FasterSkier

Category: XCFeeds

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

  • Hello From Turkey

    Well it took me 33 hours (some 40 or so hours) of door to door travel to get here, but we all made it! Our hotel is great – it is right at the base of an alpine area. Fairly big rooms, great buffet 3 times a day to keep everyone fueled. It is wide open here, plains into ripply mountains. Looks like plenty of nice dry powder. One not so cool fact of the trip: I am the oldest coach here! They may start calling me grandpa boobs. Pete L especially likes my old man “tote” bag instead of one of the newfangled back strap things.

    Being old has its benefits. I have figured out how to get extra room on airplanes more often than not – nice when you cross 8 time zones.

    Team arrival to Erzurum: 1:30am, cold and snowy. Waiting to load the bags on the bus including the $2000 EU of excess baggage, wax, equipment and supplies.

    View out the back of the Hotel.

    One of two alpine areas behind our Hotel. The other is higher up at 2400 meters.

    First team meeting. We’re still waiting on a few more to arrive (Corey Stock, Logan H, Eric Packer, Sadie and the U23’s coming in from the Poland World Cup – Noah and Jessie).

    I guess you try and kill it (it is actually painted on). Then you go faster and straighter.

    Yum yum, olives for breakfast!

    Plenty of veggies and salad for breakfast too!

    Norway already up to some special tricks.

    I thought Turkey was famous for their special coffee. Best I could find at breakfast was this freeze dried instant…it could be long week. My mission will be to seek out some of the good gritty stuff.

    View into town from the Hotel, 6500ft. The nordic trails are actually 40k across the valley below.

  • Pictures!

    A few pictures from a sweet day!  

  • Scando Wrap-Up

    Since I have a free afternoon in Turkey, and this is what it looks like outside (the wind is whistling on my window, snow is coming down sideways):

    I think I’ll do a Scando cup update before dinner.

    Estonia was fun as usual. We stayed in a hostel near a lake, with ski trails that led to the venue. The food was typically simple and yummy, but very fishy, potato-ey, and fatty. I was happy about the soup that came with every lunch because the weather was pretty cold and grey, so I needed the warmth. The Norwegians were also staying in our hostel, two whole tour-busses of them. It’s incredible how many of them there are on the Scando Cup circuit. I roomed with Emily Hannah and Mary O’Connell, both from Steamboat. It was fun to get to know them a little better, and we had lots of visitors as the boys next door wanted to hang out in our larger and much better smelling room.

    The classic sprint was a pretty good race for me. I think that I did a better job of skiing the steep sections and herringboned the best I ever have. However, those parts were still the places that I got dropped in my heat. I qualified 22nd and finished the same. It was not bad, but not where I would like to be. There is some kind of gluteal spring that crazy little norwegians have, and I am working on developing. It was incredible to watch the women’s Final- they were like geckos running up a wall! The men’s race was also a good show for spectators. Jan Christian Dahl was there, a world cup winner, and he controlled the mens field for the most part. He liked to ‘putz around’ as Jessie would call it, and played games in most of his heats. On the last hill though, they were all going all-out.

    The next day was a classic 10k, something that I had been looking forward to for a while. I consider classic 10k individual starts to be my best distance, so I was excited to throw down agains these crazy scando ladies! On race day however, I just never got into the zone like that. It was weird. my body was going alright, I didn’t feel terrible, I just felt stuck in 4th gear. I got to learn a lot though! As a Norwegian passed me on the last lap, I hung for a little while. It wasn’t in the double pole that she was getting me, but the funny little kick-double pole sections at the bottom of transitions. The course was typical Estonia- they have one hill so they use it three times in the same lap. The rest of it was rolling and flattish, and it was fun to ski. The men’s race was fun to watch, and you could see some of that scando-skill in transitions.

    After the races, we had a couple of days to hang out in Estonia before heading to Turkey for World Juniors and U23 Worlds. It was relaxing and fun- we got to ski the trails from the venue to the Hostel, do some laundry, and go visit Tallinn. I feel like I got to know Estonia a little better, that’s for sure! Last time I visited Tallinn it was dark out on a Sunday evening, so not a lot was happening. For all the photos from these few days, check out my album.

