img src=”http://18.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvojazcCrG1qzt3xbo1_500.jpg”/br/br/pThe economic downturn hit the ski world particularly hard. Despite his repeated requests, Simi Hamilton (pictured above winning yesterday’s sprint at Nationals) didn’t pick up new boots this year. Turns out that this was ok since the duct tape makes them more aerodynamic./p
Category: XCFeeds
A collection of live feeds from cross-country ski blogs around the web.
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US Nationals Day 1
Results from the US National Championships in Anchorage, AK will be posted at the event website, HERE.
The skate sprint race was today.
Monday is a 10/15K skate.
Wednesday is a 20/30K classic
Friday is a classic sprint.
It was a pretty good day for the CXC Team Vertical Limit with Rebecca Dussault finishing 2nd and leading the team on […] -
TdS: Shorter and Faster
The classic pursuits was great, great races – maybe the best races we’ve seen this winter so far. (Our friend at Nordicxplained recapped the races well, and posted video summaries of both Northug’s incredible win and Kowalcyzk’s slightly easier victory; Fasterskier’s coverage of the men’s and women’s events is worth reading, too.)The prologue and pursuit put Northug and Kowalczyk at the tops of
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Stage 3: Oberhof Sprint Preview
Tomorrow’s sprint race will be surprisingly the first time a classic sprint has ever been run in the Tour de Ski. The forecast is calling for snow and temperatures hovering around -0C, it’ll surely be a wax technicians nightmare. I’m expect some athletes in the post-race interviews will have some words about how their skis were; a). too slippy, b). too sticky/iced up, or c). no glide on the downhills. I guess it’ll all depend on whether the snow actually flies or not. I don’t expect anyone attempting to double pole the course as there is an “A-Climb” in the course profile. Odds on favorites are Kowalczyk (2.10) and Northug (2.00) which I think is interesting considering the likes of Jönsson and Newell are both on the start sheet for the men’s sprint. It’ll be a very exciting race nonetheless with some big time bonuses on the line including 60 seconds for first place. Predictions:
Women
1. Petra Majdic
2. Justyna Kowalczyk
3. Celine Brun-LieMen
1. Emil Jönsson
2. Petter Northug
3. Andrew NewellTil Tomorrow.
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J1 and World Junior Points — Nat’s Day One
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br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3c1Nv5NLyNg/S0AkQX_J-WI/AAAAAAAABFM/74i51Q6lr3Y/s1600-h/Hans2.JPG”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 324px; height: 400px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3c1Nv5NLyNg/S0AkQX_J-WI/AAAAAAAABFM/74i51Q6lr3Y/s400/Hans2.JPG” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422373815089494370″ border=”0″ //a
br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3c1Nv5NLyNg/S0AkQG9JiyI/AAAAAAAABFE/936MdIv2p4M/s1600-h/Hans1.JPG”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 286px; height: 400px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3c1Nv5NLyNg/S0AkQG9JiyI/AAAAAAAABFE/936MdIv2p4M/s400/Hans1.JPG” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422373810517674786″ border=”0″ //a
br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3c1Nv5NLyNg/S0AkPlNhWWI/AAAAAAAABE8/BWRt1oJaAXQ/s1600-h/Emily.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 296px; height: 400px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3c1Nv5NLyNg/S0AkPlNhWWI/AAAAAAAABE8/BWRt1oJaAXQ/s400/Emily.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422373801459538274″ border=”0″ //a
br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3c1Nv5NLyNg/S0AkPYzQhLI/AAAAAAAABE0/ZYYiudU6rQM/s1600-h/Emily+sprint.JPG”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3c1Nv5NLyNg/S0AkPYzQhLI/AAAAAAAABE0/ZYYiudU6rQM/s400/Emily+sprint.JPG” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422373798128157874″ border=”0″ //adiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1847564486460994594-3611764868574818803?l=gmvsxc.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div -
ValCartier 1st report
a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xxDw1qNK1JA/S0ADmi3gYYI/AAAAAAAAAfA/Oo9KkoqmZCg/s1600-h/IMG_1806.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xxDw1qNK1JA/S0ADmi3gYYI/AAAAAAAAAfA/Oo9KkoqmZCg/s320/IMG_1806.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422337912083603842″ //abr /br /A crew of 8 SMS skiers headed up to Quebec for some Noram’s on New Years Eve. After being woken up late night by some 2010 hotel hallway celebrations we were out at 8am for a jog and breakfast. We attempted to take a “short cut” up to the venue but about 26 stop lights later we figured the highway was the way to go. We got some good training on the 2.5k lap pursuit courses and were ready to race the next afternoon. Once the racing started you could tell the Canadians were all business with some pretty fast skiers dominating the races and all trying to qualify for world’s. Our crew fared pretty well after starting in the last row in the fields of 75 skiers!br /br /Some highlights were, Heather (11th), Cam (25th), Hallie (30th) all passed huge chunks of the field during the 10k event New England and CSU skier Corey Stock was very impressive moving from the final row to 5th on the first lap 2.5k were she finished the day.’br /br /Austin Caldwell was a little off his a game but still managed a respectable mid-pack finish in his first 20K.br /br /compete results here: http://www.zone4.ca/results.asp?id=2576br /br /Looking ahead to the sprint, we want to be a little more focused on racing well and doing the little extra things that add up to making a big differencebr /br /br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xxDw1qNK1JA/Sz_9Fs4Fl4I/AAAAAAAAAe4/3XhmjOPgo-4/s1600-h/IMG_1811.