FasterSkier

Category: XCFeeds

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

  • Muonio Skiing and School Visit

    Yesterday we had blue skies here in Muonio, Finland. The sun never hits our side of the mountain. (The mountain is not very big, but the sun doesn’t get high in the sky north of the arctic circle.) Some of the ski trails go around the mountain, and there was some sun on the other side. The temperature has been in the teens and twenties. The skiing is awesome. Here’s my teammate Holly Brooks coming back from LUNCH!

    All of the men: Kris Freeman, Tad Elliott, Andy Newell, Simi Hamilton, Sylvan Ellefson, and myself are in one three bedroom, one bathroom cabin. It’s very nice and comfortable.

    Sylvan and Simi are sleeping up in the loft. Here’s Sylvan:

    Today was a little more overcast. Here’s Kris heading out for a ski:

    And here’s Liz Stephen leading Ida Sargent and Jason Cork:

    The scene is a little grey around here.

    After skiing most of the team headed into town.

    We stopped by the local middle school to meet the kids.

    The kids were a little shy at first when we were up in front talking to them.

    But they were more involved one on one.

    We got to know them a little bit. I imagine growing up in Muonio could be tough at times.

    It was a big group.

    We signed some autograph cards for them.

    I also collected their signatures.

    And Sylvan signed some foreheads:

    I signed some forearms.

    And we took some pictures with them.

    After we went to the grocery store. Newell enjoyed the kids section.

  • Rethinking Events for Developing Cross Country Skiers

    I’ve done alot over time with playing around with competition formats and groupings during practices and club events.  I’ve come to think that maybe there is another way to organize children’s ski competitions that recognize growth and development characteristics, while providing adequate challenge, and provide reasonable opportunities for children of different abilities to compete with others who have similar ability – in essence ability groupings.  

    Lots of people would say – who cares about competition formats – it doesn’t really matter.  Lots of kids have made their way through and become successful. And, maybe they’re right.  For me, I’ve come to a realization that almost any kid can get fired up about ski racing where someone takes the time to think through what we are doing and how we want to get there.  The fact is that there is a lot that could be done to make racing a more engaging experience for young skiers.  Often, kids events are organized as mass starts, not because its the best format for kids, but instead because its the easiest for race organizers.  Again, having organized lots of ski race events, I know first hand the amount of work that goes into even a mass start event.

    The question I ask myself is ‘are we selling kids short’ on racing when what they get to experience results in the same 5 kids finishing 1st through 5th each race, all season.  A few years ago, when the new competition model was just being discussed, debated, and piloted in Canada, I took the initiative to organize what I thought was a creative response to meeting the needs of young ski racers.  I pulled together a season long event series that I called ‘Built for Speed’.  The premise was that ‘speed’ was a window of trainability for L2T and young T2T athletes – as well, ‘motor skill acquisition’ was another window of trainability for this age – and so the event series would focus on speed and skill acquisition framed in competition.  The events would include things like a 100m double pole race, a 100 m uphill diagonal stride race, a 100m downhill race, a 100m step double pole race, and a combination race that might include any technique.  5 races in one day by kids. In fact, 5 events for 50-60 kids all done in 1.5 hours…and 5 of these ‘built for speed’ events organized over the season, and on top of that, each with its own category parameters that were unique to each event.  How? by engaging parents to help out.

     I have always felt that 12-13 year old skiers are capable physically of competing in more than one race in a day.  I mean, is 15 minutes all that an adolescent skier is capable of physically?  I would say no.  The average young ski racer is capable of greater amounts of physical exertion than 15 minutes.

    One of the biggest problems with ‘one race’ on race day is that when its done, that’s it, time to go home.  There just isn’t very much to hook very many kids on the joy of competing.  Sure, it works for the few kids who do really well – but for everyone else, how much have we given them to take something away that tells them, ‘hey, I think I can be good at this’.  There must be a better way.  I think there is.

    A great example of a competition done really well, that optimizes different skill sets on the same day is done by my own club – Canmore Nordic Ski Club.  The Rocky Mtn Ski Challenge, held in March of each year is one of the only events I know that includes a morning skate race, followed by an afternoon downhill race. Awards are presented to participants in the morning race, the afternoon race, and also awards for the combined time.  Its amazing to see how this affects participation.  Lots of kids in our club race both cross country and alpine – and so when it comes to the downhill race (on cross country gear), its amazing to see a different set of kids shine.  Having the opportunity to shine is critical to helping kids see themselves as racers.  Often if they can’t find it in cross country, then move on over to our good friends in biathlon or to nordic combined.  When this happens, its common to see folks shrug their shoulders and say ‘I guess cross country wasn’t for them’, but really, maybe we’ve set them up.

    There are lots of models out there that we can borrow from.  Think of Athletics – kids can compete in 6 or 8 competitions in a day and think nothing of it.  Speed Skating competitions often include 3 or 4 races of varying distances in a day.  Team sports for 11-14 year olds, like volleyball or basketball have tournaments that include 3 or 4 games in a day each lasting 45-75 minutes.  Are kids dropping over from exhaustion…no… not very often anyway.

