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2010 July

How Many Hours? A FasterSkier Forum

The eternal question of cross-country ski training: how much to train?  This is a debate that will never find resolution, for the simple reason that there is no one answer.  A recent FasterSkier http://fasterskier.com/2010/06/after-ncaa-championship-gelso-to-join-sun-valley/) to give you background, so you may better understand where this is all coming from. One of the keys for any young skier using these charts would be to do it with you club or program coach, so you can decide...

JunkCharts was nice enough to feature the Tour de France charts I’ve been playing with as a break from skiing data.  I learned via one of the commenters there that (unsurprisingly) I’m not alone in this game.  See here for a handful of similar charts, including ones from previous years. Related posts:Tour de France Bump [...] Related posts:

  1. Tour de France Bump Charts (Updated)
  2. Tour de France Bump Plot: Stage 12
  3. Reader Request: Tour de France GC By Team

I’ve been wanting to do a post about running barefoot for a long time, ever since reading “Born to Run” last fall, in fact. Yesterday, NPR played an interesting segment on All Things Considered that addresses barefoot running and even includes a video on their website showing various running techniques.  The book “Born to Run” [...]

Adam, over at NordicXplained, asks: “Everyone knows how well the Canadian men’s team did at the Olympics, but the question that I wanna know is how well they stacked up against other countries. Even though they didn’t win a medal, their average placing in many races surely could have been higher than traditional powerhouses like [...] Related posts:

  1. Skiing Performance and Age
  2. Trends In US Skiing Performance: Distance
  3. Trends In US Skiing Performance: Sprint

When James Southam lined up for the start of a 30 k pursuit race at the Olympics in Whistler in February, it was the first time he’d done so all year. At the 2009 World Championships in the Czech Republic, Southam faced a similar challenge: the pursuit race there was only his second of the season, following a World Cup in Whistler earlier that year. Of the 24 SuperTour races scheduled by the U.S. Ski...

Mythbusters: Protein

Protein is a very important component of any athlete’s caloric intake, but it can be difficult to sort myth from fact when judging how much protein to incorporate into your diet.   In the next few paragraphs, I hope to debunk some myths and provide you with a new pieces of information that might improve your diet and subsequently enhance your training. Myth: You only get protein from meat. Fact: While this is a bit exaggerated...

Summer School

A business primarily known for being the only US importer of Marwe rollerskis, Finn Sisu Sauna and Ski Shop has even more to offer this summer.  Monday, July 12 kicked off the Sisu Summer Lecture Series. The lectures, held at Finn Sisu’s new store location in Lauderdale, Minnesota, will take place every Monday night at 6:00pm.

After last week’s speed block I am ready for a few recovery days and am taking a few days to work with my Adopt-an-Athlete community in Wausau, WI.  It is fun for me to take a break from focusing on my own training and coach the next generation of athletes. Gotta love dead-end roads with [...]

My good friend, and general cycling expert, Cosmo recently tweeted about what he perceived as more GC (overall ranking) shakeups taking place in Tour de France stages with a downhill finish as opposed to uphill, mountaintop, finishes.  He then followed that up with a comment to that effect, linking back to my bumps chart as [...] Related posts:

  1. Tour de France Bump Charts (Updated)
  2. Tour de France Bump Plot: Stage 12
  3. Tour de France Bumps Chart: Stage 14

FIS Cross-Country checks in with Norwegian national Team Coach Age Skinstad. FIS Cross-Country: How are you satisfied with training so far? Are you keeping your schedule? Åge Skinstad: We manage to keep the schedule we planned in spring. It is early to judge the whole training period but I am happy with the first part. We have done a good job so far. FIS Cross-Country: How is the situation in the team? Are all in...

Three quarters of the MOD Squad was back together in the Methow last week. Scott returned from his travels in Europe and Erik got back from training it up with the Alaska squad. And I've been here, holding down the home fort. We reunited on Saturday wi...

Alberta World Cup Academy off to Haig Glacier

The Alberta World Cup Academy left yesterday for a week long training camp at the Beckie Scott Training Centre on Haig Glacier today. Situated in Kananaskis Country just outside Canmore, the team will run the 18km trail up to the camp. From here, it is another 45 minute hike to the glacier where the majority of the training will take place. This week entails a heavy training volume for the athletes, which will be balanced...

Another couple stages in the books, time for an update of the bumps charts.  Contador’s still in yellow, Hushovd is back in green and Chartreau is still in polka-dots: Hopefully the gray lines are easier on your eyes.  As for Cosmo’s question about downhill finishes having more GC impact than the mountaintops, I’m not sure. [...] Related posts:

  1. Tour de France Bump Charts (Updated)
  2. Tour de France Bump Plot: Stage 12
  3. Tour de France Bumps Chart: Stage 14