Category: XCFeeds

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Our delay in Rovaniemi was nice while it lasted, but it meant a late night – arriving at the hotel in Helsinki at about 1:30AM. Grover had an early flight and was out the door before 5:30 (though I have only the vaguest recollection of him leaving the room). The rest of us were scheduled to catch a 7:00 AM shuttle for flights at 8:45 (me, toward home) and 8:55 (the rest of the crew, headed toward Davos). At breakfast Kris told me that his sugar had gone low again on the airplane ride to Helsinki – down to about 50. He took some sugar and turned down the dose some more. He slept on 0.3 units/hour and sugar went down overnight again. His insulin sensitivity increased a huge amount over the course of the day yesterday, such that his basal dose is now about 40% of what it was the night before the race. This adjustment isn’t unexpected – travel tends to reduce sensitivity, and he has been expecting it to improve. But the rate of change was incredibly high, and the fact that it fell on a race day (when the dosing strategy is one of a ramping-up of basal insulin prior to a large increase in the dose right before the race) obscured the rate of change. Kris should be fine now.

If there was any chance of running low blood sugar this morning that was obliterated when we got to the airport and the crew realized that their flight was at 7:55, not 8:55. Adrenaline causes Kris’s body to release sugar into the blood (as it does to everybody, presumably). I left them hurrying through check-in at about 7:20 to go check into my own flight. Hopefully they made it.

Hard travel and short sleep is far from ideal on a race trip. Blood sugar difficulty on top of that is super stressful. Kris is planning to run for an hour when they arrive in Davos this afternoon. From there he’ll travel to La Cluzas on Thursday for a mass-start 30K skate race on Saturday. Expectation is for Kris to be able to ski comfortably in the pack. We’d like to see him work toward the top-ten during the last ten K. I don’t expect that he’ll have the gears to contest a sprint, and we’ll all be satisfied this week with a very strong 29K. For now, all eyes are on Davos for the next chance at a great performance. Given the challenges of the last 24 hours that’s the most reasonable expectation.

Kris was 16th (tied) today in Kuusamo. It’s not the result he was looking for, but it’s quite respectable for a basically pedestrian day. He set the race up perfectly – was running right near 10th place, and definitely within striking distance, for the first 10 K. These 15K races tend to break open in the last 5, and Kris headed the wrong direction. Not badly – he could have dropped way back – in the past he’s lose close to a minute in the last 5. It wasn’t a bad day at all. But instead of moving up from 10th he moved back.

Skis were not a problem today – the team had good skis all day, with Kikkan putting up her best ever distance result in 23rd place, and both Koos and Cook posting sub-60 point results. It wasn’t the rock-hard rails that Kris seems to like best, but it was good and fair skiing.

Blood sugar was a bit of an issue in the lead-up to the start. Kris has developed a dosing plan where he ramps-up his basal insulin dose on the Omnipod in a couple of stages over the two hours prior to the start. An hour before the start his blood sugar was about 75 – low but not dangerously low. Kris finished his ski testing and hard warm-up, and then we met in the wax tent about 20 minutes before the start to go over the dosing. He explained that he had been low, but had taken a powerbar and should be coming back up. Wrong – he was at 70. So he ate some powerbar candy that he carries around for quick sugar. Five minutes later he was at 63. The plan was to crank the dose up to race level right at that time, which would mean doubling the dose that already had his sugar low and dropping. Tough call to make. We headed to the start carrying the glucometer and the Omnipod controller, along with plenty of sugar.

Luckily the course controller at the access point to ski marking was an American guy who works at the Vuokkati ski tunnel, and has a diabetic daughter. He had already been by the wax cabins to visit us, and he let me into the ski marking area to help Kris monitor his sugar and make a call on dosing. He was still low about seven minutes before the start. We were very confident that he would be fine once the race started, but it was a little scary to double his dose while his sugar was so low. He took another few swigs of Gatorade, dialed-up the dose, and started the race. I tried hard to be cool and confident through the whole thing, but I think we were both pretty nervous. I got on the radios and made sure that we had plenty of sugar distributed around the course, but he didn’t need anything, and his sugar was right on the money at the end of the race. In the end I don’t think it had any effect on the race.

