Cliff Notes:
Final weekend of World Cup racing before Christmas wraps up in Rogla, Slovenia.  A new venue to the World Cup and to me, it was a thrilling weekend of racing.

In Saturday’s classic sprint, it was some of the most brutal conditions I have experienced—altitude, a long course, cold temps, high winds, soft tracks and blowing snow.  I gave it my best out there but unfortunately didn’t have the speed to qualify for the rounds, I finished 38th.  I still haven’t quite found my classic sprinting form yet.

Sunday’s 15km mass-start classic race was not much better.  While the conditions improved a lot (clear skies and cold tracks) I struggled physically and mentally through the six laps around the 2.5km course.  I managed to pull together a decent second half of the race to finish in 30th place.

After six weeks on the road, I am psyched to be returning home to Anchorage to spend Christmas with my family and prepare for US Nationals beginning January 2nd.

Merry Christmas!

Rogla is the home training venue of Petra Majdic, she was everywhere!

The Full Story:
The final races of Period I of the 2010 World Cup season transpired in Rogla, Slovenia this past weekend.  Rogla is a brand new venue to the World Cup and this was my first trip to Slovenia.  Day one is a classic sprint, the longest course I have yet to encounter.  Supposedly it is only 1.4km, but it takes well over four minutes.  Day two is a 15km mass-start classic race.

For Saturday’s race, the weather is just about as bad as it gets.  It’s hovering right around –16 C (that’s 3 F), the wind is howling and it’s snowing hard.  To top it off, the organizers decide to re-groom less than an hour before start, leaving super soft tracks.  Combine that with the altitude of 5,000ft, and I know it’s going to be a tough competition.

I feel stressed and tired in my warm-up but brush off the bad feelings attributing them to nerves and the altitude.  When I step up to the start line I am psyched and ready.  As the announcer calls my name over the loud speaker, I bust onto the course.  The first few hundred meters is double-poling, slightly downhill.  Then a long gradual section that builds into the first hill.  I tell myself, “smooth urgency, build speed, glide.”  I make it up and over the first climb feeling pretty good but I know I need to pick up the pace.  I get a short rest around a sweeping right hand turn, although it’s hard to see the trail in the blowing snow and flat light.

I hit the next climb, a short steep section, and focus on a quick tempo.  The effort is setting in and I drive myself over the top and push into the next downhill.  Again, there is only a momentary rest.  I double-pole  through an S-turn section, my poles sink into the soft snow.  Then the course pitches up again as I approach the next hill.  The tracks have been washed out, but I try to keep my skis parallel anyway.  I only make it partway up the hill before I slip and have to herring-bone.

There is now only a few hundred meters left and know I have to make it hurt.  Yet, although I am sending the signals to my body to dig in, that extra gear is not there.  I’m trying to push, but I feel like I’m floundering.  It’s a long straight stretch all the way to the finish.   I frantically switch between striding, double-pole kick and double-pole to make it to the line.  As I slid my foot across the red line in the snow, I notice several racers laying on the ground gasping for air.  I skid to a halt and breath deeply while hanging on my poles.   I suddenly feel guilty that I am not lying on the ground, completely wasted from the effort.

Once I take off my skis and poles, I am ushered into an enclosed tent where the transponders are unwrapped from my ankles, a cheerful volunteer wipes the spit off my face and I get my warm-ups back on.  I leave the finish area feeling anxious. As soon as I see the look on Justin’s face, I get a sinking feeling in my stomach.  “Sorry,” he says to me and pats me on the back.  I know that means I’m out of the rounds.

Amid a whirlwind of emotions, I hang my head and slowly walk back to the wax cabin.  I have just NOT qualified for another classic sprint, the event I have been focused on improving the most for this season, and I am totally frustrated.  My hands are still unthawing from my brief turn around the course, and I opt to do my cool down on the spin bike indoors.  Then I wish Andy good luck and head back to my hotel room.  My final result is 38th, 3 seconds out of  the top 30 and 20 seconds out of the lead.

