Tag: Katie Miller

Juggling Work, Life, and Training for the Birkie: A How-To Guide
Katie Miller making the best with what nature has on offer. (Photo: Katie Miller)

At some point in the past seven months you signed up for the American Birkebeiner. Maybe you’ve done it before, maybe you haven’t. Either way, you’re now committed to skiing the American Birkebeiner, excited to experience “Birkie Fever,” whether for the first time or the 20th time. No matter your level of skiing or your goals for the Birkie, tackling a 50-kilometer ski race is no small feat. Realistically, for many people who participate, training full time is not an option. Working full time, dealing with normal day to day life — family, kids, pets — takes up most of our time and fitting training in when possible is a reality. This amplifies the challenge of preparing for a 50 k race.

Logging training hours was easier and more convenient in the summer months with warm weather and extra daylight. Now with three months to go until Birkie weekend, daylight is limited, work is busy and there are limitations to getting training in. The key questions is how do you continue to train into the late fall and early winter? What can you do now, with three months to go, to prepare for 50+ k of skiing?

These are great questions and important ones since you are now signed up to ski 50 k. That’s 31 miles sliding over snow. If you chose the classic race, it’s 55 k — that’s 34 miles. For those of you who do the classic race kudos to you. My back hurts just thinking about it! But don’t worry you could have signed up for a 50 k running race. I mean at least on skis you get to glide, right?

But in all seriousness, the Birkie is a one of a kind experience that every skier should try to participate in. Three months is plenty of time to make a few improvements to your training, work around the limitations our day to day life present, and hopefully, make those 50k a little easier! Below I’ll discuss some of the limitations faced and possible ways to address them.

When I started writing this it was a Thursday in late November. I was inside, riding my bike trainer trying as my long easy workout. My body was telling me I should be skiing but the rain, green grass, and pitch-black outside at 5:00 pm told me otherwise. Juggling work, life, and training can be especially challenging this time of year. Depending on where you live there are different limitations to late fall and winter training. Those can be:
1. Time constraints: make all of your time training quality “on-time” if you are over obligated with life commitments.
2. Lack of daylight is an added challenge once daylight savings hits in late fall. If you can get outside in the dark before or after work safely that is great but not always an option. If you can, secure yourself a reliable headlamp and get after it. Some alternatives to outdoor training are strength programs, accessing a spin bike, or other indoor workout facilities. They aren’t the most fun options, but you just have to get it done sometimes!
3. Lack of snow: depending on where you live and what kind of winter it is you may not even have the option to get on snow much before the Birkie. Lack of snow leads to the fourth limitation, a culmination of the first three- lack of time training on snow.
4. Once there is snow- lack of time training on snow. Getting on snow to train for a ski race is obviously one of the best ways to train but getting on snow often may not be an option for you. The days you can get on snow are valuable and important to your training.
  Snow definitely works. (Photo: Katie Miller)
These limitations are hard to workaround. Here are some ways you can focus your limited time to tap into your best effort over 50 k.

What to focus on and how to address these four limitations:

Build up a base and be consistent. No matter your level of skiing, the more base you can build up and the more consistent you can be with your training the better. That base will be there to tap into when you’ve been skiing for several hours. So take time to determine what you can schedule during the busiest parts of your week. Can you get in a few short or medium distance training sessions during the week? Try for 30-90 minutes if you can. Use those days to get in high-quality training sessions. These could be skiing, roller skiing, running outside or on the treadmill, hiking, biking outside or inside, swimming, anything aerobic that builds up your endurance. If a strength workout is what you can get in, then do that! A couple of short workouts during the week may seem a long way from skiing 50 k but every little bit adds up. When you are 40 k into the race and your body is able to harness just a little bit more from that base you’ve built up, you will thank yourself!

Two specific training sessions to fit into your training are a long slow distance (LSD) day and a threshold day. These are your endurance builders. Is there one day a week you can get in a long distance workout (a 2+hour workout)? If you can get out for an easy 2+ hour training session one day a week every week until the Birkie that adds up to some serious base building. And remember, that’s only a one day per week commitment. Can’t get quite that much time to work out in one day? Get in as much as you can: every little bit adds up.