    So what’s stopping us from doing something a little different?  Before going there, I do want to recognize that there are other examples of different things happening in cross country ski racing for young racers.  The King’s Court sprint model is a great example of creative race organizing for kids – Bravo.  What we really need is a bit more of this type of thinking.  How can we change what a competition looks like to better meet the developmental needs of early adolescent skiers.  I haven’t mentioned it in this article till now, but there are lots of developmental considerations that would give lots of reasons to rethinking how events are organized for adolescent skiers just entering or experiencing peak height velocity.

    I certainly don’t think I have all of the answers – there are alot of creative, passionate coaches in the ski club I am part of in Canmore, and the larger community I am part of in Alberta.  I encourage you to think about these things in your own ski club and think in a ‘the sky is the limit’ sort of way when putting the effort into creating competitive ski experiences that really meet the wholistic needs of most kids.

    Roy

  • Birkie Novel and Inca Trail Presentations at Midwest Mountaineering

    Walter Rhein will be presenting on hiking the Inca Trail with Olympic cross-country skiers Leif Zimmermann, Martin Koukal, and Roberto Carcelen this Saturday, November 17th in Minneapolis.  He will also be presenting on his well-received cross-country skiing memoir “Beyond Birkie Fever.” The two presentations will be approximately one hour in length and will feature a slide show of spectacular images from Peru as well as the Birkie.

    The first presentation is titled “Connecting the Lost Cities: Hiking the Inca Trail with Olympic Athletes” and will be on Saturday, November 17th at 10:30 AM in the University of Minnesota Hanson Hall, Room 106 (the address for Hanson Hall is: 1925 4th St. S, Minneapolis MN 55455).  This is the story of a six day journey in Peru from Choquequirao to Machu Picchu.

    The second presentation is titled “Beyond Birkie Fever” and will be a discussion of his humorous cross-country skiing memoir of the same name.  The book was recently featured in the Chippewa Valley Book Festival. This presentation will be on Saturday, November 17th at 2:15 PM in the University of Minnesota Hanson Hall, Room 105.

    These presentations are free to the public, and the author will be available to sell and sign his novel after the presentations.  For more information, click here.

    To pick up copies of “Beyond Birkie Fever” (pick up like ten and give them to your friends and family, they’ll love it!) click here!

  • New Website; Drive for 25; Swix wax clinic

    Our Official New Website:

    We are transitioning to our new website in an effort to bring the entire club into one online presence.

    Drive for 25:

    This is a fundraiser in support of the National Nordic Foundation. The NNF supports the development pipeline for nordic skiers — helping fund things like the J2 summer camps, J1 Scando Cup Trip, Junior World Championships, etc. When I led the J1 trip to Finland in 2010, the NNF gave us $20,000 of funding to defray athlete costs.

    Swix wax clinic at Skirack:

    Skirack and Swix will host an intermediate/advanced wax clinic the Monday after Thanksgiving. Drew Gelinas will be here from Swix to give a demonstration on the tips and tricks he has picked up after many years in the industry. The tentative plan is:

    • 6:00 – 7:30pm
    • Floro application, brush selection, binder waxes and klisters
    • Opportunity to ask questions

  • Alpine WC: Levi Slalom

    There was some XC racing in Finland over the weekend I’d like to write about, but FIS hasn’t posted the results yet, so while we wait, some more race snapshot graphs from the alpine WC slalom’s over the weekend (also in Finland).

    Today the women:

    I follow alpine racing much less closely than XC (even the Americans) so usually I have no idea who most of these people are. At first, looking at the results I was surprised to see an American (Mikaela Shiffrin) on the podium, but looking at the graph, maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised. She doesn’t have as many WC starts under her belt as many of the other folks here, but based on FIS points at least, this result, while good, wasn’t really that out of character for her.

    Related posts:

    1. <Comparing 1st And 2nd Runs In Slalom and GS
    2. <First World Cup Race Results!
    3. <Performance Trends In US Alpine Skiing


  • Muonio Travel

    Kris Freeman and I had an easy travel day yesterday. All of our flights were on time, and we got all of our bags. We met some of our teammates in Frankfurt and the rest in Helsinki. I couldn’t stay awake on the flight from Frankfurt to Helsinki or the flight from Helsinki to Rovaniemi. Luckily I was still able to sleep through the night last night. We have a much bigger cargo truck this year than we did last year. Here’s our wax technician Oleg Ragilo loading it up:

    It was very wintry in Rovaniemi.

    We are psyched to have our former team physical therapist Tara Fontenot back with us for this trip:

    Our first stop in Finland was at McDonalds!

    I brought a bunch of little bags of different currencies I have collected from past trips. It is nice to have some money when you step off the plane.

