The fat lady just finished singing. For this season at least. I am trying to take stock of the racing season just past and look forward to the beginning of what I know is going to be an even more productive training period through the next summer and fall. All three MOD skiers will see substantial improvements in results again next year.br /br /I am excited at the prospects of building on the lessons learned from this successful season Our novel training methods will continue to evolve and I already have some progressive plans to develop more speed and a stronger finishing kick to our skiers.br /br /My personal high point this season was to attend the World Junior Championships in France in February. My last first hand experience with elite international ski racing was during my final World Cup races in the winter of 1987. My WC career was brief and unremarkable except in its mediocrity and consistency (consistent 40th places). But the fact that it had been 22 years since I had had my nose buried in it (albeit now vicariously) made this experience all the more meaningful to me in my coaching role.br /br /Up until now I have felt very confident in preparing these three skiers for the races they have been involved in thus far in their racing careers. Results bear out that our training has been effective and development of the skiers has been right on the money. As they move through the national ranks and try to scratch their way on to podiums in international events a new standard needs to be applied. The bar has been raised for them of course,but also for me as the coach who needs to be at least a step ahead of them in anticipation of their need for speed.br /Watching Sadie get out doublepoled in her sprint heats; watching the depth of the Norwegian girls’ team in the relay and finally seeing the top Russian boy put over a minute on the field during the last 2.5km of his lead off relay leg left indelible impressions on my otherwise add’led mind.br /br /I consider this year’s results by Erik, Sam and Sadie to have been a complete validation of our training practices. Nonetheless, I came away from my time in France with more questions than answers about my training ideas. Not in the sort of undermining or self doubting way that would lead one to discard the baby with the bath water. No, it was more a series of AHAH moments that lasted for the next month as I absorbed what I saw during those great races. I saw how what we had done was working well but I also saw how we can improve what we do to make our skiers competitive at the next level.br /br /As the racers evolve the training must evolve to keep pace with them.br /br /This is going to be fun!br /br /Scottdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2910103639238326543-7821215610405167014?l=methowolympicdevelopment.blogspot.com’//div
Category: XCFeeds
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Hardest. Race. Ever.
That pretty much sums up how I felt about the 50k in Fairbanks on Sunday. If you haven’t read the FasterSkier race report, you should, it was an exciting day up at the front of both the men’s and women’s races. Maybe the most exciting domestic races of the year. Stinson gives me far more credit than I deserve for being part of the chase group with Kuzzy. We were there, but more like around 15th as opposed to 10th, but hey, it’s good publicity! Anyways, on to the race.
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The calendar over my desk…
…says ‘December.’ I’m pretty sure the pile of junk that is now up to its bottom has been building since then.
It’s time to dig out, catch up and reorganize. Spring cleaning anyone?
After Sunday’s race was in the bag, the horizon just suddenly opened up ahead of my eyes. It seems like for 3 months you can’t think past the end of March, and most times past the tip of your nose. Now it’s spring, time to relax a bit, take the time to think and plan and dream. In a few weeks the work begins to shape the future.
In two weeks I run a marathon that I’m woefully unprepared for. Last night I rented a car for that trip and bought some new running shoes (for that trip and the following summer). It’s kind of nice to be looking ahead now, kind of relieving to know that the whole winter is in the bag and there is nothing that can be done now to change it. All-in-all, it was a pretty good winter. Those that stuck with it through the downs seemed to have some great ‘ups’ by the end. Those high points are what show us what is possible, what we are capable of. Together with the lows, they combine for the full experience that motivates us to work harder and do better next year…
Who’s in?
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President’s Fitness Awards presentation at Bryn Mawr Elementary School.
On Sunday after almost 70K of racing in one week for the woman and over 100K for the men at the Birch Hill Cross Country Ski Trails in Fairbanks, AK the 2008/2009 competitive ski season came to an end. A lull in Mt. Redoubt’s volcanic activity on Monday gave my flight from Anchorage the opportunity to take off, just before the volcano spurted another ash cloud. This was the first flight to Minneapolis since the volcano began erupting a week earlier. I was so relieved when we finally got off the runway.
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President’s Fitness Awards presentation at Bryn Mawr Elementary School.
On Sunday after almost 70K of racing in one week for the woman and over 100K for the men at the Birch Hill Cross Country Ski Trails in Fairbanks, AK the 2008/2009 competitive ski season came to an end. A lull in Mt. Redoubt’s volcanic activity on Monday gave my flight from Anchorage the opportunity to take off, just before the volcano spurted another ash cloud. This was the first flight to Minneapolis since the volcano began erupting a week earlier. I was so relieved when we finally got off the runway.
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President’s Fitness Awards presentation at Bryn Mawr Elementary School.
On Sunday after almost 70K of racing in one week for the woman and over 100K for the men at the Birch Hill Cross Country Ski Trails in Fairbanks, AK the 2008/2009 competitive ski season came to an end. A lull in Mt. Redoubt’s volcanic activity on Monday gave my flight from Anchorage the opportunity to take off, just before the volcano spurted another ash cloud. This was the first flight to Minneapolis since the volcano began erupting a week earlier. I was so relieved when we finally got off the runway.
