p(I think the torch gave it away.)/p
Category: XCFeeds
A collection of live feeds from cross-country ski blogs around the web.
-
Video
object width=”400″ height=”336″param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/mso6N_eqg_krel=0egm=0showinfo=0fs=1″/paramparam name=”wmode” value=”transparent”/paramparam name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”/paramembed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/mso6N_eqg_krel=0egm=0showinfo=0fs=1″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” width=”400″ height=”336″ allowFullScreen=”true” wmode=”transparent”/embed/objectbr/br/
-
Anybody else think this has the makings for a type of…
object width=”400″ height=”336″param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/QViXyU5LiqArel=0egm=0showinfo=0fs=1″/paramparam name=”wmode” value=”transparent”/paramparam name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”/paramembed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/QViXyU5LiqArel=0egm=0showinfo=0fs=1″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” width=”400″ height=”336″ allowFullScreen=”true” wmode=”transparent”/embed/objectbr/br/pAnybody else think this has the makings for a type of “Office” mockumentary? More on
-
“I love “skiing”-tired. But “work”-tired is just, like, being bitch-slapped.”
“I love “skiing”-tired. But “work”-tired is just, like, being bitch-slapped.”br/br/ – em Random athlete musings/em
-
Decisions
Skiing, like life, is all about keeping it simple and making the right decisions. What do I eat for breakfast? What do I do for my warm-up? What skis do I race on? These decisions are easy. Sometimes they get harder.
On Monday, I earned the opportunity to compete in the January World Cup races in Russia and Estonia, as the men’s SuperTour leader. The International Ski Federation (FIS) treats the Continental Cup leader from each “continent” (SuperTour, NorAm, Europa Cup, Scando Cup, etc) as a “Red Group” athlete (Top-30 World Ranking list), paying the fees, travel, and living expenses for the races. What does this mean? It means I’ve got the opportunity to compete in the Russian and Estonian World Cups on FIS’s dime. Two years ago, I raced World Cups in the Czech Republic, Sweden, Finland, and Norway, as part of the same program. It’s definitely the best deal out there.
Traveling to Russia is something I’ve dreamed of since I took Russian my freshman year in college (although I only pretend to know the language). Getting travel visas, etc, make getting to Russia relatively challenging, but as a World Cup athlete, all of those details are taken care of. Racing there would be awesome, especially since there is a Skate Sprint, one of my favorite events, in Rybinsk.
Despite this awesome opportunity, I’m going to stay state-side this January as part of an altitude training block that I’ve been planning with my coaches since last spring. I’ve always heard you’ve got to make sacrifices to be a professional skier. This is the first sacrifice I feel like I’ve really ever had to make for skiing. I’m confident it’s the right decision.
Dialing classic technique, Russian Style (lots of repetition), at a clinic in Lake Placid last October.
-
DAVOS!
divThe internet is very in and out here, but Davos is one heck of a place. I think for many of us, it is one of the favorite spots on the tour, and when you come from dark scandinavia, the sun feels even better. Races this weekend are a 10/15K skate on Saturday and a skate sprint on Sunday. I head home on Monday, so these will be my last races over here until later this season. /divdivbr //divdivbr //divdivspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(0, 0, 238); “img src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ObMdc4mpVIg/SyHkn2luA-I/AAAAAAAAASQ/oYdO7xnZ1QU/s320/IMG_0262.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413859600395797474″ 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;”First morning! AAAHHH!/divdiv style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ObMdc4mpVIg/SyHmS9BBh2I/AAAAAAAAATA/fqZ2ZR2ivzc/s1600-h/IMG_0291.JPG”br //a/divdiv style=”text-align: center;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(0, 0, 238); text-decoration: underline;”br //span/divdiv style=”text-align: center;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(0, 0, 238); text-decoration: underline;”img src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ObMdc4mpVIg/SyHkoaKjkoI/AAAAAAAAASY/T72ovvhTon8/s320/IMG_0265.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413859609945543298″ 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/divdiv style=”text-align: center;”Mo, enjoying the sun/divdiv style=”text-align: center;”br //divbr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ObMdc4mpVIg/SyHmSMo16JI/AAAAAAAAASw/Z3lb2gi5IhI/s1600-h/IMG_0277.