    On the three hour drive from Rovaniemi to Muonio, we went through Levi which hosted the Alpine World Cup this past weekend. Two years ago we were in Muonio for the Levi World Cup and were able to go to the race. I’m bummed we missed it this year. 17 year old Mikaela Shiffrin from Vail was third on Saturday. It would have been really fun to see that. The mountain looks sweet:

  • XC Ski Trail Work Day A Huge Success In St. Croix Falls, WI!

    A beautiful afternoon was enjoyed by volunteers working to do final prep on St. Croix Falls’ new XC Ski Trails – to be groomed & maintained THIS WINTER.

    As announced last week on CyclovaXC.com, there will be a new professionally groomed XC ski trail in St. Croix Falls this winter – on the Wert Nature Preserve property.  HERE is a preliminary GPS map of the trail system (thanks Ben!).  

    On Saturday afternoon, we had a trail work day to prepare this 5.5k trail system for the ski season – and we’re thrilled to announce that the trail work day was a resounding success!
    This crew of 15 means business – and got a ton of work done out on the trails (a number of folks aren’t in this photo)!  Photo Credit:  Bri Prahl

    The work day started at 2PM at Cyclova XC.  We reviewed the specifics on the trail system (where, when, how, etc), reviewed the GPS map of the trail system, and talked about goals for the afternoon.  After about a 20 minute preview & pep talk, we caravanned to the trail head (at the north end of Day Road in St. Croix Falls).  

    As we arrived at the trail head, volunteer superstar Steve Litzkow was wrapping up the mowing of the upper meadow field area (which will be the beginner loop).  Huge thank you to Steve for volunteering his time, resources, and enthusiasm!
    Steve the trail working super hero donated over 8 hours of his time (and equipment) on Saturday, to ensure that minimal snow is required to have the trails in great shape – trimming back stubble in the upper meadow / field area.

    After chatting with Steve a bit, the group split into 2 groups, picking up sticks, trimming overhanging branches, and clearing debris which would inhibit grooming or damage skis.  We met at the central 4 way intersection after cleaning the south and east spurs of the trail, and then went off to clean up the west & north spurs.  

    As we finished up the northern spur, we witnessed a spectacular view of the sunset, from a vantage point that towered over the majestic St. Croix River Valley.
    Closest to farthest:  Micah trimming back some branches, Tyler & John removing some Buckthorn (invasive species), and Arne & Neal trimming overhanging branches in the far distance.

    As some on the Cyclova squad would say, some heavy duty “man work” was done!  Photo credit:  Bri Prahl

    Dr. Laugus came well prepared with his pole saw – thanks to him, overhanging branches weighted down with snow won’t be hitting your head as you ski through.
    Following the trail work, we enjoyed a celebratory beverage, and had dinner at The Vegetarian, a local world class Indian restaurant.  After dinner, a great time was had viewing Salsa Cycles’s “Reveal The Path“.  

    The end result is a 10 + foot wide, beautifully prepared trail which will be groomable with minimal snow.

    2 days after the trail work day (on Monday), a blanket of snow covered our trails – we’ll be skiing out here soon!  Photo credit:  Steve Litzkow

  • European Adventures and the Start of the Season

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    I am glad to say I have been very busy since the last time I posted on this site. At the end of October our team went to Europe for the last time before the start of the season. This camp was a little different, it had a exciting side to it, as I had to wear a Captain America suit for the whole trip, Arrival to Departure.

    The last camp our team went on was a great success. The National training group joined us for the 10 day trip. It was very great to have them on the camp, as they look up to our team and hope to be on the team one day. As our team was a lot of fun and jokes, we were very serious with the jumping and XC skiing. As the season was not far away then, it was time to put the finishing touches on most of the summer training.

    Now I am back in park city, as we prepare for take off on Saturday. While I was back in town, we had physical testing on the treadmill. I was very happy with my performances on the VO2 test and recorded a Vo2 max of 80 which is a very solid number. What this reflects is how the summer of training has gone, and also my living situation and lifestyle. I feel as though I am in the best shape  and will only get better later in the winter.

    Now winter has finally hit Park City and we are on snow all over town with great conditions. It has been cold enough that the Olympic Park hasn’t stopped making snow for several days and we should be on snow very soon! As we leave on the 17th for Lillehammer, Norway, We hope to get several sessions on the jump hill to get comfortable. After that we will step on the plane and start the 2012/2013 World Cup Season!

    Lastly, I ask you to help us out. The NNF fundraising efforts are on their final, and we could still use your help. So if you can please go to http://www.grouprev.com/taylorfletcher and help me in OUR cause to fund our team and future Nordic Combined Athletes!

    Stay tuned!
    Taylor

  • Happy Birthday Oz

    Chris Osgood showing off the potato we gave him for his birthday. Four-Corners Farm German Butterballs are scarce this year, so it’s really a pretty good present.

