectious. Here are some photos from the week’s adventures:

    The SBTC did an awesome job with the sculling sessions.

    The SBTC did an awesome job with the sculling sessions.

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    New this year: A mountain bike clinic with Jess, an instructor from Dirt Divas.

    New this year: A mountain bike clinic with Jess, an instructor from Dirt Divas.

    Jack, one of our youngest campers, on the obstacle course.

    Jack, one of our youngest campers, on the obstacle course.

    Our BKL camps always end with an adventure race. One team checks out the map under the watchful eyes of Matt.

    Our BKL camps always end with an adventure race. One team checks out the map under the watchful eyes of Matt.

    Coach Tim with his team during the canoe portion.

    Coach Tim with his team during the canoe portion.

    Finish Line! Watermelon time, then it's on to the rope swing and pizza party.

    Finish Line! Watermelon time, then it's on to the rope swing and pizza party.

    Many, many thanks to everyone that helped make the July BKL camp so successful!

  • Maine Team Camp (lots of pictures)

    Just finished up our annual Maine Team Training Camp. MWSC started and has been hosting this camp for the past four years. This was the largest contingent of Mainers we’ve ever had; this camp in the past has also been in conjunction with skiers from Quebec’s Provincial Nordic Team.

    The campus of the University of Maine-Ft. Kent was transformed partially into a training center where the athletes not only ate and slept, but used the weight room and gym for strength testing and daily classroom sessions ranging from basic physiology, nutrition, and life as a full-time athlete. The group also took part in a classic sprint time trial, uphill run, and the Speedball World Championships of the World. Daily training was a mix of dryland and rollerski technique sessions, running, biathlon shooting, and other games.


    Start of the Men’s Classic Sprint


    Eventual Men’s winner “Big” Joe Bard followed by Welly


    Women’s Final


    Emily and Lauren pushing to the finish


    Ashley throwing down


    Andrea cornering in the skate TT


    Emelie Donahue putting in the k’s on the roller loop


    Welly digging in and looking for his competition


    Ben and Raleigh pushing each other

  • Maine Team Camp (lots of pictures)

    Just finished up our annual Maine Team Training Camp. MWSC started and has been hosting this camp for the past four years. This was the largest contingent of Mainers we’ve ever had; this camp in the past has also been in conjunction with skiers from Quebec’s Provincial Nordic Team.

    The campus of the University of Maine-Ft. Kent was transformed partially into a training center where the athletes not only ate and slept, but used the weight room and gym for strength testing and daily classroom sessions ranging from basic physiology, nutrition, and life as a full-time athlete. The group also took part in a classic sprint time trial, uphill run, and the Speedball World Championships of the World. Daily training was a mix of dryland and rollerski technique sessions, running, biathlon shooting, and other games.


    Start of the Men’s Classic Sprint


    Eventual Men’s winner “Big” Joe Bard followed by Welly


    Women’s Final


    Emily and Lauren pushing to the finish


    Ashley throwing down


    Andrea cornering in the skate TT


    Emelie Donahue putting in the k’s on the roller loop


    Welly digging in and looking for his competition


    Ben and Raleigh pushing each other

  • Maine Team Camp (lots of pictures)

    Just finished up our annual Maine Team Training Camp. MWSC started and has been hosting this camp for the past four years. This was the largest contingent of Mainers we’ve ever had; this camp in the past has also been in conjunction with skiers from Quebec’s Provincial Nordic Team.

    The campus of the University of Maine-Ft. Kent was transformed partially into a training center where the athletes not only ate and slept, but used the weight room and gym for strength testing and daily classroom sessions ranging from basic physiology, nutrition, and life as a full-time athlete. The group also took part in a classic sprint time trial, uphill run, and the Speedball World Championships of the World. Daily training was a mix of dryland and rollerski technique sessions, running, biathlon shooting, and other games.


    Start of the Men’s Classic Sprint


    Eventual Men’s winner “Big” Joe Bard followed by Welly


    Women’s Final


    Emily and Lauren pushing to the finish


    Ashley throwing down


    Andrea cornering in the skate TT


    Emelie Donahue putting in the k’s on the roller loop


    Welly digging in and looking for his competition


    Ben and Raleigh pushing each other

  • Maine Team Camp (lots of pictures)

    Just finished up our annual Maine Team Training Camp. MWSC started and has been hosting this camp for the past four years. This was the largest contingent of Mainers we’ve ever had; this camp in the past has also been in conjunction with skiers from Quebec’s Provincial Nordic Team.

