Unseasonable warm weather in Fairbanks this past week gave us the opportunity to run a second 3000 meter time trial on the track on Saturday. We also use this data to help name the travel squad for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships on October 24.
Among our 27 skiers and runners who hit the track, we had 15 student-athletes set PRs and another two set season best marks. The best female senior (ages 20+) skier ran a 10:37 while the best female junior (under 20 years old) skier posted a 10:58. The best male skier also happened to be a junior; his time was 9:22.

Senior captain Julie (Coulter) Pierson (left) and senior Anna Coulter shed layers.

On Sunday we got off campus for a group hike/recovery session in the White Mountains north of Fairbanks. We enjoyed a three hour jaunt in true wilderness.

Nanook runners and skiers at the top of Wickersham Dome in the White Mountains of Alaska.

Good recovery from a hard run.

But, with the Red Sox playing game three of the ALDS, assistant coach Matt Dunlap had to receive inning updates via text message from a college-buddy who was in the stands at Fenway some 3,200 miles away. Joy turned to agony for Matt as the Red Sox blew the lead in the ninth inning and were eliminated from the post-season. Then, the Patriots lost in overtime! What day to be a Boston sports fan! But, the hike was amazing! — SJ

In Fairbanks the snow comes when the cranes and geese leave…

….we hope (First flakes outside ski room; Sept. 22)

Meanwhile, we train.

Explore.

Discover new species (Apple Ridge, Hawaii)

Race

And Win. (Theresia Schnurr, Apple Ridge)

We’ve been tightening up the slack.

Working together

Becoming a stronger team.

And we are looking good… (I dunno about the old guy in the middle though?)

So eat lots (Eric, our champion foodie on the team)

Volunteer….

… at your local trails

Make sure the freshman know where they stand on the food-chain.
(Tyler Kornfield demonstrating a caribou’s eating habits. )

And make it happen.

-Ian Wilkinson
(Photo credit Scott Jerome; Matt Dunlap and Rebecca Konieczny)

It’s very rewarding to see the training paying off for our student-athletes. Two of our top women posted big improvements on the 3 km uphill DP TT last weekend. One, an NCAA All American, improved by 1:10. The other, a top-15 NCAA skier, knocked 1:26 off her time from last year. Other team members improved in the 3000 running TT, 5 km uphill run, and strength tests. The secret’s out, training works.

Cross Country season has begun at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Our student-athletes arrived on August 15 and we began our early season camp with the usual NCAA paperwork, testing, and group activities. We decided to do something a little different this year. At the end of the first week we embarked on a one-day run/hike on the 27 mile (43.4 km) Pinnell Mountain Trail.

This wilderness trail is located about 80 miles northeast of Fairbanks. I told the team that since this trail is well above treeline that we would postpone it if the weather was bad. Since my training has been a bit “moderate” in August I was praying for lightening, thunder, fog, hail, snow, or some other natural disaster to save me from my own great idea. But alas, we woke to sunny skies!  Darn, I had to go.  Just fake it, I thought, just fake it.

The vans departed at 5:57 am for the two-hour drive. Since the trail is a point-to-point we decided that our new assistant, Matt Dunlap, (aka Chewy) would go with the men in one direction while I would run with the women in the opposite direction.  With an average 8% grade on the trail, and some sections reaching 25%, this is no easy nature hike.

Long story short, the athletes rocked it and I suffered with blisters and tired legs.  My group ran/hiked for 7:15 (total time with breaks was just under nine hours).  It was awesome, though.  Excellent training day.   -SJ

After hearing leading bio-mechanist HC Holmberg speak a few times about double poling, and after having his research emphasized by USST coaches, I have tried in earnest to put this “new” poling into practice.

Without going into all of the details, the basic premise is this: the best skiers in the world generate the most power in their double poling very quickly. In other words, the most power is applied right when the poles enter the snow. I think of it as “slamming” the poles into the snow.