    Today was Chris Osgood’s birthday. More than any other single person, Chris is responsible for my involvement in skiing. And now – over thirty years later, he’s still my favorite person to ski with. Happy birthday Oz!

    In the past 17 or so years working in the ski industry I’ve had plenty of opportunity to reflect on what ignited my passion for the sport. The easy guess would be family – I’ve got the name for it. Caldwells involved in skiing are a dime a dozen. But the skiing Caldwells are Uncle John, my amazing cousins, and their even more amazing kids – and I was stuck between generations with parents who weren’t skiers. Uncle John has been one of the most important and influential people in my life, but he didn’t get me started.

    Chris was my 8th grade science teacher and my first ski coach. He coached the Putney BKL group along with his wife Mary for years – but it wasn’t the BKL stuff I remember. It was skiing with Chris, or with both Chris and Mary, and feeling like a grown-up. I was a tiny little kid, and couldn’t have been too fast. But going skiing with Chris was never a grown-up taking a kid for a ski; it wasn’t coaching or mentoring; it wasn’t cajoling or solicitous. It was just us going skiing, and it legitimized my interest. I felt like Chris took my interest seriously, and accepted me as a fellow-skier. That was it – he identified me as a skier, so I identified myself as a skier. He gave me permission and showed me the path. What a gift!

    A sunrise ski with Oz on the Dusty Ridge trails.

    And what a lesson as well. I have made it a goal to take everybody seriously, whatever they bring to the table, because I know what a big difference it can make. It also helps sell skis. No – seriously! When you take people seriously and you affirm the legitimacy of their interest, you give them permission to follow the path they’ve sketched out for themselves. You also make friends. You can take that one to the bank – I learned it from Chris Osgood.

    This is just one small example of the lessons that sport offers life, and the importance of treating people well. To this day, skiing with Chris is an affirmation of my choices, and I look forward to every opportunity to enjoy his company on and off the trails. But mostly on the trails, provided he’s done a good job with the grooming. Thanks Oz, and happy birthday!

     

  • Fall Warm Up 30k classic + Strength

    Got pretty nice today 60 plus degrees for a 25-35k classic ski in and around Manchester, VT.  Check the flag the boys had stiff head wind for a good 15k.
     The rest of the team did a ski in Manchester too – a different loop.  Good to spread out every once in a while when we’re skiing with our whole team. 
     After classes it was time to hit the gym for strength!  
      

  • A Run on the Grassi Lakes Trail

    This past week I decided to take a day off from skiing and go for a run up to the Grassi Lakes just west of Canmore. The morning started off with an awesome sunrise so I couldn’t give up the opportunity to explore.

    View of the mountains behind the new Craftsbury Green Racing Project van and wax trailer!

    Canmore is littered with amazing single track trails that wind their way through town and straight up into the mountains. I started running up a trail from the Nordic center towards a pipeline that can be seen from town.

    Looking up at the pipeline. I ended up hiking up next to the pipeline, which is a populated cougar area according to the ranger I spoke to on the trek back to town.

    The view of Canmore from the pipeline!

    After climbing up next to the pipeline I crossed the dam and ran down the road.

    The view from the dam. The water tower on the right is the top of the pipeline.

    On the way down I found a dead mountain goat on the the side of the road. (I didn’t take a picture) As I was looking at it a ranger stopped and asked if everything was alright. He inspected the kill and reported to me that it had been taken down by a mountain lion earlier that morning! He then proceeded to ask where I had been running. After telling him my route he revealed that I had crossed a hot spot for mountain lion activity and attacks! He said I should be more careful and next time travel in a group and stay on the trail if I go back into the mountains. I’ll be sticking to the more traveled paths from now on!

  • Week Recap & Training now through Thanksgiving

    This past week we had a focus on volume and continuous skiing at low- to moderate-intensity. In spite of the shortened days and the venue changes, we were able to get some quality workouts. Thanks to good attitudes from the athletes and help from several parents, we stayed safe and had fun to boot. The banner picture above shows us near the end of training last Tuesday (11/6 at 5:30pm). That is what a group of 15 hard-core rollerskiers looks like! Thank you to the following parents for helping with “chaperoning” the end of our training sessions when it has been pitch black:

    • Bill Hegman (cycling in 35˚ weather!)
    • Rosemary Shea-Cobb
    • Pat Harmeyer
    • Don Harmeyer
    • Amy Kuzio
    • Gary Solow
    • not to mention all of the coaches: Eli Enman, Rick Costanza, Alice Nelson, Murray Banks, and Paul Allison

    We still have a handful of MNC Race Suits available for sale. Contact me immediately if you’d like one.

    ******  Bring headlamps and taillights and any reflective stuff that you own! ******

    Training 11/12 – 11/18: “Speed Week”.

    • Tuesday 11/13: 4pm at Round Church. Skate + speed and power (strength).
    • Thursday 11/15: 4pm at the Range (tentatively). Backup = Round Church. Classic sprint time-trial if possible.
    • Sunday 11/18: 9-11am at TBD. Classic rollerski + time-trial.

