By: Jessie Diggins

Two days ago, I raced my first 15km pursuit ever…at the World Championships! Maybe not the ideal time to experiment with pacing, but it sure was fun while it lasted. It was an interesting day with heavy fog that made it hard on the spectators and racers alike; you couldn’t see the turns on the fast downhills till you hit them! I almost fell face-first a couple of times but managed to stay upright.

The crowds were fantastic; they lined the course and although 95% were totally intoxicated, the noise and enthusiasm really gave me a boost during the race. It’s impossible to give up when people are screaming “HI-YA!” at you! (it means GO! in Nowegian)

I had the best mass start I’ve ever been in, because I was situated #42, on the right outside track. I was able to hop out of the track and double pole up the outside while on the first hill out of the stadium people were going ballistic and tripping in the tracks. I snuck around the corner and caught onto the end of the big pack to be in the top 30. I was so excited because our skis were so fast – we had the perfect mix of good kick up the steep climbs and fast glide on the downhills.

However, I’d done a really poor job of hydrating and fueling up the days prior to my race, which proved to be a painful lesson to learn the hard way. I started to hit the wall at only 6km, and could taste iron in the back of my throat the rest of the race. I shouldn’t have needed a feed in a 15km, but the coaches had three stations ready, just in case. And you know what? I missed all three! So embarrassing. I dropped the first bottle, and the second time around, I managed to grab the bottle….and gave myself a gatorade facewash! So now every coach in the world knows that I had the worst feed in the history of world champs. What a prestigious title! To be fair, I’ve never tried to take a feed in a big race before. But now I’ve got good incentive to practice!

At the end of the day, Marit Bjorgen took the women’s title (surprise, surprise!) but the US women had a great day – Liz led the charge in 24th, Holly came in 25th, I finished 28th and Mo wrapped up our top 45 day in 43rd! Full results are linked HERE.

The next day was the men’s 30km pursuit, and Holly and I had a great time cheering them on. We got to be part of an international cheering squad as we hiked down a steep snowy hill to get right alongside the classic part of the course. It was really cool to see all the people camping in the snowbank; some had even shoveled out benches and settled down for the afternoon!

We hiked back to the stadium in time to see Alex Harvey of Canada pull the most ballsy move I’ve ever seen in a 30km pursuit – he broke the pack with like 6km to go and went off the front on his own! Sadly, his legs cramped up with about 3km to go and the pack sucked him back in. But it was super cool to see him off the front for a lap with a chase pack of 20 guys all scared to death that a U-23 was going to beat them.

The men finished thus: Northug won, with Russians in 2nd and 3rd. Kris Freeman led the US guys in 29th, Noah Hoffman came in 37, Lars Flora finished in 53rd and Tad Elliott came in 55th. Full results are linked here.

Then we had a bit of a transportation snafoo – due to the pedestrians crowding the street and the King of Norway getting back down the hill safely, they totally shut down the roads and we had to sit on a bus for an hour and a half before getting back to the hotel. It was a long day, but still worth it to see such an exciting race!

Today is the women’s 10km classic….and I’m headed out to cheer!

Sourced from: CXC Team Vertical Limit Blog

By Jessie Diggins

Never in my life have I ever been more excited or nervous! It was somewhat overwhelming to be racing in front of screaming crowds of thousands, in front of tv cameras, alongside the best in the world. But it was amazing!

I got to the stadium and during my warmup, the fans were filing into the stands and scrambling for a good viewing position along the course. They were singing, dancing, waving flags, and the Swedish fans were carrying extra large flags to try to balance out against the sea of red screaming for Norway. It was definitely hard to focus and concentrate on my upcoming race with so much noise and excitement in the air, but I managed to pull myself together and get in a strong warmup in preparation for the climbs on the hard sprint course.

I was lucky bib #7, and being one of the first starters was exciting because I got to have my name at the top of the board until, of course, the Red Group (the top ranked skiers) started finishing.

Getting out of the finish was such a maze, as the athetes followed a winding carpet through hoards of reporters shoving cameras and mikes into the aisle. But I finally made it out and was able to cool down and change clothes. I was pretty much over the moon when I found out I qualified 29th and would be in the 4th quarterfinal – with Kikkan! It was a dream come true for me, to be able to ski the rounds at World Championships with the skier I’ve always looked up to.

The quarters started at 3:00, and I was amazed that the crowds of people were all still in the stands, and if possible, more fired up than before! They must’ve stood out in the snow for 5 hours that day, but I guess Norwegian fans are hard core.