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xxDw1qNK1JA/Sz_9Fs4Fl4I/AAAAAAAAAe4/3XhmjOPgo-4/s320/IMG_1811.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422330750764947330″ //abr /Ashleigh 75 meters to go, looking great after having to pass over 25 skiersbr /br /br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xxDw1qNK1JA/Sz_8d6LttmI/AAAAAAAAAew/AuVnPJ5oMn0/s1600-h/IMG_1810.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xxDw1qNK1JA/Sz_8d6LttmI/AAAAAAAAAew/AuVnPJ5oMn0/s320/IMG_1810.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422330067142162018″ //abr /New England and CSU skier Corey Stock in 4 way sprint for 2ndbr /br /br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xxDw1qNK1JA/Sz_73P8dknI/AAAAAAAAAeo/MWdrdwtWqrE/s1600-h/IMG_1809.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xxDw1qNK1JA/Sz_73P8dknI/AAAAAAAAAeo/MWdrdwtWqrE/s320/IMG_1809.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422329402968871538″ //abr /Hallie lapping on the skate leg.br /br /br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xxDw1qNK1JA/Sz_7JkRTFnI/AAAAAAAAAeg/uq91WA78Igw/s1600-h/IMG_1812.JPG”img style=”float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xxDw1qNK1JA/Sz_7JkRTFnI/AAAAAAAAAeg/uq91WA78Igw/s320/IMG_1812.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422328618150991474″ //abr /br /The wax weasles at work, the team has been super helpful waxing their own skis and organizing while I attend meetings etc.br /br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xxDw1qNK1JA/Sz_WBL3K6bI/AAAAAAAAAeY/Py_bGFoX7PM/s1600-h/IMG_1800.JPG”img style=”float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xxDw1qNK1JA/Sz_WBL3K6bI/AAAAAAAAAeY/Py_bGFoX7PM/s320/IMG_1800.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422287792229771698″ //abr /br /Kickin’ it in the deluxe Normandindiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4680416899705879324-8612982216790174246?l=smsxc.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
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Back in the Saddle Again
Our first race at the US National is over and from the coach’s perspective I am pleased and proud of all three MOD skiers. They have made a very strong recovery from their over training episode of a few weeks ago. Their hearts and minds were fully in the races today.br /br /Sadie went out in the A seed in 8th position this morning in the qualifier. Starting just before dawn. AT 10:04 AM!!! The temp was minus 15C. That is about 4F and there was nice breeze coming off the ocean. She looked strong right from the start. Her finishing position at 6th was very solid but she lost a few seconds in three critical places. It was not her best effort and she knew it and we talked a bit afterward about how she might make up that time. As the Quarter Final approached I could tell Sadie was in a good head space and had lots of confidence. She and I were ready for her to win this quarter final.br /br /She started with her trademark blast out from the gate and by 50 meters had a nice 2-3 meter lead and began to relax into her stride. I turned from the start to run to the best hill to watch in the stadium when I heard the announcer say Sadie was down. I could not see her or the pack. I knew she would have lost her lead but didn’t know by how much. When the pack emerged into view Sadie was off the back in a distant 6th place. I knew that if anyone could make up the distance it was this girl.br /br /She skied her heart out for the next 1000 meters. She looked strong and smooth as she made headway in every stride. She had dropped a good 5-7 seconds in the fall. and closed all the way back up so that coming into the final straight she was closing fast on 3rd place which would have allowed her to advance in the semifinals as the lucky looser. Sadly it was not to be and she just missed getting 3rd.br /br /While you could cut the disappointment with a knife there was a silver lining. It was a great learning experience. She could have won the heat so her confidence is high. We have more racing all week.br /br /The men went off at 11 and the weather had not warmed one iota and in fact it was not -16C and the wind had kicked up. Sam was off in 17th position and also in the A seed. Just before the race Sam allowed as how he was not feeling well and had a little stomach bug thing. He was game and otherwise feeling strong so off he went.br /br /Sam’s qualifier went pretty well and he finished 16th. He looked smooth and was super quick looking. We talked about some areas where he could have made up a few seconds. However , when the heats were posted Sam ended up in a very strong heat and we knew he would have his work cut out for him. The eventual 2nd and 5th