xcSkiLife.com is Back

I have integrated my two websites http://in-the-arena-brian.blogspot.com/ and xcSkiLife.com so that they are easier to update and so that they can 'talk' to eachother. I am in Oslo, Norway preparing for Saturdays 50km Hollmenkollen World Cup. Check back daily for updates.

Holmenkollen Arena

Another beautiful day here at Hollmenkollen arena.  I skied in the afternoon to get my body used  to going at 2pm (qualifying time for Drammen sprints).  Hardwax barely worked and I could have skied in my t-shirt.

The new jump and stadium

Happy to have this opportunity

Chris, this picture is for you

The ski world is small.  I ran in to Anders Folleras (former UVM and MSU skier) on the trails today and we did some speed together.  I enjoyed dinner with my good friend Kjetil Dammen and his parents.  It was fun to recall our years at UAA together and to catch up on our recent adventures.

We catch the transport bus to Drammen in 20 minutes.  I am excited for my first Euro World Cup.  Classic City Sprint.  5 racers  (Newell, Hamilton, Hinckley, Me, and Kikkan)

Info at: http://www.worldcupdrammen.no/engelsk

Live Results at: http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/604/1228.html?cal_suchsector=CC&event_id=27069

First Time to Norway

Norwegians are very proud.  For years I have been told how great the bread is in Norway.  My friend and college roommate Kjetil would try hundreds of loaves of bread but never found any to his satisfaction.  This morning I understood why, the bread here is awesome.  Kuzzy and I have made some pretty awesome loaves at home in Wisconsin, but the bread here is unreal.

It is a good thing that I am racing a 50km this weekend.  The bread/crackers and Gjetost (Norwegian Brown Cheese) is really good.

We are staying in a very nice hotel.  I am trying not to think about how expensive it is ($220/night?).   As the leader of the SuperTour on (Feb 1) much of my expenses are covered by FIS although there are a days that I am responsible for.  This high expense lifestyle is not a norm for me but I am trying to just enjoy it and focus on what I need to do to race fast.

The hotel is called the Soria Moria and is really cool.  We are just above the Hollmenkollen Ski Jump and race trails.  The weather has been beautiful and I can view the entire city from my bedroom window.

Soria Moria Hotel with Hollmenkollen Jump

The Hollmenkollen ski jump and trails have been redone and are brand new.  They actually just opened about a week ago.  I have heard that the project cost over $300 Million.  Pretty amazing investment in ski trails.  World Championships here in 2011 will be amazing.

These guys were walking around the course raking rocks out of the trail.  Committed volunteers?  (The snow was natural and clean to start with)

I spent the morning getting this blog up and rolling.  Updates are easy and I will take my camera skiing with me this afternoon.

Over 1,000 Kids Ski Barnebirkie

Over 1,000 young skiers slid to the line on thursday for the Barnebirkie. Pretty impressive considering the town of Hayward has a population of about 2,500. We had a good group from the Boys and Girls Club. Beautiful weather, good snow, cookies and hot chocolate...pretty hard to beat.

Shana and Raleighna await the starting gun

Shaylena

LCO Boys and Girls Club Barne Skiers

Enjoying the obstacle course as part of the games and celebration at the finish line on main street.

The Wall of Fire

Check out this video of the Barnebirkie. Can you find anyone you know?

Good Luck Kuz

For the past four years I have had the privilege of living and training with an Olympian. That Olympian will start his first Olympic race tomorrow in the 15km Freestyle. Garrott has many talents and is a well balance skier, performing well in every event: skate, classic, distance or sprint, however, the 15k is arguably his strongest event.

Although I am sad to not be toeing the line tomorrow, I am very happy. It has been a great season for me and there are many exciting opportunities still coming my way. I have improved greatly these past few years and I have many people to thank for that. My main training partner and friend Garrott has perhaps taught me the most.

I first met Garrott in June 2006 in Cable, Wisconsin. We were both 'freshman' on the new CXC Elite Team and were ready to become professional skiers. We have had a lot of fun and shared in many unique experiences over the years, but some things have always remained the same. Every morning, the bread machine beeps and it is time to wake up and train. I get out of bed knowing that Garrott is probably already getting ready to work to get faster. We don't necessarily talk about it, but the Goal... the Olympics... The 15k is certainly on the mind.