The second specific training session is a threshold workout. A threshold workout is time efficient — it is a great way to get in a high-value training session in limited time. Getting in an entire threshold workout can be an hour to an hour and a half depending on the length of your intervals. For a threshold workout, a “threshold pace” (also known as L3) means a pace faster than a long-distance ski but not a hard race pace. I like to think of it as a consistent pace where you can speak but only in brief responses, holding a regular conversation is not easy. You should be working hard at an increased pace that you can hold for an extended period of time. If you are just beginning to experiment with threshold workouts for your Birkie training, try 2 x 10 minutes, then build up in time or the number of intervals with some of the breakdowns listed below. Rest for 3-5 minutes between intervals.

Sample workout:
- 15-minute easy warmup
- Threshold intervals: choose your breakdown- 3 x 10 min, 2 x 15 min, 3 x 15 min, 2 x 20 min, 1 x 30 min, 2 x 25 min Rest 3-5 minutes between intervals.
- Optional added challenge: add some pickups into the thresholds, 10-30 seconds, then bring it back down to threshold level
- 15-minute easy cooldown
Getting your LSD and threshold workouts done on snow is ideal, but they can be effectively done running, roller skiing, biking, whichever activity you are able to do at that time.

Turn a weakness into a strength

Choose a “weakness” to work on for the next three months and you will turn this “weakness” into a strength — adding another tool to your arsenal to use on race day. This is my favorite way to make an improvement to your skiing that does not have to take a lot of time. It gives you a path to improvement and will help you ski better over 50 k.

Strengthen your core

Core strength is an easy improvement to make. Our core strength is fundamental to skiing in general and particularly to skiing with consistent power. A strong core helps stabilize ourselves and hold proper technique when skiing.

Working on core strength requires little if any equipment, you don’t need daylight, snow, or prolonged amounts of time. Ten minutes of core three or four days a week is cumulative. It can be done anywhere at any time. And looking at three months until race day, those core exercises will add up.

10-Minute Core Workout

Complete each exercise for 30 seconds, rest 15 seconds in between, repeat twice with one minute between sets
- Plank
- Bicycles
- Toe touches
- V-Sit
- Leg Raises
- Leg hold
Search google if you need to see demonstrations of the exercises

Spend time on technique

Once you get on snow (or roller skiing), practicing certain aspects of your technique and transitions can pay off in a long race. Are you stronger with V1 technique on one side than the other? Then whenever you are on snow practice V1-ing on your offside. Being comfortable with V1 on both sides pays dividends in a long race, especially on the rolling and hilly parts of the Birkie and maneuvering around other skiers.

Work on transitioning from V2 to V1, pacing yourself over 50K, transitioning from double-poling to striding, and cornering.

These may seem like small things, but smooth transitions, and things like steady pacing compound over 50 k. If you are able to get on snow 1-2 times a week, choose the workout you are able to get in that day (long distance ski, threshold workout, easy hour-long ski- whatever fits your schedule) and also choose a technique goal during that ski.

The following was written by Katie Miller, a former University of New Hampshire (UNH) ski racer. She currently lives in southern N.H. where she does her best to “juggle a full-time job as a criminal defense investigator with the desire to get outside and ski all day everyday!”
December 5, 2019
Welcome to the Elite Wave

Katie Miller on her way to finishing her first elite-wave Birkie. (Photo: courtesy Katie Miller)

If you’ve ever wondered what the elite wave is like compared to one of the larger later starting waves here is a crash course. A little background for context, the 2018 American Birkebeiner was my first introduction to the Birkie and the 50K distance. I started in wave 2 and paired with perfect conditions my first Birkie is by far my favorite race I’ve done. Wave 2, while crowded and congested (think penguins huddled together for warmth) for 5-10 K also lends itself to the ability to continuously catch people. Catching people is motivating and one of my favorite parts of racing. After a strong race last year in which I finished 61st for women (one spot outside the top 60 who auto qualify for the elite wave) I had to wait until the end of January 2019 to find out that my request to move up to the elite wave was granted.

I was ecstatic to get a spot in the elite wave. The excitement quickly turned to nerves and questioning whether I belonged there. Wavering back and forth between excitement and nerves was my mindset leading up to the race. While I consider myself a good skier, I do work full time, graduated from college and skiing competitively eight years ago, and usually only ski on the weekends. I was unsure what to expect in the elite wave and out of myself.