place finishers took off and set a fast pace making a 10 meter break over the top of the course’s biggest climb. As the skiers entered the stadium and made the climb over the underpass Sam closed the gap and really looked like was going to be back in the hunt. Our skis were very fast and he was able to tuck right in behind the leaders.br /In the final 300 meters the whole pack accelerated and Sam was out sprinted to the finish.br /br /He left nothing on the table and it was good race but I know he has more in him. Coming off the long recovery period Sam has had I am quite pleased to see this result and know he’ll only get faster and stronger.br /br /Erik was out next just 2 minutes later. Winding up the qualifier 23rd overall and 4th junior was an encouraging result and we headed off to the wax room to get everyone skis ready for the heats.br /br /Erik is not typically the fastest starter and he left the stadium in the quarter final in 4th or 5th place. As he re-entered the stadium and the three remaining climbs Erik made his move and started to pass one after another. As the pack disappeared over the last hill for the final 300 meters into the finish, Erik put on one final move and took the lead. He kept pulling away all the way to the finish line looking like he was in full control.br /br /In his semi finally heat the leaders made a break that left Erik in the second pack and it was obvious to him that he could not bridge the gap and since only the top 3 would move on to the A final, he made the wise tactical move to coast in to save himself for the B final.br /br /The B final was an exciting race and Erik skied well. Local Methow skier Brian Gregg, now racing for CXC skied a very strong B final heat finishing 2nd and 8th over all. Erik moved up to finish 4th in the heat and 10th overall as teh second junior. It was a tremendous result for a junior and Erik’s first time to crack the top 30 at senior nationals. br /br /More racing to come.br /Scottbr /br /br / br /br /input id=”gwProxy” type=”hidden”!–Session data–input onclick=”jsCall();” id=”jsProxy” type=”hidden”div id=”refHTML”/divinput id=”gwProxy” type=”hidden”!–Session data–input onclick=”jsCall();” id=”jsProxy” type=”hidden”div id=”refHTML”/divdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2910103639238326543-2487432475963041337?l=methowolympicdevelopment.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
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Day One of U.S. Nationals
On a cold morning out at Kincaid Park, in Anchorage Alaska, more than 300 racers blazed off the starting line to kick off the first day of the U.S. Nationals Cross-Country Ski Championships. For many, warming up in the dark and racing with the moon setting on one side and the sun rising on the other was a new experience…and for those of us from Alaska, well we thought nothing of it. With temperatures barely above zero degrees, everyone was excited to race and begin a tough week of racing!br /br /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/Sz_3jUjbwpI/AAAAAAAAAh8/kxzdW7sFGV4/s1600-h/nationals,+sunrise.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 194px; height: 320px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/Sz_3jUjbwpI/AAAAAAAAAh8/kxzdW7sFGV4/s320/nationals,+sunrise.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422324662562177682″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-style: italic;”Photo by Marc Lesterbr /br //span/divdiv style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/Sz_0n2i5w6I/AAAAAAAAAhk/QkOVMLsc_Ic/s1600-h/nationals,+moon.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 208px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/Sz_0n2i5w6I/AAAAAAAAAhk/QkOVMLsc_Ic/s320/nationals,+moon.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422321441871348642″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-style: italic;”Photo by Marc Lesterbr /br //span/divI had a decent qualifier, placing 9th, but failed to ski aggressive enough in the quarterfinal to make it into the semis. While I was disappointed with my result, I am ready to charge in to Monday’s 10k freestyle race.br /br /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/Sz_3bwvhjII/AAAAAAAAAh0/mTCKkGC4MDo/s1600-h/nats+stadium.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 216px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/Sz_3bwvhjII/AAAAAAAAAh0/mTCKkGC4MDo/s320/nats+stadium.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422324532690128002″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-style: italic;”Photo by Marc Lester/spanbr //divbr /A big congratulations to Simi Hamilton, my fellow Sun Valley ODT teammate, who won the men’s sprint race! Simi won the qualifier and continued to ski strong all day!br /br /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/Sz_2L4rr8nI/AAAAAAAAAhs/OPTi1ZnRFbE/s1600-h/HamiltonWinner.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/Sz_2L4rr8nI/AAAAAAAAAhs/OPTi1ZnRFbE/s320/HamiltonWinner.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422323160431981170″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-style: italic;”Simi Hamilton, racing his way to a National Championship!br /Photo by Rob Whitneybr //span/divbr /The rest of the week looks like this:br /br /Sunday: Rest/training daybr /Monday: 10/15k freestyle racebr /Tuesday: Rest/training daybr /Wednesday: 20/30k classic racebr /Thursday: Rest/training daybr /Friday: Classic sprint racebr /br /You can find up to date results at: www.summittiming.combr /br /I will also update my blog as the week progresses!div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5903545846797966075-724772375691804832?l=in-the-arena-nicole.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