I am very competitive and so is Garrott, and that is a good thing. Everyday I try to beat Garrott, sometimes I do, most days I do not. He more or less does the same thing. I believe it has made us both faster. We are smart about it and make sure that our competition matches the goal of our workout. We used to do specific strength sessions and race each other but we quickly determined that we couldn't race each other without completely exhausting ourselves and taking away from other workouts. Actually, Garrott is smarter about it and over the years I have learned from him about staying focused on the long term goal.

Me and Garrott at our first World Cup in Canmore, AB in 2008

One of my more memorable experiences as a ski racer is watching Garrott in our first week of World Cup Competition in 2008. Garrott's first race was the 30km Duathalon. It was a tough race for him and he fought hard the whole way. He actually threw up when he crossed the finish line, It wasn't pretty. It was a mass start race and Garrott passed several skiers but they all dropped out and he ended up dead last. Three days later Garrott had a World Cup top 10 in the Freestyle Sprint. It was awesome. Those experiences are a testament of Garrott's character and I will always remember both those races.

Me, Garrott, and Coach Fish at the Canmore World Cup last week

Good luck to all the Americans tomorrow, but everyone should watch out for Bib 59.

Methow Super Tour

The Super Tour made its debut in my hometown this weekend. The McCabe Trails at the Liberty Bell High School offered a fantastic venue for Saturdays freestyle sprint. It was pretty cool to get ready for the big races in the same locker room as my junior high and high school years. The entire community came together to bring the Super Tour to the Methow Valley and to make it such a great event. We had some uncharacteristically terrible weather with warm temperatures and rain early in the week. An impressive amount of shoveling and salting were needed to make the races happen. Thank you to the many volunteers and the entire community for all you hard work. I am very luck to have 5 different Super Tour races in my dual hometowns of Winthrop, WA and Hayward, WI. I had two of my best races of the season this weekend and I will write more about those races tomorrow on my recovery day.

Something about racing in your hometown makes it feel like your skis aren't even touching the ground. Plus this has to be the coolest photo ever taken of me.

(Photo Credit: EA Weymuller)

I am looking forward to racing in Hayward in two weeks for the Telemark SuperTour.

US Nationals Day 1

Top 10 at US Nationals has been a goal of mine since high school. I have had some really good races over the year, but I have never achieved this goal. I have raced at a level clearly within the top 10 in the nation, but for some reason things haven't come together for me at a National Championship race. Until now.

Qualifying Time Trial of the Freestyle Sprint Photo: Toko USA (Ian Harvey)

In a cross country skiing sprint competition, racers start the day with a time trial race against the clock. After a few hour break, the top 30 fastest skiers compete head to head in heats of 6, with the top two in each heat advancing to the next round. I qualified 8th on Saturday morning which is a strong qualifying position for me. Generally I ski well in the heats and can improve my finishing result.

If you aren't familiar with it, the whole thing can seem rather complicated. The important thing is that on a sprint day you can end up racing the 1.1 kilometer course for times. I really enjoy skiing head to head against other racers. There is a lot of strategy involved and it can be pretty intense.

I had an exciting quarterfinal with five skiers finishing within 2.2 seconds. I had to work pretty hard in the final 200 meters to advance to the next round. My semi-final heat was in 10 minutes so I didn't have much time to recover. I went out hard but was tired and found myself looking up the course to a pack of three other skiers. I found myself in a difficult decision. I could really hammer and try to catch the group or I could conserve some energy for the B final. This was a challenging decision to make and I had to do it in just a few seconds. I gave a few hard pushed and then decided to hold back a bit and save myself for the next round. I don't think it is ever good to give up, but sometimes you need to pick your battles.

Ten minutes later and feeling much more rested I went hard out of the gate of the B final (racing for 7th-12th place) . I skied relaxed in second position pretty much from start to finish. Peter Kling made a move to takie the lead with 500 meters to go which I was unable to match. Peter finished first in the B final and myself second.

Finishing second in the B final put me in 8th place for the day and a new personal best at US Nationals. My favorite event, the 15km skate is tomorrow and I am ready to go. My goal is now top 7.

Matt cooking up a mean meal of Chicken Curry and Tomato/Avocado Salad.

The sun doesn't get very high in the sky here in Alaska, but it does provide for some great sunrises and sunsets here at Kincaid Park.