In my opinion, travel to Wisconsin went smoothly. My support team AKA the best parents ever almost missed the flight out so they might not agree with my assessment. After another narrow miss with our connection, (we were three out of the last four people to get on the plane), we successfully made it to Minneapolis. My dad chose a bright yellow Jeep Wrangler for the weekend, so if you saw an insanely bright jeep that was us! A night spent in Stillwater to break up the travel and on Friday morning we were off on the last leg of our journey to the Birkie. A gorgeous easy ski from Birkie Ridge was the perfect way to relax my pre-race nerves. Everyone was happy to be out skiing and excited for the race the next day. Comments about the perfect conditions and temperatures of Friday were mixed with some anticipation of the predicted overnight snow and warmer wet temperatures for the race on Saturday. I skied out the Birkie Ridge trail to the intersection with the Birkie trail. As soon as I stepped on the Birkie trail it was like a wave of euphoric joy and I could not wipe the huge smile off my face.

A sunny Birkie trail one day prior to the race. (Photo: Katie Miller)

Friday afternoon consisted of a trip to the expo to pick up my bib and for my dad grabbing as much free stuff as possible. I went to get my bib and the volunteer commented that I must have been added to the elite wave late as I did not have my name on my bib. I had not realized that the elite wave was given this honor. The idea of getting my name on my bib next year stuck in my head throughout the race and added extra motivation to my goal of a top 60 finish! As I searched for my parents in the expo I was greeted with the sight of my dad, pockets bursting with stickers, Clif bars, and other goodies taking shots of maple syrup at one of the booths. At least I knew he would be energized for the rest of our day…

Fast forward to the next morning, a 5AM wake up, and eating as much oatmeal as my body could handle. Nervous excitement racing through me, double and triple checking that I had everything as I packed my bag. Truthfully, I think I checked about ten times.

It had snowed a few inches overnight and was a snowy but mild morning. The women in the elite wave and the spirit of 35 would be blazing the trail, packing down the powder for the waves behind us. The spirit of 35 comprises those skiers that completed the first Birkie in 1973. They have the honor of beginning the race first. The women’s elite wave was next to start, my wave. It’s a strange feeling to say that my wave was the elite wave, how cool is that? How nerve wracking is that?!

Rewind to a few weeks before the race and adding to my apprehension about the elite wave was breaking one of my boots and having to borrow my boyfriend’s boots for the race. Less than ideal to borrow someone else’s boots for a 50K. One more hurdle of getting sick the week before the race and my preparation leading up to the race was not exactly as I had planned. My jokes about having an actual Birkie fever were lost on my non-skiing coworkers.

When it comes down to it, everyone in the race is dealing with outside factors. It’s how you deal with them that often affects the outcome of your race, not that they are present. When it came down to it, I was still there, in the elite wave, ready for the experience. Just to be able to say that I started in the elite wave of the Birkie is an honor. I may have had to hold on for dear life when it started but at least I was there.

My nerves subsided as I walked into the start pen and the excitement of the other women in my wave was palpable, everyone smiling from ear to ear. That excitement was only heightened when we saw Kikkan Randall in the front row of the wave. The announcers acknowledged Kikkan, welcoming her to the Birkie, pumping everyone up talking about her and Jessie Diggins gold medal a year earlier. Not only was I starting in the elite wave, I was starting in the elite wave with Olympic gold medalist Kikkan Randall. I talked to a skier next to me, fangirling about starting in the same wave as Kikkan. As the minutes turned to seconds and the starters readied to pull up the banner, each skier came to their ready position. And just like that the elite wave was off!

It was fast from the start, I had only just said hello to the elite wave in the start pen and just like that I said goodbye. The wave took off so fast I thought Kikkan might have been showing off those gold medal sprinting skills off the line. The wave quickly spread out and down the powerlines I could see the lead women stringing out the group.

And just like that the only time I’ve ever felt “lonely” at the Birkie started. In comparison to starting in wave 2 I was skiing mostly alone and fast. Catching many other skiers and skiing in big groups was not part of my Birkie experience this year. The elite wave was a test of my mental toughness and a test of my desire to push myself for 50K. The comradery that defines the Birkie still on full display, as “lonely” as it was, I never felt a lack of support. The women I did get to ski with were motivating and we talked about how many Birkies we had done. The spectators and volunteers were as positive and numerous as I remembered from the year before. The men in the lead pack passed me approximately an hour and 10 minutes into my race. These men racing to win the Birkie made a point to cheer when they went by. The second half of the race included more of the men passing making the trail busier and adding some much-needed distraction to the race.

I think the comradery that is shared in the Birkie is easy to explain. There are skiers who blister around the course in a quick 2 hours and change and there are skiers that take 7-8 hours. Each skier ready to tackle a challenging 50+K race all with one goal, finish the race. No matter your skill or experience skiing, whether you are a professional training 500+ hours a year or someone who just learned to ski there is no guarantee when you start a 50k that you will finish. The goal of finishing a 50k is the most important goal for every skier that starts the Birkie. Everyone shares the same basic goal.