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Day 1- US Nationals- Skate Sprint
div style=”text-align: center;”br //diva onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S0ACdLYUxLI/AAAAAAAAANg/eZ3hZC7An48/s1600-h/IMG_2014.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S0ACdLYUxLI/AAAAAAAAANg/eZ3hZC7An48/s320/IMG_2014.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422336651648353458″ //adiv style=”text-align: center;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-weight: bold;”Sadie Starting- still a little dar/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-weight: bold;”k/spanbr //divdiv style=”text-align: center;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-weight: bold;”br //span/diva onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S0ADAyrEc5I/AAAAAAAAANo/yDXATMWyRCQ/s1600-h/IMG_2015.JPG”img src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S0ADAyrEc5I/AAAAAAAAANo/yDXATMWyRCQ/s320/IMG_2015.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422337263491380114″ style=”display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; ” //adiv style=”text-align: center;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-weight: bold; “Fast skis- Thanks to Ben Husaby and Scott/spanbr //divGreat day of racing all around for US skiers today. Erik, Sam and I all skied strong and are feeling like we are back in good racing form. The day started early with the 1.5km qualifier round. Temperatures were cold, with an even colder wind blowing off the ocean making for some cold hands, cold feet and cold…. everything! Fortunately the snow is so wet here that even with this cold weather, it’s still fast!divbr //divdivIn the qualifier rounds the woman’s field was all pretty tight with exception to World Championships medalist, Kikkan Randall who finished around 8 seconds ahead of the second place racer. I finished 6th place overall, first U23 skier, about 12 seconds out from Kikkan. I was happy with the results and the way I was feeling, but saw many places that I could pick up time if I were to ski the course a little smarter. After putting my feet up and resting for about two hours before the heats I started pumping myself up for the coming rounds. I knew I was feeling good today, and anything could become if I remained calm and powerful. I took off from the gun quick and aggressive wanting to get a good position within the pack, but about 200 meters down the trail I stuck my pole between my legs and was down. Before I had time to think what just happened, I quickly tried to hoist myself back up and get going again. Falling in a sprint race is hard- mentally and physically. There is not much time for mistakes, and the time you lose from the loss of momentum is hard to gain back. The first thoughts that ran through my head as always in a situation like this were, “crap, the race is over for me”. As quickly as possible I pushed those thoughts out of my head and started thinking positive again, convincing myself that I had to give it my all and try to come back. Throughout the next two minutes I put my head down and skied as hard as I could, knowing every position I picked back up was valuable. I ended up catching two girls, and was coming close to the third girl, but ran out of time. I felt awesome though, and am confident that if I wouldn’t have gone down at the start things could have gone really well! Falling is part of sprint racing though. Many great skiers fall and are still able to gain their position back to advance on. That is part of the learning experience. Today was a disappointment for me- but a learning lesson and a good experience as well. Even after things went bad from the start, I pulled myself back together and was able to push like hell to the finish line. The good news is we still have three more races, so I have three more opportunities to show “what I really got”./divdivbr //divdivOn a happier note Sam and Erik qualified 16th and 23rd respectively. Sam’s quarterfinal was a strong group and he managed to finish 5th in his heat missing out on moving on by not much. I watched him ski and he looked powerful and smooth. I believe he was satisfied with the day but is confident he can do better in the next sprint. Erik had an unbelievable quarterfinal and won his heat which allowed him to advance onto semi-finals. He skied the course really smart and made all the right moves in the right places which set him up for a great race. His semi-finals he skid strong again, but was dropped a bit by the top pack, finishing 5th in his heat. From there he advanced onto B Finals, where he once again skied a very smart race finishing 4th in his heat, 10th OVERALL- 2nd junior!!!!! This is by far Erik’s best result at US Nationals, which is extremely exciting to see. I have watched Erik ski all year and it was very clear today that he is back on his game and he and Sam will be tearing it apart this week. It is exciting to watch!