The season is about to ramp up again. After (7) years on the US Team, what do you feel like going into another season? How goes your training?
I feel better prepared on all fronts than I have the last few years. I’ve been relatively healthy and training has been really solid with continual improvements throughout the summer. We have our last testing camp in about 10 days and it will be interesting to see how we’re all doing on that front. I also feel like we have a really good, individualized plan for moving forward into the season. It helps a lot to have 100% confidence in your plan as being the best for you and addressing your personal needs.
Training goes well. We had a good camp in Lake Placid…it really kicked my ass and by the end I was extremely tired. But after a recovery week I am feeling good again. I’m back in Park City now and this morning Pete V. and I did intervals on one of our favorite hills in the avenues of SLC for the first time in 2 months. It was encouraging to be going farther and faster than I was in July!
I have a ton of respect for Liz [Stephen] and Morgan [Arritola]. Those two made a big commitment and came out here to take full advantage of the development team. They go to school part time but they train full-time. They are totally committed to their program and I can honestly say I’ve never seen their level of professionalism from juniors and young seniors. They are out there every day totally killing it. There’s no substitute for working with coaches every day and having the time and resources to work on all facets of getting faster, from sports psych to nutrition to technique to training really, really hard. I’d love to see more juniors and young seniors making these types of commitments to the sport…but the opportunities need to be there.
Your coaching staff has changed quite a bit this year. What is the atmosphere on the team? How is it affecting the overall feel of the program?
The atmosphere on the team, from the top down, could be characterized as ‘unbridled enthusiasm’. I have seen lots of coaching changes over the years at the USST and new coaches always bring a lot of energy to the table. But what is different now is that our staff is much larger than I’ve ever seen it and each coach seems to have more specific areas of responsibility. I think that this will go a long way towards preventing the burnout that most coaches experience when involved with the USST. In the past too much has been expected of just two or three coaches. Now we have 5 coaches and more wax staff than ever before.
It’s awesome to have a fully functional development program going now. The past couple years that’s more-or-less been eliminated from the plan and that was discouraging. It’s hard to feel supported as a team when your NGB doesn’t deem the future success of the program important enough to invest in. That has now changed…we have great young athletes on the team now and two coaches who are working hard to facilitate their progress.
We’ve worked for a long time to improve team dynamics and cohesion. We’ve found that making significant gains in this area is a lot harder than we first thought and takes more work than just talking about it. Most nordic skiers are by nature so independent and bull-headed that I think it’s hard to get us to buy into the fact that we really can benefit from a strong, cohesive team. We’re doing some fun and kind of innovative stuff in this area now, though, and the whole team seems to be really into about it.
What are your goals for the World Cup season as a whole and for World Championships in Japan?
I want top-30’s in pre-xmas world cups and then, after a good training period over the Christmas break and nationals I’d like to return to Europe and improve upon that. When these things go well and I stay healthy my goal of top-15 at world champs will be very possible.
I’d also really enjoy talking to some ladies.
You’ve suffered odd allergies, a foot puncture and a few other odditites? What keeps you fired up when the chips are down?
Two years ago this month I was dealing with a bulged disc. One year ago this month I had a real nasty, four week bout of giardia, which itself was an indirect result of the month I spent last spring on IV antibiotics for my foot. So, not the best stuff to deal with 2 Octobers in a row.
But, the bottom line is that all athletes have to navigate hurdles in their career and many are a lot more severe than mine. And, to be honest I’m lucky to be in the position I’m in. When I get hurt or sick I have access to great medical people and I can concentrate all my efforts on getting better. The vast majority of people don’t have that luxury. It totally sucks to be out of commission but it’s going to happen and all you can do is look forward and do what you can to prevent the next incident of bad luck or stupidity…
What do you take with you traveling? What’s indispensable?
Good books. Ipod. Earplugs. Cold-eeze. Beavis and Butthead t-shirts and DVDs.
www.middleburyskiing.orgAndrew Gardner is the Head Coach of the Middlebury College Nordic Team.
