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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: Ski and Tea

  • Ski and Tea Women Jump Into Spring, Offer Training Tips

    Ski and Tea Women Jump Into Spring, Offer Training Tips

    The Ski and Tea women's group gets ready to head out from 00 trailhead in Seeley, Wis., on Feb. 22 for a pre-Birkie clinic.

    That last ski of the season might not have set well this year.

    You weren’t exactly ready. Some places enjoyed sufficient snow dumpings this winter, but on the whole, it just wasn’t enough. It ended too soon.

    Certain parts of the country aren’t quite in summer mode yet. Snow has been known to make April appearances, and some ski towns recently saw a late-season blast of the white stuff.

    But in Hayward, Wis., home of the American Birkebeiner and center of Midwest nordic skiing, temperatures were forecast to hit the 60s this week. That’s spring, and essentially, the end of the ski season.

    Tell that to the women with Ski and Tea, a nearly 300-person club that gets females together year round to practice cross-country. While it’s dryland training in the summer, they typically meet weekly every month except March (that’s post-Birkie time following the ski marathon in late February. Many spent their Fridays off helping a local charity, Weekend Meals for Kids).

    Ski and Tea in the Summer:

    April theme: Reboot, Rebuild, Renew

    Example workout:Long, slow distance of running or walking with 15-20 second pickups every 2 minutes followed by stretching.

    Post-workout:Tea at Mooselips Java Joint in Seeley.

    Outlook: “Our weekly workouts for the coming dry-land months will be progressive,” according to Cook. “(They) will include hill workouts with poles, strength, agility, and balance, personal time trials, and interval training. We have several workout sites throughout the year which include the Birkie Trail Northend, 00 Warming Hut, Mosquito Brook and the Fish Hatchery.  We will also use the Camba Mukwa Single Track.  We ask all our members to buy Birkie Trail passes and we support the Birkie Trail Maintenance at the Ski and Tea 27K Classic Friends of the Trail Marker.”

    For more information, email Linda Cook at lpcook@chibardun.net.

    The program, which includes clinics led by Central Cross Country (CXC) members, started four years ago with about 12 women. Founders Linda Cook and Juli Lynch knew several former skiers that wanted to get back into the sport and arranged a recreational get-together. They saw two more women at the trailhead and invited them along as well.

    This past winter, a two-hour “Ski and Tea with the Pros” clinic attracted more than 30 women three days before the 39th American Birkebeiner. Cook, who placed second in her 70-79 age group in the 23-kilometer Kortelopet, said two international skiers attended the seminar, which was broken up into classic and freestyle technique lessons with four elite coaches.

    Two of the group’s original supporters, Audrey Weber and Maria Stuber, offered expertise as former CXC members. Both born in the Midwest, Weber skis for Go! Training, and Stuber joined the Craftsbury Green Racing Project in Vermont. She returned to Wisconsin for the Birkie and “Ski and Tea” event, bringing Craftsbury teammate Hannah Dreissigacker with her. CXC’s Carolyn Ocariz also helped fill in for teammate Caitlin Gregg, who was sick, and proceeds from the clinic went toward their training expenses.

    The four leaders gave broad tips while answering specific questions, focusing on one technical aspect at a time. Participants could chose to skate or classic and watch themselves on video if they wanted. Post-workout goodies, such as hot cocoa, cookies and tea, wrapped up the afternoon social at the 00 Warming Hut in Seeley, Wis.

    Today, Cook said Ski and Tea has about 60 active members with 290 newsletter members living as far as India and Alaska. After moving to the area 16 years ago, she felt there was a need for the group considering the number of interested women.

    Ski and Tea co-founder Linda Cook (c) with two of the group's youngest members, Keely and Kiera Jackson.

    Looking around the jam-packed cabin with skiers of all ages, some in their early teens, Cook talked about how Ski and Tea had grown. In 2009, it became part of CXC and its insurance coverage. Participants have to sign a waver, and for $40 dollars, get a year’s worth of instruction and ski companionship.

    “Someone described it as the modern-day quilting bee,” Cook said with a laugh. “Sweat is the best kind of therapy.”