    The campus of the University of Maine-Ft. Kent was transformed partially into a training center where the athletes not only ate and slept, but used the weight room and gym for strength testing and daily classroom sessions ranging from basic physiology, nutrition, and life as a full-time athlete. The group also took part in a classic sprint time trial, uphill run, and the Speedball World Championships of the World. Daily training was a mix of dryland and rollerski technique sessions, running, biathlon shooting, and other games.


    Start of the Men’s Classic Sprint


    Eventual Men’s winner “Big” Joe Bard followed by Welly


    Women’s Final


    Emily and Lauren pushing to the finish


    Ashley throwing down


    Andrea cornering in the skate TT


    Emelie Donahue putting in the k’s on the roller loop


    Welly digging in and looking for his competition


    Ben and Raleigh pushing each other

  • The Prouty: Riding bikes to raise $ to fight cancer.

    a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDpYTiPg0XI/AAAAAAAADPI/FbDRUoHJS8A/s1600/Team+Picture.07.10.10.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDpYTiPg0XI/AAAAAAAADPI/FbDRUoHJS8A/s400/Team+Picture.07.10.10.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492799788164370802″ //abr /Here is a picture of most of our team after the 100 mile bike ride. We had a group of 44 that gathered with several thousand others in the annual fund raiser to fight cancer. br /Our main group had 30 riders complete the ride in just over 5 hours with no flats and only 1 small crash. Others started earlier, chose the 50 mile vesion and walked. The day started with pouring rain, but the rain turned to drizzle after 1 hour and then stopped for the last 60 miles. br /Thanks to everyone on the team for a great ride and for raising 14,000! It is really fun cruising along in a pack of 30 bikers, but you don’t want to drop your glasses, stop to pick them up and then fight to catch back up (thanks Howie). Luckily the event is wonderfully organized and there are SAG stops every 10 miles. The couple of times that our group got seperated we regrouped at the stops.br /Special kudos to Amy and Zach for coming out from Colorado for the event and to Poppet’s husband, Charlie, for completing the Prouty Ultimate (200 miles in 2 days).div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4680416899705879324-5103965371965174812?l=smsxc.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div

  • Summer Skiing In Prince William Sound

    Hiking and skiing in July on the north ridge of Culross Island, Prince William Sound, Alaska.

  • Week In Review: Friday July 9th

    A week on the road for me, so things have been a little slow.  Here’s what’s been happening while I travel around to watch my friends get married…

    • I showed a simple visualization of the men’s Olympic relay, although I made a bit of a mistake, omitting the Czech team.  Sorry!
    • We continued with our head to head series, comparing Marit Bjoergen and Justyna Kowalczyk.
    • We also continued looking back at the careers of skiers who’ve retired, this time examining Germany’s Claudia Nystad (formerly Kuenzel).
    • Finally, my apologies if you stopped by today and found the site didn’t work.  We had a bit of a hiccup this morning, but it was resolved pretty quickly, thanks to my awesome friends.

    As for me, I’m undecided as to whether I want to root for Spain or Holland this weekend.  I’ve usually enjoyed watching Holland play, but they’ve been a bit of a disappointment this tournament.  And I really loved how Spain played against Germany.  I’m betting it’ll be 2-0 Spain…

    Have a great weekend!