Though I have practiced this over the last two seasons, I decided to make a conscious change in my poling during my last two DP (rollerski) sessions.  I get lazy and old habits pop back up.  (Needless to say that I am not training — just exercising — but I want to have a clear picture in my mind of what I am asking our student-athletes to accomplish.)   So, I brought my hands back a little closer to my head, raised them a little higher, and slammed my poles into the asphalt.  I focused on leaning from my ankles, crunching onto the poles with my core, having my head and hands come down together, and not letting my body flop at the waist.  I also let my eyes look down at the pavement for a split second instead of trying to keep my eyes up by straining my neck.

It was tough, but the difference between my typical DP and this new DP was immediately noticeable: I had greater speed over the ground.  This technique also applies to skating, especially V2.

It’s interesting, though not surprising,  how skiing technique evolves over time.  I witnessed this firsthand a few years back.  In the summer of  2003 I was lucky enough to ski at Sognefjell, Norway, with Olympic gold medalist (‘64) and seven-time Vasaloppet champion (‘62, ‘63, ‘64, ‘65, ‘66, ‘68, ‘69) Janne Stefansson of Sweden.  Janne had long since retired from competitive skiing when skating entered the scene in the early 80s.

As I classic skied with Janne I watched his long, powerful double pole with his arms nearly fully extended.  I noticed that his arms stayed almost completely straight while striding, too.  This was the technique — championship technique — of his generation and it was frozen in time right in front of me.

Also during that camp at Sognefjell I was able to jump in behind Ole Einar Bjørndalen and Jørgen Aukland.  I was at a living museum — I was able to ski with a champion from the 1960s and two champions from the 2000s and observe techniques separated by 40 years.  I felt like a dwarf among giants.

As we prepare the snow differently, as we create new events, as we make improvements in equipment, as we learn new approaches to training, racers will continue to develop technique.  We, as coaches, can only hope to keep up with the changes.

I am convinced that the double pole technique as outlined by Holmberg is what we need to be teaching to our young athletes today.  But, what will it be ten years from now?  The evolution continues.

I was fortunate enough to attend a USSA Coaches Clinic and help with an REG Camp in Palmer, Alaska, last week. The USST’s Pete Vordenberg and Pat Casey were the lead coaches/instructors for the camp and clinic.

I learned some new ideas about technique, training, and practical drills as well as reinforced concepts we already put into practice at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. What I found to be the most rewarding part of the week, however, was to witness firsthand the professionalism and accessibility of the USST coaches.

USST coaches Pete Vordenberg and Pat Casey

Pete and Pat have a clear plan for development and articulated this plan extremely well.  It was obvious that they eat, breath and live ski racing.  More to the point, Pete, Pat, and the entire USST cross country staff are committed to long-term results.  They are not waiting for things to happen; they are making things happen.

Pete outlined the goals that he created in 2006 for developing skiing in the US: 1) Fitness; 2) Continuity; and 3) Partnership.

What was most striking is the accessibility that coaches and athletes throughout the country have to the USST staff.  Despite modest budgets and obvious travel disadvantages compared to their European counterparts, the USST coaches have been studying skiing, organising their findings, creating plans, and implementing those plans very effectively.  And these coaches travel around our massive country in the summer to disseminate this information to athletes and coaches.

There were many athletes at the REG who are clearly committed to their skiing.  I was impressed by their professionalism and abilities.  It was also obvious that junior coaches around Alaska are educating their athletes well.

REG athletes Jordan Buetow (l) and Heather Edic (r) with coach FXC coach Pete Leonard

One misconception, however, about training and physiology that I continue to see among young athletes is the length of time lactic acid stays within the body after a hard effort.  Though this is a relatively minor point in the big picture, it is good to understand the basics regarding blood lactate.

There is a notion out there that a recovery training session the day after a hard work-out or race removes lactic acid from the body from the previous day’s session.  There may be value to a recovery work-out session the day after an intense effort, but it does not have to do with lactic acid.

