Kris Freeman stunned the European skiing World this past winter with a victory
in the 30K classic at the Under 23 Championships. He followed that up by going
to the World Championships and earning a 4th in the 15K classic and a 14th in
the pursuit. All this and he is only 22 years old. What better way to start
off our interview series than with America's rising star, Kris Freeman.
Kris Freeman
Age: 22
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 170
Single or married: single
Hometown: Andover NH
Current town of residence: Andover NH/Park City Utah
Coach: Trond Nystad/Pete Vordenberg
Sponsors: Fischer (skis), Swix, Eli Lilly, Sinisalo, Rudy Project, Ski NH, PowerBar,
Rossignol (boots, bindings)
Favorite movie: Desperado
Favorite food: cereal
Favorite musical artist: Guns n' Roses
Favorite TV show: none
What is one of you favorite non-skiing accomplishments?
Learning to live with type one diabetes with the help of Eli Lilly Humalog
insulin.
What do you do to pass the time when you are on the road at races and training
camps?
I pass the time on the road mainly by sleeping. Its the best way to keep from
getting sick.
What were your best and worst races last season?
My best race was the under 23 world championship 30k classic. I won easily by
almost two minutes. Afterwards I stood above Sweden and Norway on the podium
while a rusty version of the star spangled banner was played over the sound
system,. My worst race was the 50k classic at Holmenkolen Norway. I was skiing
in the top fifteen for the first forty kilometers but then I bonked worse than
I thought was possible. I could barely stand up and the only thing I could think
about was finishing. At that point I was no longer racing I was surviving. I
dropped to forty sixth place (nine minutes) in ten k.
How do you deal with bad races?
I look over my training and my equipment and evaluate what went wrong. Then
I try to eliminate the problem.
What are your racing goals for the upcoming season?
I want to finish the year in the Red Group and get a podium finish on the world
cup.
How do you feel about the changes in race format over the past few years
(sprint racing, mass starts, skiathalon/duathalon)?
I think it is unfortunate that cross country skiing is selling out to TV format
racing. Short distance mass start races are just a big cluster on the world
cup and sometimes I feel as thought the course designers are hoping that the
athletes have a pile up because it looks good on TV. The winner isn't always
the fastest skier as with a time trial, it is often the luckiest skier. The
Skiathlon was a foolish idea from the start. We arent triathletes, we are skiers.
There should be no "exchanges" in ski racing. Despite my disappoval
of these formats I have adjusted my physical and mental training plans to accomodate
them. I want to win any ski race I enter no matter how contrived the format
may be.
What is your take on the issue of doping in cross country ski racing these
days?
I think doping is very common and I think the testing and penalties are inadequate.
There should be a scaled system of penalty for different drug violations. For
example, if someone is caught with ephedra in their body they should be suspended
for three months, if someone is caught with EPO in their body they should be
banned for life and forced to pay back all money that FIS has ever awarded them.
The reason testing is inadequate is that FIS is not interested in catching dopers.
Every time someone is caught it hurts the sport, we lose fans, and FIS makes
less money. We need an impartial and unaffected anti-doping operation to test
the athletes. FIS has proved to be ineffective at combating doping.
What changes will you be making to your training plan for this year?
I have increased my training volume slightly by twenty five hours and I am continuing
to increase the amount of instensity I put in every year. Other than that my
plan remains the same.
How many time-trials on foot and rollerskis did you do last summer and fall
did you do and how long were they?
I did several 10k running timetrials on the Soldier Hollow ski course and two
10k skiing timetrials in New Zealand.
Do you have a favorite interval workout?
I like double pole intervals.
What was your most memorable workout(s) last year?
In one of the 10k running time trials at Soldier Hollow we gave Trond a 4 minute
headstart. Then I started the race with Torin, Lars and Andrew. Lars brought
the pace out way too fast for the first five K and we were all hurting bad.
I broke away from the guys at this point and started to chase down Trond. At
9k I was only twenty meters behind him but I was huting so bad I couldn't close.
Trond finished ten meters in front of me. I had just run a new course record
time but I still owed Trond a six pack from a bet we made before the race.
If you had to eat lunch at a fast-food restaurant, where would you go and
what would you order?
I would go to Subway and get a roasted chickens sandwich with no mayo or oil.
I won't eat at McDonalds, Burger King, etc period.
Can you give us a single piece of advice for aspiring Junior skiers?
Train smart, train hard, don't plan on college if you want to be good, and choose
your coaches wisely.
How about some advice for Masters skiers?
Train your core muscles. The core muscles are your abdominals, obliques, lower
back, hip flexors and upper thighs. If you are week in the core you can't hold
the proper skiing posture for a full race and you will lose efficiency and balance.
I spend four hours a week in the gym working on nothing but my core.
