Friday, December 14, 2012

Methow Skiers

Hello Methow skiers,

Please spread the word about the Cascade Challenge Ski camp. Sadie and I will be hosting the camp on December 23rd. All skiers who want to attend must sign up and due to insurance policies we can only have 50 kids, that means there are only a few spots left. Don't get left out, sign up today!

Click on this
or use this link;
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ao0bySIfp2UldHhwWDZJWVNsYTBscjRXNHBqVmRkQ3c#gid=0


Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Ups and Downs

Racing on the World Cup is different; last week was my introduction to this whole new level of racing and I must say it is AWESOME!! My debut to this level of racing was a sprint in the center of Quebec City. We raced in front of the parliament building and it felt like what I imagine NFL players feel like, well maybe not exactly, but close. 


The whole racecourse was just packed with screaming spectators and there were tons of American flags out there. I did not end up having the best luck, which was extremely upsetting and disappointing at the moment. I was having what felt like one of the best sprint qualifiers of my career when I fell less then a hundred meters from the finish. The conditions were extremely tricky with deep sugary snow. It was important to be light on the feet and keep the tempo up. In the past, I have struggled with going out too easy and racing conservatively. This time I was not holding anything back, I went out hard and everything was going great until I caught my tip and fell. It is important for me to move past these races as there are several more opportunities coming up. I am just glad I am in good form and hope I can build on it through the season. This year has a lot of exciting races on the schedule and I can't wait!

Ian Harvey Photo

flyingpointroad.com: Quebec City Sprints  _SMF9202 Flyingpointroad Photo

Now I am in Canmore getting ready for the next set of World Cups. I will be racing a 15 kilometer mass start on Thursday, a sprint on Saturday and a 30km mass start duathalon on Sunday. Getting Pumped!


The view from my hotel in Canmore

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

World Cup

Wow, what an exciting series of racing!! We had three Super Tour races in the last four days. A skate sprint on Thursday, a classic sprint on Saturday, and a classic 15km on Sunday. Oh and I had a final exam on Friday, which may have been the hardest. Luckily they all went extremely well. I never got the win that I wanted so badly, but I came pretty close. I got a 2nd, 3rd, and 6th. 

Coming up a little short in the skate sprint. Fasterskier photo 
Leading one of the Quaterfinal heats. Erin Phillips Photo
We had a mass start on Sunday. Fasterskier Photo

I'm on a plane on my way to Quebec City and I'm not going there to be a spectator. Yup, that does mean I'm racing the World Cups in Canada. I'm so excited and I'm still a little bit in shock that in three days I will be racing against all those hot shots that have been my heroes and idles since I started getting serious about skiing. I guess its time to change my state of mind; no longer are these guys super stars to me, now these guys are my competition and on friday I want to beat some of them. 
BRING IT ON PETTER NORTHUG

So, how did I get this opportunity to race the World Cup? It has been a goal of mine since May when I heard that there where going to be World Cup races in North America. In order to represent the U.S. I knew that I would need to be one of the top skiers on the Super Tour circuit(U.S. circuit) in order to qualify. I accomplished my goal-  last night when I checked my computer I had an email from the U.S. Ski Team coach saying I was invited to compete for the U.S. in both Quebec and Canmore. I'm also the Super Tour leader which means I get World Cup start rights for three other World Cup weekends in Europe. I'm so happy that I had a successful series of races, because it has opened up the opportunity to race at the next level, the very top level. Maybe in five or ten years I will be writing to you guys and telling you how I'm the World Cup leader…it's possible.


After Canmore I will be headed back to the Methow Valley. I'm super excited to go home and celebrate the holidays with my family. I will also be hosting a kids camp for any younger skiers in town, It's free and its going to be a jolly good time. Check out my flyer and if your interested go to the link and sign up. Remember to sign up right away though, because there are only 50 spots this time, due to insurance policies.

Click here or use the link below;
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ao0bySIfp2UldHhwWDZJWVNsYTBscjRXNHBqVmRkQ3c#gid=0




Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Racetana

How exciting, the racing season has begun. About a week and a half ago, myself and the rest of the APU crew left Alaska and flew down to Bozeman. We are here for the first two Super Tour races of the year. The first weekend was in West Yellowstone, so that we where we headed first. Every year there is a festival and tons of people pack themselves into the little tourist town a couple miles from the Montana/Idaho border; it is always a great time, even when there is limited snow like this year. Everyone is excited to get on skis, try out the new gear, and celebrate Thanksgiving. The beginning of the week was super mellow and laid back. We spent a few days acclimatizing, had a nice thanksgiving dinner that I cooked cornbread for. Some people (I guess everybody besides me) felt cornbread was not a high priority so they did not let me use the oven. However, this was not a problem for me, a professional chef sometimes runs into obstacles. So, I cooked the cornbread on the barbecue and it turned out great!
My cornbread
Near the end of the week, tensions started getting higher and people were doing all their quirky things to make sure they were ready to race. I have a couple things I like to do, I won't tell you all of my secrets but one thing I like to do is where compression tights. They make my legs recover faster between workouts and help my muscles feel light and zippy.