We had to pack the van and hit the road within about an hour and a half of the race finish in order to catch a flight from Rovaniemi to Helsinki. We’re in Rovaniemi now – sitting through a two hour delay (a welcome chance for dinner). Toward the end of the van ride Kris asked Newell to dig in his pack for a powebar. “Feeling low?” I asked? “I think so,” he said. I looked at him and his face looked sweaty. “This’ll fix it though.” Sugar was at 65 and he ate the powerbar. Five minutes later he was in a full-sweat – his t-shirt was soaked and there was sweat running down his face and dripping off his nose. “Maybe you should check it again Kris…” “You think so?” “Um – yeah – you don’t look so good”. He was at 45.

We pulled into the airport about then. He had shut off the insulin and eaten another powerbar, but he was pretty out of sorts. We got into the airport to find a big line and delayed flights. Kris left his bags with the rest of us and went off to find dinner. When he came back we were just getting to the front of the line, and he couldn’t find his purse (yes – he carries a purse) with his Omnipod controller and other diabetes paraphernalia. Kikkan had picked it up to make sure it wasn’t left behind, but she was at the front of the line and didn’t hear the agitation until Kris was pretty worried. No big deal, unless you pause to think about needing a PDA controller to ensure that you don’t die. Hmm. Anyway, Kris was totally zoned out, and pretty anxious as well. He headed off to lie down for a while in a quiet spot. He came back looking much better a few minutes ago – the contrast really underscores how hard a blood sugar even can hit him. It’s not what he needed at the end of a long day of racing and travelling – and we’re still a flight away from the hotel.

Today’s blood sugar difficulties are the right kind – as they go. It’s much, much better for him to run low than high – both in terms of racing and in terms of his overall health. Today’s situation is a reflection of increasing insulin sensitivity – a good thing, indicative of overall stability. He was just basically overdosed on insulin most of the day.

Looking forward I think he’s in a very good place for the next two weekends. While today was a disappointment we have to acknowledge that last year’s fifth place in Kuusamo came after much higher-intensity Fall training. It also left him in a very unstable state, and he had a terrible season from that point on. The past two weeks have been the best start to the season that Kris has ever had, and it’s come with what looks like excellent stability.

Well  – they’re calling our flight…

The World Cup has officially kicked off in Gallivare, Sweden this past weekend. The first sprint is scheduled for this Saturday in Kuusamo, Finland and we sprinters are definitely getting anxious.
After a good week of training and some tune up races in Muonio, we were all ready to get the season going. Bird opened up with a solid distance result in the 15k skate to set the tone for the upcoming season. Due to some unwanted colds we were unable to field a complete relay team, but this did not stop Newell and I from getting into the mix. Newell took the first leg, which was a body to body fight for the one track. And yeah a World Cup relay and the decision was they only need one track…Newell held his own and fought hard. He came into the stadium for the exchange just off the lead group. I went out looking to catch everyone I could see…maybe this wasn’t the best strategy but eventually it will be, the season is young.
The relay was over for only a couple of hours, and we were back out there for an evening training session. We have a couple more days of training here and every session is a countdown to Kuusamo.
We knocked out another solid sprint interval session Wednesday morning and tackled our long road trip the following day.

Off to Kuusamo…

Time to get our Sprint on….

The World Cup has officially kicked off in Gallivare, Sweden this past weekend. The first sprint is scheduled for this Saturday in Kuusamo, Finland and we sprinters are definitely getting anxious.
After a good week of training and some tune up races in Muonio, we were all ready to get the season going. Bird opened up with a solid distance result in the 15k skate to set the tone for the upcoming season. Due to some unwanted colds we were unable to field a complete relay team, but this did not stop Newell and I from getting into the mix. Newell took the first leg, which was a body to body fight for the one track. And yeah a World Cup relay and the decision was they only need one track…Newell held his own and fought hard. He came into the stadium for the exchange just off the lead group. I went out looking to catch everyone I could see…maybe this wasn’t the best strategy but eventually it will be, the season is young.
The relay was over for only a couple of hours, and we were back out there for an evening training session. We have a couple more days of training here and every session is a countdown to Kuusamo.
We knocked out another solid sprint interval session Wednesday morning and tackled our long road trip the following day.

Off to Kuusamo…

Time to get our Sprint on….