  • Time Trial #1

    Every summer we do a series of 5k time trails as both an opportunity to gauge our improvement, and also a chance to get in a good, hard effort. The first time trails of the summer were this past Tuesday. They are always in the same location – a 5k area of road on the rolling hills in Afton, MN – and the format is: warm up, 5k skate, recovery, 5k classic, cool down. It is all self timed, individual start, and drafting is not allowed.br /br /pI started about 30 seconds after Eugene did, and made it my goal to try and catch him. Eugene is one of the new skiers to Vakava this year, and he is also relatively new to skiing in general. His technique is quite raw (although it has improved quite a bit already this summer), but he has a huge engine, and I think he is going to be much improved by this winter. I was probably a bit to excited to chase him down too quickly, and I started out quite hard. I made up 75% of the distance between us by the half way mark, but by then the 90 degree heat and my fast start was starting to get to me, and I spent most of the last lap just trying to keep the gap from getting bigger. On the last stretch of rolling hills I made a final push to catch him, and I think Eugene was starting to fade a bit as I was closing in. About 30m from the finish I was still 10m behind, but then with a ill-placed pole between the skis Eugene was sprawled out on the ground and I glided past over the finish line, completely drained. Eugene got up quickly, and with bloody knees and left elbow was not far behind./ppIn between the skate and classic TT’s I was doing by best to recover and prepare to go hard again, but I was really feeling the heat. I don’t think I have ever felt as light headed or jello-legged at the emstart /emof a time trial as I did in the classic portion. I never felt like I was able to give an all out effort or get any snap in my arms and abs, but I could go no faster. I think everyone was just happy to have stayed on their feet during the classic portion. Eugene, after bandaging himself up, gamely put in a great classic TT and he finished in the same time that I did. All in all a good start to the year, and some times to improve upon when we do it again in a month or two./pSkate TT:br /Nate 12:34br /Eugene 13:10br /Paul 13:38br /Jason 14:30br /Dave 14:39br /Kathleen 15:20br /Michele 15:39br /Brent 15:47br /Cheryl 15:57br /Bonnie 16:32br /br /br /br /Classic TT:br /Nate 13:39br /Eugene 13:39br /Paul 14:56br /Brent 15:15br /Cheryl 15:29br /Dave 15:34br /Michele 15:49br /Kathleen 15:50br /Jason 16:58br /Bonnie 17:55br /br /A couple of notes about the results:br /1. Both Bonnie and Eugene fell during the skate TT.br /2. Jason is brand new to classic skiing and this TT was his first classic “race” ever.br /3. We brought along the MN skinnyski series team trophy that we won last winter. We figured that if Peter brought it all across the country to take pictures with it after his team won, the least we could do is to take an occational picture with it too (and send it in to be on the front page of skinnyski.com).br /br /br /br /img style=”TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491933454909858770″ border=”0″ alt=”” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hvZteNu0E40/TDdEYTX8Y9I/AAAAAAAAAKU/OCIDvmNGWBM/s320/dave+and+kathleen.jpg” / p align=”center”emKathleen and Dave/em/pdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1572647974447867713-5680013384753891696?l=vakavaraceteam.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div

  • Career Retrospective: Claudia Nystad (Kuenzel)

    A late addition to the skier retirement series is German Claudia Nystad (before she married she raced under the name Claudia Kuenzel; FIS hyphenates her name, so I will too).

    Kuenzel-Nystad has quite a few Olympic and World Championship medals, although most of them were in relays.  She has 8 medals (all gold and silver) in both sprint and distance relays.  Additionally, she has a silver medal from the individual sprint in the Turin Olympics and another silver from the individual sprint in the 2003 Val di Fiemme World Championships.

    I counted 26 podium results in various major events (WC, OWG and WSC).  That includes distance and sprint and Tour de Ski races.  Sixteen of these were in distance races and another ten were sprints.  A few of the distance races were actually quite short, being prologue events at Tour de Ski or other stage race format events.

    Let’s take a look at her distance results first:

    Claudia Kuenzel-Nystad's distance results.

    Her better World Junior results (yellow dots) was a second place in the 5k freestyle.  Between these and 2001 Kuenzel-Nystad only occasionally raced World Cups.  After a few introductory seasons, she was a rather consistent top skier for around six seasons, before her results tailed off somewhat this past year.

    I’d call her somewhat unlucky that her career only really spanned one Olympics during her “peak” years.  If you shift her career by 2-3 years in either direction, she might have had a better shot at some good results at another Olympics.

    Let’s see if she had a technique preference in distance events:

    Claudia Kuenzel-Nystad's distance results by technique.

    Certainly she skated better towards the end of her career, but things were at least somewhat even through the bulk of her career.  Her 2002-2003 season is interesting for the noticeable separation between her skating and classic races, with the exception of two slower skating races.

    Kuenzel-Nystad is actually known as an excellent sprinter:

    Claudia Kuenzel-Nystad's sprint results.