I try not to dwell on my frustration, focusing instead on staying positive for the next day’s 15km race.  I watch the rest of the race unfold on TV, envious of the other racers battling it out even though the conditions look incredibly tough.  Watching Andy (Newell) ski smoothly through the quarterfinals, semifinals and then into the A final, brightens my spirits.  Andy skis to a solid 6th place.

The wind is still howling and blowing snow as I head out for my evening run.  I have my hood pulled tight and only a sliver of my face is showing.  Midway through my run I bump into Lars and Kristina.  Kristina is beaming with good-race energy from her 24th place finish.  We had done intervals together earlier in the week and I let her know that I take partial credit for her good result.  I also feed off her energy to get further psyched for the next race.

15km mass-start classic:
When I wake up Sunday morning, the sky has cleared.  “A great day for ski racing,” I tell myself to distract my mind from pre-race nerves.  Heading over to the course, I am feeling optimistic.  It’s going to be a mass-start race and my goal is to try and hang towards the front for as long as I can.

Apparently due to limited TV production capabilities, the race will be confined to a 2.5km loop.  That means six laps for 15km.  As I head out for my first lap around the course, my optimistic mood quickly gets flipped around after I ski the first uphill.  I feel heavy, tired and out of breath.  For the next 45 minutes, there is an epic battle going on in my head between the good voice (“Let’s race and go for it”) and the bad voice (“I’m tired, this is going to be hard,  I want to go home”).  I almost bust into tears at one point, but somehow get myself to the start line.

I’m bib #21, smack dab in the middle of the red group.  We get the 30 second command, several tense seconds go by and then we’re off.  The pace is furious from the get-go.  As we head out of the stadium and under a bridge, the whole field accordians.  My tips run into the boots of the skier in front of me and I get hit with equal force from behind.  Chaos ensues as we make our way around the first lap.

I try to keep my position near the front of the pack but the pace is furious.  I feel like I’m striding close to max speed and I still can’t keep up.  Heading up the major climb midway through the lap my mind starts to go south.  As girls scramble all around me, the negative thoughts start to overcome my mind.  I tell myself I will only ski until the end of this lap then I’m done.

By the end of the first lap I have slipped back a ways in the field, I am struggling with myself.  Somehow I manage to convince myself to start the second lap.  The pain is already setting in, I’m not skiing like I want to, and all my energy is going into keeping myself in the race, “just keep skiing,” I repeat in my head.

Entering the third lap I have settled in with a pack of skiers.  I still have fleeting thoughts that I will pull out of the race at any moment, but my mind is beginning to settle on just focusing on what’s right ahead of me.  I catch a good draft over the second half of the lap and hang on to the train through the stadium.  Justin is yelling encouragement and offering a feed of sports drink.  When I see him I feel ashamed that I am struggling to mentally commit to this race.

Heading up the first two climbs of the fourth lap, I easily move up through the group I’m with and am out in front by the highpoint of the course.  Without any extra effort, I am starting to pick up skiers ahead of me.  This encourages my spirit and my focus is narrowing.  As I make it through the 10km mark, the thoughts of quitting are leaving my mind and my attention turns to salvaging what I can of my performance.

I lead my group through the stadium and into the fifth lap.  I have found a rhythm and I try to put a little distance on those behind me.  I have clear, open snow ahead of me.  No more draft, just me.  Near the end of the fifth lap, I see the leaders cross under the bridge just before I enter the stadium.

Coming through the lap lane, I can’t remember exactly which lap I’m on.  I frantically search around for the lap counter and see the number ‘1’.  What does that mean?  Do I have just one lap to go, or do I have to complete a lap before I have ‘0’ remaining?  I decide I most likely have just one lap left and turn my attention to using everything left in the tank.  There are two skiers about 100m ahead, and I try to catch them.