The World Cup has officially kicked off in Gallivare, Sweden this past weekend. The first sprint is scheduled for this Saturday in Kuusamo, Finland and we sprinters are definitely getting anxious.
After a good week of training and some tune up races in Muonio, we were all ready to get the season going. Bird opened up with a solid distance result in the 15k skate to set the tone for the upcoming season. Due to some unwanted colds we were unable to field a complete relay team, but this did not stop Newell and I from getting into the mix. Newell took the first leg, which was a body to body fight for the one track. And yeah a World Cup relay and the decision was they only need one track…Newell held his own and fought hard. He came into the stadium for the exchange just off the lead group. I went out looking to catch everyone I could see…maybe this wasn’t the best strategy but eventually it will be, the season is young.
The relay was over for only a couple of hours, and we were back out there for an evening training session. We have a couple more days of training here and every session is a countdown to Kuusamo.
We knocked out another solid sprint interval session Wednesday morning and tackled our long road trip the following day.

Off to Kuusamo…

Time to get our Sprint on….

A

We wont be able to do any real updates for a while.  No time today and tomorrow directly after the race we have to split for the airport and the long road to Davos (about the same dist in km as driving from Fairbanks to LA).  Today we were aiming for the podium.  That is where our sites are set.  Though we came up short of that today our confidence remains very high.  We have prepared well and we know it.  Keep checking in – well post stuff from West Yellowstone and Kuusamo as soon as we can.  Train well!

We wont be able to do any real updates for a while.  No time today and tomorrow directly after the race we have to split for the airport and the long road to Davos (about the same dist in km as driving from Fairbanks to LA).  Today we were aiming for the podium.  That is where our sites are set.  Though we came up short of that today our confidence remains very high.  We have prepared well and we know it.  Keep checking in – well post stuff from West Yellowstone and Kuusamo as soon as we can.  Train well!

We wont be able to do any real updates for a while.  No time today and tomorrow directly after the race we have to split for the airport and the long road to Davos (about the same dist in km as driving from Fairbanks to LA).  Today we were aiming for the podium.  That is where our sites are set.  Though we came up short of that today our confidence remains very high.  We have prepared well and we know it.  Keep checking in – well post stuff from West Yellowstone and Kuusamo as soon as we can.  Train well!

All of us Americans in Kuusamo seem peripherally aware that it’s Thanksgiving today. Happy Thanksgiving! Kris celebrated with about a six K pace session. This is a little harder than the easy activation intervals he’s been doing, but it’s also his first on-snow classic intensity of the season, and it’s a good idea to feel the tough Kuusamo course at pace.

The pace session went well. It’s hard to know what to look for – there were people all over the course, and a lot of them were doing their own intensity sessions today. Kris went by some of them, and a few came by him – mostly Russians doing 30 second sprints. With so many people moving so many different speeds it’s hard to say anything in relative terms. In absolute terms – comparing Kris to Kris – I would say that he was solid and energetic. He was a gear short of what’s required for a podium, but then, it’s Thursday before a Sunday race. We’ll see on Sunday!

The picture above is from Gallivare. It’s one of about five pictures I’ve taken over here. My intentions are good – I have been meaning to take a lot of pictures. But anything that’s not a priority tends to get pushed aside here. Maybe I’ll remember my camera during the races on the weekend.

Congratulations to Luke Bodensteiner who was recently named the USSAs Vice President.  I can personally say that Luke deserves this promotion as one of the hardest working people I have ever met.  He has done great work for US cross country and I know he is going to do a great job for US Skiing.  Congratulations Luke!

Congratulations to Luke Bodensteiner who was recently named the USSAs Vice President.  I can personally say that Luke deserves this promotion as one of the hardest working people I have ever met.  He has done great work for US cross country and I know he is going to do a great job for US Skiing.  Congratulations Luke!

Congratulations to Luke Bodensteiner who was recently named the USSAs Vice President.  I can personally say that Luke deserves this promotion as one of the hardest working people I have ever met.  He has done great work for US cross country and I know he is going to do a great job for US Skiing.  Congratulations Luke!

