Ski to Sea... First race of the season on last years snow

The Ski to Sea race has been described as the Bellingham Olympics and is a multi-sport race from Mt Baker Ski Area to Bellingham Bay.  The race starts off with a 6.5km cross country ski, followed by a downhill ski (although it is more of a climb since you start and finish in the same spot), road run, road bike, canoe, mountain bike and sea kayak.  I have been racing in the event since high school and it is fun to add an on snow race to my May training.  A huge thank you to John and Beth Barron of Barron Heating for sponsoring the team.  We have a great group of guys that look forward to the race each year.  I have really enjoyed getting to know the other members of the team. They are some of the top in their fields with Greg Barton leading the way (two time Olympic Gold Medalist-1988).  The cross country ski leg makes up the largest ski race in Washington with nearly 500 participants.

Testing out skis before the race.  Sloppy mash potato conditions 

After an 8 year run of great weather for the race this year proved to be a wet one

The race went well and I finished just ahead of Tad Elliot to put team Barron Heating in the lead.  Tad and I finished the race and immediately went to watch and cheer the other racers.  I kept looking for Caitlin to finish but I never saw her and I began to worry.  Turns out she had a GREAT race and finished THIRD Overall! She beat many top male skiers in the country including my teammate Sam Naney, Kent Murdoch, and Marco Bedard.  Marco Bedard is one of Canada's top bi athletes and although he didn't have a very good race, I am impressed with Caitlin.  Congratulations Babe!

The second place team had one of the top sea kayakers in the world on their team so we knew it would be a hard fought race to the finish.  Last year we won the race by just seven seconds.  The rest of the crew kept the ball rolling and we won the race for the second year in a row.  A big benefit of the win is a round trip ticket on Alaska Airlines.  With Super Tour Finals in Alaska this year I am really excited to have the ticket.

We were the first car off of the mountain so we could make it back to celebrate our good friend's Chad and Cari's wedding

Disassembling the Fawn Hut which we hope to turn in to a place of our own for when we are training in the Methow.  The cabin needs some work and it will likely be a project for after Sochi but we had to move it from it's former resting spot by Memorial Day weekend.

Waxing up the classic skis for an on-snow interval session in Bend, Oregon

We are now in Bend Oregon for a week assuming the snow holds up. The skiing has been good but the weather has been too which means the snow is melting fast.  Life has been busy and training is hard.  I am looking forward to my first week of full time training next week.

Putting on a Bib makes you 10% Faster

We have had a fantastic last two weeks at the Club with nearly perfect weather every day.  The grass is starting to grow and the trees are starting to bud.  We only had one day where we couldn't go outside because of the rain.  

Janiya, Amori, Satomi and Mophion modeling their favorite bibs

We have been talking a lot about integrity.  One of my best mentors used the word often and defined it as "doing what is right even when no one is watching.  This has become a motto for run club and cutting the course is a big no-no.  We used bibs in some of our other games to help insure that everyone played fairly.  Over the years we have amassed a pretty good collection of bibs and it is fun to see them all being used.  The kids had a blast learning about where the different bibs came from.

Filling in our daily mileage log.  The kids keep a training log just like Caitlin and I.

Racing makes running even more fun.  Ready, Set, Go....

May Training

May started with a snow storm and a record May 4th grooming of the American Birkebeiner ski trail.  May 1st is the traditional new training year for many skiers and this week marked the return to training for me.  Some skiers take a week and do absolutely nothing.  I don't really plan out my training but I do stay active.  Perhaps owning a husky and his need to run each day keeps me from kicking back too much.  I run throughout the winter but my body doesn't seem to remember that based on how sore I am after just a few fast paced runs.  My body is stiff and sore as I run around with the kids and 'The Club' and I absolutely love it.  I enjoy thinking about how my muscles are regenerating and getting stronger. 

Destiny suiting up for Science time at 'The Club'

Underwater weighing to determine body composition. I am competed about 5 pounds lighter this year and it is good to make sure that I am not getting too lean or carrying too much extra mass.

Testing on the roller ski treadmill.  