    Training 11/19 – 11/25: “Volume Week”. No formal training however lots of opportunities:

    • Craftsbury has been making snow every time it gets cold enough. It may be worthwhile to drive up for a day even if you weren’t able to sign up for the MNC Camp with Garrott.
    • Monday = Possible bonus training run.
    • Thursday =  GMAA Turkey Trot 5km run/race @ UVM.
    • Saturday = Craftsbury season opener freestyle races.
    • Wednesday – Sunday = MNC Camp @ Craftsbury with Garrott Kuzzy.

    Training 11/26 – 12/2: “Recovery Week”. Monday night Swix Wax clinic at Skirack hosted by Drew Gelinas. Take 2-3 days of rest this week if you are tired from Thanksgiving Camp!

    • Tuesday 11/27: 4pm at the Range. TBD. Low intensity.
    • Thursday 11/29: 4pm at the Range. TBD. Low intensity.
    • Sunday 12/2: 9am at TBD.
    Warmup drills last Thursday.

    Dusk on the Greystone ascent.

    • Travel to the World Cup

      I woke up in Putney, Vermont this morning hoping to pack and get one more technique ski in with Zach Caldwell. (It may be a stretch to call it “this morning”. It’s currently 6:55 a.m. on Monday here in Frankfurt, Germany, 12:55 a.m. in Putney, but I haven’t slept a wink since “this morning”.) We ended up having too much packing to do, so we didn’t do the session. It’s not the end of the world, but I don’t feel that we got very much closure on the new technique cues we developed this week. But we had a lot of packing to do! Here’s Zach sorting out my skis:

      We packed all of my racing skis for the winter. We also packed the entire fleets of my teammates Sylvan Ellefson and Tad Elliott. Then we packed all of Kris Freeman’s skis that  came back to the U.S. this summer. Lastly, we have two pairs of Holly Brook’s skis and a pair for the World Cup Salomon rep. In all, we have 65 pairs of skis in four ski bags. One bag is 70lbs and the other three are around 50lbs. Here’s a cool shot Zach took of me with Tom Troutner who is wrestling some skis into a bag:

      My incredibly generous friend Brayton Osgood (left below) drove me and all of the stuff to Boston. Brayton was home for the weekend visiting his parents. He was heading back to Boston where he is studying Accounting at Northeastern. He left home a day early to help me get to the airport.

      In Boston we met up with Kris. Kris and I checked in on Lufthansa with seven total bags, just about all of which were at least a little bit overweight. Our agent was nice to us, not weighing a single bag. We got them all checked to Rovaniemi for $300; a steal! The first flight from Boston to Frankfurt was fast and easy; it was less than six and a half hours in the air. I spent most of the flight reading The Hunger Games. I finished the book just as we landed.

      We officially entered the EU.

      Now we are enjoying free food, drink, and internet in the Lufthansa lounge. There are some perks to flying a lot!

    • If You can Measure it, You can Improve it: Testing Week

      We wrapped up a busy week at Gould, as fall sport athletes joined the Competition Program crew in Nordic Training.  So of course first thing, we threw everyone into competition!

      Things started off last Saturday with Maine Winter Sports Center’s Lobster Roll on North Haven Island, where we joined Colby, Bates, Bowdoin, and a handful of UMaine ski teams to battle.  All teams take the 9:30 Ferry out of Rockport to North Haven, and have about 45 minutes to warm up before individual start racing 15km around the perimeter of the island.  Our skiers held up pretty well to the older competition!  It was great to see all of our friends again!

      Lobster Roll Results at RaceSplitter

      On Tuesday we ran a new Double Pole test – 2km of lightly rolling terrain and new pavement with zero net elevation gain.  We intended to measure DP efficiency and ability to produce speed on terrain that would be mostly DP during a race..  We departed (for now) from a steep uphill DP test, which we think measures some combination of upper body VO2 max and anaerobic strength – certainly a number that we can compare skiers on – but not a number that we’re convinced we should be focusing on as a measure of skiing ability or potential.

      Here are the results (click to enlarge):

       We actually ran the test twice that day… the second was was a surprise!  Everyone’s second attempt was within 5 seconds or so of their first attempt, except for Andrew who improved 16 seconds.  Guess he learned a little more about what was really in the tank!

      On Wednesday we had a fun relay day with the Mountain Bike Team, and we burned the pile of brush from all the trail work this summer:

       

      On Thursday we ran some interesting flying start 100m tests using skate, skate no-poles, double-pole only, and an foot.  In addition to being a great (and measurable) speed workout, we got some really interesting data (click to enlarge).

      Each skier got two tries to get the fastest time they could.  The “total time” column doesn’t really mean anything – it’s just there to make a sort-of-sensible way to sort the data.