    Here are a few key photos from the Tallinn expedition-

  • BKL Summer Camp Video

    Thanks to Tyler Foulkes for making this video from our 2011 BKL Summer Camp! Watch and see if you’re in it!

  • Nove Mesto Relay Recap

    Kikkan, Jessie, me, Ida and Holly after the relay on Sunday. My face hurt from smiling so much. What fun to be on such an inspiring team.
    Me, Holly and Ida after my leg. It’s one of the best parts about a relay, having your team there when you finish with hugs ready. Relay day teams become real teams, gunning for the exact same thing, trying to get there together. Our team has that team aspect of the sport down even on individual days, however, relay day brings every team together and ours closer.
    Holly after her leg rocking our red/white and blue/white socks.
    Face paint and glitter happens every relay day!
    The crew that makes it happen every day (minus a bunch). From left to right: Matt, Ida, Andy, Jessie, Kikkan, me, Holly, Grover, Gibbsy. Thanks one and all for another awesome weekend.

  • West River BKL Practice #3!

    We had a really fun afternoon with the West River BKL Club! We had a bigger turnout than we’ve had for the past two weeks which was awesome – lots of energetic kids zipping around on skis. : ) We started off with some no pole skiing & balance drills – can you take your ski off while gliding down a hill, spin it around your head, and put it back on your foot without falling down? A lot of our kids could today! We finished off with a long game of keep away with three teams. Thanks to our SMS skiers for coming out and showing the BKL kids the ropes! This morning our skiers did a 1:15 – 1:45 ski on the Danby Mt. Tabor Road, where we had some of the nicest skiing conditions we’ve had lately. Thanks so much to John Ogden for grooming the road for us! Onward to the race weekend – a final series of Eastern Cups, relocated to Craftsbury, VT. Stay tuned for photos and a race report! More photos from practice today here.
    Emma, Leah, and Valentina working on their balance.
    Charlotte Ogden has her balance dialed in!
    Luke Rizio (Mackenzie’s little brother) lands in a split!
    Birthday girl Brooke celebrated her Sweet 16 with two ski practices today!
    Siblings Scott and Brooke trying to remove their ski while gliding.
    Tess tries to master the trickiest part – putting your ski back on.
    What are these guys doing?
    Skiing backwards!
    New hats from Sauce Headwear!
    Massive game of keep away!
    Poppet lunges…
    …loses it…
    Grace comes in for the steal…
    Gotcha!
    And she’s off!
    Almost everyone ended up on the ground at some point!
    All smiles. 🙂
    Pig pile!
    Cake for the birthday girl!

  • Staying Warm in Kontiolahti

    It’s only mid February, but most of the season’s biathlon races are over. 8 World Cups are already done.  Most recently, we were racing in Kontiolahti, Finland.  In spite of the brutal cold, the team had some of its best results ever with a 6th place mixed relay and 5 athletes in the top 16 of the sprint.  Unfortunately, I had one of my most challenging weeks of the season trapped in my hotel room with a cold.  I only raced the sprint and it was not pretty.  However, I still think Kontiolahti will be one of the most memorable World Cups of the year.

    Best of luck to Ethan, Tara and the rest of the World Junior biathlon team as they prepare to compete next in Kontiolahti!

    Kontiolahti, Finland was pretty darn cold with temperatures barely legal for racing. In spite of that, in the nearby town of Joensuu where we stayed about 1/4 of pedestrians traveled by bike. Brrrrrrr!

    Finland was pretty darn cold with temperatures barely legal for racing. In spite of that, in the nearby town of Joensuu where we stayed about 1/4 of pedestrians traveled by bike. Brrrrrrr!