/divdiv style=”text-align: left;”br //diva onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S0ADW4RhqqI/AAAAAAAAANw/cK83TjwVY-M/s1600-h/IMG_2021.JPG”img src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S0ADW4RhqqI/AAAAAAAAANw/cK83TjwVY-M/s320/IMG_2021.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422337642951977634″ style=”display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 208px; ” //adiv style=”text-align: center;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-weight: bold;”Erik 10th Place!/span/divdivbr //divdivAlso other impressive results from today- Simi Hamilton took his first National title today!!! Beth Reid- former speed skater Beth Heiden took 6th!/divdivbr //divdivOur next race will be Monday, which is a 10km skate race for the woman and 15km for the men./divdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2910103639238326543-840538142999980907?l=methowolympicdevelopment.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
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Finnish Elbow Grease
Even though we saw a great performance from Kowalczyk and some more magical moments from Northug, today’s races were highlighted by the Finnish skiers in my eyes. They skied hard and with intention. Sure, they didn’t win the race, but they sure changed how the results list looked with their intentions out on the course. While Saarinen and Heikkinen stand out, there were also great efforts from Kuitunen, Jauhojaervi, and Nousiainen. Nousianen’s effort will go un-noted for the most part as he ended up 24th; however, he was at the front of the chase pack and pushing the pack with a little over 1km left in the race chasing down Heikkinen and Vylegzhanin. The Fins managed to put four racers in the top 14 of the women’s race and if you watched the races, you’d have to say they deserve it.
Women
Kowalcyzk’s skiing today was typical for the Pole, put on the hard hat and grind out the result (and prove me wrong along the way). She was on a mission today and pushed the pace as soon as she got to the front of the race and continued to inflict pain on the others. She make quick work of her deficit and with in there was a lead pack of 3 Majdic, Kowalczyk, and Korosteleva by 1.5km. The three looked comfortable enough but with the chase pack gaining on the leaders, Kowalczyk began to turn the screw at 4km and Korosteleva was dropped to the approaching chase pack lead by the Fins Kuitunen and Saarinen.
The lead pack became 5 (Kowalczyk and Majdic joined by Saarinen, Follis, and Stormer Steira) due to some hard work from Saarinen with 4.5km left; however, with all of Saarinen’s hard work, Kowalczyk was the one that was still dictating the pace. By 7.5km, Majdic was finally dropped by the lead pack. She was able to hang on to Kowalczyk for a while, but it appeared that she was rather laboured today. In the post-race interview she explained that she had many problems today…
it was a very tough race from me. From the begining I was not feeling well. My upper body was not working properly. I noticed that in the first uphill. I had also problems with my technique. Paticularly to race straight and keep my head up. When Justyna caught me I was fighting a lot to stick to her. I managed this in first two laps. The 3rd one was over my possibilities today. I had to stay behind. To race against Justyna it is always dificult. My waxing team is the best but even them they make small mistakes and I could not rely on my skis in the uphills…
With 1.5km left Follis showed signs of weakness and started to tail off the lead group which was reduced to Kowalczyk, Saarinen, and Størmer Steira. With only a kilometer left, Kowalczyk put in a decsive kick over the top of the final hill and gained a 10m gap over the Fin and Norwegian going down into the stadium. She was able to keep that minimal lead into the straight stretch and it was enough to ensure her the victory.
1. Justyna Kowalczyk
2. Aino-Kaisa Saarinen
3. Kristin Størmer SteiraNotes: There were strong races from Marianna Longa who started in 35th today but finished in 9th and Kuitunen seems to have found her legs again as she posted a very good race and now sits in 4th overall. On the Canadian front, Renner had a great race today and moved up to 21st overall.
Men
With so many athletes starting so close together, today’s race was more a mass start than a pursuit. Northug was caught by the the rest of the pack at the 3km mark and did what he does in mass start format; settles into the pack and goes along for the ride. Teichmann and Bauer came to the front of the pack and dicatated the pace. It seemed a little too leisure (relatively) as the pack bunched up with the top 60 within 25 seconds of each other. It looked as though the same old story was going to be written again, but something happened which we first saw by Alex Harvey in Trondhiem last year, a breakaway from the pack by Matti Heikkinen.
It’s seems the athletes are finally catching on that they can’t afford to wait for the final sprint because they’ll most likely lose to Northug. The small Fin broke away from the pack around 6.5km and opened up a decent lead. It was up to 14 seconds at the halfway point of the race. It seemed that there was some anxiety in the pack as we saw the likes of Emil Jönsson sift to the front of the chase pack and start to keep Heikkinen in check.