I make some ground up on the first climb, but feel my triceps start to twinge near the top.  I can still keep my tempo up but I can feel my strength draining.  Heading up the major climb for the final time, my technique is falling apart and my arms are cramping, but I managed to keep a steady pace going and I’m reeling in the two skiers ahead.  I get within about 20m by the top of the hill.  There is a false flat over the top, I scream at myself to keep the pressure on.  “Use your core,” I tell myself.

I am unable to make up anymore ground on the two skiers ahead on the flats and downhills.  There is one short steep climb left, up and over the bridge, and I scamper up and over it as fast as I can.  I make up another few meters, but now it’s a 250m false flat surge to the finish.  I stride and kick and pole madly all the way to the finish, but cannot quite catch the skiers ahead.  At last I slide across the finish line and hang over my poles.  I am relieved to have made it to the finish.

Sara Renner and I after the race, Sara commented on the race, “it was a pain train from the word go.”

It was so chaotic during the beginning part of the race, I have no idea what place I had finished.  When I see the results several hours later, I am surprised to see that I had finished 30th.  Because the beginning of the race had been such a mental struggle, I figured I was going to have another result towards the back.  So it was at least encouraging that a mediocre day was still top 30.

With the race said and done, it was time to head home, hooray!!  As soon as the men’s race ended, we packed up our stuff and drove six hours to Munich.  Then, for me, it was a short night’s sleep before catching an airport shuttle at 5am.  Since I will not be returning to Europe until after the Olympics, I am bringing all my race skis home with me, which means lugging two giant ski bags, and two duffle bags through a 22 hr schedule of travel.

There are a few hick-ups and bumps during my travel home but I make it.  It’s so good to be back.

Now that I’m back in Anchorage, I will take a few days to unwind, get over jet-lag and rest, enjoying Christmas with my family.  Then at the end of next week, racing resumes with the 2010 US Cross-country Championships, where I look forward to racing again on my home trails.  Hopefully the weather will be a little kinder this year, and we’ll have some great racing.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Cheers,
Kikkan

My heart goes out to the McCabe family for their terrible loss.  While I never had the pleasure of meeting Sean, I can tell from wht I’ve read and heard that he was an incredible person, a talented artist and an important member of the American ski community. I admit I was a little slow to show my support to the SEAN MCCABE MEMORIAL FUNDRAISER but I will echo Fasterskier’s call to action.   I hope you will join me in contributing to this fundraiser so that we can show support for loved members of our community!!   Let’s meet the fundraising goal by the end of the weekend!!

Cliff Notes:

The 2010 World Cup season officially begins, kicking off in Beitostolen, Norway.  With a couple encouraging tune-up races the previous weekend, I was excited to see how I would stack up against the full World Cup field.  Saturday was a 10km skate race.

A warm wind blew in overnight, turning every thing to ice, and then refroze in the morning.  The organizers chose not to re-groom which left the track pretty icy.  I started as bib #41, in the middle of the field.  Over the first lap, I focused on finding a good rhythm.  This proved to be tough on the icy tracks and slippery corners.

Heading out on the second lap I still had good energy.  I tried to pick up the pace every kilometer.  Just before the 7.5km mark I got a split I was in 2nd, that inspired me to keep charging.  A kilometer later I was in the lead and had passed the starter ahead of me. I kept the pedal down all the way to the finish and crossed as the new leader.  I got to sit in the fur-lined leaders chair once again, for a few minutes at least.  Then, as the red group began to come in, I started slipping down the list.  My final place ended up being 21st.

This was my best World Cup distance finish ever, and especially a big improvement in skate. It’s a good feeling to be competitive in the distance events as well as the sprints. Now I want to take this confidence and start getting closer to the leaders!

We weren’t able to start the relay on Sunday, as we only have 3 US women over here.  Next weekend will be a classic sprint and 10km classic in Kuusamo, Finland.  I am looking forward to testing myself in the first World Cup sprint of the season!