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President’s Fitness Awards presentation at Bryn Mawr Elementary School.
On Sunday after almost 70K of racing in one week for the woman and over 100K for the men at the Birch Hill Cross Country Ski Trails in Fairbanks, AK the 2008/2009 competitive ski season came to an end. A lull in Mt. Redoubt’s volcanic activity on Monday gave my flight from Anchorage the opportunity to take off, just before the volcano spurted another ash cloud. This was the first flight to Minneapolis since the volcano began erupting a week earlier. I was so relieved when we finally got off the runway.
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Time to start getting ready for next season. www.catskier.com
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Lazy Sunday
After under training, but giving myself the false perception that I can still compete at a high level (relatively), my body is hating me right now as my attempt to race 50km marathon backfired big time yesterday. If you wanted a great example of the waterfall effect, I gave a great demonstration yesterday. But let’s get onto the interesting stuff…
It’s been a whole eight days since the World Cup season came to a close and not a lot has happened since. Some athletes (who knew Jönsson and Haag were a couple? Not I.) have already packed the skis away for a couple weeks for some relaxation and recovery after the long season, but the large majority still had races to attend to, most notably, year end national championships were being held in the Røros, Norway; Fairbanks, Alaska; Syktyvkar, Russia; Kontiolahti, Finland; Horní Mísecky, Czech Republic; and Hinterzarten, Germany. You can find the results here.
One of the biggest news pieces came from Sweden where Gunde Svan decided not to
renew his contract as the head coach. His contract expires on June 30th. Rumours have it that Inge Bråten might be brought in as a new sprint coach before Svan leaves his position, but at this point that is all speculation.The FIS are also making strides to to change the 4 year cycle by adding another World Championship in the third year of the four year cycle. Currently, three of the four years have major competitions; the first year has the Olympics, the second year has World Championship, the third year has nothing, then the fourth year has another World Championship. The argument is that the “down year” gives the athletes no real incentive or motivation. However, with the recent introduction of the Tour de Ski this has been changed but some think it is still not enough. Nothing is set in stone yet, but if the decision is improved, the new World Championship will be introduced in the 2012 calendar season.
In Norway, the ski federation their is already looking towards the next season and has named next years all-round and sprint teams. The biggest change comes from the veteran Vibeke Skofterud being dropped from the women’s team. Three others athletes were dropped from the women’s allround team including, Stemland, Nilsen, and Elden. Personally, I didn’t even realize that these three were even on the team in the first place as they rarely made any World Cup appearances. This means that the women’s all-round team is only six athletes next year which is rather small for a nation such as Norway.
On the men’s side of the equation, there were no changes which is surprising as Østensen and Eilifsen both got to stay on the team. Østensen failed to make a single World Cup appearance this season and Eilifsen entered only hit the starting wand three times on the world stage and failed to break the top 30 in any race. I’m obviously not seeing something the selection committee has.
Lastly, a couple days ago Canada was given great news as the FIS awarded Canada World Cup stops through to 2013 and possibly to the 2015-2016 season with possible Tour de Ski concept in one season occuring in Canada. There are more details in the article that can be found here.
Now that spring has sprung, it’s time for me to go play in the sun.
Til Next Time.
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Lazy Sunday
After under training, but giving myself the false perception that I can still compete at a high level (relatively), my body is hating me right now as my attempt to race 50km marathon backfired big time yesterday. If you wanted a great example of the waterfall effect, I gave a great demonstration yesterday. But let’s get onto the interesting stuff…br /br /It’s been a whole eight days since the World Cup season came to a close and not a lot has happened since. Some
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Statistics
In my Rogers Park Elementary School class the students were working on statistics this winter. I was away racing, but I keep in touch with Ms. Price & suggested that they do a project looking at the statistics section of the FIS website. FIS does a great job of providing not only individual bios and career histories but also cumulative information. When I returned from Canadian Nationals and got back into going to math class they showed me their projects and we did a group discussion/critique.
Here’s a sampling of their work…
(and yes, I can tell that I’m becoming more teacher-esque because I brag to my friends about how brilliant “my” kids are.!
“What I’m graphing: I’m going to graph how many girls from USA ranked in the World Cup for cross country skiing over the years.”
I think that this is specifically number of American females who made it into the top 100 of the FIS points list, covering 1982-2009. I think that this trend looks encouraging… moving upwards!
“Average Age of Cross Country 5k Winners”
This, in addition to being a visually appealing graph, shows that the average age doesn’t vary too much, mostly being about 25 years old. 1983 is at the far left and the data continues through 2009.
“Places Where Ski Jumping Competitions Were Held”
Germany & Austria held way more World Cup ski jumping comps this season with 11 & 10, respectively. It was pretty clear when we were in Austria that they had a strong culture of skiing with ski areas and trails all over the mountains. It would be interesting to look at how the number of World Cup competitions held in an area affects the development and success of that sport in the area.