    Walking to the race start (l to r: Annelies Cook, Sara Studebaker, Canadian Zina Kocher). The athlete shuttle bus got stuck in traffic and most teams had to walk almost 2 km to arrive at the venue with an hour to race start. Temps were below -16 degrees celsius, hence the protective tape many athletes wore on their faces. (photo: Zina Kocher)

    Walking to the race start (l to r: Annelies Cook, Sara Studebaker, Canadian Zina Kocher). The athlete shuttle bus got stuck in traffic and most teams had to walk almost 2 km to arrive at the venue with an hour to race start. Temps were below -16 degrees celsius, hence the protective physio tape many athletes wore on their faces. (photo: Zina Kocher)

    Following the races, the family of Mari Laukkanen, one of the Finnish athletes invited our team to their lakeside cabin where they have 3 saunas. They fired up the traditional smoke sauna for us (pictured above) and cut a hole in the ice of a nearby stream for us to jump into. (photo: Annelies Cook)

    Following the races, the family of Mari Laukkanen, one of the Finnish athletes invited our team to their lakeside cabin where they have 3 saunas. They fired up the traditional smoke sauna for us (pictured above) and cut a hole in the ice of a nearby stream for us to jump into. (photo: Annelies Cook)

    Our hotel in Joensuu

    Our hotel in Joensuu

    Our hotel in Joensuu

    The crazy Finn who coaches us: Jonne Kahkonen (photo: Sara Studebaker)

    Jonne's family (who now live in Lake Placid) returned to Finland for a visit during the Kontiolahti World Cup. His wife, Erika and son Elmo made up an awesome cheering section. (photo: Annelies Cook)

    Jonne's family (who now live in Lake Placid) returned to Finland for a visit during the Kontiolahti World Cup. His wife, Erika and son Elmo made up an awesome cheering section. (photo: Annelies Cook)

    Next up: We just arrived in Italy where we will spend a couple weeks preparing for World Championships.  They will be held in Ruhpolding, Germany.

  • Life in The Bunker

    Julia and Sloan wait for ski bags in Tallinn

    “mini wieners” breakfast of champions.

    Headed out for a jog.

    Lunch

    Kyle’s dessert:  pink frozen yogurt and 1/2 breaded banana in fruity liquid?

    Lunch!

    The stadium

    Wax rooms

    Adam and the ski jump

    We made it!  We are settled into Tehvandi Sports Center in Otepaa, our home for the next couple of days.  With the exception of one cancelled flight, our travels were long, but smooth, and everyone arrived into Tallinn last night.  We picked up the rental cars and drove to Otepaa just in time to crawl into bed and get some well deserved sleep.  We woke to a delicious breakfast, went for a jog, set up the wax cabin and unpacked skis.  After lunch we walked out our doors to the Tehvandi stadium and the infamous World Cup trails.  This place is no short of amazing.  The hills are long and steep and the corners are tight. (We tested out that hill that was “double pole”-able in the WC classic sprint…its pretty serious).  Everyone got a chance to rip around on the trails and earn themselves some big smiles.  For now, we’re settling into the routine and letting our bodies adjust to this new environment.  Its cool, but not too cold (-2 or -3 C) and the sun is even peeking from behind the clouds.  We will train smart in the next couple of days, and then head to Mammaste to prepare for competition.  On Sunday we will return to Otepaa to watch the start of Estonia’s most famous ski marathon (and part of the international Worldloppet), The Tartu Marathon, which begins here and then head to Elva to watch the finish.  Tonight, I think we’ll check out the sauna.  Stay tuned for frequent updates from the ATHLETES.  Thanks for following!  Sorry for the lack of quality in the photos!

  • Can Kikkan Randall Win The Sprint World Cup?

    Recall that at the start of the season, I considered this question with a bit of skepticism. I was definitely more skeptical about her prospects than some others. Hopeful, but skeptical.

    My skepticism stemmed from the fact that while Kikkan is arguably the best freestyle sprinter in the world right now, her classic skiing has traditionally lagged a bit behind. Based on the only experience I have, which is looking at lots and lots of results patterns over time, I was skeptical that she could improve her classic sprinting that dramatically.

    So what has happened so far?