The Full Story:

When everyone began arriving midweek, I could feel the butterflies start to build in my stomach.  Last week’s races were a good chance to put on a bib and get the a feel for racing, but this was the real deal- The World Cup.  Even though I haven’t seen most of these athletes for eight months, I know them all too well.  Everyone looks fit and strong and with the Olympics just 2.5 months away now, expectations are high.

Liz, Morgan and I teamed up for intervals midweek on the course.  The pace was Level 3, slightly below race pace, but plenty challenging.  We took turns leading and tested out different sections.  It was really good for me to follow Liz on a few of the intervals, reminding me to stay light on my feet and keep a quick tempo. I left the workout with plenty of ques for things to work on during the race.

Thursday was an easy recovery ski in the morning and a jog in the afternoon, as well as an informational meeting held by FIS to update everyone on all the work that had been done in the off-season.  As the women’s cross-country representative to the FIS Athlete Council, I had the opportunity to address the crowd, explaining my role as an athlete rep and encouraging everyone to speak with me about their thoughts, ideas and comments on the World Cup.

Friday was back into the rat race, testing skis on the course and getting the body ready to race.    The weather started to turn midday as a warm wind blew in and by the evening, everything was starting to melt.

When we awoke Saturday morning however, the sky was clear and the temperature had cooled off.  This meant everything had turned to ice.  It was quite a treacherous trip down from our hotel to the stadium!
The organizers had decided not to re-groom in the morning, so the race trail was rock solid and icy.  This made several turns on the course pretty sketchy.

During my ski testing, the quality that became the most important was traction.  Glide was important too, but the skis that gave me the most bite into the snow were the ones I chose to race on.  After a couple short laps, it was clear which pair felt best and I was able to turn my focus to my warm-up.  I did a little longer warm-up than usual because I wanted to make sure my legs were plenty warm and supple.

I got to the start area several minutes early to check out the new layout.  TV producers had been calling for more “emotion” from the athletes before the start, so a clear sign-in board up on a platform and an interview station had been added in the start chute.  When I got to the interview station, the Norwegian TV reporter asked me a few questions, like, “we’ve heard the course is fast out there, are you nervous about the speed?”   To which I replied, “I love speed, bring it on!”

Following my interview, I advanced up to the start gate and watched the clock tick down.  5…4…3….and I went.  My first impulse was to push down on my poles and to my surprise they both sunk deep into the snow.  I almost stumbled before regaining my balance and charging on to the course.  Two skiers were just lapping through the stadium for their 2nd lap, so I chased after them.

I quickly caught the two skiers, gauged their pace for a moment and then decided to go around.  I wanted to get out with a swift start and get into a quick rhythm, but not stress too much.  The course twisted and turned through the opening kilometer and I I got a taste right away of the icy turns.  As I made my way around the course, I was thinking all about tempo and technique.

The course wound up and down through an open field and into a two-way corridor up towards the 2.5km checkpoint.  Coaches were offering spilts, but I wasn’t really hearing anything, I was too focused on trying to find my balance.

I caught a girl just before heading  into the big downhill.  For a few seconds, I thought it would be a good idea to get the draft and have a chance to relax, but she was standing pretty straight legged and I got impatient.  So I dropped down into a low tuck and went around her on the inside.

As the speed increased I could feel my cheeks actually flapping in the wind.  I came whipping into a fast hairpin turn and had to aggressively step turn to keep myself on the course.  This brought me onto the big climb.  I repeated to myself, “dance on the feet, dance on the feet,” to keep my momentum going.  The legs started to burn.

I made my way around the remainder of the 1st lap still trying to find my balance.  On several of the tight corners, I was hanging on by the skin of my teeth!!  I hadn’t caught the girl ahead of me yet but I also hadn’t been caught from behind either.  So things must be going okay.

Coming through the stadium, I looked up to see if I could catch a ride with one of the red group skiers that would be starting.  Unfortunately I came through right between two starts, and headed off for the 2nd lap about 15 seconds behind Sabina Valbusa, an Italian veteran.  I took a quick gauge of my energy, and decided I still felt pretty strong.  Now it was time to get after it.