Heikkinen’s worked seemed to have some reward as the main group was broken down from 60 to 25-30 by 11km. The pack was slowly reeling in Heikkinen but going up the hill to the 13.5km Vylegzhanin put in a sprint and tried to take on Heikkinen himself. The Russian naturally caught the Fin, but wasn’t able to initially shake him off. Coming into the finishing straight it was a five horse race. It looked a though Vylegzhanin might be able to hold of Northug as he came up on the Russian’s left side. It wasn’t until 10-15 meters until the finish line that Northug used the God-like double poling power to inch ahead of Vylegzhanin to once again deny the Russian of a victory. Northug only beat him by a boot or so and left it really late. I thought that Vylegzhanin had the victory, but that wasn’t the case today.
1. Petter Northug
2. Maxim Vylegzhanin
3. Matti HeikkinenNotes: The Canadians had a great race today with Kerhsaw leading the way with a 10th place and showing no signs of the bronchitis he had over the Christmas break. Babikov also climbed the results ladder to jump 28 places to 23rd overall. Harvey is in 27th and only 32 seconds off the pace. Grey had a good start to the race but faded and now sits in 51st overall but is in good company with Jonnier right behind him and the likes of Alypov, Frasnelli and Newell right above him in the ranking. Emil Jönsson had a phenomenal race today for a sprint specialist in a 15km skate. He managed to hold his own and even take up the front of the pack a couple times and ended up in 11th place. The big movers on the men’s side were Jauhojaervi and Filbrich who moved from 64th and 62nd to 7th and 8th overall respectively.
I’ll be back later today with some in sight to tomorrow’s sprint, but for it’s time to get some eye shut.
Talk to you in a bit.
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FROSTY
We woke to some crazy hoar frost this morning. The temperatures continue to drop but have stayed well within the legal limit (picture below, I believe shows 6 F). I made a clutch purchase this afternoon – toe warmers. AMH, the local ski store was closed but I found a 6-pack at REI for the bargain price of $8.99. My feet have taken a beating these last… oh, 20 years. Lets just say they chill easily.
Live results from Summit Timing can be found HERE, which is cool. Women start at 10am, heats at 1pm.
Athletes skiing into stadium. Board says 10:53 and yes, that is the sun rising. -
FROSTY
We woke to some crazy hoar frost this morning. The temperatures continue to drop but have stayed well within the legal limit (picture below, I believe shows 6 F). I made a clutch purchase this afternoon – toe warmers. AMH, the local ski store was closed but I found a 6-pack at REI for the bargain price of $8.99. My feet have taken a beating these last… oh, 20 years. Lets just say they chill easily.
Live results from Summit Timing can be found HERE, which is cool. Women start at 10am, heats at 1pm.
Athletes skiing into stadium. Board says 10:53 and yes, that is the sun rising. -
FROSTY
We woke to some crazy hoar frost this morning. The temperatures continue to drop but have stayed well within the legal limit (picture below, I believe shows 6 F). I made a clutch purchase this afternoon – toe warmers. AMH, the local ski store was closed but I found a 6-pack at REI for the bargain price of $8.99. My feet have taken a beating these last… oh, 20 years. Lets just say they chill easily.
Live results from Summit Timing can be found HERE, which is cool. Women start at 10am, heats at 1pm.
Athletes skiing into stadium. Board says 10:53 and yes, that is the sun rising. -
FROSTY
We woke to some crazy hoar frost this morning. The temperatures continue to drop but have stayed well within the legal limit (picture below, I believe shows 6 F). I made a clutch purchase this afternoon – toe warmers. AMH, the local ski store was closed but I found a 6-pack at REI for the bargain price of $8.99. My feet have taken a beating these last… oh, 20 years. Lets just say they chill easily.
Live results from Summit Timing can be found HERE, which is cool. Women start at 10am, heats at 1pm.
Athletes skiing into stadium. Board says 10:53 and yes, that is the sun rising. -
“Hey, do you think we could give EVERYONE at US Nationals…
img src=”http://22.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvluyzPo2B1qzt3xbo1_500.jpg”/br/br/p“Hey, do you think we could give EVERYONE at US Nationals a hat like yours?”/p
p“Jesus, NO! No one would actually wear this thing. I’m a living stereotype!”/p -
Dear 4th Grade: Happy New Year!