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/_ObMdc4mpVIg/SyHmSMo16JI/AAAAAAAAASw/Z3lb2gi5IhI/s320/IMG_0277.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413861427380611218″ //adiv style=”text-align: center;”My two favorite things: trains and alert-shirt orange/divdiv style=”text-align: center;”br //diva onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ObMdc4mpVIg/SyHmRqinktI/AAAAAAAAASo/51dsRvjKLAg/s1600-h/IMG_0283.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/_ObMdc4mpVIg/SyHmRqinktI/AAAAAAAAASo/51dsRvjKLAg/s320/IMG_0283.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413861418227700434″ //adiv style=”text-align: center;”Gormet meals at the Hotel Kulm/divdiv style=”text-align: center;”br //diva onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ObMdc4mpVIg/SyHkouVUyGI/AAAAAAAAASg/r3_8lRsU_yo/s1600-h/IMG_0280_2.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ObMdc4mpVIg/SyHkouVUyGI/AAAAAAAAASg/r3_8lRsU_yo/s320/IMG_0280_2.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413859615359420514″ //abr /div style=”text-align: center;”Moon rise over Davos/divdivbr //divspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(0, 0, 238); “img src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ObMdc4mpVIg/SyHmSodORWI/AAAAAAAAAS4/hnpTgvsOR8w/s320/IMG_0311.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413861434848068962″ style=”display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; ” /br /div style=”text-align: center;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=””span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);”Hotel Kulm staff Christmas party. Here, the tradition goes that if you are a bad kid that year, Santa will put you in his sack and take you out into the woods and leave you, so kids around here are much more behaved! /span/span/div/spandivdiv style=”text-align: center;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(0, 0, 238);”br //span/divdivdiv style=”text-align: center;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(0, 0, 238);”br //span/divdivspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(0, 0, 238); “img src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ObMdc4mpVIg/SyHmS9BBh2I/AAAAAAAAATA/fqZ2ZR2ivzc/s320/IMG_0291.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413861440366937954″ style=”display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; ” //spandiv style=”text-align: left;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(0, 0, 238); text-decoration: underline;”br //span/divdiv style=”text-align: center;”Pete Vordenberg and his wife Barb Jones./div/div/div/divdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8313858291794282393-8648563089569658830?l=lizhstephen.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
-
Lucky Headphones and Olympic Qualification!
Hi Friends,
Things are going great over on this side of the pond. In the past four days I have been in Germany, Italy and Switzerland. The great news is that I have secured my spot on the 2010 Olympic team by meeting the top-20 criteria set out for me by my national sport organization. Because I’m on the comeback train from injury it was deemed necessary for me to prove my fitness by getting a top 20 result in a World Cup. When there are hoops to be jumped through there’s no time to waste so I set my sights on my best chance of all: a skate sprint in Dusseldorf, Germany Dec 5th and geared my training towards it.
This super unique World Cup runs a skate sprint on 828 meters of snow expertly placed along the Rhine in the snowless city of Dusseldorf. With the odors of cheese, beer and smoke wafting onto the course the atmosphere is nothing if not uniquely exciting with many spectators out to cheer. It’s great.
I was psyched up and totally stoked that my new headphones: Beats by Dr. Dre (compliments of my good friends at Best Buy) arrived just in time by special delivery from one of our wax staff who came over from Canada just before the race. Wearing these cool Beats I was able to be totally in my own zone for warm up despite the chaos of racing in a city. When I wore them without tunes pumping I was more in touch with my breathing and focused head space. When I wanted to get really psyched I cranked the Lady Gaga, Kanye and Rihanna and felt my energy soar with the music.
I placed 12th in my race and am so proud to be able to send out some Olympic high fives out to my blog readers and turn my laser-beam of focus to the classic sprint at the Olympics Feb 17th.
This weekend I have a skate sprint on Sunday on a long course here in Davos, Switzerland where I’ll be highly pumped just to get in the points (top 30). Should be fun.
Thanks for tuning in, and until next time…
Pump some tunes!!