I had to fight for 50K, to push myself physically and mentally to be uncomfortable for 50K. I did not feel my best and it was as much a physical race as it was a mental race, to keep my mind engaged and talking to myself positively. I feel grateful to the few women I skied with for extended periods of time for encouraging me, letting me help pull them where I was stronger (and vice versa), and for every skier, volunteer, and spectator for pushing me all the way to downtown Hayward.

A snow-carpeted Main Street in Hayward, WI. (Photo: Katie Miller)

The last 15K of the race lent itself to a busier trail as the men of the elite wave continued to come through, words of encouragement shared between us, anticipation of reaching Main St. helping each skier push through the last part of the race. When I stepped off the lake I saw my mom holding a sign reading “Go Katie!” and cheering enthusiastically. This moment was extra special as my mom had missed seeing me when I skied by her last year (like I said so many people everywhere!) so we made sure that did not happen again this year! As I made my way to Main St. there was no way in the world to feel lonely, both sides of the course lined with spectators loudly letting you know how amazing your accomplishment of finishing 50+K is, no matter if you finish in 2 hours or 8 hours.

The elite wave was a challenge I cannot wait to tackle again next year. With a little time to reflect on the race, another year of Birkie experience under my belt, and the knowledge of what to expect in the elite wave I’m ready do it again. I reached my goal of finishing top 60 but I was left wanting more, so I think that means training for Birkie 2020 starts now!

Katie MIller is a former UNH skier who remains devoted the sport.

March 7, 2019
2018 Birkie: A Newbie’s Tale

The start of Wave 2 of the 2018 American Birkebeiner 50 k skate race, which author Katie Miller was in. (Photo: American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation)

The following was written by Katie Miller, a former University of New Hampshire (UNH) ski racer who recently completed her first American Birkebeiner and 50-kilometer ski marathon, after registering for the race last year. That race was canceled due to low snow, but Miller returned for this year’s edition on Feb. 24. She currently lives in southern N.H. where she does her best to “juggle a full-time job as a criminal defense investigator with the desire to get outside and ski all day everyday!”

***

The pull of the storied American Birkebeiner brought me to register for the 2017 race. I had heard nothing but positive reviews of the Birkie. I had not even experienced the race yet and I was bummed when it was cancelled in 2017. Fast forward to 2018, my excitement level was high and my expectations of the race were all over the place. This was the largest cross-country ski marathon in North America. This was my first 50K. This was the longest race I had ever done. I had trained as much as I could while working full time. I had skied as much as I could considering the January and February thaw we experienced in southern NH. I rolled my eyes while embracing the New England weather as I ran in 70-degree weather four days before the race. And as I stood in the start pen surrounded by thousands of other people all ready to conquer the 50K it dawned on me that this was F*&%ing awesome.

The view of the Main Street finish the day before the 2018 American Birkebeiner, as seen from the International Bridge. (Photo: Katie Miller)

Now rewind two days, getting to the race in Wisconsin made the finish line that much sweeter. Thursday morning set to travel with my parents, a.k.a. the best support crew, we left for the airport at 4 a.m. Our flight from Boston to LaGuardia went off smoothly and we landed in N.Y. with a three-hour layover ahead of us. Plenty of time to relax, have some food, and get back to the gate. With 45 minutes before our flight departed we got to the gate, sat down, and were informed our departure gate had been changed to a different terminal, forcing us to go in and out of security, again. We got through security for the second time smoothly, apart from a few expletives from my mom as she had to throw out another bottle of water and off we went on our second flight. We landed in Minneapolis at 5 p.m., picked up our bags, got our rental car, and were on our way, seemingly without hitch! After a quick dinner stop at LOLO American Kitchen (yum!) in Stillwater, Minnesota, we started the drive to Cable … in a snowstorm.

Two-and-half hours later, driving on slow, snow-covered roads in a rental car lacking the proper tires for these slippery roads, the car starts to lose power. Fifteen miles outside of Hayward, on the highway, with NOTHING in sight, a rare car passing us every few minutes. We putter along for another 5 miles as I am on the phone with the rental car’s emergency roadside assistance, a lovely woman who is struggling to figure out where we are to send a tow truck. It is 10:30 p.m. and stress levels are high in our failing rental car. We pull to the side of the road, five miles from Hayward. A few minutes later we attempt to continue driving. The power seems to have returned to the car, we can drive over 20 mph now. I feel slightly relieved, but we still have 40 miles to our cabin in Cable. Thankfully, we make it to our cabin, safe and exhausted at 11:30 p.m. I get to sleep after 12 a.m., which would be 1 a.m. in the time zone we started our travel in a long 21 hours ago. Not an ideal travel day.