I was pretty nervous being the youngest skier to make the rounds, and I was definitely the skier with the least experience. I got my skis on and tried not to look like such an amature, but when the TV cameras came around to introduce each skier right before our heat started, I pretty much looked like a goofball. I waved like I’d never been on TV before (which I hadn’t…but the crowds didn’t know that) and blew a big kiss. Holly managed to snap a picture at the perfect moment (all pictures in this post are from Holly)!

Then…BANG! The gun went off and I settled right into…last place! I tried so hard to hang on to the girls, and man, were they fast. I managed to stay on the end of the group through the first hill, downhill turn, and up the long climb. I had my head down and was hammering, just trying not to get dropped, when I looked up and my heart dropped like a rock. Kikkan was facing backwards with both hands on the ground, having gotten tangled up and swung around. I can’t even explain how bad I felt that although yes, people fall in sprint racing, it had to happen in this particular race. I couldn’t do anything about it, however, so I put my head down and kept hammering, trying to stay with the pack.

On the last climb that wraps around the back of the stadium, another girl got tangled up! A Norwegian that I didn’t see until I was right behind her. I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t get around her as I was unprepared and missed my chance. I stayed in 5th place all the way to the line, but was still totally excited with my result – just getting to start was a career best for me! And the noise as we dropped into the stadium was absolutely deafening. I’ve never been part of something as big as this before!

At the finish line, the Norwegian girl who got tangled was sobbing and swearing up a storm. I felt really bad for her, but was so impressed with how Kikkan handled the situation. She was professional and although disappointed, didn’t make a scene and remained gracious through all the reporters and crowds (the fans were rooting for her too). Anyone can put on a good face and be cool when they win, but it takes a real hero to remain composed when things go wrong. Kikkan is awesome. Enough said.

We stayed to watch Marit Bjorgen win the women’s final and Marcus Hellner dominate Northug in the men’s final. What a day! The crowds went wild for Bjorgen and she was seen wearing a gold puffy jacket afterwards. The races can be seen live at this link:fromsport.com . This link will work to view the rest of the World Champs races as well.

At the end of the day, the US was happy with our success; we qualified 5 out of 8 athletes to the rounds, and Newell led the charge with a 10th place finish. Sadie was next in 24th, Simi and I got 25th, and Kikkan finished 26th.

Now I’m looking forward to the next race – the 15km pursuit on Saturday. It should be fun!

Sourced from: CXC Team Vertical Limit Blog

By Jessie Diggins

Tonight I got to experience the crowds lining the most famous street in Oslo, that leads from the palace past the National Theatre. People showed up to cheer and wave flags for their favorite countries, as the athletes, accompanied by a flag-bearer and a group of school kids decked out in the country’s flags, proudly marched past.

While it’s true that I race tomorrow, and I probably shouldn’t have spent so much time on my feet the night before, it’s super important to me to stay relaxed and really soak up the experience. So I had a blast!

The palace is pretty neat; when the flag is all the way up, it mean’s the King is present. And guess what? DA KING IS IN THE HOUSE!

There were two loooong lines of kids waving flags from every country, and it took a while for us to finally get to the street!

I’m very excited for tomorrow’s sprint! Wish the USA luck!

(All pictures from the lovely Holly Brooks!)

Sourced from: CXC Team Vertical Limit Blog

By Jessie Diggins

Holmenkollen venue, Oslo, Norway. It’s just too amazing! Yesterday was my first training day at the venue, and my eyes were WIDE open the whole time.

The official logo of the championships. Colors? Black and orange. Yeeeeah.

We are staying at a Radisson Blu hotel in Oslo, and the organizers arranged for shuttles that zoom back and forth to the venue every half hour, making training times very convenient and flexible.

The shuttle takes you up a winding road, and when you reach the Holmenkollen at the top, you can look down on the whole city. It’s a really cool view. The ski jump hangs up at the top, and when they light it at night, it can be seen from pretty much everywhere in Oslo.

You drive through a tunnel at the base of the jump to reach the venue, and there is a huge building with wax cabins. Team USA has four of them! It’s really professional, and our coaches and wax techs are doing such an amazing job testing and getting prepped for the first race – a skate spring – this thursday.

There’s a system to the race trails; a blue course and a red course. The blue is a 3.75km, and the red is a 6.3km with cutoffs at 2.5km and 5km. All the distance races are combinations of these loops. For example, the women’s pursuit does a 2.5km + 5km on the red, switches skis in the stadium and then proceeds to hammer out 2 loops of the 3.75km blue course.

