Thanks to Rob Whitney for the photos. 15k, 7 seconds out of third for the day, passed 12 racers. My first winter trip to Rossland was a blast. Thanks to Ethan and Alex for hosting us. It was great to be so close to the trails. I was able to train well and get in [...]
In the past, our “Pro Workout” series has featured a single training session from an elite North American skier, but this week CXC’s Caitlin Compton gives us a slightly different take. Instead of detailing a favorite workout, Compton addresses an oft-ignored aspect of race preparation – the ability to respond to challenging and unexpected circumstances. Over the past several years, major North American events have been disrupted by everything from volcanic eruptions to frigid temperatures...
The 2010/2011 Veissmann Tour de Ski is nothing if not draining. Consisting of eight events in ten days in two countries, the fifth edition begins December 31st and runs until January 9th. The Tour begins with a freestyle prologue in Oberhof, Germany, on December 31st, followed by a classic pursuit start on January 1st. The Tour then moves to Oberstorf, Germany, for a sprint on January 2nd, and a pursuit on the 3rd. After a...
Continuing on from my last post on North American distance skiers, let’s jump right in with the sprinters, starting with the men: No fancy metrics here, just what place people finished in. Once again, red is this season, blue is last year’s Olympics. Alex Harvey’s sprint race in Kuusamo was unusually good for him. Simi [...] Related posts:
Norwegian superstar Marit Bjoergen is sticking to her guns, and will not be racing the 2011 edition of the Tour de Ski. The winner of every single World Cup race this year, Bjoergen announced at the beginning of the season that she would follow the same plan that resulted in five medals at the 2010 Olympics. And that plan means no Tour de Ski. Since coming back from several down years thought to be caused...
At a Fast and Female event in early December, a multi-time World Cup medalist stood in awe of what the program was offering to young girls. “It’s amazing what can change the course of a kid’s life, and hopefully this will change it for the better,” she said. Chandra Crawford? Kikkan Randall? Nope. This time, it was top Canadian alpine skier Kelly VanderBeek. Fast and Female, which was founded by Crawford in 2005, is a...
A recent change in management should have minimal impact on the U.S. Adaptive Ski Team (USAST) in the upcoming season, with competition schedules remaining the same through the winter. Late last week, the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) announced that it would take control of Paralympic alpine and cross-country skiing from the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA). One administrator lost her position as part of the change, but despite some initial uncertainty, coaches and athletes...
Pretty bad.Through nine individual events in this World Championships season, the Italian and German distance-racing men are really stinking it up. I dunno what the nordic-skiing communities in either country are saying about this, but I'd wager it isn...
With Christmas morning and joyful unwrapping less than 24 hours away, Brian Gregg and I spent last Friday morning pounding out a set of hard power endurance intervals on the Rendezvous ski trail under Scott's supervision. It's great to have an opportun...
a href=http://www.beccarorabaugh.com/Becca_Rorabaugh/Blog/Entries/2010/12/29_Christmas-Virus_files/Photo%20on%202011-12-29%20at%2014.19.jpgimg src=http://www.beccarorabaugh.com/Becca_Rorabaugh/Blog/Media/object001_4.jpg style=float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:216px; height:123px;//aI have the christmas virus. Not like the consumerism madness that admittedly afflicted me before the 25th, but really, a virus. I call it the christmas virus because I got it on christmas day, something that seems to happen way too often.br/br/To begin with, I was surrounded by recovering or regressing illnesses in my family. As soon as I got to Anchorage, Eliza started to catch a cold. This was a problem because I promptly spent 7 hours in a car with her, breathing, while she was alternately chilled and hot with a sore throat. So four days later I ended up with exactly the same thing. However, I felt amazing right up until then, and probably got a little carried away on my christmas ski. Classic skiing in Fairbanks is by far the best, and because I love it so much (and was skiing with the Hanneman boys who were skating) there is a good chance that I went too hard, which could have facilitated my immediate plunge into the world of illness.br/br/The photo above is what my world of illness looks like. It’s the view of the TV from the couch that I am sitting on and have been sitting on for four days. The first day I watched around 5 hours of Pride and Prejudice movies, and concluded that I like the older version slightly better. Since then I have watched Star Wars, Avatar, The Proposal, and Robin Hood. The Usual Suspects and Gone With the Wind are on the docket as upcoming attractions, although with my departure date being tomorrow and a lot of packing to do they might not happen. I have quite a bit more energy today, so it’s going to be difficult to make sure I rest properly and kick this virus’ skinny little bum. That energy might become useful when all of the packing and planning comes into full swing though: if Nationals go well I could be heading directly from the east coast to Estonia and I need to plan for that as well!br/br/Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year etc... and if you’re already in Maine, see you soon!
After a great Christmas break in Minneapolis, I’m back on the road in Rumford, Maine getting ready for the US National Championships. My week at home was a blast with lots of skiing at Wirth and hanging out with friends and the Kuzzy crew. The skiing in the Cities was some of the best I [...]
This is the kick-off event for a four race series geared toward youth and masters racers … and fun
NCCSEF Podium Challenge In its ongoing effort to help Team Tomorrow become Team Today, the National Cross Country Ski Education Foundation challenges every U.S. athlete competing at the 2011 U23/Jr. World Nordic Championship to achieve an individual top three “Podium” race result. Each athlete that achieves this fantastic performance will see NCCSEF reimburse their entire unfunded trip expenses. Three U.S. athletes; Kris Freeman 2003 1st, Laura Valaas 2007 2nd, and Liz Stephens 2008 3rd, have...
It seems that conditions in Rumford will be old transformed snow with old powder mixed in. The snow will be heavily machined and old. Overnight temps will be around 10F and highs around freezing and warmer at the end of the week. Be sure to have plenty of HF Moly, HF Red, HF Yellow, JetStream Red, and JetStream Yellow on hand for the week! The Classic Sprint on Sunday looks to be an interesting day...
I am occasionally asked why ski bases don't have random or non-directional structures. Typically the question is posed with the addition of "...like a golf ball!"The idea of random isotropic surface structures seems attractive at first. &n...
I am occasionally asked why ski bases don't have random or non-directional structures. Typically the question is posed with the addition of "...like a golf ball!"The idea of random isotropic surface structures seems attractive at first. &n...
I am occasionally asked why ski bases don't have random or non-directional structures. Typically the question is posed with the addition of "...like a golf ball!"The idea of random isotropic surface structures seems attractive at first. &n...
With the first period of WC racing in the books and the next one just around the corner, I’m going to look back at the results of the North American skiers so far this season. The theme of this post is context and expectations. One of the reasons that I started this blog was that [...] Related posts:
A newly implemented program will enable the New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA) to provide up to $7,000 for use in helping New England athletes offset expenses for the J1 Scando trip, U23 / Junior World Championships and the USST OPA cup trip in February. New England athletes making these teams will earn a stipend of $500 for the World Junior and World U23 Championships, and $250 for the J1 Scandinavian Cup Trip run by...