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From the FasterSkier archive — posts syndicated from athletes’ and coaches’ own blogs between 2004 and 2012, kept online as published. Current coverage is at fasterskier.com.

Tag: Izzy Caldwell

  • Wednesday Workout: Sore-Legs Central (How to Get the Lactate Out) with the Caldwell Sisters

    Wednesday Workout: Sore-Legs Central (How to Get the Lactate Out) with the Caldwell Sisters

    Isabel Caldwell nears the finish of the 2014 Boston Marathon on Monday while Sophie Caldwell (r) cheers her on. (Photo: Sophie Caldwell/Twitter)
    Isabel Caldwell nears the finish of the 2014 Boston Marathon on Monday while Sophie Caldwell (r) cheers her on. (Photo: Sophie Caldwell/Instagram)

    Two days after nearly 36,000 people ran that Boston Marathon on Monday, we’re willing to bet there are more than a couple still feeling the pain of the 26.2-mile run from Hopkinton, Mass., to Boston.

    Isabel Caldwell, a former Dartmouth and Stratton skier and the younger sis of U.S. Ski Team member Sophie Caldwell, was one of them, but she didn’t feel as sore as she expected.

    “My marathon went pretty well … I hadn’t done a whole lot of running before so I wasn’t expecting too much but I finished and had fun so it was a good day,” she wrote in an email. “The race experience was pretty amazing. There were so many people. I think I ended up finishing about halfway through the second wave of runners so I was surrounded by other runners the entire time. The sides of the course were also covered in spectators. It seemed like everyone was doing it for a greater cause this year, there were Boston Strong posters everywhere and all of the spectators and runners seemed very determined to make it the best Boston ever.”

    We asked her what you do in the day (or two or three) after to relieve soreness in the legs and stiffness in other parts of the body. She wasn’t as sore as she was when she ran the Burlington Marathon in Vermont last year.

    “I think difference is that last year at Burlington it was about 40 degrees and raining so as soon as I finished I got cold and my muscles seized up and I didn’t want to walk anywhere,” she explained. “For about a week afterwards I had horribly sore legs.”

    Monday was warmer — upwards of 60 degrees by the finish — and Caldwell wrote that she had to walk a couple of miles to the subway, “which felt horrible at the time but was probably good for my recovery.”

    Tuesday, she tried to stay off her feet.

    “I have a lot of blisters, but I may try to roll out a little bit,” she wrote. “I probably won’t train for a few days and maybe just do a couple of bike rides later in the week.”

    Her sister, Sophie, cheered her on near the finish. Definitely inspired to run a marathon someday, she wrote in an email that she’ll probably wait until after she’s done skiing professionally to avoid injury.

    But the 2014 Olympian does know a lot about taking care of yourself after any race — especially endurance events.

    No. 1: Fuel Properly

    “Even though you might not have much of an appetite, eating and drinking enough would be really important,” Sophie wrote. “It’s probably also important to move a little so you don’t get too stiff and tight and then maybe an ice bath if you dare (I don’t).

    No. 2: Accept and Minimize the Burn

    “I think getting sore is inevitable, but there are definitely ways to make it less miserable! I was giving Isabel piggy back rides today, so I’m not sure she did the greatest job with recovery! In her defense, she had to sit in the car for four hours to drive back to Hanover.”

    Isabel Caldwell and others in the Dartmouth crew who ran the 2014 Boston Marathon. (From left to right: Caitie Meyer, Oscar Friedman, Erik Fagerstrom, Isabel Caldwell, David Sinclair. Not pictured: Annie Hart) (Photo: Nancy Seem)
    Isabel Caldwell and others in the Dartmouth crew who ran the 2014 Boston Marathon. (From left to right: Caitie Meyer, Oscar Friedman, Erik Fagerstrom, Isabel Caldwell, David Sinclair. Not pictured: Annie Hart) (Photo: Nancy Seem)
  • Fast and Female at Gould Academy is a Success

    Fast and Female at Gould Academy is a Success

    Fast & Female Group Photo at Gould Academy. Photo courtesy of NENSA

    Calgary, Alberta/Bethel, Maine – Fast and Female’s third annual US X-Country Ski Festival held on Sunday, January 9 in Bethel, Maine will go down in history as a tremendous success.  Hosted by Gould Academy, the event saw 140 girls from Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire between the ages of 9 to 19 years old take part in a day of inspiration with female Olympic ambassadors and US Cross-Country Ski Team athletes Caitlin Compton, Morgan Arritola and Holly Brooks, along with many more female athletes from around the United States, fresh off of competing at the US National Championships in nearby Rumford, Maine.