The sprint makes a loop of the stadium and cuts part of the blue course to make a 1.3km for the women and a 1.5km for the men.

Somehow, they’re going to pack THOUSANDS into this stadium! Tickets are sold out, and the latest rumor I’ve picked up is that on relay day, there will be 40,000 people out there. Not sure if that’s true yet but I’ll find out exactly how loud it can get in Norway with the sprint race tomorrow!

There are some seriously hard core fans in Norway. I mean it! They’ve set up camps in the woods along the trail weeks before, and when you ski the trails you can see them sitting around campfires, often next to large signs declaring which athlete they’re there to cheer on.

I’m getting excited to race tomorrow! Tonight will be the opening ceremonies, and I’ll be sure to post some pictures and stories.

Last weekend my computer was stolen from my hotel room in Drammen, and I lost all my pictures and documents. But luckily I’ve got some really awesome teammates, and Noah Hoffman’s been letting me use his computer and Holly Brooks has also let me borrow her computer and pictures! So I can keep updating and writing through the week So I’ve linked my website here (http://www.jessiediggins.com) and I’ll be sure to keep posting!

Sourced from: CXC Team Vertical Limit Blog

[Note: Jessie's laptop got stolen, so she asked me to post this for her. ^JC]

I get it now – why people work so hard, train for so many years, push themselves right to the edge in races. It’s just so exciting to be a part of the World Cup! Because when thousands of people are screaming, waving flags, cheering, singing, and even camping on the side of the race trail, it’s impossible not to get psyched up and want to do your very best.

Today, I got to experience the excitement and energy of the World Cup for the first time – in Drammen, Norway, of all places! It was a beautiful, sunny day and not too cold; pretty much ideal, in fact. I was very excited and more than a little nervous. My stomach was in such a tight knot I’m surprised I was able to breathe at all. The sprint course was fast and short, but I loved it and soaked up the noise of the crowd for my entire race - all 2:26.35 seconds of it! I ended up finishing 46th, Sadie finished 42nd, Holly finished 57th…..and Kikkan?

KIKKAN WON THE WORLD CUP!!! She qualified in 6th and went on to impress the world as she skied smoothly with a blistering finishing kick that propelled her right past the other girls. Which other girls? Only a bunch of Olympians and Norwegian favorites. And yes, Kikkan kicked their ass. Alex Harvey from Canada got the silver in the Men’s sprint, and it was awesome to watch since he also had a good finishing stretch that made the race very exciting. It was simply amazing to be out on the side of the trail, watching it live (and on the huge screen behind us when the girls went over the hill). Being at a World Cup is such an incredible experience – the noise, the signs and flags, the people running around half naked, the live band….I could go on for a long time. There was a snowmobile that kept pace with the racers and filmed it for Eurosport, and the part of the US team that wasn’t racing watched the TV at the hotel. And they provided excellent coverage! That’s something I love about Europe. They follow Nordic skiing more religiously than deranged football fans at the superbowl back home.

Another cool thing going on in Drammen this weekend was the fact that the World Cup races were on the ski trails for the first time. Usually, the sprints are held in the city around this sweet church, and they’d move the distance races to the venue in Oslo. But this year is the big 200th anniversary celebration for the city of Drammen, and the World Cup races were part of the celebration (which might help explain the 15,000 fans that showed up this weekend).

After the race we packed our things for the short 40 minute drive to Oslo, where we’re staying at a Radisson Blu hotel for the World Championships. I’m really excited to be back in Oslo and tomorrow I will get to train on the Holmenkollen venue for the first time. I will post pictures as soon as I can!

Sourced from: CXC Team Vertical Limit Blog

By Jessie Diggins

Tomorrow will be the third day of the Scandinavian Cup races here in Beitostølen. And I couldn’t be more excited! Originally, we had thought the skate sprint, classic 5/10km and skate 15/30km (which has since been shortened to 10/15km) was a mini-tour, but it turns out they’re separate races. No matter. The US decided we’d MAKE it a mini-tour! So going into my third day of racing in a row, I’m a little tired but pretty stoked on life since it’s been beautiful out – bluebird skies and sun – and I’m making friends with the Norwegian ladies along the way.

Speaking of Norwegian ladies, there ares some seriously talented, fast skiers out here. It was great to be able to race alongside them and gain experience. You have to get your butt kicked a few times before you get better!