My new strategy was to try and increase the pace every kilometer.  At about the 6km mark, there was a section of trail that was essentially two-way with just a few pine boughs marking the difference in direction.  As I sailed down towards the pine boughs, a Swiss skier came zinging around the corner from the other direction and I had to lunge wide to avoid her.  Close call!

The next kilometer was gradual terrain up and down through the open field.  I was finally starting to find a good rhythm and Valbusa was still in sight.  I powered up the far side of the field and turned back into the woods.  The coaches were around the next corner and I got a split that I was in 2nd place.  That inspired me to keep charging.

By the midpoint of the big climb, I finally caught the bib number in front of me and yelled “hup” to get a clear trail.  I stayed relaxed and focused on quick movements on and off my skis.  I got another spilt that I was now leading.  As I crested the top of the steepest part, I really set my attention on maintaining speed over the next gradual 500m.  My legs were getting stiff and I really had to focus to keep my momentum going forward.

“Last few minutes, gotta go for it,” I told myself with a kilometer to go.  I jumped skated up and over a little rise and settled back into my tuck.  I carried good speed back toward the field but barely made it around the next two icy turns.  This brought me into the final approach to the stadium.  I V2’d aggressively for a few hundred meters until I hit a stalling headwind and switched to V1.  My skis were slipping out every other stride as I jumped skated up and over the last steep.

Fans were screaming like crazy and the flags were flapping in the wind.  500m to go.  I forced myself to keep a high tempo.  After a few seconds in a tuck, it was time to give everything I had left.  I powered around the hairpin turn and sprinted down the final stretch.  A few meters before the finish line I could hear the announcer yelling my name.  I lunged across the line and skidded to a halt.  Then I heard that I was the new leader.  Cool!

It took me a few seconds to catch my breath and then I pretended to sprint over to the leader’s chair.  I figured it would be just a matter of seconds before a new leader would come in, so I quickly sat down to enjoy my couple seconds of fame.  They already had my warm-ups there, and the announcer asked me a few questions about the race.   It was pretty fun.

After a couple minutes, the FIS race secretary informed me that the next skier coming in would be taking the lead.  I was about to get up and relinquish the throne when I saw that the skier had actually not beat my time.  The secretary apologized.  I got to enjoy the chair for a couple more minutes.

Finally, Vibeke Skofterud came in and took over the lead by a minute.  I vacated the chair and headed off on my cool-down.  As I left the finish area, I thought a little bit about the race.  “It hadn’t really felt like magic out there.  In fact, the first lap had felt pretty unstable, and only the last few km’s had started to click.  I guess I’m just in good shape right now, sweet,” I thought to myself.

While cooling down, I ran into my good friend Claudia Nystad.  She congratulated me on a good race, and informed me that I had finished 24th.  “You were the top German,” she laughed.  For a second, my post race good mood dampened.  Twenty fourth didn’t sound as good as I had hoped.  Oh well.

A little later I ran into Virpi Kuitinen, and she asked me “If I too felt like Bambi out there?” I guess I wasn’t the only one that felt a little unstable during the race.

When I did finally see the results, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was actually 21st.  Then I noticed that I was less than one second out of the top 20, and I growled again.  They aren’t kidding when they say, every second counts!!

This 10km was my best ever World Cup skate distance race, and my best ever World Cup distance placing.  It’s a good feeling to finally start to feel competitive in the distance races, as well as the sprints!
After my fourth place last weekend in the 5km classic and now this good result, my confidence is growing.  I was a little disappointed to be 2 minutes out of the lead, but it’s a good start.  One step at a time!

The next day’s race was a 4×5km relay.  Unfortunately, because we only have 3 US women over here right now (Liz, Morgan and I), we were not allowed to start the relay.  It was a real bummer because I would have loved the chance to race another 5km classic on this course, especially head to head, and races are always so fun when the team is on the line!  Instead, we skied a 2.5hr easy distance classic ski.  I could hardly contain my frustration, I was so amped to race.

