Category: XCFeeds

In athletics, whatever the sport may be, there is a certain point or position in which your body finds its “sweet spot”…the ability to perform a certain element of sport particularly well.span style=”” /spanspan style=”” /spanIn baseball or tennis, it might be hitting the ball with the bat or racquet in that optimal location that will send the ball flying the farthest.span style=”” /spanI have transferred this idea to skiing and have tried to come up with certain elements that put you in that “sweet spot.”span style=”” /spanIn skiing however, there are combinations of several factors that contribute to finding that suitable condition…technique, feel of skis, mind, body, etc.br /br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/STxr6uz2GrI/AAAAAAAAALs/2KV7bTOn-RU/s1600-h/West+Yello+08.jpg”img style=”margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/STxr6uz2GrI/AAAAAAAAALs/2KV7bTOn-RU/s400/West+Yello+08.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277211520113449650″ border=”0″ //aThis is on my mind because I have yet to find that sweet spot in my racing this year.span style=”” /spanAfter two weekends of racing, it’s been a rough start and I am left asking myself why?span style=”” /spanIs it fatigue, is it the need to get back into racing mode, is it the fact that I’ve been skiing on snow for only two weeks, is it the inability to push my body, is it my technique, is it in my mind?span style=”” /spanAll of these questions contribute to possible reasons for my disappointing performances, yet they leave me with guidance as to what I need to work on and how I might be able to find that sweet spot.span style=”” /spanI have felt that sweet spot before and I know that it exists.span style=”” /spanKnowing that I have found it in the past, encourages me to find it again.br /br /It is difficult not to be too hard on yourself when you don’t get the results you want.span style=”” /spanI have to remember that it is a long season and these races are just the beginning.span style=”” /spanA lot can change in four months or even one month for that matter!span style=”” /spanU.S. Nationals are four weeks away and I am aiming for good results there…in my hometown of st1:placest1:cityAnchorage/st1:city, st1:stateAlaska/st1:state/st1:place!br /br /Our racing schedule until U.S. Nationals is up in the air.span style=”” /spanWe are supposed to race in Whistler next weekend, but due to lack of snow, the races may be cancelled or moved.span style=”” /spanI will keep you updated as to where my travels take me!div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5903545846797966075-6595635037586175485?l=in-the-arena-nicole.blogspot.com’//div

a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECdHy8vmLAE/STsrIwq2fxI/AAAAAAAAAOg/eiBMcSoXwp4/s1600-h/IMG_2969.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ECdHy8vmLAE/STsrIwq2fxI/AAAAAAAAAOg/eiBMcSoXwp4/s320/IMG_2969.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276858817898250002″ /The view looking down toward Vernon, BC, from near the Sovereign Lake Nordic Center./abr /br /I qualified in 6th then went on to win my quarter, semi A-final. My skis were ridiculously fast. So fast one of my competitors specifically asked afterwards about the flex/grind/wax that I was using. I felt absolutely awful yesterday, this morning, and in the qualifier. Once we started the heats though I started to come around. Racing can be odd like that. Don’t worry, my team doesn’t let me get arrogant at all… after my 20 minute cool down I came back to find that everyone had left. I had to hitchhike back to our house.br /br /br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ECdHy8vmLAE/STsq4ldlKnI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/KH6kuFIkAao/s1600-h/IMG_2964.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 231px; height: 320px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ECdHy8vmLAE/STsq4ldlKnI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/KH6kuFIkAao/s320/IMG_2964.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276858540011891314″ /Jeff Ellis got a bloody nose in the race today (along with a fabulous 2nd place finish). It wasn’t your traditional bloody nose… it was a a stab wound from, I believe, George Grey. Beware of pole tips. Wear glasses. Maybe even a face guard./abr /br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECdHy8vmLAE/STsq5axTsZI/AAAAAAAAAOY/1DuiNMB57Kw/s1600-h/IMG_2986.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 311px; height: 320px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECdHy8vmLAE/STsq5axTsZI/AAAAAAAAAOY/1DuiNMB57Kw/s320/IMG_2986.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276858554321711506″ /Jeff Ellis (2nd), Laura Valaas (1st), Anders Haugen (4th). Some good results for the APU crew. Anders, incidentally turns 28 tomorrow. I think Taz made him a birthday cake. I love it that my teammates cook./abr /br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ECdHy8vmLAE/STsqj3tURNI/AAAAAAAAAOA/lytysrxo0uw/s1600-h/IMG_2983.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/_ECdHy8vmLAE/STsqj3tURNI/AAAAAAAAAOA/lytysrxo0uw/s320/IMG_2983.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276858184132478162″ /Casey Fagerquist, Laura Valaas, Becca Rorabaugh, Anders Haugen, Erik Flora. Bart Dengel Jeff Ellis in front. Being a part of a team and working together is a big part of what makes this fun./abr /br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ECdHy8vmLAE/STsqkQ5bEbI/AAAAAAAAAOI/h8g0y8JzQek/s1600-h/IMG_2981.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/_ECdHy8vmLAE/STsqkQ5bEbI/AAAAAAAAAOI/h8g0y8JzQek/s320/IMG_2981.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276858190894141874″ /Podium shot. It was LAV vs. Canada in the A-Final. Good job to “the team” (aka: Alberta World Cup Academy), they were trying to tell me they weren’t all as fast as Shayla, but I think they lied./adiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1749693904245260863-3427123093478818596?l=in-the-arena-laura.blogspot.com’//div