    Autographs on t-shirts were a popular request! Photo courtesy of NENSA
    “Hosting a Fast and Female event surpassed my expectations with everyone involved bringing amazing energy,” said Gould Academy Head Nordic Coach Jeremy Nellis following the event. “You couldn’t have asked for a better group volunteers and ambassadors.  It was clear that they believed in the mission and I believe they inspired other women to lead a healthy and active lifestyle.  The smiling faces of all those girls will stay with me forever.”

    After being held for two consecutive years in Anchorage, Alaska, the 2011 Annual US X-Country Ski Festival traveled to Gould Academy in Bethel, Maine to synchronize with the US Nationals that took place in Rumford, Maine from January 2 to 8.

    In keeping with the highly successful signature Fast and Female day camps, the 2011 X-Country Ski Festival featured a complete day of team building activities, on-snow drills, an inspirational lunch, yoga, and dancing.  The event was geared towards girls with past cross-country skiing experience at both the racing and non-racing levels.

    “Thank you for organizing such a successful and empowering event,” said James Demer, parent of a participant and coach of the Falmouth Nordic Ski Team. “My daughter Ava had a really great time and it seemed that all involved did as well!”

    Holly Brooks (APU) & Lauren Jacobs (Craftsbury GRP) take questions from Fast and Female participants. Photo courtesy of NENSA

    This event was made possible thanks to the generous contribution of local sponsors and supporters including Gould Academy, who supplied the venue and lunches for all participants, the New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA), the Maine Winter Sports Center, as well as Fast and Female’s national program supporters, including Best Buy, Buff, Lululemon Athletica and Cold-FX.   Additionally, 15 volunteers and 32 group leaders offered valuable time to ensure the girls had an outstanding experience.

    “The purpose of Fast and Female is to inspire girls to stay committed to the active and healthy lifestyle by putting them in direct contact with leading female sports role models,” said Marie-Hélène (M&H) Thibeault, Executive Director for Fast and Female and ex-alpine ski racer who evolved at Burke Mountain Academy and Dartmouth College. “Girls are six times more likely to drop out of sports than boys, so we feel it’s key to counter this phenomenon by delivering fun, non-competitive, and empowering programming that makes girls realize that sport is a tremendous vehicle for both athletic and personal growth,” she added.  Thibeault also specified that all participants received a Fast and Female t-shirt as well as a yoga mat generously donated by Lululemon Athletica.

    Dartmouth's Erika Flowers, sporting lots of pink, leads a game. Photo courtesy of NENSA

    Founded in 2005, Fast and Female is a non-profit organization based in Canmore, Alberta, Canada and dedicated to the empowerment through sport of young women.  Started by the 2006 Olympic gold medalist Chandra Crawford, Fast and Female operates across Canada and the US and currently reaches out to girls in the sports of Cross-Country Skiing, Biathlon, Alpine Skiing, Triathlon, and Cycling.

    Fast and Female’s expansion into the US was made possible in 2009 thanks to the friendship and collaboration between Crawford and Kikkan Randall, an Alaska-born cross-country World Cup medalist.  Since 2009, Randall has hosted two Annual US X-Country Ski Festivals in her hometown of Anchorage, Alaska, reaching a total of more than 300 girls.  In 2010, the State of Maine hosted a highly successful regional Fast and Female event and this year’s event marks the first Annual US X-Country Festival to be held outside of Alaska.

    For the event photo montage, visit: http://www.facebook.com/#!/fastandfemale

    For full event pictures, visit: http://www.flickr.com/groups/nensa/.

    The next Fast and Female event in the USA will be held on January 29, 2011 in Alaska. On this special occasion, Kikkan Randall and Holly Brooks will host more than 200 young female ski enthusiasts for an afternoon of skiing and inspirational presentation. For more information concerning this event, please visit www.fastandfemale.com.