    First, her classic sprinting has indeed improved. She’s finished 4th, 9th and 9th in classic sprints so far this season. That compares with 10th, 17th, 21st and 42nd last season.

    Second, I expected Marit Bjørgen to both contest more sprints this season and to perform better in them than she has.

    Which leaves us with Kikkan sitting atop the sprint WC standings, with a 109 point lead over Natalia Matveeva in second and a 147 point lead over Justyna Kowalczyk in third. Can she hang on?

    I’m guessing that this is pretty much the sole focus of her entire season right now. Kikkan was apparently ill for a few days, and then had a slightly sub-par freestyle result in Moscow. She followed that up by skipping this entire weekend in Nove Mesto. It seems pretty obvious to me that she’s simply focusing all her energy on making sure she’s firing on all cylinders for the remaining four sprint races.

    In particular, next weekend’s freestyle sprint in Poland will be critical, since the season then ends with three consecutive classic sprints. If she’s going to pad her lead this will likely be her last chance to do so. Suppose everything goes to plan and she actually wins that race, but both Matveeva and Kowalczyk are also in the finals. So maybe she walks into the final three contests with a ~150 point lead over Matveeva and ~200 point lead over Kowalczyk.

    Here’s the thing. Not only are both Kowalczyk and Matveeva better than Randall at classic sprinting (generally), they themselves are better at classic than they are at freestyle. There have only been three classic sprints so far this season, and Randall has made the finals in only one of them. Matveeva has reached the finals in all three, and Kowalczyk has actually won two of them.

    So while I’m sure some folks are chuckling to themselves about my skepticism, I’d argue that we don’t really know anything for sure until the final three classic sprints. This will be the real test of whether Kikkan’s classic sprinting has improved enough for her to win the overall. Will she be able to make it through to the finals in at least two of the three, which seems like it would be the bare minimum she’d need to stay in contention?

    At this point I honestly have no idea. Sprinting is random enough that this could easily be decided (in either direction) simply by a crash or two.

    Related posts:

    1. <USST Preview: Kikkan Randall
    2. <How To Win The SkiTrax FIS Fantasy World Cup Contest
    3. <Can Kikkan Randall Win The Sprint WC Title?


  • Back to Sunshine!

    I arrived back to Antholz, Italy last night after spending the previous two weeks racing in Norway and Finland.  It feels great to get back down South, see some sunshine and eat something besides fish and potatoes!   The past … Continue reading →

  • New Eyewear!

    I’m really excited to now be sponsored by Smith Optics, a company that’s born-and-raised in the good ole’ US of A. Their new model of the Pivlock performance glass, the V2, looks to be a real winner with the upgraded adjustable nosepiece. A big thanks to Blair Clark at Smith for getting this set up for me!

  • BMT report, new dog, new phone…

    It’s been a busy two weeks since I returned home from the Twin Cities and my five-week racing trip in January. Alison picked me up at the airport in Seattle on a Monday evening, we drove home the next morning, and two days later turned around and drove to Sun Valley for the Boulder Mountain Tour. It was a whirlwind trip but I was feeling good for the race and excited for a longer mass-start race. I had gotten plenty of advice from Ian Harvey and others who’d raced the BMT before, most notably to NOT let gaps form because they rarely get closed again. I took that to heart at about 5km into the race when Liebsch and Flora nabbed a 15m gap through the first aid station. I didn’t want to miss the opportunity so I took a gamble and jumped off the main pack to give chase. It was a gradual climb up a drainage and I hammered for several minutes with no avail. I managed to bludgeon myself into submission and not gain anything on them, but at least I provided a draft for a few guys behind me who were able to ski around my bedraggled corpse when I finally gave in, and form a more controlled chase group on the leaders.

    For myself, I let the main pack reel me in and then dealt with staying amidst the 5th – 15th group. We had a good train going for the remainder of the race and near the finish I pulled into no-man’s land to sprint myself to the line in 13th. I would’ve liked for better on the results sheet but I’m glad I made the (failed) move early in the race, as it gave me crucial experience on the race for coming years. And beyond that, it was a beautiful day in SV and after I finished, I got to watch my Dad race to the line, almost landing on the podium for his 60-64 age group! That certainly bested my own effort for the day…

    Certainly more notable than my BMT finish however, is the new addition to our family: Eddie!