The instrumental to Hey Jude plays in the background. Lightly at first, barely audible, then crescendoing to an unmistakable, all-encompassing audio experience al la Royal Tenenbaums.br /br /Week out, my coach tells me to run through a whole practice in my mind, more or less in real time. The number one requirement he tells me is we don’t train physically if that gunk is still in your lungs. It reminds me of what all the best coaches I’ve ever worked with have said in their own way – that the body is trying to tell you something. It needs time to repair itself. It will. The body just uses its own timecard and rushing it usually just prolongs the healing process. Everything else, though, stays the same. br /br /“Go ahead and challenge yourself. Do a workout in it’s entirety in your mind. See yourself at the venue. Talk to the service techs. Pick out your skis in the wax cabin. Run through a whole six-by-three-minute, double-pole-only intensity session. Don’t just see pictures in your head. Get the feelings of skiing. Get the feelings of motion. Feel what it feels like in your arms when reach high with the elbows. When you do this, your striding opens up. This gives you a higher starting position to start your kick from. This gives you a little more time glide. See yourself skiing big, strong and relaxed. Feel yourself becoming that purple wave of motion flowing and bouncing and gliding all the way around the course. When you ski like this, it hardly matters what’s going on around you (with the other competitors). You’re skiing so big, you’re going so fast, you’ll really be in control. Take forty five minutes, set aside an hour, and see if you can totally focus in on this and not lose that focus.” br /br /Last year, I also came into Kuusamo sick. Only this year I’ve had a couple more days to recover, to get back all my health. Last year I knew I had, maybe, a C- body, for race day. Last year I knew if I wanted to be one of the thirty quarterfinal qualifiers I had to perform pretty much flawlessly. On that day, I did not leave myself a window of opportunity more than that if I wanted to score World Cup points. br /br /In the prelim, I did it. The racing was super tight. I finished 2.3 seconds off the fastest time of the day on the two and three-quarter minute course, qualifying in 19th place. Another second faster and I would have been perhaps a top-five qualifier. Then again, another second slower and I would have been outside the top-30, an outsider looking in. br /br /Making it into the next round I had the exact same chance to race for the podium’s top step as any of the other 29 other quarterfinalists. In that race, I blasted off the start, settling in behind Emil Johnsson of Sweden, the quickest prelim qualifier earlier that morning. Perfect. br /br /Through the middle section of the course, I spent too much energy fighting with the other racers, jockeying for position. If I could change anything about how I skied in Kuusamo last year, this would be it. I burned up a few matches unnecessary. On a day when I was a ways away from having a full matchbox, that just doesn’t cut it. A Czech, a two time World Team Sprint medalist, cut ahead, though it hardly mattered. In Kuusamo, the final climb separates the winners from the pretenders.br /br /On this climb I swung wide left and start getting into my specialty – skiing uphill fast. I catch Emil. Then I pass the Dusan the Czech. I’m in the lead. Over the top of the climb, as it transitions from climbing to long striding to double poling, Emil accelerates away. The Czech powers by. Luckily, I still have enough energy to hop in behind him, my tips right on the tails of skis. With 100 meters to go, I’m okay. With 90 meters to go, I’m still right there. In the final 80 meters, though, I am no longer challenging for a top two position and a chance to fight it out in the semifinals and the finals. Somewhere before the finish a Finn and an Italian go by. I died up the home straight, coming in 5th of 6th in my heat, 1.9 seconds behind the Swede, or 21st place for the day. br /br /As a result, it was not great. Nor was it bad. But on that day I left the race venue and headed back to our team’s cabin in the woods satisfied with my performance, fade up the homestretch included. br /br /“If I don’t have my A-plus fastball, I have to use my A-plus mental approach.”br / -Jonathan Papelbon, Rex Sox closerbr /br /In Kuusamo last year I hardly had skiing’s equilivant to my A-plus fastball. In the past year, I’ve had a year to ski bigger, to get stronger, to build more fitness, and I have some concrete data points that say I’ve done exactly this over the past 52 weeks. br /br /Every week presents unique challenges. Every week presents its own opportunities. Coming into Kuusamo this year, I’m at least as healthy as last year. Fitter; and a more complete skier too. Last year I brought an A-game approach to the race venue. This year it’s time to add a + to that.div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2691525267872963085-8997704580790879950?l=in-the-arena-torin.blogspot.com’//div