Chandra
-
Lucky Headphones and Olympic Qualification!
Hi Friends,
Things are going great over on this side of the pond. In the past four days I have been in Germany, Italy and Switzerland. The great news is that I have secured my spot on the 2010 Olympic team by meeting the top-20 criteria set out for me by my national sport organization. Because I’m on the comeback train from injury it was deemed necessary for me to prove my fitness by getting a top 20 result in a World Cup. When there are hoops to be jumped through there’s no time to waste so I set my sights on my best chance of all: a skate sprint in Dusseldorf, Germany Dec 5th and geared my training towards it.
This super unique World Cup runs a skate sprint on 828 meters of snow expertly placed along the Rhine in the snowless city of Dusseldorf. With the odors of cheese, beer and smoke wafting onto the course the atmosphere is nothing if not uniquely exciting with many spectators out to cheer. It’s great.
I was psyched up and totally stoked that my new headphones: Beats by Dr. Dre (compliments of my good friends at Best Buy) arrived just in time by special delivery from one of our wax staff who came over from Canada just before the race. Wearing these cool Beats I was able to be totally in my own zone for warm up despite the chaos of racing in a city. When I wore them without tunes pumping I was more in touch with my breathing and focused head space. When I wanted to get really psyched I cranked the Lady Gaga, Kanye and Rihanna and felt my energy soar with the music.
I placed 12th in my race and am so proud to be able to send out some Olympic high fives out to my blog readers and turn my laser-beam of focus to the classic sprint at the Olympics Feb 17th.
This weekend I have a skate sprint on Sunday on a long course here in Davos, Switzerland where I’ll be highly pumped just to get in the points (top 30). Should be fun.
Thanks for tuning in, and until next time…
Pump some tunes!!
Chandra
-
Lucky Headphones and Olympic Qualification!
Hi Friends,
Things are going great over on this side of the pond. In the past four days I have been in Germany, Italy and Switzerland. The great news is that I have secured my spot on the 2010 Olympic team by meeting the top-20 criteria set out for me by my national sport organization. Because I’m on the comeback train from injury it was deemed necessary for me to prove my fitness by getting a top 20 result in a World Cup. When there are hoops to be jumped through there’s no time to waste so I set my sights on my best chance of all: a skate sprint in Dusseldorf, Germany Dec 5th and geared my training towards it.
This super unique World Cup runs a skate sprint on 828 meters of snow expertly placed along the Rhine in the snowless city of Dusseldorf. With the odors of cheese, beer and smoke wafting onto the course the atmosphere is nothing if not uniquely exciting with many spectators out to cheer. It’s great.
I was psyched up and totally stoked that my new headphones: Beats by Dr. Dre (compliments of my good friends at Best Buy) arrived just in time by special delivery from one of our wax staff who came over from Canada just before the race. Wearing these cool Beats I was able to be totally in my own zone for warm up despite the chaos of racing in a city. When I wore them without tunes pumping I was more in touch with my breathing and focused head space. When I wanted to get really psyched I cranked the Lady Gaga, Kanye and Rihanna and felt my energy soar with the music.
I placed 12th in my race and am so proud to be able to send out some Olympic high fives out to my blog readers and turn my laser-beam of focus to the classic sprint at the Olympics Feb 17th.
This weekend I have a skate sprint on Sunday on a long course here in Davos, Switzerland where I’ll be highly pumped just to get in the points (top 30). Should be fun.
Thanks for tuning in, and until next time…
Pump some tunes!!
Chandra
-
Lucky Headphones and Olympic Qualification!
Hi Friends,
Things are going great over on this side of the pond. In the past four days I have been in Germany, Italy and Switzerland. The great news is that I have secured my spot on the 2010 Olympic team by meeting the top-20 criteria set out for me by my national sport organization. Because I’m on the comeback train from injury it was deemed necessary for me to prove my fitness by getting a top 20 result in a World Cup. When there are hoops to be jumped through there’s no time to waste so I set my sights on my best chance of all: a skate sprint in Dusseldorf, Germany Dec 5th and geared my training towards it.