    Eddie was the dog of a good friend of ours who lives in Seattle. She’s been getting very busy with work and has felt bad that Eddie wasn’t getting all of the attention he needed and asked if we could adopt him. We thought he’d be a great addition and a good friend for Nikki, so we said yes! So far, Eddie’s been great at home and is a good addition to our little mountain clan.

    Oh yeah, I also got an IPhone. Booyah.

  • Another fun day at Trapps: classic drills and distance

    It was a green jacket day at Trapps, and we took our poles off to get in some drill work before heading off on our distance ski. 
    We are always working on balance and weight transfer, and practicing the classic stride with no poles is just about the best drill you can do on skis.

    Dev getting some nice extension and arm swing, and Hans working on the “gorilla” pose in the background: rounded shoulders, relaxed arms swinging in sync with the legs.

    This photo makes it look like there was wind but it was only momentary: the day was perfect once again at Trapps.

    By report the skiing is phenomenal up at Craftsbury as well, and we are headed up there tomorrow to do intervals on this weekend’s race course. Should be sweet!

    MK works on the stride and glide.

    Fitzy, rolling the hips through.

    Dev: fun in the sun!

    Our next drill was to ski downhill and around a sharp corner before turning and sprinting back uphill… all without poles. It’s good to feel the compression of the wax pocket and to focus on keeping the momentum forward on the uphill.
    Justin demonstrates how to do it.

    Getting a big kick and getting the hips forward is almost automatic when trying to classic sprint with no poles, and it’s a good feeling to have in the mind when we put the poles on to go ski.

    That’s levitation, Holmes.

    All smiles in the head-to-head!

  • Birkie Waxing, Grinding, & Hotboxing at Cyclova XC!

    Cyclova XC can help you take the stress out of waxing and ski selection for the Birkie!
    If you’ve been around the Birkie enough (or XC ski racing in general), you know that a lot of people get stressed out about waxing and other details around the big day.  We at Cyclova XC have a whole lot of experience at the Birkie, and know what it takes to have the race of your life – and most importantly have a fun day out on the trail with thousands of your closest XC skier friends!  Take the stress out of your Birkie weekend by having Cyclova XC prep your race skis!
    Cyclova XC is offering a full range of waxing, stonegrinding, hotboxing, and ski selection services for the Birkie.  If you have multiple skis you might be considering using in the race, bring them in and we’ll help you pick the pair that will be best suited for the event.  Once you have picked your skis, the following waxing services are available:
    • Birkie Racer Flouro Carbon Hot Wax:  For the skier who wants to have the fastest skis on the race course – no expenses spared.  Customer may choose either Fast Wax or Toko products for use on their skis.  (22 step, 4 layer paraffin, LF, HF, Flouro Carbon wax job, and Toko Structure):  $75
    • Birkie Racer Flouro Hot wax:  For the skier who wants to have a fast and durable wax job for the big day.  Customer may choose either Fast Wax or Toko products for use on their skis.  (15 step, 3 layer paraffin, LF, HF wax job, and Toko Structure):  $50
    • Birkie Sport Hot Wax:  For the recreational Birkie or Kortie skier who wants to have a fun day with skis that go the distance.  Customer may choose either Fast Wax or Toko products for use on their skis.  (10 step, 2 layer paraffin wax job, and Toko Structure):  $30
    • Birkie Grip Wax Binder:  Hard wax or klister Toko Base Green Applicaiton (Cleaning of grip zone, roughen with 150 grit sandpaper, ironing in of Base Green, and Smoothening):  $10

    For pricing & technical info on our stonegrinding, hotboxing, and other ski services, click HERE.