Immediately following the men’s race, in which we did race a team (Kris Freeman was less than 10 seconds out of the lead on the first leg!), we packed up and jumped on a bus to Oslo. Tomorrow we head to Kuusamo, Finland, the next stop on the World Cup tour.  We’ll be turning our attention to classic now, with a classic sprint on Saturday and a 10km classic on Sunday.  I can’t wait to test out everything I’ve been working on to improve in classic sprints!!

Until Finland!

Cheers,
Kikkan

Proudly Supported by:

The 2010 season is underway!  After traveling to Europe on Monday, I got in a few days of training before my first race, a classic sprint in Beitostolen, Norway.  While the race wasn’t an official World Cup, there were plenty of world class skiers in attendance.  I opened up with a strong qualifying round in 7th position.  I advanced through the quarterfinals.  In the midst of the semi-finals, I went for a daring move to the inside but was shut out of the track and lost my momentum.  I struggled to get back into the race and missed advancing to the final.  My overall result was 9th place.  A satisfying start.

Race #2 of the weekend was a 5km classic.  Warm weather moved in just before the race including rain.  I chose to go on my Fischer zeros (no-wax classic skis).  I started off at a steady pace and built through the race.  Midway through I passed the bib ahead of me and could tell I was having a good one.  I charged over the 2nd half of the course and crossed the finish line as the new leader by 25 seconds.  I got to sit in the leaders chair for several minutes (to my surprise) as several top names came in.  It wasn’t until the last 5 skiers that I finally got bumped out of the lead.  My time did stand for 4th place however, just 8 seconds off the podium.  With several World Cup pros in attendance, this was a very solid distance result for me and a great way to start the season with confidence in my fitness!!

I will remain in Beitostolen for the next week, preparing for the official start of the World Cup season on Saturday with a 10km freestyle race.

Additional thoughts:
Time Flies - It seems like a flash since I was packing by bags to head home from the final World Cup race of the 2009 season, and yet here I am again, at the start of a brand new year.  Over the last eight months I have logged over 450 hours of training in preparation for this Olympic season.  The last few weeks have been an anxious wait, putting on the final touches, and wondering where my fitness would stack up with the World’s best.  Now it’s time to find out!

Hey Coach - A benefit of racing in Norway is a chance to see my former coach Frode Lillifjell who is now coaching the elite Norwegian club team, Team Trondelog.  Frode was course-side during both the sprint and the 5km races this past weekend and it was great to be able to hear what his experience has been like with the elite athletes in Norway.

Freaky health things lead to good performances? - Upon arrival in Europe last week I developed a severe case of hives due to an allergic reaction.  A few days later I have solid performances in two races.  Last year at World Championships, only a few days before my silver medal performance, I was fighting a case of shingles.  And just before I discovered the blood clot in my leg in March of ‘08, I had just wrapped up a successful week of racing at the Canadian Championships.  So hear is hoping for an ear ache this weekend.

Brown cheese please – The food here in Norway has been pretty awesome.  One of my favorite Norwegian delights is brown cheese made from cow’s milk.  It has a slightly sweet taste and goes really well with jam and bread.  Other notable food items – fish paste that comes in a tube (tastes like smoked salmon) and bread that comes with a cross-country ski star on the bag!

Thanks for reading,

Kikkan

Proudly Supported by:

People often ask me what I eat as an elite athlete.  It’s a really good question!  My answer has two parts.  On one hand, cross-country ski training burns a lot of calories, so there is some freedom to kind of eat whatever you want without immediate visual consequences.  On the other hand however, as an elite athlete my body is like a high-end race car engine.  The higher quality the fuel put in, the faster I can go.  So, it’s always a balance.  I try to eat smart and healthy to optimize my performance.  But I also like to reward myself for working hard with those indulgent (not-so-healthy) foods.