“Amount of Female Skiing Wins for Norway in the World Cup”
Be careful, the years run from 2009 at the left of the graph to 1982 (I think) at the right side of the graph. So it looks like Norwegian women are increasing their dominance, albeit with a sharp drop off from last year to this season… looks like the Norwegian team missed having Astrid on the world cup this year. It is worth considering that the number of races and hence overall number of wins available in a season might have changed over the years. A more consistent stat would have been percentage of races won by Norwegian women.
“Youngest Average Age For Female Skiers: World Cup 1982-2009”
From which I would surmise that there’s no noticeable trend in the age at which the youngest females are winning world cups. I think this is the average of youngest 5k winner, youngest 30k winner, and so on over the season.I always do feel grateful that I get to work with such wonderful students and that I can help spark their interest in math & skiing!
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Statistics
In my Rogers Park Elementary School class the students were working on statistics this winter. I was away racing, but I keep in touch with Ms. Price & suggested that they do a project looking at the statistics section of the FIS website. FIS does a great job of providing not only individual bios and career histories but also cumulative information. When I returned from Canadian Nationals and got back into going to math class they showed me their projects and we did a group discussion/critique.
Here’s a sampling of their work…
(and yes, I can tell that I’m becoming more teacher-esque because I brag to my friends about how brilliant “my” kids are.!
“What I’m graphing: I’m going to graph how many girls from USA ranked in the World Cup for cross country skiing over the years.”
I think that this is specifically number of American females who made it into the top 100 of the FIS points list, covering 1982-2009. I think that this trend looks encouraging… moving upwards!
“Average Age of Cross Country 5k Winners”
This, in addition to being a visually appealing graph, shows that the average age doesn’t vary too much, mostly being about 25 years old. 1983 is at the far left and the data continues through 2009.
“Places Where Ski Jumping Competitions Were Held”
Germany & Austria held way more World Cup ski jumping comps this season with 11 & 10, respectively. It was pretty clear when we were in Austria that they had a strong culture of skiing with ski areas and trails all over the mountains. It would be interesting to look at how the number of World Cup competitions held in an area affects the development and success of that sport in the area.
“Amount of Female Skiing Wins for Norway in the World Cup”
Be careful, the years run from 2009 at the left of the graph to 1982 (I think) at the right side of the graph. So it looks like Norwegian women are increasing their dominance, albeit with a sharp drop off from last year to this season… looks like the Norwegian team missed having Astrid on the world cup this year. It is worth considering that the number of races and hence overall number of wins available in a season might have changed over the years. A more consistent stat would have been percentage of races won by Norwegian women.
“Youngest Average Age For Female Skiers: World Cup 1982-2009”
From which I would surmise that there’s no noticeable trend in the age at which the youngest females are winning world cups. I think this is the average of youngest 5k winner, youngest 30k winner, and so on over the season.I always do feel grateful that I get to work with such wonderful students and that I can help spark their interest in math & skiing!
-
Statistics
In my Rogers Park Elementary School class the students were working on statistics this winter. I was away racing, but I keep in touch with Ms. Price & suggested that they do a project looking at the statistics section of the FIS website. FIS does a great job of providing not only individual bios and career histories but also cumulative information. When I returned from Canadian Nationals and got back into going to math class they showed me their projects and we did a group discussion/critique.
Here’s a sampling of their work…
(and yes, I can tell that I’m becoming more teacher-esque because I brag to my friends about how brilliant “my” kids are.!
“What I’m graphing: I’m going to graph how many girls from USA ranked in the World Cup for cross country skiing over the years.”
I think that this is specifically number of American females who made it into the top 100 of the FIS points list, covering 1982-2009. I think that this trend looks encouraging… moving upwards!
“Average Age of Cross Country 5k Winners”
This, in addition to being a visually appealing graph, shows that the average age doesn’t vary too much, mostly being about 25 years old. 1983 is at the far left and the data continues through 2009.
“Places Where Ski Jumping Competitions Were Held”
Germany & Austria held way more World Cup ski jumping comps this season with 11 & 10, respectively. It was pretty clear when we were in Austria that they had a strong culture of skiing with ski areas and trails all over the mountains. It would be interesting to look at how the number of World Cup competitions held in an area affects the development and success of that sport in the area.
“Amount of Female Skiing Wins for Norway in the World Cup”
Be careful, the years run from 2009 at the left of the graph to 1982 (I think) at the right side of the graph. So it looks like Norwegian women are increasing their dominance, albeit with a sharp drop off from last year to this season… looks like the Norwegian team missed having Astrid on the world cup this year. It is worth considering that the number of races and hence overall number of wins available in a season might have changed over the years. A more consistent stat would have been percentage of races won by Norwegian women.
“Youngest Average Age For Female Skiers: World Cup 1982-2009”
From which I would surmise that there’s no noticeable trend in the age at which the youngest females are winning world cups. I think this is the average of youngest 5k winner, youngest 30k winner, and so on over the season.I always do feel grateful that I get to work with such wonderful students and that I can help spark their interest in math & skiing!