This super unique World Cup runs a skate sprint on 828 meters of snow expertly placed along the Rhine in the snowless city of Dusseldorf. With the odors of cheese, beer and smoke wafting onto the course the atmosphere is nothing if not uniquely exciting with many spectators out to cheer. It’s great.
I was psyched up and totally stoked that my new headphones: Beats by Dr. Dre (compliments of my good friends at Best Buy) arrived just in time by special delivery from one of our wax staff who came over from Canada just before the race. Wearing these cool Beats I was able to be totally in my own zone for warm up despite the chaos of racing in a city. When I wore them without tunes pumping I was more in touch with my breathing and focused head space. When I wanted to get really psyched I cranked the Lady Gaga, Kanye and Rihanna and felt my energy soar with the music.
I placed 12th in my race and am so proud to be able to send out some Olympic high fives out to my blog readers and turn my laser-beam of focus to the classic sprint at the Olympics Feb 17th.
This weekend I have a skate sprint on Sunday on a long course here in Davos, Switzerland where I’ll be highly pumped just to get in the points (top 30). Should be fun.
Thanks for tuning in, and until next time…
Pump some tunes!!
Chandra
-
Mte. Ste. Anne Report from Heather
a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/SyFj0gKo9jI/AAAAAAAABrY/PF0RebLYv9c/s1600-h/IMG_1414.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/SyFj0gKo9jI/AAAAAAAABrY/PF0RebLYv9c/s400/IMG_1414.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413717980714956338″ //abr /After a big snowstorm yesterday we all moved from our houses at Stoneham into two condos at Mont Sainte Anne. On the way we stopped at our favorite IGA to load up on some food for the next few days. It was still snowing as we headed out for an easy classic ski in the fresh powder. It was our first classic ski in a while so it was nice to stride out a bit. The wax was good and it got better and better as we skied and it got colder. Some of us had nice adventures in the powder and others stayed on the somewhat groomed “open” trails. Everyone had a great time.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/SyFjrdGPfwI/AAAAAAAABrQ/8Ov1-z_3G-Y/s1600-h/IMG_1416.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 313px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/SyFjrdGPfwI/AAAAAAAABrQ/8Ov1-z_3G-Y/s400/IMG_1416.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413717825272381186″ //abr /Tonight the boys (Walker, Mac and Tyler) are cooking for us in condo 15…we’re all looking forward to some delicious steak and fries! I guess the other house can probably plan on a good dinner as well from Boobs and Poppet :)a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/SyFpJ5zEeKI/AAAAAAAABrg/ZFQAvNKmIFo/s1600-h/IMG_1424.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/SyFpJ5zEeKI/AAAAAAAABrg/ZFQAvNKmIFo/s400/IMG_1424.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413723845930809506″ //abr /Tomorrow they’re grooming the trail that comes down to the condos from the ski center, so hopefully we’ll have a fun ski back home!div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4680416899705879324-6762668776020706353?l=smsxc.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
-
Little Shooters Take Nationals
Toko Tech Team child celebrities Tabor and Tyler Scholl (these would be quick draw shooters as compared to the cannon Shawn Scholl) just won the AAU National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships, Disney World, Orlando, FL. Reportedly, Tyler tried to grab a snow cone out of Mickey Mouse’s hand after putting the hurt on the pack and gaining a lead, but Mickey fought him off and almost ruined the day for him. Thankfully, no cartoon mice were hurt just a bunch of 9 and 10 year old boys.Tabor took first in the 11-12 year old girl field of 174 particpants. Results here http://www.aauresults.org/crosscountry/pdf/2009/20091260031379.pdf
Tyler, obviously not to be outdone by his older sister won his race (8-9 year old boys) which had a field of 127. Tyler still has another year in this age group which must have him licking his chops. I wouldn’t be surprised if no one shows up next year. Results here
http://www.aauresults.org/crosscountry/pdf/2009/20091260036076.pdfI was just kidding about the snow cone thing, but the rest of the news is true. Big congrats to the entire Shooter family!