    As you can see, she was a reliable bet to qualify.  She had a strong sequence of seasons from 2003 to perhaps 2007, but then things tailed off somewhat.

    Let’s see if she had a favorite technique for sprinting:

    Claudia Kuenzel-Nystad's sprint results by technique.

    This seems like a clear win for skating.  The sudden uptick in the trend line for classic sprinting in the last few seasons is probably a bit unfair, being based only on 3 bad races.  Still, her top ten results were nearly all skating.

    I’ll close by noting that the FasterSkier article I link to above observes that Kuenzel-Nystad actually auctioned off her 2002 distance relay Olympic gold medal with the proceeds going to a German charity that helps abused children, Hansel and Gretel.  Cool stuff…


  • Afton Trail Run

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  • Hammering in the Heat

    The heat wave continues here, but we are training at 8 am so it is not too unbearable.br /Andy Newell joined our group today for some speed and intensity work. After a warm up with the older skiers helping out the Devo kids, we did 8 leg speeds and then hit the big hill for 3 uphill intervals. Some people had a hard time with the heat, but everyone had a good workout. br /Thanks for coming out Andy!br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZo96PLnuI/AAAAAAAADPA/ln3jCFTrh9I/s1600/IMG_5122.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZo96PLnuI/AAAAAAAADPA/ln3jCFTrh9I/s400/IMG_5122.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491692208439140066″ //aIzzy and Raili.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZoQFbb4sI/AAAAAAAADO4/FKyquSrb1R8/s1600/IMG_5125.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZoQFbb4sI/AAAAAAAADO4/FKyquSrb1R8/s400/IMG_5125.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491691421169345218″ //aBen and Austin.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZnpg2jwOI/AAAAAAAADOw/Z7XF9Nwb3_U/s1600/IMG_5126.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 329px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZnpg2jwOI/AAAAAAAADOw/Z7XF9Nwb3_U/s400/IMG_5126.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491690758515966178″ //aAndy and Katharine.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZnP_cG85I/AAAAAAAADOo/oI_CbmqIf0w/s1600/IMG_5127.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZnP_cG85I/AAAAAAAADOo/oI_CbmqIf0w/s400/IMG_5127.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491690320049927058″ //aCam and Mae working on glide.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZmtaHHprI/AAAAAAAADOg/H8EP3tYwr1Q/s1600/IMG_5130.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZmtaHHprI/AAAAAAAADOg/H8EP3tYwr1Q/s400/IMG_5130.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491689725914228402″ //aTechnique chat.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZmPiHBSvI/AAAAAAAADOY/ud89yQtZOlc/s1600/IMG_5131.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZmPiHBSvI/AAAAAAAADOY/ud89yQtZOlc/s400/IMG_5131.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491689212665219826″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZlygL9SQI/AAAAAAAADOQ/IxmDcqIwoaM/s1600/IMG_5133.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 341px; height: 400px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZlygL9SQI/AAAAAAAADOQ/IxmDcqIwoaM/s400/IMG_5133.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491688713932851458″ //aCam and Sarah.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZlV9HMgqI/AAAAAAAADOI/AmLV92PQ_Fg/s1600/IMG_5143.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZlV9HMgqI/AAAAAAAADOI/AmLV92PQ_Fg/s400/IMG_5143.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491688223481299618″ //aSky-dog and Andy.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZk2qBDgMI/AAAAAAAADOA/B6ExIltgPkI/s1600/IMG_5147.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 306px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZk2qBDgMI/AAAAAAAADOA/B6ExIltgPkI/s400/IMG_5147.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491687685779325122″ //a”RABBIT”.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZkg4uoqGI/AAAAAAAADN4/30xbn7XjoYA/s1600/IMG_5149.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 279px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZkg4uoqGI/AAAAAAAADN4/30xbn7XjoYA/s400/IMG_5149.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491687311771478114″ //aThe girls are looking good.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZkHNIOfzI/AAAAAAAADNw/7OpCAtR-Z80/s1600/IMG_5175.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 271px; height: 400px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZkHNIOfzI/AAAAAAAADNw/7OpCAtR-Z80/s400/IMG_5175.