Lately, I’ve been feeling a little guilty about “rewarding” myself too much.  With the Olympics coming up (the ultimate motivation for being the best you can be), I have decided to give myself an “Olympic challenge.”  When I was a cross-country runner in high-school my team used to give up five things for the running season.  I actually carried this tradition into my preparation for the 2002 Olympics as well, giving up five things: candy, chips, french fries, soda and staying up late.

I am now attempting to commit to this challenge once again.  From now until the Olympics (Feb 12, 2010) I am going to give up:

1) Candy

2) Chips

3) French Fries

4) Soda (this one is going to be tough!)

5) White bread

Each of these things that I’m giving up represents one of the five rings in the Olympic symbol.  For some people this would probably be quite easy, because they would never eat this stuff anyway.  For me, it will be a good sacrifice to remember that I am committed to my goals.

Feel free to join the challenge with me.  Pick five things that you can go without for the next few months to remind yourself of how sweet it will be to reach your goal.

Keep an eye on me!  Good luck!

Well, I thought it was about time that I got caught up on all those things I’ve been meaning to do:

- A blog about the Whistler Camp with the USST: I had a great camp this year with my US teammates and all the other athletes that came and trained in Whistler at the beginning of September. There was such a good energy amongst the group and I really enjoyed the opportunity to train together. We did a bunch of great workouts, including L3 intervals around the sprint course with a fast finish (we took turns leading), a classic sprint time trial (a good hard reminder of how challenging that course is, but also a boost of confidence that we know the course so well), multiple speed and distance sessions, cool runs on the endless mountain bike trails, and finally a skate distance time trial on the access road in the pouring rain, a very fitting closure to our camp. The next time we see the venue will (hopefully) be the Olympic games!!

Training with the girls during L3.

Pack mentality.

- Team bonding in Tofino: Following our camp in Whislter, I had a great experience with the team in Tofino. Some of the highlights included: a night of old fashioned entertainment (jokes and storytelling) by the bonfire, a wicked double-pole interval session where I tried my darndest to hang on with the boys, and a sweet 3 hour run through the trees and along the beaches. Most of the group went surfing, and I’m kicking myself a little that I didn’t go. Overall I was really impressed by the dedication of everyone, both athletes and staff, in terms of their own preparation for the season. But also everyone’s commitment to supporting one another and the goals of the team.

Surfing in Tofino

The beach was awesome

- A quick stop in Chicago: Together with Andy Newell and Kris Freeman, I spent a couple days in Chicago at the USOC Media Summit. We spent two full days taking photos and doing interviews. It was a great chance to educate the media on all the fun and exciting details of our sport. Some of the photographers had some interesting ideas as to how we should hold our skis and poles in the pictures. We had to tell them numerous times… we would never do that!

Setting up for a photo with Sports Illustrated

- Back to home base: After three weeks on the road, it was nice to return home for a break. But, not right away! I still had one week left in my training block, so I got right back at it with some testing. The APU team has been doing this testing throughout the summer so it was fun to see where I compared to my former self. It was a hard couple of days, but I came through it with some solid performances and a good gauge of my body’s status. Then I finished off the week with a rollerski race, 7km classic on mostly rolling terrain. I led from the start and tried making surges to drop the pack. It wasn’t until the last 2km that I was finally able to get a small gap. I won with Laura Valaas 2nd and Katie Ronsse 3rd.

The boys racing.

- A Recovery Week: The rollerski race concluded a solid 7-week training period, so it was time to enjoy a recovery week. I like recovery weeks for the physical break of course, but also for the break from the twice a day training schedule. I can finally catch up on all those meetings and tasks that I haven’t been able to fit between workouts. It’s been busy. I have to remember to rest and recover too.

Taking some time to relax.

So, that should have me all caught up, at least for now. About six weeks to go until I take off to Europe for the start of the season. I have decided to stay at home during this time and get a really solid block of training before “game time.”

Happy training everyone!

I just completed my final glacier training camp of the summer on Eagle glacier.  We had some really sweet conditions with hard snow, clear skies and sun, and also some good character building days where you were skiing in a 15 ft sq sphere the whole time feeling like you are the only person on the planet.  I continued to put in a lot of volume with a few interval sessions mixed in.  Over the three camps this summer I put in 65 hours of skiing and worked a lot on my classic technique.