Scott has a whole lists of tests for me to do this week to give us a baseline for the summer in addition to body composition.  The human performance lab up at Saint Cloud State ran a sub max tests to create a lactate profile and a running vo2 max test.  This last weekend I went down to Madison, WI to test on a roller ski treadmill with CXC.  I have never skied on a treadmill before and it is a unique feeling.  I still need to get comfortable using it, but comparing my vo2 in skiing vs running is fascinating.  The skiing test felt much easier and resulted in a 5% greater vo2.   CXC has cameras mounted on the front and side which are displayed live on two flat screens at the front of the treadmill.  This proved very helpful in tweaking technique.

Karl and Adam previewing the 5km Earth, Wind and Tired course.

We capped the week off with a 5km running race in Muskegon, MI.  The lower peninsula of Michigan is a long way from Minneapolis, MN but thanks to the Lake Express high speed ferry we made the trip from Milwaukee in just 2.5 hours.  The Lake Express has been a sponsor of ours for seven years and it was fun to take the boat with the CXC team.  The 5km trail run proved to be a real challenge with 95% of the course on sand and several huge sand dunes.   A good 5km for me is around 16 minutes and yesterday's race took me just under 23.  I won the race, but won't get too confident as I just saw that In The Arena Teammate Ben True just reached the World Championship A standard, running a 5km in just over 13 minutes. Congratulations Ben.

2013 Season in the Books

 Nearing the finish of the Super Tour Finals Hill Climb and Series. Photo: Mike Nadell

The ST Finals hill climb went really well for me and I was able to gain back a bit of time on some of the other racers from the previous three races.  I skied the second fastest time of the day which put me in the money for the day which was really great.  I moved up from twenty first to tenth in the tour too which I am really happy with.  Hopefully in the future I can limit the time loss on the earlier stages of the tour.

Sharing the podium with Kris Freeman (1st) and Tad Elliott (2nd) Always an honor to be in the mix with these guys.

First set of podium flowers for the series.

Things just kept getting better with a 7 letter word in our scrabble tournament.

The 2013 race season concluded with the 50km Classic National Championship.  I really love the 50km races but had a rough day falling off of the pace early.  This is the longest season I have ever raced and it feels good to wrap things up and head home to Minneapolis.

Great to be back with the Boys and Girls Club kids.  They were excited to show me how many push ups and sit ups they now can do.  Spring is still waiting to come to Minnesota so we have mostly been inside. 

One the plus side, the skiing is still quite good.  This is the most snow I have seen in Minneapolis since I moved here.  Can you believe this is April 21st in Minnesota?

I finally had the chance to try skijoring.  Lahti, Caitlin and I went our and enjoyed the aftermath of the big snow storm.  We skied right from the house.  Can you tell who is happier?

Sugar Bowl Hill Climb

Two more ski races to go in the 2012/2013 ski racing season.  The final two races include two of my favorite events.  Tomorrow we race the 'Hill Climb' up the Sugar Bowl downhill resort.  We ski about 3 km of rolling terrain before making the 1,000' climb up Mount Disney.  We go up the easiest downhill run, but it is quite steep when you are climbing up on cross country skis.

Caitlin and I looking over the edge at the top of Mt. Disney

Going down on the skinny skis is sure exciting

A few weeks ago we came out to Sugar Bowl early in the morning to preview the hill climb. We chose to use kicker skins on our classic skis. This worked really well and we had a really good workout climbing up to the top of the mountain.  We lucked out when we ran in to Kurt, one of the Sugar Bowl staff helping set up gates for the alpine skiers.  He was snowmobiling the downhill coaches and the gates to the top of the mountain.  He offered to help us out with  shuttle ride to the bottom of the mountain.  This allowed us to get down quickly so we could do our next interval.  

We skated up the course this morning and I wish that I had my kicker skins. Turns out in looking out the rules that kicker skins are not allowed.  Tomorrow will be hard race but I have always enjoyed climbing and have had some of my strongest results in this unique event.  We start based on our finishes in the previous three races and I have a lot of time to try and gain back.  

The final race of the year will be the 50 km National Championship on Thursday.  This year we race classic which I have struggled with this year, but I am excited to cap off the season with my favorite distance.

Canadian Nationals

Our altitude training camp in California has come to and end and it is 'game' time.  After completing my final interval workout of the year I am ready for the final 8 races of the year in the coming 2 weeks.  After training for almost 4 weeks and racing smaller races I am excited to go up against some of the big dogs.