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491686870570925874″ //aJimmy L getting airborn on his d-pole. br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZjrJUWJVI/AAAAAAAADNo/AdSVowcXvkA/s1600/IMG_5186.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 221px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZjrJUWJVI/AAAAAAAADNo/AdSVowcXvkA/s400/IMG_5186.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491686388511679826″ //aIzzy, Cam and Hallie.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZjKLWnQdI/AAAAAAAADNg/BTa6D52DZ-4/s1600/IMG_5193.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZjKLWnQdI/AAAAAAAADNg/BTa6D52DZ-4/s400/IMG_5193.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491685822122377682″ //aSome of the boys skating up the hills “L3″.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZib6mGBHI/AAAAAAAADNY/5zYxobkzkho/s1600/IMG_5196.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZib6mGBHI/AAAAAAAADNY/5zYxobkzkho/s400/IMG_5196.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491685027349922930″ //aTyler, Kody and Patrick on the first hill.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZh5MtVDPI/AAAAAAAADNQ/4YgnSJvnjY0/s1600/IMG_5201.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZh5MtVDPI/AAAAAAAADNQ/4YgnSJvnjY0/s400/IMG_5201.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491684430916685042″ //aCambria.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZhJ_qeMtI/AAAAAAAADNI/0lPXp4XlMh8/s1600/IMG_5230.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZhJ_qeMtI/AAAAAAAADNI/0lPXp4XlMh8/s400/IMG_5230.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491683619961189074″ //aJAC flexing the back muscles.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZgiNvmtEI/AAAAAAAADNA/1kIRNUskUqU/s1600/IMG_5233.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZgiNvmtEI/AAAAAAAADNA/1kIRNUskUqU/s400/IMG_5233.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491682936546047042″ //aTess, Alexandra and Poppet work their way up.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZf22nuzyI/AAAAAAAADM4/Klx3sBKxdHE/s1600/IMG_5240.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 353px; height: 400px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZf22nuzyI/AAAAAAAADM4/Klx3sBKxdHE/s400/IMG_5240.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491682191604633378″ //aAustin Cobb looking good on top.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZfaEbSL5I/AAAAAAAADMw/rF5SD_NOShs/s1600/IMG_5244.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZfaEbSL5I/AAAAAAAADMw/rF5SD_NOShs/s400/IMG_5244.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491681697094315922″ //aNick shows some pain.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZel8cehZI/AAAAAAAADMg/NcZeFV03U2Y/s1600/IMG_5254.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 316px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZel8cehZI/AAAAAAAADMg/NcZeFV03U2Y/s400/IMG_5254.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491680801598637458″ //aThanks Power Bar!br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZdi5aN_lI/AAAAAAAADMQ/yOQiUZW18Zg/s1600/IMG_5265.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZdi5aN_lI/AAAAAAAADMQ/yOQiUZW18Zg/s400/IMG_5265.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491679649732623954″ //aCaptain Kangaroo :)br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZc1vPDCiI/AAAAAAAADMI/OufgX1xaO68/s1600/IMG_5276.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZc1vPDCiI/AAAAAAAADMI/OufgX1xaO68/s400/IMG_5276.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491678873907300898″ //aThere’s nothing like a nice swim after a tough workout.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZcdk5J4uI/AAAAAAAADMA/tK2dBm7jXdA/s1600/IMG_5277.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 246px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZcdk5J4uI/AAAAAAAADMA/tK2dBm7jXdA/s400/IMG_5277.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491678458814259938″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZbxgY3ltI/AAAAAAAADL4/u9cYC1i3jPA/s1600/IMG_5187.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TDZbxgY3ltI/AAAAAAAADL4/u9cYC1i3jPA/s400/IMG_5187.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491677701690857170″ //abr /It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4680416899705879324-3267905241353644577?l=smsxc.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div

  • Head-to-Head: Marit vs Justyna

    This is the head to head matchup that was runner up in my recent reader poll.  No reason not to keep everyone happy by tackling this pair next!

    Per usual, what I’m doing is taking races where Marit Bjoergen and Justyna Kowalczyk have both participated and plotting the difference of their FIS points (distance races) or the difference of their finishing place (sprint races) versus time.

