Breathlessness, delayed recovery, cold intolerance, feeling fatigued after even mild exercise – any athlete has experience these symptoms at some point or another during their training. Usually they are signs of an oncoming cold and the remedy is simply to slow down for a few days. In some cases though, these may be signs of a severe iron deficiency. Iron is essential to athletic performance, and especially to endurance events. According to a study commissioned...
After a nine-mile battle with first-place finisher Sopagna Eap, US Olympian and US Ski Team (USST) member Morgan Arritola finished the inaugural USA Half Marathon Trail Championship in second place, less than a minute behind Eap. The runner-up performance was particularly impressive given that Arritola is in the midst of summer training for a different sport and was competing against the best of the USA Track and Field team. “I was a little surprised,” Arritola...
Canada now has three Training Centres spread out across the country—Quebec, Thunder Bay, and Whistler. The Callaghan Valley Training Centre (CVTC) is still in its infancy—after four years, it’s still trying to get its legs under it and prove itself. Despite having the perfect training site, an Olympic venue, and ideal conditions for athletes to develop into top-tier athletes, the Centre has been dogged with bad luck—three coaches in four years, a complete athlete turnover after...
Sadie Bjornsen, a new member of Alaska Pacific University’s ski team, gave this firsthand account towards the end of the recently-completed National Training Group camp in Utah. This post originally appeared on her blog,
Thursday marked the final day of the first training camp of the summer for the Central Cross-Country Ski Association (CXC). Based out of Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota, the camp consisted of 10 days of training at various locations ranging across the St. Croix Valley. With previous head coach Bryan Fish around for the first week before moving on to his new position with the US Ski Team (USST), the camp also functioned as a...
When summer hits, one of my favourite things to do is stock up on in-season fruits, especially blueberries! Here’s a simple but sweet recipe for blueberry crisp, one of my top-5 favorite desserts. It has a nice combination of carbs, fats and antioxidants. If you want to pack a bit more nutrition punch, you can add other fruits in as well, such as peaches or other berries. As a topping, you can add ice cream...
During the summer months, it can be hard to stay focused and keep your muscles snappy when all you seem to do is rollerskiing, rollerskiing and more rollerskiing. Cross training is important in order to avoid burnout or injury–especially for juniors or masters looking to mix it up during the off-season. In a new series to FasterSkier, we’re going to take a look at some of the ways skiers keep themselves and their bodies sane...
The first annual National Training Group (NTG) camp in Park City is underway, and participants were challenged early on with the infamous Agony Hill Time Trial on the first day. Alexa Turzian (SVSEF/CU) and Caitlin Patterson (Alaska Winter Stars/UVM) tied in the women’s race, both posting a time of 18:40. Kate Dolan (BSF/DU) finished third, 40 seconds back. Scott Patterson (Alaska Winter Stars/UVM) edged Reid Pletcher (SVSEF/CU) by two seconds in the men’s event, clocking...
Big changes to the team roster and the coaching staff are this spring’s news for the Central Cross-Country Ski Association (CXC). 18 athletes and three coaches will comprise the 2011 team for one of North America’s largest and fastest-growing clubs. Vacating the post of head coach that he held since the formation of CXC in 2006, Bryan Fish has accepted a position with the US Ski Team (USST) as Continental Cup coach. Jason Cork will...
Ski news is all well and good and satisfies the ski nerd in us all but since food tends to eventually take up an unbelievable amount of any conversation athlete have, why not incorporate that into the site? So, starting now is a new series with a new recipe every week. You can try them, adapt them, review them, whatever. We’re also going to run nutritional stats with whatever we cook up so that you...
With just several days before the first-ever National Training Group camp in Park City, USSA has released a list of participants, including many of the top young skiers in the country. The group is led by Ida Sargent, currently attending Dartmouth College and a member of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project. With a strong season, Sargent established herself as arguably the second-best female sprinter in the US behind only Kikkan Randall. She placed an impressive...
Tomorrow fifteen of the top junior nordic athletes from around the country will amass in Park City for an intensive ten days of physical and educational training with the U.S. Ski Team. 25 athletes were named to this National Training Group (NTG) by the USST based on racing results from last season’s Junior National, U.S. National, U23 and World Junior Championships. The goal of the camp, say USST Coaches Chris Grover and Matt Whitcomb, is...
With American Justin Wadsworth now at the helm of the Canadian National Team, it should come as little surprise that the first camp of the year for the Canadians is being held in Bend, Oregon, in conjunction with the USST. “I wanted my first camp with the team to be really dialed in, in a place I really felt comfortable with,” said Wadsworth on Wednesday “I just wanted a really good quality camp with good...
It’s no secret that fast skiers are made over the summer. Hundreds of hours of training include running, bike rides, lifts, and rollerskis, all necessary for any racer hoping to be competitive in the coming winter. But coming off of the racing season, the general feeling is that in springtime it’s best to relax and have fun while starting to build a solid base of strength and endurance. We checked in with various clubs across...
There was no rest for the weary on day 7 at the USST camp in Bend, Oregon. The scheduled event for the morning was a team time trial consisting of two person teams, each person racing two, 5 kilometer legs. “It was a fairly open-ended workout, and it was really fun,” said U.S. Ski Team coach Matt Whitcomb, who noted that because some athletes were feeling “a little beat up from the camp”, they opted...
BEND—Come join the best skiers in North America for a 40-year tradition of late spring skiing at Mt. Bachelor. This year, Bend Camp will have two blocks of camps: June 8-13 with clubs and teams from Idaho and Colorado and the second block is for athletes with school ending later in June and will run from June 18-22. Camps are available for juniors age 12-18 years, youth age 8-11 years and masters. Campers will learn...
The Thomas Training Center on Eagle Glacier is proud to offer additional glacier camps this summer on July 18-24 and August 8-18. The camps will be open to individuals, as well as for club team use. The Thomas Training Center (TTC) is one of North America’s premier summer on-snow training facilities. It is located 45 minutes south of Anchorage just outside of the small resort town of Girdwood, Alaska on Eagle Glacier. The TTC facility...
By this point, Billy Demong should need no introduction, but we’ll give you a quick one anyway. A stalwart on the American nordic combined team for the last ten years, he won his first World Cup in 2002, his first World Championship medal in 2007 in Sapporo, and then walked away from this year’s Olympic Games with a gold and silver, from the individual large hill and team event, respectively. The gold was the first-ever...
APU Nordic Ski Center will be hosting a Master’s Training Camp this summer from July 25-31. The goal of the camp is to help master’s improve technique, endurance, and strength while maintaining contact with ski-specific muscles. In addition, it helps support elite development as a fundraiser for the APU Elite Team. The camp will include four days of training on snow on the Eagle Glacier at APU’s Thomas Training Center, as well as three days...
The inaugural National J2 Talent Camp will be conducted this July 31- August 8, 2010 on the campus of Michigan Technological University in Houghton Michigan. The camp will provide a great opportunity for many of the top young cross country skiers in the US to train together, learn from USST staff and top club coaches. The camp will be the first step along the US development pipeline for promising young skiers. The location of the camp will rotate around the US to other great training venues, with...