      A few things to note:

      1) Some skiers made improvements on their second attempt at any given discipline – to us, that means the skier is “learning by doing” for the speed.

      2) Some skiers had disimprovements on their second attempts.  It could be chalked up to a missed pole plant, a trip, or something of the sort.  But if it becomes a theme, we may be uncovering more of a fitness issue than a technique conundrum.

      3) Caleb, Trent, Rose, and Leela all had a NP time that was faster than one of their skate times.  No pole skating can be a very fast technique – we’ve seen “speed skating” without poles in fast finishing lanes on the World Cup before.  But for this particular stretch of road – I’d expect poles to be giving some additional power.  So some technique work is needed for better utilization of the upper body for these skiers!

      4) Everyone’s DP times were their slowest.  Ashton and Caleb came the closest – just based on observation, they probably have the best DP technique.  More importantly, why were Andrew and Caleb comparable in the 2km DP test, yet Caleb is squarely ahead of Andrew  in the 100m test?  Probably because Andrew has the fitness to keep up in the 2km test, whereas Caleb has a size advantage and probably a power advantage over Andrew. which shows up in the 100m test but the advantage is lost in the 2km test, where Andrew’s fitness makes up for it.  I’m guessing 3000m meter running test would be corroborating evidence for that… but Caleb couldn’t come to practice on Saturday :) .

      5) 100m flying start essentially testing foot speed, although differences (as with all testing) can easily be chalked up to developmental stages in each athlete.  An interesting measure anyway :) .

      Hopefully, these numbers have identified some strengths and weaknesses in each skier so that coaches can create some sessions that specifically address areas where each skier can improve.

      On Saturday we ran a 3000m test at Telstar High School (where there is a very nice track!).  We had a lot of people going in different directions this weekend so we only got to test three skiers – but kudos to them for getting in the work while no one was watching! (click to enlarge):

       

      On Sunday we wrapped up with a combo OD – roll over to Sunday River, and hike up and over the summits.  Shoes waiting at the transition zone:

      All these numbers!!!  We collect them and analyze them and make adjustments – but at the end of the day, business is business and we hit the roads (and trails) to put in the work.  Coming up we have a solid week of training (and exams – yikes!) before we split for Thanksgiving Break.  Then… off to Canada for snow!

    • Winter’s in the Air

      Soon it begins. On Tuesday I will be traveling to Sweden to start another winter of World Cup biathlon racing. It means four months living out of a duffel bag and braving airports almost every week… The thrill of putting on a race bib and standing on a start line in front of TV cameras and screaming spectators… Weathering the tremendous ups and downs that are biathlon’s emotional roller coaster… Laughing at the antics of teammates, wax techs and coaches every night at dinner… And skiing, on snow, everyday. I can’t wait!

      The first World Cup biathlon race of the season takes place in Ostersund, Sweden on Sunday, November 25th (9:30 am eastern US standard time). It is a mixed relay, meaning that we will have two women and two men competing together on one team. You can watch it live on your computer by going to Biathlon World TV. Put it on your calendar.

      In the meantime, watch replays from last year on Biathlon World TV to get fired up. The 2011/2012 World Cup 9 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia has some good ones- scroll to the right and click on the one titled “pursuit women replay”.

      I have spent the past week at home in Craftsbury trying to catch up with friends and family and get organized before the long winter away.
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      A few items that are coming with me to Europe this year that I didn’t have last year: a travel size guitar, a sunlamp, maple syrup, a foam roller, a German grammar workbook and a 3D puzzle.

      The Outdoor Center is closed for the fall off season, so it has been quieter than normal, but I have had no problem staying busy. Even though the GRP skiers are away training in Canmore, I have had a great time getting to know the new GRP rowers. We even trained together in the gym one morning- I did strength circuits while they lined up 7 or 8 rowing machines next to each other for an interval workout.

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      Dinner with the rowers and friends at Faraway Farm

      The Outdoor Center started blowing snow last week, which meant I got to dust off an old pair or rock skis and carve some turns. Later in the week we had 15-20 BKL kids and juniors swarming over the pile like ants. It doesn’t matter how old you are, the season’s first snow never loses its magic.

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      Davis took the first sledding runs down “Mt. Craftsbury” (photo: Judy Geer)

      Ida was also around for a few days before heading to Europe for the cross country World Cup season. We visited our elementary school together to talk to Barton’s seventh graders about training, racing and traveling the world. The most interesting question we were asked: “Have you ever seen a lion?”

      I also visited my high school, St. Johnsbury Academy and talked to the students about what it takes to chase after big goals. Watch the YouTube video

      I never got around to writing a blog post about our recent national team training camp in Utah (3 weeks in late October/ early November) but here are a couple pics:

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      The US Women and guest star Andrea Henkel from Germany enjoying Utah’s mountains (photo: Hannah Dreissigacker). Read about what it has been like to train with and get to know an Olympic champion over the past few years here

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      Some of “Jonne’s Angels” enjoying our last week in Utah (photo: Armin Auchentaller). For more camp pictures and a recap from Utah, check out Hannah’s blog post here

    • Lappland, here we come!