Pre-race powder ski on Birkie Ridge. (Photo: Katie Miller)

Friday morning, with one day to go before the race, I wake up ready to put the long travel day behind me and get out for a ski. With six inches of new powdery snow and a questionable car, that was not going to be as easy as I planned. Luckily the car made it through the rest of weekend without a problem. I headed to Birkie Ridge for a deep powdery ski on the ungroomed trail. My ski was a mix of skating, double poling, and single sticking trying not to tire myself out in the deep snow. There were a few other skiers as I started and by the end the trail was full of people getting out and getting ready for the next days races.

Every skier I passed smiled or said hi, some asked questions about the trail (not that I knew the answers), but everyone seemed happy to just be there for the race. I skied as easy as I could in the deep snow, just happy to be skiing, anxious for the next day. I had no idea what to expect with the size of the race and the distance. It was exciting but nerve wracking. Post-ski, my parents and I had lunch at the Brickhouse Café in Cable. A friendly, delicious café with breakfast, lunch, baked goods, and coffee, I highly recommend it! With our confidence in the rental car cautiously optimistic we made our way south to the expo (and possibly my dad’s favorite part of the weekend: free stuff! When the Clif wonders why their energy gels disappeared so quickly midafternoon, I know why….). I picked up my bib, explored the expo, bought some Birkie gear, and got my new Birkie gear bag.

With each event moving closer to race time, the stress of travel and the excitement of the race was taking over. The moment we got to downtown Hayward and I climbed the stairs up the Birke bridge and looked down main street towards the finish a huge smile took over my face. I could not wait to be at the top of the bridge tomorrow during the race. Fast-forward to Saturday morning, I had checked, double checked and triple checked my backpack and gear, making sure I had everything I needed. The quality of the organization of the race and entire weekend is better than any event I have ever been to. From busing to the start, volunteers with information everywhere you look, feed stations full of volunteers handing out much needed fuel, to having a place to change after the race, it was simple and stress free. The best kind of race environment for racers and spectators alike.

Author Katie Miller finishing her first American Birkebeiner 50 k ski marathon on Feb. 24 in Hayward, Wisconsin. (Photo: Marathonfoto)

Now back to the race, standing in the start pen, the excitement palpable as thousands of skiers wait to start their race journey that day. The starts guns go off, I wait for the people in front of me to move forward and off I go. The beginning kilometers of the race was a slow accordion of movement down the trail. Doubling poling being more effective, and safer for my poles, than trying spread out and skate. As the kilometers started to tick by, the crowd thinned, and the trek to Hayward was on! Three hours of skiing has never gone by so quickly. I smiled and laughed out of pure bliss the entire 50K. I laughed as I tried to open my GUs during the race without dropping them. I laughed (and tried not to fall) going around the sharp rutted corners lined with snowmobilers, the rowdy crowd cheering and waiting for people to fall. I laughed when my water bottle froze after 20K. I laughed as my quads cramped up climbing “bitch hill”. Why? Because there was a priest with a megaphone telling jokes on the hill followed by two nuns cheering.

I marveled at the beautiful skiing and the other racers that surrounded me as I skied. The feeling of cresting the top of the bridge, like Rocky at the top of the Philadelphia steps, was an indescribable feeling, one of pure joy. Looking down main street towards the finish, the street lined with cheering people, was a feeling that was worth all 50K. I skied up those last 200 meters feeling like I could take on the world. It was the most amazing, captivating race I have ever done. I’ve caught Birkie fever (caution: highly contagious) and I don’t think I’m ever going to shake it.

The love of skiing, the hard work of the Birkie organizers and amazing volunteers (and a big party…) brings all these people together and that is a special thing.

I was smiling the entire 50K and I’m still smiling a week later. I think I can speak for everyone waiting for next year’s race when I say…can we do it tomorrow?

***

Miller, 29, finished 15th in her age group (25-29) in 3:01:44.1 hours.

Wave 2 of the 2018 American Birkebeiner on course. (Photo: American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation)

March 6, 2018