-
Little Shooters Take Nationals
Toko Tech Team child celebrities Tabor and Tyler Scholl (these would be quick draw shooters as compared to the cannon Shawn Scholl) just won the AAU National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships, Disney World, Orlando, FL. Reportedly, Tyler tried to grab a snow cone out of Mickey Mouse’s hand after putting the hurt on the pack and gaining a lead, but Mickey fought him off and almost ruined the day for him. Thankfully, no cartoon mice were hurt just a bunch of 9 and 10 year old boys.Tabor took first in the 11-12 year old girl field of 174 particpants. Results here http://www.aauresults.org/crosscountry/pdf/2009/20091260031379.pdf
Tyler, obviously not to be outdone by his older sister won his race (8-9 year old boys) which had a field of 127. Tyler still has another year in this age group which must have him licking his chops. I wouldn’t be surprised if no one shows up next year. Results here
http://www.aauresults.org/crosscountry/pdf/2009/20091260036076.pdfI was just kidding about the snow cone thing, but the rest of the news is true. Big congrats to the entire Shooter family!
-
Par for the Course 09 Wax
I skied 4 mornings this week. The snow has been very cold. Yesterday it was -20C (-4F). Today -18C (0F). Slow, transformed snow. Like sand paper. br /br /Snow is forecast for Friday night prior to the race. Snow is forecast for race day. Overnight low of 23F is forecast and race time temp is forecast to be 26F. The weather forecast has changed every hour all day. Some models show mixed rain, sleet and snow for Saturday. Other models show just snow. br /br /Here is my current view. Pick a pair of skis, if you have a choice, that are not too stiff and with a medium grind. If you need to add a structure, use a fairly fine interupted rill. Apply the rill after waxing and just before the application of the fluoro. I am going to condition the base with a layer of SOLDA Performance Green. I will follow this with F40 Red and finish with HP04. The Green is to harden the base a bit and the F40 red for good glide in the new snow. br /br /Low wax budget? Go with layer of UF7 and follow with F15 Pink or F31 Pink. UF7 alone could be a good choice. br /br /Should there be a significant change in forecast I will repost here Friday night. br /br /Have a good race. br /br /Bertdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6589659500745667109-2614854733315727464?l=www.webskis.com%2Fwebskisblog.html’ alt=” //div
-
IN THE ARENA WITH BRIAN 2009-12-10 13:53:00
span class=”Apple-style-span” style=” color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 16px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;”pspan style=”font-size:85%;”The last 5 weeks I have been very focused in my training, racing and recovery. The races in West Yellowstone were a strong start to the season, and I felt even better about my performances in Bozeman. No spotlight races, but very consistent across distance, sprint, classic and skate which has been a major goal of mine the past few years. We are now up in Silver Star, BC getting ready for this weekends NorAm. All of the non-World Cup skiers from North American are here. It will be a highly competitive race. It is my understanding that for the Canadians, the winner of the race earns a spot on the Olympic Team. After a good hard day of intervals in the morning and strength in the afternoon on Wednesday, today was a recovery day. Matt, Karl and I went for a long circumnavigation ski adventure of the Silver Star and Sovereign Lake Trails. /span/pp style=”text-align: center;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-size:small;”img src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M9ps8F85nS0/SyG0dzXri6I/AAAAAAAAAlA/Q_o_LFEWb9g/s400/SilverStar+029.jpg” style=”cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413806651174783906″ //span/pp style=”text-align: center;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-family:arial;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-size: small;”Today was a warm day at 10F. It is nice to wax inside and Matt is excited to try his new Nordic Ultratune XC02/span/span/pp align=”center”span style=”font-size:85%;”img src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_M9ps8F85nS0/SyG0eFT3RWI/AAAAAAAAAlI/Yi639s8pc5A/s400/SilverStar+032.jpg” style=”cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413806655990613346″ /br /We can get on the trails right from the door to our condo./span/pp align=”center”span style=”font-size:85%;”img src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_M9ps8F85nS0/SyG0ea3HjhI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/d353fX2Gnco/s400/SilverStar+036.jpg” style=”cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 363px;” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413806661775625746″ /br /3 inches of fresh powder turned us into downhill skiers/span/pp align=”center”span style=”font-size:85%;”img