    Here’s the graph of their head to head distance race results:

    Points below zero indicate a victory for Justyna, points above a victory for Marit.

    Marit was clearly the stronger skier earlier in their careers, although we should keep in mind that she is around three years older than Justyna and that age difference will be more important when they are both younger.  Since then things have evened up considerably, with Justyna actually having the better of the matchup in the 2008-2009 season.  Marit turned that around last season, winning most of the head-to-head matchups, albeit by a narrow margin in many cases.

    Marit seems stronger in freestyle races, although the difference is small and has shrunk over time.

    I want to highlight the freestyle race all the way back in 2000, which took place at World Juniors.  Marit was around 20 and Justyna was around 17.  Obviously, Marit beat Justyna by quite a bit, but that’s not the interesting part.  It was a 5k interval start race and Bjoergen finished 37th (163.41 FIS points) and Kowalczyk finished 58th (199.42 FIS points).  I don’t know why I’m fascinated by instances of current skiing superstars racing slowly in the past.  Maybe it’s because it highlights to me how difficult it can be to identify talent in endurance sports, at least based solely on race results.  Or perhaps it’s just another instance of the natural variation in skiing performance and being a stats guy I like variation.

    For additional context on this race, Pirjo Muranen and Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle finished 2nd and 3rd.  American skier Aubrey Smith finished 13th.

    On to Bjoergen and Kowalczyk’s sprint results:

    Points below zero indicate a victory for Kowalczyk, above zero a win for Bjoergen.

    The difference between classic and freestyle racing seems more pronounced here (with a few exceptions, obviously).  The overall pattern is the same, though.  Marit had a significant advantage early on that has shrunk over the last few seasons.

    Both skiers will likely continue to race for at least 4 more seasons, so it’ll be interesting to see how this rivalry plays out…



  • REG Camp Testing

    Ahh yes, the annual Regional Elite Group Camp.  The first two days of this camp can be brutal, kicking things off with a 3000m running time-trial on the track, followed early the next morning by strength testing.  A new component was added to this year’s tests: the ski erg.

    I’m pretty sure my sister Martha spends more time on an Erg in one day than I have in my life, but still, this ski erg is brutal.  It’s just like a rowing erg, except vertical and you’ve got to double-pole as fast as possible, without the satisfaction of actually going anywhere.  Ouch.

    Santi and Eric go head-to-head on the ski erg

    Other components of the CXC Strength Testing protocol are pull-ups, sit-ups, push-ups, dips, and box jumps.  Check out CXC Skiing on Facebook to see some of the top CXC strength testing results.  While you’re at it, become friends with CXC Skiing to get regular updates on the latest team news.

    Karl Nygren, light on his feet, busting out over 90 box jumps in 90 seconds.

    Here’s the full 2010 Men’s CXC Summer Training Team: Gregg, Eric, Santi, Karl, Dougie D, and Kuz.

  • Subaru Cup

    Ski racing might be fine and dandy in the winter, but when there’s no snow to be found on this hemisphere, it can only mean that bike season is upon us.  The Tour de France started last weekend, along with the Tour of Austria, as the King himself reminds us.  Here in Wisconsin, it was the Subaru Cup–the first National Series mountain bike race to hit the Midwest in over 10 years.

    National Series races mean there will be a Cross Country and Short Track, and Short Track means that I will be doing my best to get out and race.  For this edition, of course, all the top Pros from around the country show up.  It was cool to catch up with some friends on the Pro tour that I haven’t seen in a while.

    After fellow Middlebury rider Spencer Paxson made the trip to cheer on Simi & me in Vancouver, I got to return the favor and cheer on Spence at the Subaru Cup.  He works 60 hour weeks at a desk job in Seattle and still manages to pull off top results at Pro mountain bike races.  Nice work!

    Jack Hinkens is a recent Hopkins High School grad and Pro mountain biker.  Jack finished 20th in both the Cross Country and Short Track at the Subaru Cup as a first year U23 rider.  Jack’s so fast he was just invited to race a couple of Mountain Bike World Cup’s later this summer with the big dogs in Europe.

    Of course, I forgot to put the memory card in my camera (rookie mistake, I know) before the weekend.  The action shots are courtesy of Paul Belknap.

    Tad Elliott is on the CXC Team and throws down on dirt and snow.  Tad is legit and awesome to have around to hang out with training and at races.