Stretching with my 2XU leggings 
The first race was a skate distance race on Friday. Skating was my weaker technique last year, but I did my best to change that over the summer. I ended up getting fourth place behind two Sun Valley boys and Matt Liebsch, a skier from the Midwest. I was pretty happy with this result. I felt like it was a great way to start the season and I think I can do even better. I struggled a bit about half way through the race due to the elevation. Skiing at high altitude is much different than skiing at sea level; there is a lot more air to use back in Anchorage.
4th skate distance race, Fasterskier photo
The second race was a skate sprint on Saturday. The race was only a prologue because with the lack of snow the trails were not wide enough to hold head to head heats. I feel that a prologue is a good test of pure speed but usually the results from a prologue are not the same as results after head to head heats. I ended up getting second, which I was SO pumped about. I have always tended to be a better head to head racer so posting the second fastest time in the prologue was exciting. I think it is a good indicator that my speed is back. Last year I made a big jump in training volume and I was not able to get that snappy sprint feeling. I felt it on Saturday!

 2nd skate sprint, fasterskier photo
 2nd skate sprint, fasterskier photo
Yesterday we drove back here to Bozeman where the second weekend of Super Tours are being held. I am getting really excited and I hope I can have some good race. After this weekend, I will know if I qualify for the World Cups in Canada. What an honor it would be if I could represent the U.S. in the World Cup. I am nervous but I am going to race my ass off because I would love to have that opportunity. Wish me luck!

Driving to Bozeman from West Yellowstone
Engine Room Productions Photo

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Skiing in Anchorage

There is not a lot of snow in Anchorage but about a 15 minute drive up the hillside there is enough to do some quality rock skiing.

Here is a couple picture from last week, right after we got the snow.

Photo Credit: Davis Dunlap
Photo Credit: Davis Dunlap
Photo Credit: Davis Dunlap
Yesterday I was a little slow getting out the door for my afternoon workout. It got kind of hard to see the trail but there was an amazing sunset over town.

Photo Credit: Me
Photo Credit: Me

Today we had a time trial, it felt great to ski hard in the race suit. Two more time trials before I head off next weekend for the Super Tour circuit. 

Top three results
1. Erik Flora 21:01
2. Erik Bjornsen 21:36
3. Mark Iverson 21:44

Coach Flora has been training hard and will be racing in the West Yellowstone Super Tour. 

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Fairbanks update

Here is an update from Fairbanks, Alaska. The video is from a skate ski this morning, it was a supper cold, 1 degree fahrenheit. It feels great to be back on snow!!

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Park City Camp

The last fifteen days I've been training and living in Park City, Utah with the U.S. Ski Team. It has probably been the best camp I've had this year. The weather and training venue has been a really nice change, not that I don't love the Anchorage hurricanes. Those are fun too! While I was here I got to do lots of fun things like….

Photo shoot-->



The first picture is the 2012-2013 United States Ski Team, the second one is my headshot for the year.

We got several chances to go hard and test ourselves against our teammates. Out of the seven guys on the US Ski Team three of them have posted top 5 finishes at a World Cup event. I'm not one of those guys but I figure if I train with them enough and steal some of their tricks and skills maybe I can get myself on the World Cup podium sometimes soon! :)

Here is a couple videos from training--->



The first video is of us doing a skate roller ski workout on the 2002 Olympic course. These paved trails are pretty similar to the trails we will be using for the National Championships this year. The second video is of us doing a bounding workout, we use the poles to try and simulate skiing. 

I also got to room with one of the most successful cross country skiers in the U.S., Kris Freeman. This guys is a bad*ss and a super nice guy. I may have a poster of him in my room at home, it is inspiring but the real version is even more inspiring. The guy is a diabetic which makes his accomplishments even more impressive. He works with a lot of diabetic kids which is awesome! One day I heard him talking on the phone with a girl in high school who is running cross country, he was helping her prepare for her next race. It sounded super technical, I can't imagine having to add this obstacle to the mix. 