For me, the skate sprint was fun, although this was the second sprint course I’ve recently done where placement was crucial. The course was such that, once you left the stadium and rounded the first corner, it was extremely difficult to pass, so getting off to a fast start was ultra-important. This is something I’ve been working on, and I still need to tune up my fast twitch! I was slightly disappointed with my semifinal; although I had the start I wanted, the girl to my right skied over my skis and I tripped, and ended up leaving the stadium in 6th place. While I made more than one attempt to pass, I was unprepared for the level of aggressiveness out there and wasn’t able to make it to the final. But that’s what I’m here for – to figure out how to race in all sorts of conditions and courses!

The classic race today was, for me, one of those days where it’s beautiful and sunny outside with perfect tracks, and you can be racing but having fun and enjoying the day as well! The US put in a good day’s work; Sadie led the day in 8th, Morgan got 12th, I finished in 15th, Liz finished 28th and Ida came in 35th. Simi led the men in 19th and Tad finished in 74th. I was pumped on the race because I’ve been working on my classic for a long time, and it’s great to have a race where I feel confident in my technique and striding up longer, steeper hills.

Looking forward to racing tomorrow!

For more pictures and stories from Norway/the Scandinavian Cup races, see my blog at http://www.jessiediggins.com!

 Sourced from: CXC Team Vertical Limit Blog

By Gus Kaeding

I haven’t posted in forever.  Turns out cross country ski coaches become sorta busy during the winter, who knew?  However, with the Birkie just around the corner, I figured I needed to speak up.  Undoubtedly, vast numbers of you are now realizing that in less than 4 weeks you have to ski an absolutely epic distance for which, you are ill prepared.  Fortunately, I’ve come to your rescue with a fail safe plan to get in shape in four weeks.  It can be found here – http://www.cxcacademy.com/index_welcome.htm.  Unfortunately, you have to be a member to read my wisdom.  Need an alternative?  You’re in luck.

In a special segment this month, I’ve sought out the help of an outsider.  What he has devised is a special plan which can guarantee Birkie success.  Read it, learn it, live it.  Enjoy!

“For the uninformed, the Birkie will destroy you.  It has destroyed me.

The 5:00 AM wake up, not being sure if your breakfast is going to sit right, sitting around in sub zero temps waiting for the bus, continuing to wait even though you still have an hour and a half before your start.  Then, waiting even longer because you are in the first wave and have to fight for a position in the front line like your life depends on it.  This is a change to my racing routine that I have never been able to adjust to…..until now.

This year, I have adjusted my training in an attempt to get used to the fury that is Birkie morning.

The first step is being out of bed by 5:00AM. Not just waking up, but being in your full race suit by 5:00AM (unzipped is ok).

The next step is recreating the meal. Anything is good, as long as you drink at least a quart of coffee. This helps with the forthcoming pre-race-dump.  Additionally, all the caffeine helps recreate the rush and panic that you will also come birkie morning.

Speed is everything in the prep, as it is on Birkie morning. If you aren’t out the door by 5:30, you aren’t rushing fast enough.

To simulate Cable WI, make sure to choose the coldest/darkest trails in town.  Since you have to ditch your warm-ups a half an hour before the start, I don’t even bother wearing them in the car. Also, no heater is allowed.  I can’t waste time standing around before the workout, so I have to get cold on the way there.  Being cold at the start is important, the idea is to make yourself as miserable as possible.  Being in the dark with a headlamp for the first half, only adds to this.

The workout is pretty straight forward: Go really hard straight out of the gate on the hardest trails possible, with no warm up at all.  Warm ups are over-rated. Go right from the car to the trailhead, put on our skis, head towards the longest hill and go over 5k race pace for the first 5 minutes or so, enough to make your legs hurt real good. Wearing the race suit helps ensure that you start faster than you want.  After all this, you should be really feeling like crap.  Perfect.  Next, start a gradual progression of skiing slower and slower while trying harder and harder.  The goal is to be done.  How do you know when you’re done?  After you finish obviously.

The basic points are start cold, go faster than you should from the start, recover from your mistakes, and finish strong; just like a real race.

For me, a blowup is inevitable after a crazy start like wave 1 (or any wave) in the birkie, so recovering and holding on is the goal of the workout. You might say “Why not just take it out easier?”. That isn’t an option in wave 1. A fast start is unavoidable, so I just need to work on not dying from it as much as normal. This is my plan for how to up my game from a lowly Wave 1 nobody, to an Elite Wave somebody.”

Your author, Bob Baldwin chasing elite wave dreams…

If you have a Birkie training plan worth telling, please don’t hesitate to share @ gus.kaeding@cxcskiing.org