    We are expecting a huge rush of Birkie skis to come in for service , so you’ll want to be certain to get them dropped off in time to be prepped to perfection for the big race!  Following are the drop off target times for Birkie race skis:

    • Skis that are to be stoneground & waxed for the race must be dropped off by Sunday evening, February 18
    • Skis that are to be waxed for the race, must be dropped off no later than 3PM on Wednesday, February 22.
    • We will be stonegrinding as per usual on Thursday, February 23 – but the skis in that batch likely won’t be able to have a complete Birkie wax job ready for the big event.
    • All Birkie race skis must be picked up by 7PM on Friday evening, February 24.  We will be closed for the entire Birkie weekend (we’ll be up at the race).

     

  • Classic Sprint Relay at Grafton

    Today we went to Grafton Ponds for a classic ski and got a hard workout in by simulating a sprint relay (3 x 3 x 1k). We started practice off with some easy skiing and a few technique drills before jumping into our relay race. It was a tight battle all around the course but the team of Issy, Helena, and Gino emerged victorious. We also had our first day at practice with Leah Brams and Valentina Rugiero, our guests from Massachusetts who are here with us until Saturday. The girls are having a fun time checking out what life at SMS is like!
    Valentina.
    Leah.
    Tyler.
    Charlie.
    Helena.
    Pippin.
    Mac.
    Paddy.
    Russell.

    Corky.

    Brooke.

    Valentina.

    Alex.

    Hamish.

    Gino.

    Mollie.

    Mackenzie.

    Katharine.

    Murph.

    Tess.

    Kate.

    Charlie & Brooke.

    Issy.

    Mollie.

  • Ampumahiidon Maailmancup

    View of our hotel in Joensuu, Finland. (photo: Susan Dunklee)

    Hello outside world! After a week of basically non-existent internet, I’m back online! I did, however, use my internet-free time in Finland to pick up some Finnish. For example, the above, which means “Biathlon World Cup.” They really like to use a lot of letters.

    There’s a lot to catch up on in just one week, which is a good thing! After some changes to the schedule due to extremely cold temperatures in Kontiolahti, the Mixed Relay was moved to Friday. We had some sickness on our team, but the final roster was strong, and we were looking forward to racing…if it was going to happen. The temperature hovered right around -20C for the whole morning, and at race time the officials had to call for a 30 minute delay before they finally decided it was just legal for us to race (-20C/-4F is the minimum temperature at which races can legally be held). The cold and race delay wreaked havoc on my warm up, so my first loop was a little rough. Luckily, I shot pretty well and my skiing improved enough that I had the 4th fastest last loop of the lead-off leg. I tagged off in 6th position. After some solid shooting and skiing by my teammates Annelies Cook and Jay Hakkinen, Tim Burke had a stellar last loop and moved us back into 6th place by the finish. It was the best finish for a US Mixed Relay team ever! I was just excited to be a part of it…and getting to go up on the podium made the chilly race more than worth the effort.

    Annelies and I getting ready for the relay. (photo: Annelies Cook)

    Team USA 6th place! (photo: Armin Auchentaller)

    The weekend continued in excellent fashion for me. I had my first clean race (hit all my targets) of the season and skied well enough to land in 15th place. It was my best result of the season, and my second best World Cup finish ever. Needless to say, I was pretty excited. It seems that my luck in Oslo was not just luck, but the true turning point in my season.

    What do you wear when it’s this cold? A lot.

    In Sunday’s Pursuit I would start only 1:20 back from the leaders, and only about 20 seconds out of the top-10. Unfortunately, I think I had only 2 good races in me for the week, and I had used them up with the Relay and the Sprint. With 6 penalties I moved back considerably, but still managed 36th place and a few World Cup points to boost my standing to 55th overall. Despite this result, I am super psyched about the weekend. I feel like I’m in the perfect place heading into the end of the season and looking towards World Championships in a couple weeks.

    Finland was beautiful, but I’m happy to be back with the sun and warmth! (photo: Annelies Cook)

    Right now, I’m back in Antholz, Italy for a few days of rest and training before the whole team meets up in Ridnaun, Italy for the pre-World Champs camp. After crazy cold temperatures last week, today was +1C…we hardly knew how to dress! These next two weeks will be fun but focused, as everyone is trying to get some quality training in as we peak for Ruhpolding. Only 4.5 weeks left in the season…how quickly it always goes!