Here is a picture of Kris Freeman in the 2006 Olympics and a picture of him on the cover of Outside magazine-->



I also just finished up two of my classes at Alaska Pacific University. I take all of my classes online which is really helpful, it allows me to keep up on my schooling while on the road. I had my finals mid way through this training camp so there were more then a couple very late night study sessions.


Here is a picture of me getting my studying on--->


We also got to do some physical testing while we were here. So far I have been tested four times by the US Ski Team sports science crew. The tests went pretty good for me. I'm recovering from a pretty serious virus so I was a little nervous my results weren't going to be better then they were in May. Overall I had a pretty serious jump in my skating, my double pole and classic had a small improvement. My goal this year was to improve my motor and to improve my skating technique, I feel I accomplished both. My max strength test showed that I'm a little bit weaker but I have to take into account that I lost a little weight. My goal for the next couple months is to improve power and strength.

Here is a picture of me getting tested on treadmill--->


Getting sent off the back when can't keep the pace up.


All in all it was just a super fun camp, I really like training with this group of guys and the coaches are great! Now i'm headed back to Alaska, a little later then expected after a cancelled flight but I'm starting to get pretty use to the airline companies messing up. Snow in AK, I'm so excited to strap some skis on and glide around. Racing is getting so close.

Here are a couple more pictures from the camp--->

Myself on the right and teammate and one of my best friends, Skyler Davis on the left. This guy is in good shape, watch out!

 Photo credit: Robert Whitney
  Photo credit: Robert Whitney
  Photo credit: Robert Whitney
  Photo credit: Robert Whitney
Erik Flora APU coach(left) Matt Whitcomb USST coach (right) Photo credit: Robert Whitney


Sunday, September 30, 2012

Change in weather

A little change in weather here in Anchorage. We got a little cold front that moved in, so it went from lots of rain to some fresh snow and clear blue skies. Today I went for a really nice rollerski and tried to soak up some of that vitamin D I've been missing the last couple weeks. It was around 40 degrees, time to start wearing gloves.
 Little bit of snow left today on campus.
Waxed up the skis yesterday. 

Below are some pictures my teammate Reese Hanneman took of me rollerskiing last week.






Sunday, September 23, 2012

Fall Update

It's been a super busy last couple weeks. My plan with school this year is to take a larger load now in the fall semester, so that I can take an easier load this winter when I will be traveling a lot. That means if I'm not working out there is a pretty good chance you can find me in the library. As I get closer to finishing my degree I get more higher level business classes. Right now I'm taking three business classes and meteorology.


Training has been going great! I did have a little sickness for a week, but I'm healthy now. My coach believes if your sick for a week you need to take a week to work back into hard training and before you can start giving it a 100% in intervals. I just finished that ease back into it week. I'm really excited for this coming week, I think I will get to do intervals almost everyday. It's that time of year where we get to push our speed. I put the time in this summer and did lots of easy hours so now I get to put that base to use and test my limits.

Training this summer on Eagle Glacier, Alaska.

The weather here in Anchorage has been just nuts. It seems like every other day we have wind advisory alerts. A couple of days they measured wind gusts up over 130 mph. It's been raining lots too. I'm just glad I'm busy doing other things so it doesn't bother me much to have this weather now. It makes me feel tough training in it though, sometimes I feel like I could be in the Rocky movie.

When on the road it is important to be seen. APU just got some bright new rain jackets, just in time.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Summer update

Hi Readers,

It has been a little while but here is an update from the last couple months. This summer I have spent most of my time training with the Alaska Pacific University mens team in Anchorage, Alaska. Check us out -->



Our team is fortunate enough to get to spend some time on snow every summer. This is important for getting some high volume as well as put the techniques I have been working on during dryland training onto skis. 



Here is a video made by Charlie Renfro an APU coach. It does a really good job showing you a typical day on Eagle Glacier. Ok, maybe not a "typical" day, we usually get lucky and get at least a couple of clear days each camp.



Below is a picture of "The Glacier House". I spent four weeks of my summer there last year and two weeks so far this summer, I have one more camp up there in mid August. My coach Erik Flora just counted all the days he has spent on this glacier, he has been coaching for the last 10-12 years and spent 360 of those days on the glacier. Thats crazy!



Our team practices as a group for a few weeks and then we have a week off to do some active recovery. This gives us an opportunity to do some different activities like paddling, swimming, hiking, fishing, or maybe just take a trip back home.