src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_M9ps8F85nS0/SyG08imOL9I/AAAAAAAAAlY/RADXo4KZb4A/s400/SilverStar+040.jpg” style=”cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413807179248316370″ /br /Silver Star allows you a few trips up the chair lift.br /Normally I prefer to ski up the hill, but today was a recovery day and it was nice to gain the vertical/span/pp align=”center”span style=”font-size:85%;”img src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_M9ps8F85nS0/SyG08ytBCTI/AAAAAAAAAlg/V_Nnl-w5Kd0/s400/SilverStar+043.jpg” style=”cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413807183571781938″ /br /Matt, Karl, and I enjoying Alder Point. A beautiful spot even on a cloudy day/span/pp align=”center”span style=”font-size:85%;”img src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_M9ps8F85nS0/SyG09ciPWkI/AAAAAAAAAlo/e5CdWgYrafo/s400/SilverStar+045.jpg” /br /We finished our 3 hour ski by skiing down main street which is actually a groomed ski trail. This town really is a skier’s paradise. I really wish I had brought some money to hit up the Bugaboo Bakery/span/p/spandiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8083254037538554650-8964324145075591054?l=in-the-arena-brian.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
-
In Canada…
Week three of racing is quickly approaching! After spending a few additional days in West Yellowstone, the Sun Valley Team traveled to Bozeman. We were greeted with some chilly weather…well below zero! Despite the cold, we raced a skate sprint on Saturday and a 10k classic on Sunday. br /br /I qualified 7th in sprint race, just 3.5 seconds out of 1st! So close! I went on to win my quarterfinal heat but ended up getting boxed out in my semi-final, putting me in the B-final. I did not have quite enough steam in the sprint to the finish and ended up 10th overall. I felt like i put in a a good effort but didn’t not end with the result I was hoping for. br /br /Saturday’s sprint really did a job on my lungs and I am still recovering from the “after race cough.” The following day we had a 10k classic race on a very challenging course with temperatures well below zero! Not the most pleasant racing conditions. I felt pretty tired from the sprint race the day before, but i tried not to think about how tired I was. I focused on skiing smooth and relaxed. I crossed the finish line feeling disappointed…at that time i had no idea where I ended up result wise, but based on the way I felt racing, I figured I had a mediocre result. I felt like I was missing that extra gear in the race. After my cool down, I was surprised to find out that I ended up 6th! I figured that if i felt that way and ended up 6th, then I know that on a day where I am feeling good, I can produce an even better result!br /br /We are currently in Silver Star B.C. There is lots of snow here and it is cold:) I am hoping for even better results this weekend…every race seems to get better and better, so hopefully that will continue:) br /br /Look for results at www.zone4.cadiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5903545846797966075-4300904875837612464?l=in-the-arena-nicole.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
-
Change of Plans
Well… A few things have changed since the last post. Instead of making the trip to race in Canada after Bozeman, I am back in Marquette. After a fantastic summer/fall of training, the beginning of the season didn’t start the way that I would have hoped. My races went alright, but alright isn’t what I need, I need great. I need to find the next gear, race faster and move on from the first races.
The decision to come home wasn’t an easy one. When there are races on the schedule it’s tough not to start them. However, I’ve been racing for a long time and I’m starting to learn that quality is better than quantity and I’m lucky to have a coach who sees things the same way.
The focus of this season hasn’t changed, I need to have fantastic races at U.S. Nationals just after the first of the year. After some long conversations with Sten, I hopped a plane and headed back home. The plan is to work out the kinks, recharge the mind and body, enjoy the Holiday and prepare to kick some serious butt.
Since returning home, we have been getting pounded with snow, blizzard warnings and lakeshore flooding. There is more than enough snow for the trails to open and looking forward to skiing smart and hard at 747 feet. Dan and I got our first real christmas tree, no more fake plastic shrub. The guy we bought the tree from was pretty funny. While we were looking for the perfect one, he commented “They’re all perfect. Put on some of Grandma’s ornaments and after a couple glasses of egg nog, it’ll look great!” So pretty much, get drunk, and you won’t see that it looks like a Charlie Brown Tree.
Keep checking back for some updates through out the Holidays as I get ready to head to U.S. Nationals in Anchorage.