div style=”text-align: left;”So, you must all be back in school now? How was your holiday break? How are things in Lake Placid? All is quite well here. And I too had a great time with family during Christmas. But, I am back on the road again. For this week I am in Antholz in the South Tyrolian region of Italy. I am staying at the top of the valley right next to the nordic and biathlon center; I can walk out the door of my hotel right on to the ski trail! Again, I am staying on another lake – but this one a bit smaller and frozen, so I can ski on it./divdivbr //divdivA trail behind the hotel rises above the lake towards a pass which is on the border of Italy and Austria. A local’s favorite is to hike up this trail, enjoy a hot drink and some cake at a small restaurant at the top, then rent a sled to take you all the way back down to the lake. Today, I just classic skied up to enjoy the view:/divdivbr //divdivspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; “img src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_k1DHbqzFvCE/Sz9OIHYWjrI/AAAAAAAAAvc/ZgRIYrFjggY/s320/IMG_0153.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422138377704476338″ style=”display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; ” //span/divdivbr //divdivLooking back towards my “home” for the week – Hotel Seehaus:/divdivbr //divdivspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; “img src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_k1DHbqzFvCE/Sz9OIm3zN7I/AAAAAAAAAvs/tukD_qEiTYs/s320/IMG_0148.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422138386157877170″ style=”display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; ” //span/divdivbr //divdivThis week I am back to a normal training schedule – a session in the morning, some good pasta for lunch, a nap and then another training session in the afternoon. It has been good to rebuild my strength and stamina after racing and traveling a lot this past month. The gains I make in these current weeks will help me race faster over the next month and are a part of the step process towards racing well in February./divdivbr //divdivspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; “img src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_k1DHbqzFvCE/Sz9OHgKr5hI/AAAAAAAAAvU/sBcn-Z-yjGU/s320/IMG_0156.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422138367178171922″ style=”display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; ” //span/divdivAfter our full Olympic Team re-assembles at the Ruhpolding World Cup [see my schedule in the right hand column] we will be back here for the 6th World Cup. It will be exciting to have our whole team and staff together again, especially for the women since there has only been a few of us racing over here. And looking ahead towards Ruhpolding, we will enter our first women’s relay before the Olympics. All the races are in the afternoon and evening that week, which makes it much more enjoyable to watch online back in the US without missing a good night of sleep./divdiv style=”text-align: center;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color:#0000EE;”br //span/divdivspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; “img src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_k1DHbqzFvCE/Sz9OI_x0kvI/AAAAAAAAAv0/5VVDTgU3AOU/s320/IMG_0147.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422138392843686642″ style=”display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; ” //span/divdiv style=”text-align: center;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color:#0000EE;”br //span/divdiv style=”text-align: center;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color:#0000EE;”br //span/divdiv style=”text-align: center;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color:#0000EE;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; “img src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_k1DHbqzFvCE/Sz9OIX1XE9I/AAAAAAAAAvk/0oa4Iw9yzbI/s320/IMG_0151.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422138382121112530″ style=”display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; ” //span/span/divdiv style=”text-align: center;”Ciao!/divdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1362992899157556571-5697948010092345180?l=comeskiwithme.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
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“(Kapala) didn’t come. Probably a good thing, he’s getting old, these floors are…”
“(Kapala) didn’t come. Probably a good thing, he’s getting old, these floors are slippery and he’d probably fall and break a hip.”br/br/ – em Overheard at US Nationals, Day 1./em
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Holidays – happy and spent in Colorado
div style=”text-align: center;”br //diva onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_k1DHbqzFvCE/Sz9LjTyIfgI/AAAAAAAAAvE/1SqXW0tMQn0/s1600-h/IMG_0136.JPG”/aa onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_k1DHbqzFvCE/Sz9LjBezyRI/AAAAAAAAAu8/lidL_ZwIo8k/s1600-h/IMG_0135.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_k1DHbqzFvCE/Sz9LjBezyRI/AAAAAAAAAu8/lidL_ZwIo8k/s320/IMG_0135.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422135541442529554″ //abr /I spent a week at home with family in Colorado. Dave and I spent Christmas in Steamboat with my sister Kara – now an avid skate skiing fan. divbr //divdivspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; “img src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_k1DHbqzFvCE/Sz9LjTyIfgI/AAAAAAAAAvE/1SqXW0tMQn0/s320/IMG_0136.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422135546355416578″ style=”display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; ” //span/divdivbr //divdivAnd, thanks to a great Christmas present, Dave and I made homemade pasta./divdivbr //divdivspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; “img src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_k1DHbqzFvCE/Sz9Lj8HU9-I/AAAAAAAAAvM/Bc5Mn5eaq_o/s320/IMG_0141.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422135557181732834″ style=”display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; ” //span/divdivRelaxed and refreshed I returned back to Europe for a training camp with one of our head coaches in Antholz Rasen, Italy./divdivbr //divdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1362992899157556571-7857532264035550923?l=comeskiwithme.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
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The Germans Dethroned
The prologue has been dominated by two German’s since the inception of the Tour de Ski: Claudia Nystad and Axel Teichmann. Today saw Nystad fail to win her 4th consecutive prologue, while Teichmann was edged out by a Swede and a Norwegian to deny him of his second straight victory in the format. There are 37 more men and 8 more women in this years edition with approximately 90% of the red group entered which has heightened the competition.