    Outside the 00 trailhead halfway on the Birkie trail, nearly 40 women stood in ski boots swinging their arms and hopping from one leg to the other during the elite coaches’ warmup. Then, they skied off into the woods for a few pointers, which were worth internalizing and practicing for the season ahead.

    I took some notes, and this is what I came back with:

    Ocariz on skate technique:

    Carolyn Ocariz (l), formerly of CXC, demonstrates skate technique during a Ski and Tea clinic in Seeley, Wis., on Feb. 22.

    –       Focus on the glide and holding it a little longer

    –       Butt forward

    –       Poles shoulder-width apart, not too narrow (think of standing like a boxy football player with broad shoulders)

    Dreissigacker on classic technique:

    –       Double pole as long as possible

    –       Switch to striding when timing feels off, “when you feel like you’re bogging down” but “double poling is definitely faster.”

    Hannah Dreissigacker (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) talks to some Ski and Tea members during a pre-Birkie clinic on Feb. 22 in Seeley, Wis.

    Weber on classic skiing/hills:

    –       Double pole on the uphills should involve lots of crunching

    –       Think “high and quick” on the double pole as the hill gets steeper

    –       When descending in the track, lean into the curve with both feet equally weighted

    –       Rest poles parallel on hip creases, hold grips in front of face to keep poles from sticking straight up

    –       “Don’t abort the track because that’s when bad things happen” 

    Audrey Weber (Go! Training/Atomic) demonstrates the downhill tuck during a Ski and Tea clinic on Feb. 22 in Seeley, Wis.

  • Fever Preview #6: Motivation: “I swore I’d never ski race, and now I’m racing the Birkie!”

    Tea for Two – Or Two Hundred

    Ski and Tea started, three years ago, as a women’s training and social group that had a non-competitive focus.  This year more than two dozen members are signed up for the Birkie races, some of whom never had any intention of completing a ski race in their life – let alone a marathon.

    Amy Rowley is an example of one of those women.  As an alpine skier who married into a nordic family, Amy’s reply to her family’s repeated attempts to get her into the Birkie was, “There’s no way I would ever ski that far!”  Amy had been dabbling in nordic for a couple of years, but it wasn’t until her mother-in-law, Judy Rowley (who lives in Hayward and was already a part of the group), talked her into joining Tea and Ski, that Amy found she enjoyed skiing enough to want to race.  After learning to skate just last year,  Amy is now entered in the Birkie 50k.

    “This year, after taking the clinics and learning how to skate and getting a little more excited about it because of the Ski and Tea women – especially the encouragement that I received from them –  I kind of worked in baby steps to see if I could actually do it, and I’ve been working on just getting in better shape in general this past year – the training really helps.”

    Technique work
    Technique work

    Ski and Tea was founded by Juli Lynch and Linda Cook three years ago.  Juli had just moved to Hayward from Milwaukee and, as an avid runner and skier, was looking for some training partners in the area.  Linda had began competing in the Birkie even before she moved to Hayward 10 years ago,  and knew many of the local skiers and runners.

    Together they formed the group on a vision: to get women excited about staying in shape and cross country skiing. But they didn’t want the focus to be on racing or competition. They wanted the goal to be fitness, with the ability to simply enjoy being on skis. Most importantly, they wanted the women to feel they were an integral part of a social network, an active member in a community of women athletes who were all equal despite their age or ability.  Thus, their motto was born: No woman left behind.

    Every time they meet, the women introduce themselves and say something or share a story.   If there is a new person joining the group, that person gets partnered with a veteran member so that she does not feel like an outsider.  As their motto suggests, the group always makes sure that the last woman on a distance ski or interval workout is never alone: the leaders of the workout circle back after they are finished and pick up the last person, so that everyone finishes together.

    Juli explains, “We pointedly wanted our mission to be about creating a community of women skiers and actually downplaying the idea of competition because as we spoke with women we found so many who were living here, in Hayward, the home of the Birkie, that didn’t ski because they were intimidated by the whole idea of cross country skiing and the Birkie trail. . .”

    “What’s come from that, that’s really neat, is that over the past three years more and more of our women are coming to our fall kick-off and they’re saying “I want to do the Birkie this year.”