    I even got to get out and do some racing, albeit in the Expert Category (not Pro, like the really fast dudes above).  I picked up one of the new CXC Team Vertical Limit cycling jerseys to rock this weekend.  You too can dress like the pros – check out the CXC Store for some cool swag.

    Maplelag’s Lars Ellefson and Jake Richards were hammering all weekend and getting ready for National Championships in a couple weeks.  A big thanks to Jay Richards for providing race support and getting me some cold bottle hand-ups to stay hydrated on a hot weekend.  Carla Hinkens, Jack’s mom, is awesome.  Thanks for the lodging and being team photographer for the weekend!

    Nothing like standing atop the Podium after a successful weekend of racing.  Man, I love this sport!

  • Olympic Day Minocqua

    Last Friday, in conjunction with International Olympic Day, Premier Physical and CXC Skiing, held Olympic Day in Minocqua, Wisconsin.  The event was held for kids of all ages to get together and get exposure to a wide variety of sports and activities.  There were over 100 kids from Northwestern Wisconsin who came out to join in the fun.

    Steve Merlin, strength consultant to the CXC Team, taught the kids barefoot running drills to help teach them to run more efficiently.

    One of the highlights for the kids were Merlin’s “Critter Crawls.”  I’m not exactly sure which critter they’re demonstrating here, but I’m pretty sure it’s some sort of crab walk.

    Local news crews were even on hand to document the day.  Here, Jim Mullen shows off his new World Class training facility at Premier Physical.

    Of course, what would Olympic Day be without real Olympians?  Igor Badamshin (‘94) goes old school, Russian Style, on Caitlin Compton (‘10) representing the home team – US of A.

  • New Orleans

    Yes, this is a really old update, but my new buddies, Pat & Ted Baer, from Pennsylvania just sent some photos from my spring break in New Orleans.

    Pat and Ted Baer on their annual service trip to New Orleans

    Dan Skold has been living and working in New Orleans for the past 3 years, helping to rebuild New Orleans as a super intendant with Habitat for Humanity.  At any given moment, Dan is responsible for 8 to 10 new builds.  I got down to New Orleans earlier this spring to visit Dan and do a little new home construction on the side.

    Ted and Skoldy take a break from pounding nails long enough for a photo

    Dan was crippled this spring with a torn ACL playing soccer, but has since recovered enough to ride his bike across France for a little “pre-Tour” Tour.  I’m fairly certain he just faked his injury to get a few extra days off of work.

    See, he doesn’t even need those crutches.  My two new favorite football teams after my trip to New Orleans?  The Packers & the Saints.  Who dat?!

  • Daboullie

    Daboullie Mountain doesn’t have the grand size of a Mt. Katahdin, but makes up for it in the diverse terrain and beautiful lakes along the trail. With the windshield wipers on high the entire drive over to the trailhead we knew we were instore for a wet run. But it was one of those runs where you actually enjoyed the rain. Besides keeping the temperatures down, the rain and fog added to the mystique of the area. Photo: Corrine and Grace


    Tracy heading up the trail


    Gary enjoying the rainy weather


    Leif letting everyone know that he was the first to the top

  • Daboullie

    Daboullie Mountain doesn’t have the grand size of a Mt. Katahdin, but makes up for it in the diverse terrain and beautiful lakes along the trail. With the windshield wipers on high the entire drive over to the trailhead we knew we were instore for a wet run. But it was one of those runs where you actually enjoyed the rain. Besides keeping the temperatures down, the rain and fog added to the mystique of the area. Photo: Corrine and Grace


    Tracy heading up the trail


    Gary enjoying the rainy weather


    Leif letting everyone know that he was the first to the top

  • Daboullie

    Daboullie Mountain doesn’t have the grand size of a Mt. Katahdin, but makes up for it in the diverse terrain and beautiful lakes along the trail. With the windshield wipers on high the entire drive over to the trailhead we knew we were instore for a wet run. But it was one of those runs where you actually enjoyed the rain. Besides keeping the temperatures down, the rain and fog added to the mystique of the area. Photo: Corrine and Grace


    Tracy heading up the trail


    Gary enjoying the rainy weather


    Leif letting everyone know that he was the first to the top