I’ve pulled off a few video clips from the team video camera.  Check it out…

That concludes my glacier skiing escapades for the 2009 summer.  Now it’s back to work with dryland training. In two weeks I’ll be joining the US Ski Team in Whistler for a team camp.  See ya later!

A week ago, I started a much anticipated and probably much needed recovery week.  And since recovery weeks are important for both the body and the mind, I decided to get out of town and have a little fun with the girls…

On Monday we packed up my car and headed south to McCarthy, AK, the gateway to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.  Joining me on this adventure were my Mom, my teammate Kate Arduser and a friend of Kate’s, Luise Hunker.  It took us about 7 hours, the last two of which were on a dirt road, to reach our destination.

We drove through a thick haze of forest-fire smoke but luckily popped out of it just before reaching McCarthy where grand scenery awaited us!

For our first evening, we hopped on our bikes and rode 3 miles into town.  Once a booming city of 30,000 people during the copper mining rush, McCarthy is now the home to less than 50 people.  There were just a handful of historic buildings on the main street.  We enjoyed a nice dinner amongst the locals at the Golden Saloon and then jumped back on the bikes and cruised home.  By the time we reached our bed and breakfast in the woods.  The smoke from the fires was looming overhead.

Fortunately, upon waking up the next morning, the smoke had receded back and we began a 12 hour adventure.  We first rode our bikes back up to McCarthy and checked out the museum.  I find this pioneer-esc history fascinating!  We then grabbed lunch at The Potato and headed up to the Kennecott Mine via wagon trail.

The view from the mine was incredible.  A vast glacial morraine lay in front of us, the old mine buildings in various states of disrepair.  And all of it seemingly so far away from civilization, it’s hard to imagine how they built all of this stuff back in 1910!

After cruising through the town area, we found a hiking trail leading up to the mine sites.  We expected a short casual hike, but after two hours up a pretty steady grade, we still had not reached the mine.

Having not really been prepared for a long hike, we decided to push on just a little further to get visual confirmation of the site and then turned around.

It took us another couple hours to get back down, and then a sweet downhill bike ride back to our place.  By the time we reached our little cabin, we were all pretty tired from a long day.

On the morning of day 3, we took our time packing up and then said goodbye to our host and headed back to Anchorage.  It was a sweet trip.

I spent the rest of my recovery week back at home, going on a few bike rides and easy runs.  By the end of the week, my body was feeling pretty flat from all the rest and I was excited to get back to work.

Now we enter a testing week to gauge our training progress thus far into the year.  I set some new PR’s last time we tested so I’m anxious to see how I compare and if I’ve improved.

I just finished up (well ok, it’s been a few days) my second glacier training camp of the summer.  It was another great week of volume training with a few interval sessions thrown in.  The pisten bully was working great this time around and the skiing was pretty sweet, minus the ash.  Cleaning off gritty klister is a pretty interesting experience!

Here are some photos:

A shot of the helicopter for the trip up.  A rare blue sky day, no hiking, yay!

The trip up was sweet, just a little too short.

A view of the trail. The ash was mostly bladed off the course with the pisten bully.

Getting some work done while chillin’ in my new compression recovery suit.

On Friday evening I left the camp a little early to get back to town for my good friend Tara Hamilton’s wedding.  It was hard to leave the glacier with the chance to ski a few more days, but it was really great to be there to celebrate with Tara on her big day.  (Tara and I were roommates at the three world juniors we both attended).  Tara and Wes had a sweet Alaskan wedding at an old historic mine area.  Here are some pictures:

I have one more glacier camp on tap this summer, a few weeks from now in August.  Until then, it’s back to work with plenty of dryland training.  I’ve got one more big week to finish off and then I can enjoy a recovery week to let my body absorb the last eight weeks.  Wahoo!