      I’m about to board my second of four flights taking me from home in AK to Northern Finland, “Munio.”  It’s hard to see on this map but it’s to the left of “Lappi” …. you may notice this is WAY above the arctic circle. Don’t worry, I packed some neon to keep things bright and happy…. 
      The day before my departure I got this in the mailbox. I’m excited to be writing an international column for the statewide Nordic Skier Newspaper. In case you live outside of Alaska or don’t receive the paper, I’ve included my article below…. 
      From Alaska to Europe & Back
      By Holly Brooks
      Eight years ago I moved to Anchorage because I wanted to live in a ski town.  After growing up in Seattle, I craved a place where roller skiers weren’t considered freaks and I could see snow outside the kitchen window. I was ecstatic to find friends who knew of Swix Extra Blue and a spider web of fabulous trails throughout the city, complete with lights for skiing at night.  I made my rounds of the local ski scene working at Alaska Mountaineering and Hiking, serving as the head coach for West High, spent six years as a coach for the Alaska Junior Olympic team and finally, five years as a fulltime junior and master’s coach for the APU Nordic Ski Center. 
      I started out racing in the local Anchorage Cup series; the Hickok, Pia’s Classic, the Sven, the Oosik, the Tour.  Then, in 2009, I entered the American Birkebeiner and “lost” the race by what some called a “toenail” in a photo finish.  In many ways, that race was one of the defining moments that inspired me to focus on skiing at a new level.  Luckily my commitment and hard work was rewarded when this past May, I was named as an official member of the US Cross Country Ski Team.
      Last winter I unexpectedly spent almost five consecutive months in Europe racing the World Cup. Needless to say, this was quite the jump from the Alaska community racing scene where I frequented the coastal trail, had a “handful of skis” thrown into the back of my Subaru or spent Tuesday nights doing intervals at Hillside with my friends. In all, I traveled to & raced in ten different countries and accumulated 26 World Cup starts. There were highlights such as my contribution to the best women’s 4x5k team relay finish in history and there were certainly low lights as well.  Christmas night I was running on an icy road, fell & broke my wrist just four days before the start of the infamous “Tour de Ski” stage race.  (I foolishly competed anyways!)  This winter promises to be full of more tales and adventures. I’m by no means a seasoned veteran of the World Cup but I’m not a rookie either. 
      As you may know, three of the six US Ski Team girls reside and train in Anchorage including Kikkan Randall, Sadie Bjornsen and myself. We represent the USA, the State of Alaska and APU Nordic Ski Center on the International stage.  This year World Championships will be in Val di Fiemme, Italy and in less than two years we hope to be “toeing the start line”at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
      When driving up the serpentine roads to the racing venue in Slovenia or landing a chartered plane on an obscure military base in Russia to compete it’s easy to feel far from home and far from the people, specifically the Alaskans, that helped us reach the World stage.  Realizing that, I’m excited to be writing a monthly column for the Nordic Skier that will attempt to bring stories from the World Cup into your hands. While I may not spend much of the winter in Alaska anymore I spend the spring crust skiing at Portage, the summer running in the Chugach and the fall roller skiing at Kincaid. While I love being on the road, my heart is always at home. I hope you’ll join me for the adventure that is the 2012-2013 World Cup season
      If you would like to follow Holly’s ski adventures on a more regular basis, check out her blog @ http://hollyskis.blogspot.com

      The scene in our front yard a while back….. 
      Celebrating early Thanksgiving… complete with all the foods i’ll miss out on in Finland! 
      We didn’t forget anything 🙂 
      My favorite wax tech helping me travel wax skis. I had this pic on Facebook earlier and many people are surprised by the number of skis I have.  Reality is, everyone has this many to be competitive on the International level.  Each one is for different conditions… different cambers, stiffnesses, grinds, etc. 
      Zuzana came to wish us well and give us a last-minute body consult and some pink kinesio tape for the road. I wish we could pack her in our bags! 
      Time with the girls, Sarah and Rhia
      Rhia, Jeebs, Me & Leah 
      My kitty 🙂 
      Fast and Female Anchorage (last weekend) is deserving of it’s own post. I’ll try to write an update later. Basically, it was AWESOME and we had over 200 girls. Thanks so much to everyone who pitched in and helped out! 
       Rosie showing a girl how to ski erg
       Signing posters at the end! 
       Posters 
       After the main event we took the opportunity to get a bunch of Alaskan women influential in sports together for a social/pow-wow. Women shared incredible personal stories and also gave updates on the programs they are currently involved in. We had everyone from Nina Kemppal (4x XC Ski Olympian) to Deedee Jonrowe (30x Iditorod sled dog racer) to Margaret Timmerman in charge of Tuesday Night races to Joey Caterinichio – US Ski Team Nordic Program Director, Rosey Grundwaldt – 2006 Torino Bronze Medalist, etc, etc.  I wish I had had a tape recorder on the conversation because it was amazing. 
      Kikkan, Deedee & myself 🙂 
      Rob dropped me off at the airport last night. Always hard to say goodbye. He’s my biggest supporter. (Thanks for the help babe!)
      Yes, I am eating healthy, even in the Denver Airport. And yes, those are brussel sprouts in a Tupperware. 
      Opp! They’re calling my name to board!  Next flight to Frankfurt, then to Helsinki, then to Rovanemi & finally, a drive to Munio. I have a long road ahead! 
      More soon!
      Holly 😉 