    This will be the first long ski race for Michelle Dale, and though she says she has been dealing with numerous injuries this winter, the encouragement she has received from her fellow Ski and Tea friends has allowed her “despite the challenges, to keep going and do my best.”

    “The Ski & Tea women have been very helpful and supportive,” says Dale. “What I like best about them is the philosophy which is “No women Left Behind”.  They really mean it – it’s not just a saying on the cute hats we wear.  All of us are treated equal and given training advice and tips whether we start in the first wave or the last wave of the race.”

    Ski and Tea meets every Friday at “OO”, the midway point on the Birkie course; in the winter on skis and summer on foot.  With the addition of dryland training, the group has not only taught women to love skiing in the winter, it has also made runners out of women who never thought they would want to run.

    Better technique and body position = more fun on snow!

    Enjoyment of skiing via improvement of technique is an emphasis in Ski and Tea.  The group currently  has several members who have a strong enough background in skiing that training  sessions often includes a coaching session.

    They also have a unique relationship with some of the women who race for CXC: Maria Stuber, Kristina Owen, Jojo Winters, Audrey Weber, and Kelly Chaudoin.  The young elite athletes put on several clinics a year for the Ski and Tea women, but Linda explains that these are more than just clinics because there is a special bond between the women.

    Maria Stuber and CXC teammates give an on-snow clinic

    “It is just glorious to have that friendship develop,” said Linda, ” It’s just amazing to get all generations, ages, and all abilities together. These young women are just absolutely beautiful.”

    Some of the women in Ski and Tea who have been in the group and raced more than one year have seen their times and finish places improve by a huge margin.  But more than the end result, the women are delighting in the process.

    Her pride in these women is evident as Linda says, “They’re loving skiing so much more because they’ve had the support, the encouragement, the inspiration of the ski and team women, and our coaches, and our clinics, so they’re enjoying skiing. Whereas before it was a chore, it was not something that was fun, it was getting out there and slogging it out, now they’ve improved their technique and that makes for more comfortable skiing, more enjoyable skiing.”

    Linda guesses that there are about 10 women who are racing the Birkie for the first time this year, several of whom will be entering their first-ever race.  The main thing Linda tells these women is not to get too nervous at the start.

    “Keep warm and keep their clothes on ‘til the last minute.. . Be calm, cool relax. That’s the key, to relax. Not to go out too fast, not get caught up in the crowd, because there a lot of skiers out there.”

    About to enter her second full Birkie, Colleen Graham would also advise first-time racers “to not get so nervous about your performance that you miss out on the fun.  Since it’s your first Birkie, no matter when you cross the finish line it’s going to be a personal best!”

    Graham can speak to motivation.  She had done a number of Korteloppets before last year, but the catalyst for entering her first Birkie came about when her friend Barb, who had just come back from a serious injury, wanted to re-enter the race.

    “The primary goal was to get Barb across the finish line so it nearly eliminated any performance anxiety I might have felt,” said Graham. “I honestly don’t know if I would’ve tried it if I hadn’t been so impressed with Barb’s courage.”

    As their name suggests, after their ski they meet for tea

    When Ski and Tea first met, on a Friday three years ago, seven women showed up.  Training day now regularly sees 10-35 women, but the number of women who receive the weekly newsletter is over 220.

    “There must be a need, or else we wouldn’t have had this kind of response,” says Juli.

    According to Juli, there are three kinds of women that actively participate in Ski and Tea, with about a third of each type making up the whole group:

    1) Women who compete in a number of ski races every year, whether competitive or not.

    2) Women who had never raced before and would never have raced if not for Tea and Ski.

    3) Women who are not ready to race yet, but love being active and involved.

    Linda writes the newsletter, which includes training tips, women’s stories, and dates of upcoming clinics.  Some women who receive the letter, sent by email, are not living in the area and do not train with Tea and Ski, but like to receive the newsletter because it is informative, inspirational, and allows them to be a part of a special community.

    On Saturday, more than two dozen hats declaring “No Woman Left Behind” will be racing on the Birkie trails. Fast or slow, they’ve found the motivation to be part of an even larger nordic community as they take on a challenge for themselves – and their fellow Tea-mates.