Women
The early leader was the biathlete-turned-cross country skier Miriam Goessner who had the time to beat for quite a while. While she’s new onto the scene and only 19 years old, she is a very bright talent that impressed last season in the women’s relay at the World Champs. The out and out favorite Claudia Nystad failed to win her 4th prologue in a row as she faded in the last 1.2km She Held the top split at 1.5km. Korosteleva had very good start, taking lead at the 1.5km time check and kept her pacing until she crumpled into a heap after crossing the finish line. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to hold of Majdic as she was able to extend her minuscule lead of 0.3 seconds over the Russian by another couple seconds before the end. Kowalczyk looked promising at the only time check but lost over seven seconds in the last 1.2km to take the bronze.
Note: The Swede Hannah Brodin continues to impress as she finished 10th today. Some great pacing was seen by Celine Brun-Lie who finished 7th but was in 23rd at the time check while France’s Laure Barthelemy managed to pick up 25 places in the final 1.2km to finish 13th, a career best for the 21 year old.
Results
1. Petra Majdic
2. Natalia Korosteleva
3. Justyna KowalczykMen
Northug proved (again) why he is the favorite to win the Tour. He was only 5.3 seconds down at the time check but sitting in 31st position. With the great support team, Northug continued to get splits around the course and knew what he had to do to beat Hellner. It wasn’t a huge margin in the victory (0.8sec) but a wins a win. The Swede had a great race and denied Teichmann of his second prologue win in a row. It looked like Teichmann once again had paced the race perfectly as he overtook Shiriaev’s time at the finish but Hellner spoiled the party. Hellner looked snappy and full of energy from start to finish and was technically strong today, showing no signs of fatigue down the finishing straight like so many others in the race. However, once across the line, he pulled a Bjørn Dæhlie and was stomach down with his feet up in the air.
Some other highlights included a great race from the Italian Loris Frasnelli who finished 6th. It was the first time he’s been in the top 10 since 2006. It was a good day fora couple Canadians as Grey and Harvey finished 17th and 18th respectively. Eldar Rønning had a day to forget as he was in contention at the time check but proceeded to lose 28 seconds and 59 places in the final 2.2km. He’s a much stronger classic skier so I expect him to have a strong bounce back tomorrow. Also, the young German Andreas Katz had a phenomenal race today as he was the man to beat for quite a while. He held the fastest split time at 1.5km for almost the whole race and ended up a career best 11th in only his third career World Cup start.
Results
1. Petter Northug
2. Marcus Hellner
3. Axel Teichmann10km/15km Handicap Start
For tomorrows race, we see both Northug and Majdic lead out while the trailing athletes will desperately try to catch them. I’m expecting that the men’s race will form a group of three or four at the front and then Northug will do what Northug does best by out-sprinting the others will a couple hundred meters left. On the women’s side, I can’t imagine someone beating Majdic in the race. She is one of the best classic skiers around and if she’s on her game, she’ll be unstoppable tomorrow. I don’t think Korosteleva will be able to catch or hang on and Kowalczyk’s 16 second deficit seems like a little too much… even for the Pole.
Women (who crosses the line first)
1. Petra Majdic
2. Justyna Kowalczyk
3. Aino-Kaisa SaarinenMen
1. Petter Northug
2. Dario Cologna
3. Axel Teichmann*Just a quick not that all the races from the 2009-2010 have been capped by Basil Brush from the Eurosport feeds and are available via torrents. There are direct links to all of the races on the media page.
**If you’re wondering why these posts are coming out so late, it’s because I prefer to watch the races and then comment on them. In doing that I have to download the race which takes a little time. You see a lot more when you watch the race than reading the results. It wouldn’t make sense to me to just look at the results sheet and post a blog. Anyone can read results and get the same conclusion
. If anyone knows where there is a streaming link of the races available, please post a link in the comments section. It’d be greatly appreciated.Til Tomorrow.
![About 1.5km from here to the finish. I won't be checking out the view on Monday.](http://braytonosgood.com/images/313.jpg" "About 1.5km from here to the finish. I won't be checking out the view on Monday.")