Testing out the 2014 Salomon Skate Skis

Mulagatani has become my new favorite soup.  Coconut Milk, Lentils, Curry, Raisins, Almonds, Vegetabls... what part of that doesn't sound delicious

During our stay our hosts became pretty excited about cross country skiing.  It was great to see them take the initiative to get out and try it with a beginners lesson.  I think we have a few more downhill skiers who are now also hooked on cross country.

Loading up the car in Seattle to head north of the border.  "Yes, Mr. Border Guard we plan on skiing on all of these skis"

It has been almost a month since the team has been together.  It is fun to meet back up with our teammates.

Yesterday marked my first race of the Canadian National Championships the 10km Freestyle interval start.. I started strong and came through the midway mark in 4th place just 8 seconds off of the lead. I dropped a bit in the second lap but ended up finishing 6th.  This is a strong result for me and I am even more excited by how good I felt skiing.  I am looking forward to a lot of racing over the next few weeks.

Top 6 in the Open Male division earn $$.  ITA teammate Sylvan Ellefson took 4th and we went 1-2 fior the Americans.

 This winter I traveled out to Colorado and worked with my In The Arena teammates Sylvan Ellefson's wax technician team.  It is nice to be able to repay the favor here in Whistler as my technicians are working on Sylvan's skis.  It is good to know that even as competitors we can work together.  We want the strongest athlete to win.

The Great Ski Race

One of my favorite places to ski during college is in Truckee, California.  Sunny, warm, lots of snow and a variety of venues make it hard not to smile.  It has been seven years since I have graduated college and since I have skied in California.  There are two marathon races that I have always wanted to do out there, the Gold Rush and The Great Race.    

The Great Race starts on the north shore of Lake Tahoe and climbs 1200' up and over the pass before dropping 1800' to finish in Truckee.  As chance would have it The Great Race was last weekend and worked perfect with our plans to come and train in California in preparation for the Super Tour Finals here in April. 

Check out the profile (dark purple) and my corresponding heart rate

After 5 days of consistent sunny days and below freezing nights we woke up on race morning to light rain.  I had waxed our skis in anticipation of the rain, but I didn't factor in all of the climbing on the course and the potential for new snow at the top.  My skis were great at the start but as we climbed higher the rain turned to snow and that turned into about 4 inches of powder.  At this point the racing really got interesting.  I had about a one minute lead on the chase pack but the aggressive grind I had chosen was like sandpaper on the fresh snow.  I looked back and could tell that I was getting caught.  This wouldn't be that big of a deal except for the fact that I was working pretty hard.  I decided to just ride my threshold and make the most of it.

Wyatt caught me about 2.5km from the high point of the course, I continued to lead hoping that he would just settle in behind me at our current pace.  At one point Wyatt asked me if I was just going threshold for today.  I didn't really want to tell him that I had chosen the wrong skis for the day but at this point it was pretty obvious.  It was just about all I could do to stay on him for the last little bit of the uphill.  When we reached the high point the fresh grooming ended and we were faced with breaking trail.  Finally I at least had the advantage of resting in the draft.

My skis weren't getting much faster, but I knew that as we continued to descend my ski speed would increase.  I offered to do some of the work up front and we switched off leads to try and stay away from the others.  Still, I had worked hard enough on the climb that I didn't want to overextend myself too much.  I already had the twinges of cramps coming on in my legs.

At one point I looked back and was surprised to see two other skiers catching up to us.  Wyatt put in a bit of a stronger pull but it became obvious that these guys were going way faster than us.  It turns out that we had several minutes on them at the top. When they caught us they just skied right through us.  One of the guys gave us a hard time for making the 'old man' lead.  I recognized him as Marcus Nash and smiled.  I had to tell him that I had a poster of him above my bed growing up.  Spencer pulled away from us and I decided to put in a big push to try and hang on.  Wyatt skis were starting to slow down and my were starting to come back to life.  I worked as hard as I could, but Spencer continued to pull away.  I think he had about a minute on me at one point as I struggled in the fresh snow.  Finally we dropped low enough that my skis started to run.  At first they were just a little bit better, but then they turned to rockets.  With about 5 km to go I could tell I was gaining quickly on Spencer.  It was a tricky race in that with such variable conditions there really was no way to have fast skis the entire race.  My skis were pretty slow in the fresh snow, but they were fantastic in the wet soft snow.

The race finishes with monster downhill.  Plenty of great crashes kept spectators entertained throughout the afternoon.

Marcus, Me, and Spencer on the podium with our beautiful glass plate awards