  • Happy Valentines Day Everyone!

    Thank you to the IBU film crew for putting together this film! Besides the guitar/singer, it’s pretty good! I would say this is my first music video, but who could forget my rousing 2010 version of “Jingle Bells” as seen by tens of biathlon fans around the globe!

  • Otepää World Cup

    After the Milano World Cup it was time to head up north to race the Otepää World Cup races in Estonia. Luckily a big snow storm was dumping lots of fresh snow on the race trails. Winter hadn’t arrived yet to  Estonia, so this storm brought enough snow to finally groom all the race trails, including the huge ski jump hill on the 15km course.  Our hotel this year was amazing. It was a brand new place serving us really great food. Every morning we would wake up to homemade juice and jams. We were about a kilometre away from the race site, perfect for a warmup jog before racing. 
    The first race was a classic sprint, only the second one of the year so far. I was excited to finally get to stride up hills…  The day before the sprint there was a lot of talk about possibly double poling the classic sprint on skate skis. There was only one way to find out which technique was faster. We decided to do two fast laps of the course, one with skate skis and one with classic. The result was actually really shocking. The double pole lap was significantly faster than the striding one, by 7 seconds! SO the choice was easy, we all had to try double poling.





    I qualified without any problems, but I could definitely feel that my arms did not feel very fresh anymore. I had our therapists try and massage them and flush them out before the heats. In the Quarter-final, I skied exactly how I wanted to. I stayed near the front of the group and made a move to the front going up the big hill. Alex and I came into the final 200 meters in 1st and 2nd  place. I thought I had this in the bag… about 50 meters later my arms completely gave out. My triceps were in spasm and I felt like I lost all control of them. I ended up getting passed by 4 guys and finishing in 5th in the heat. My arms were toast after that race, even if I made it through to the semi-final I would have had to put classic skis on. I just didn’t have the arm endurance for the last 200 meters. Now I know what I can improve on for future double pole races. Congrats to Alex for his 4th place finish. Really impressive man. 

    The next day I decided to try my luck in the 15 km distance race. Estonia’s distance course is by far the toughest I have ever skied. My arms were still sore from the day before, so I made sure my classic skis had enough grip to climb those huge hills. During the race I had no idea what place I was in. I didn’t receive any splits from the coaches during the race. I honestly thought I was going to finish in around 50th place. When I finally saw the results, I found out that I just missed the top 30 by only 1 second. So it ended up being my best World Cup distance race of my life, but missing the top 30 stung a little bit. Many thanks to our wax techs, on both days, my skis were fantastic! The highlight of the weekend was definitely Devon’s race. I could hear splits during my race that he was leading. He skied like an animal to a 3rd place finish less than a second from the silver! Kersh, You da man! 

    Estonian fans are super supportive of cross country skiers. It didn’t matter what country you skied for, they would cheer for you along the race course. Cross country skiing is their national sport and to have all the WC racers in their backyard is very special for them. Before the races, I was asked to do a couple of interviews for Estonian TV (in estonian) and so many people I spoke with afterward, were surprised that I could still speak the language I learned as a child. They embraced me as one of their own. I’ll never forget my 3rd and final climb up massive Tehvandi Hill; the whole way up the crowd was chanting “Lenny, Lenny, Lenny”. It was actually quite emotional for me and gave me a huge boost.

    Next up, the city sprints in Moscow.

  • Frankfurt

    7 athletes plus Kate made it to Frankfurt.  7 of 8 hours in Terminal A are over.  Thank goodness.  We’re off to Tallinn!  (Will update with all of this years info as soon as we can!)  Thanks for tuning in!

  • Nove Mesto Relay!!!

    If you didn’t get a chance to watch this on sportlemon.com the other day, here is is. Pretty awesome to be on a team with such momentum. Wow. So fun.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEZ5tDkAfj4