Without getting into too many details, here are the basics.  Lactate is produced and processed by the body continually.  After a hard training session (anaerobic) blood lactate will return to normal levels within a relatively short length of time (well under 60 minutes for most people).  Low-intensity exercise (“cool-down”) will speed the removal of lactate from the blood.  Finally, while lactic acid is certainly a marker of exercise intensity, it is not necessarily a bad thing.  In fact, lactate is eventually converted into fuel for working muscle.

Bottom line: while a training session the day after a race, time trial, or some other intense training session may have benefits, lactate removal from the previous day’s session is not one of them.  Check out “Exercise Physiology: Exercise, Performance, and Clinical Applications” by Robergs and Roberts for more details on blood lactate and its role in exercise.

I digressed a bit, but the lactic acid thing drives me a bit batty.  Again, kudos to the USST coaches for an excellent camp and clinic.  -SJ

Coach Leonard using his Williams study skills at the REG camp

After four years using a Sony Mini-DV digital camcorder (“digital on tape”) for coaching (recording training sessions and races) I want to upgrade to an all-digital (hard drive) camcorder, and I am looking for recommendations from coaches, athletes and parents in the skiing community.

It seems that with no, or very few, moving parts, an all-digital recorder may be more durable in the field.  However, the ease of data transfer to the computer, and subsequent editing and distribution, is probably the biggest draw to all-digital.

If you have any recommendations regarding all-digital camcorders for use in skiing please leave a comment.  Thanks for your help.  -SJ

I just watched the video of the men’s 50 k from US Nationals again.  Though I stood trail-side and witnessed this event first-hand, Noah Hoffman’s gutsy performance inspired me again as I watched it three months later.

I remember the buzz at Birch Hill during the first half of this race.  Was Noah crazy?  Why was he pushing so hard?  Why did he lead it for several kilometers?  Didn’t it make more sense to sit back and just try to hang on?

I don’t know Noah’s strategy.  I don’t know if he had a plan or just went with a good feeling.  Whatever it was, it looked just plain gutsy.  Everyone kept waiting for Babikov to make a move and ski away from the field as he had done so many times before.  But it never came.  And Noah kept on keepin’ on.

Watching that video a few days ago was damn inspiring.  It was great to see a young American pushing the pace, hanging tough, and hammering when he needed to.  Though a fell a few minutes back in the final kilometers, Noah’s performance was simply impressive. 

Kudos to Noah, his team, club, coaches, and wax techs for a solid performance.  I hope we see more of this from Noah and his USST teammates in the coming months and years.  -SJ

I first met Willie Neal several years ago at a camp Sten Fjeldheim and I ran. I remember Willie being very enthusiastic, motivated, and happy.  I then became reacquainted with Willie during his college search. Although I did not land Willie for UAF, I was always very impressed by Willie’s integrity during the recruiting process. I remember him always being very mature and honest in his communications with me. Though he did not choose to come to Alaska I was always rooting for Willie.

I was so sorry to hear about Willie’s death. I send my heartfelt thoughts to Willie’s family and friends. I am deeply sorry for your loss. –S. Jerome

I am very pleased to announce that Matt Dunlap of Farmington, Maine, will
be our new assistant coach for skiing and cross country.

Matt is a graduate of Bates College where he competed for four years in
cross country, skiing, and track & field. Matt was a team captain for
both the cross country team and the skiing team during his senior year.

A stand-out skier for the Bobcats, Matt excelled in cross country,
qualifying twice for the NCAA Cross Country National Championship. He set
his 8 km CC PR at the NCAA Regional Championship during his senior year,
qualifying for nationals in a time of 25:13.

Matt successfully coached high school cross country, skiing, and track &
field following his time at Bates. Matt’s outgoing personality,
dedication to student-athletes, and commitment to excellence in sport will
be great assets to our program.

Matt will arrive in Fairbanks in early August and begin his duties at UAF
immediately.  –SJ