Well, it wasn’t a good day at the races for Kris. His fitness appeared to be right where we expected, but the combination of an average (not better) fitness day a raging blizzard, and a crash in the first 200 meters made for some frustration.

Kris crossed skis with somebody early and went down on his way out of the stadium. Once he was situated and under way he was in the back of the pack. Normally that wouldn’t be a big deal – there’s plenty of time to move in a 30K. Today, however, it was dumping down snow, and passing was really difficult. Some guys had the legs to rage through the soft snow and make a go of it, but Kris wasn’t one of them. Passing on downhills was impossible – you step out of line into the soft snow and go backwards. Kris found himself standing still at the bottoms of the uphills, surrounded by people with nowhere to go – watching the race happen just ahead.

All things told it was a frustrating day. Kris was under no illusions – he didn’t have what it took to make more of the race today. But he knows that if he hadn’t fallen at the start he would have been in the points. Blood sugar control was good – he may have taken his first feed a bit early at about 8K because he felt a bit bad for a couple of K after that. But then he felt much better and the second half of the race was better than the first. Fitness was, as I mentioned, pretty much exactly what we expected. Next weekend in Davos has the potential to be a really good one for Kris, and the focus is no turned in that direction.

Alexa Updates From Silver Star, BC

Alexa Updates From Silver Star, BC

Alexa Updates From Silver Star, BC

I have been abysmally bad at taking pictures this trip. I took some this morning but they lacked any merit as pictures so I didn’t even bother bringing my camera with me to the coffee shop to upload them. So, some verbal snapshots for you from Silver Star:br /br /-Two kids (well, the older kind) in snow pants rolling around on one of the hills in the Sovereign Lake stadium. With scissors. Cutting down the plant stalks poking through the snow.br /br /-Men with crow bars and shovels digging big rocks out from their semi-covered state near the high point of the sprint course.br /br /-A man on a very tall genie lift hanging Christmas lights on a very tall tree in Silver Star village.br /br /-Hans, who is Belgian and served me my mocha at Bugaboos. Hans speaks German and French. He was bemoaning that fact that he only had two years of English in school, so silly. So he’s here for the winter to improve his English. He tells me this in perfect English. Of course, his native language is actually Flemish.br /br /-The Lindt chocolate that came with my mocha, nestled comfortably in the spoon.br /br /-Ronsse, Becca I stopping one night on a run to dance in the middle of an empty Silver Star village because there’s speakers on top of the ticket booth playing music. Directly in front of the “This area under constant video surveillance” sign. br /br /-Snow. Falling from the sky.br /br /-A small child pulling an even smaller child in the smallest sled.br /br /-My skate poles after training on Friday– dry and clean on the upper half but accumulating more and more ice from precipitation as you go down toward the baskets. A clear indication of the differences in velocity between the grip and basket.br /br /-Matt Whitcomb (incidentally,

A

Pictures and some words from Andy Newell.
From Kuusamo sprint and distance to Davos training

Pictures and some words from Andy Newell.
From Kuusamo sprint and distance to Davos training

Pictures and some words from Andy Newell.
From Kuusamo sprint and distance to Davos training

Kris is in La Clusaz with Justin Wadsworth and Oleg Ragila as his support staff. The crew made it onto their Zurich flight from Helsinki without too many problems after I last saw them on Monday. They got ushered through security and onto the plane, and even got their bags on the other end. A short run that afternoon was all the training that Kris took, but Tuesday and Wednesday were solid training days with perfect endless extra blue skiing right out the hotel door. Wednesday evening Kris took the cargo van to Zurich to trade some coaches – drop off Pete and Randy and pick-up Justin and Oleg. A night at the hotel there, and a drive from Zurich to La Clusaz this morning. Tomorrow he’ll test skis and do a little light speed, and Saturday is a mass-start 30K.

As of now it’s dumping down heavy moist snow. The forecast is for more continuous snowfall at temps of about +1C right through the period, cooling to 0 or even just below after a period of very heavy snow early friday night, but then continuing with snow all day Saturday. Could be a real slugfest!

Expectations for Kris are somewhat muted this weekend. He’s in France to race, and every start is an opportunity. But the focus is on energy management and being ready for Davos.