FasterSkier

Category: XCFeeds

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

  • Nordic Ultratune’s February Newsletter

  • Makes me want to hammer…

    Sometimes I miss those days, the days of top race fitness, when I felt like I could throw down anywhere, anytime.  I remember finishing up my senior season of racing in college, and joining the cycling team for some intervals a couple of weeks later after barely riding a bike all winter.  I remember throwing down in a big way on some repeats on the three-mile climb up to Petersberg Pass and the NY/MA border.  I remember the pain, but the pain was not a hindrance, it was like feeding time – I just wanted more.  I would get uglier and uglier on the bike (I could here Phil Ligget’s word ‘he’s absolutely disgusting on the bike’), but I kept the speed up, and it fed the demon.

    Right now I miss that feeling.  I miss being able to hammer without my body’s reprimand.  I miss the burning lungs after hard intervals, the feeling of spent legs, the dehydration headache I always seem to get, and the dull glow and voracious apatite afterward.

    I don’t know what it is that’s caused it.  Maybe it was anything but that feeling in the 30k I did on Sunday.  Maybe it was catching the amazing Birkie results of some friends from Anchorage on Saturday.  Maybe it’s been the clips of World Champs racing I’ve snuck in between trying to schedule and prepare for what seems like it must be the busiest month of the year (March) the last few days.  Probably it’s some combination of the above.

    One of these days I may just have to get up early and hammer some hills (’Boston training’).  Maybe I’ll just take a flier or two through the stadium while testing wax for state.  Whatever it is, there is something raw, something primal that needs to be sated.  I just hope it’s still there tomorrow…

    Feels kind of like that...

    Feels kind of like that…

  • An Ode To Kristin

  • CONGRATULATIONS KIKKAN!

    APUNSC’s Kikkan Randall won a SILVER medal at WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS this morning! Congratulations Kikkan– we are so proud of you! You are a source of inspiration for your teammates, the state of Alaska, and for America! Kikkan will go down in history as being the first American women to win a World Cup GOLD and now also the first American woman to win a Medal at World Championships in Nordic

  • Liberec Team Sprint

  • HISTORY!

    a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ObMdc4mpVIg/SaP-cFbg4HI/AAAAAAAAAEY/tSllL0nSbwQ/s1600-h/IMG_1914.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 162px; height: 320px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ObMdc4mpVIg/SaP-cFbg4HI/AAAAAAAAAEY/tSllL0nSbwQ/s320/IMG_1914.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306364544419946610″ //abr /KIKKAN RANDALL MADE HISTORY A FEW MINUTES AGO FINISHING 2nd IN THE SKATE SPRINT!  IT IS THE BEST FINISH FOR AN AMERICAN EVER.  I WILL POST PICTURES FROM THE AWARDS CEREMONY TONIGHT.  HIGH FIVE YOUR FRIENDS AND EVEN PEOPLE YOU DON’T KNOW TODAY, THAT IS WHAT WE ARE DOING, HOLY CRAP THIS IS COOL.  GO USA.div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8313858291794282393-7562180508248403537?l=lizhstephen.blogspot.com’//div

  • Silver for Kikkan!

    Kikkan Randall skied to an historic 2nd place finish today at the World Championship Sprint.  Quick Report by Nathan Schultz.

  • Silver for Kikkan!

    Kikkan Randall skied to an historic 2nd place finish today at the World Championship Sprint.  Quick Report by Nathan Schultz.

  • Silver for Kikkan!

    Kikkan Randall skied to an historic 2nd place finish today at the World Championship Sprint.  Quick Report by Nathan Schultz.

  • Birkie Finish Video

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  • World Championship Sprints

  • Browns Farm Ski

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  • Life in Czech

    By: Mo and Liz

  • Life in Czech

    By: Mo and Liz

  • Life in Czech

    By: Mo and Liz

  • Rolling

    Pursuit:  Stephen 15th (7th in skate, and worlds personal best place), Arritola 32nd (19th in skate, and worlds personal best), Southam 33rd (worlds PR).  And in Nordic Combined: Lodwick 1st, Demong 3rd.

  • Rolling

    Pursuit:  Stephen 15th (7th in skate, and worlds personal best place), Arritola 32nd (19th in skate, and worlds personal best), Southam 33rd (worlds PR).  And in Nordic Combined: Lodwick 1st, Demong 3rd.

  • Rolling

    Pursuit:  Stephen 15th (7th in skate, and worlds personal best place), Arritola 32nd (19th in skate, and worlds personal best), Southam 33rd (worlds PR).  And in Nordic Combined: Lodwick 1st, Demong 3rd.

  • Kershaw’s Korner: Another disappointing day at the office…

    Upon waking up today I couldn’t get thoughts of groundhog day out of my head. Yawning , stretching and walking over to the window I was quickly greeted with another stellar Eastern European winter day full of the same old – same old. Snowing, warm (after extensive put your hand out the window tests showed) and the exact same conditions as Friday’s 15km classic event held here in Liberec.

  • A Day Off

    In the Piazzo d’Oro cafe on the edge of the Liberec town plaza the overlaying of Eastern European history and the lycra-clad world of skiing makes an odd juxtaposition. Directly outside my cafe window looms the elaborate stone facade of the Liberec town hall, built in 1888-93. As my gaze travels from the copper spires, green with time, down to street level, the current World Championship event demands acknowledgement. A large “Liberec 2009” banner plasters a short temporary fence in front of the building and neon-coated security guards stand in pairs shifting their weight from foot to foot and taking purposeless steps.

    Slightly out of view to my right is a large screen showing the day’s events in real-time. Green plants, feeling defected about the persistent snow and mythical sun, obscure my view of the temporary stage where they award the coveted FIS snowflakes. I don’t need to see it to be reminded of all it represents– the years of training, broken down into months, weeks, hours, and minutes of our lives dedicated to a pursuit and a passion that’s difficult to justify.

    Further down the plaza is a temporary building housing the official “Liberec 2009” merchandise, chintzy hats and t-shirts using the World Champs to promote the city of Liberec. A trail of booths selling souvenirs, food, and booze stretch optimistically down the streets hoping to lure tourist and czech alike into pausing and purchasing en route from the city’s main bus stop to the plaza. I shouldered my way through the crowds the other night, peering into booths and enjoying the festival atmosphere with my teammates as the slush soaked into our shoes but it’s a Sunday morning now and the plaza is quiet. Most good czechs are in church or, more probably, sleeping off Saturday night’s indulgences in the cheap and renowned czech pilsner.

    Many of the pedestrians outside my window are associated with the World Champs, identifiable by team jackets, hats, and that look by which skiers can recognize each other. Like me, they’re seeing what Liberec has to offer aside from ski trails and jumping hills. I have to wonder to what life they’ll be returning after the championships are over. Different norms and mores back home, different motivations, languages, but we still end up at the same ski race and have a shared experience.

    Tomorrow I’ll be back at the venue, testing skis, coaxing the muscles into firing, and finishing the final preparations for the skate sprints on Tuesday but today I’m taking a break from the streets defined by wax trailers and ski trails outlined in v-boards, letting the body rest, letting the mind wander.