    • Packing and Birthday Party

      This morning I spent a couple of hours cutting my poles down and getting everything set up exactly how I like it. I’m travelling to the World Cup tomorrow with six pairs of poles.

      Zach Caldwell and I did one skate technique session today. Zach road his bike while I roller skied. I like having Zach on a bike better than in a car because it is easier for him to communicate with me so I get more consistent feedback.

      I spent the afternoon writing more than 25 thank you cards for our fundraiser last week.

      This evening I went to a very fun birthday party for Chris Osgood.

      Tonight was my last real social activity for the next three weeks with friends that aren’t skiers. I’m going to miss hanging out with people who do something different than myself.

    • Stone Grinding Schedule for November

      You’ve been training this summer and fall to get the most from your skiing, so make sure your skis aren’t a limiter.
      Prepare all of your skis to run their best with a fresh grind and hotbox service. At Nordic Ultratune, a grind batch starts every Thursday and those skis are ready for shipping on the following Monday — just 4 days later. Return shipping is by FedEx.

      Here’s the upcoming service schedule at Nordic Ultratune. Use these dates to make sure you get your skis ready before your most important races.
      • Skis in by Nov 8th will ship out on Nov 12th and arrive by Nov 15th.
      • Skis in by Nov 15th will ship out on Nov 19th and arrive by the 23rd (the 22nd is a holiday).
      • Skis in by Nov 22 will ship out on Nov 26th and arrive by the 30th .
      • Skis in by Nov 30th will ship out on Dec 3rd and arrive by Dec 6th.
      • Skis in by Dec 6th will ship out on Dec 10th and arrive by Dec 13th.

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

      Download a work order form here.

    • Passport and School Visit

      I had a good skate technique session with my coach Zach Caldwell this morning. The new technique cues that I developed yesterday were easy to incorporate today. I was nervous and not very confident about my skate skiing coming into this technique block. We are focusing on skate and will probably not classic again after the short session we did yesterday. Skating yesterday and today went well. I’m feeling more prepared, ready to race next week and ready for the whole World Cup Season than I was when I arrived in Putney.

      I also got my passport today so now I can actually leave for Finland on Sunday!

      It has been at the Russian Consulate in Washington D.C. getting my visa for the World Cup in Sochi.

      It made it here with one day to spare. Kris Freeman’s also got shipped here. We are on the same flight to Frankfurt on Sunday, so I will bring it to him (probably).

      Today I went to see Gunnar Caldwell’s (Zach’s son’s) class at The Grammar School.

      I have visited this class of kids several times. Today we played a version of capture the flag called “Go for 20″. Each team begins the game guarding 10 flags. The goal is to get all 20 to your side. I also showed them some pictures of my recent travels.

      And I showed them where I live.

      Here I am in the awesome Grammar School T-shirt they gave me:

      This evening I went to Jake and Eve Mcdermott’s house for dinner. Jake and Eve are incredibly generous every time I come to Putney. I always get to go to their house for a great home-cooked meal. Today I also got to meet their cute new puppy:

      She was fun to play with!

    • Nationals Week Wrap

      We finished up our nationals week today with a running time trial. The J2 boys and all of the girls ran 13 km, while the older boys ran 18 km. Mollie, Alex, Calvin and Jack are fighting colds and so they worked on classic technique.
      We don’t have too many pictures, but you can get an idea for the day..clear and cool. Below, Gino finishes bare chested while Sverre cheers in a parka (notice the snow in the shade of the bush).
      For the 3 older boys who ran, both Gino and Hamish set PR’s. This was especially impressive because the first 8 kms was a narrow snow covered trail.
      Here are their times:
      Gino   73:59
      Hamish   79:14
      Tyler    85:40
      The younger boys and the girls ran an out and back with the return slightly uphill:
      Koby   27:42   55:59
      Scott   26:50   56:53
      Katharine   30:13   61:49
      Tegan   30:13   61:49
      Kate   30:38   63:34
      Tess   31:04   64:29
      Pippin   31:42   66:09
      Mackenzie   33:24   69:13
      Ana   33:25   69:26
      Great job by everyone! Now we review to see how each person felt throughout the week. Hopefully this will help us be able to make good individual plans for each athlete when they head off for a race series.