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Training

There is really only one way to become a faster skier. Train. We will keep you inspired with training reports from the best around, as well as articles on specific workouts and suggestions on how to improve your own training. Use the links below to view articles in a specific sub-category, or srcoll down to view all Training articles.
First Tracks as a New Parent: Caitlin Gregg [Part 1]

The “First Tracks” series highlights the pregnancy, postpartum, and parenting experiences of noteworthy athletes in cross-country skiing in various stages of their professional careers. The sharing of these experiences can benefit athletes in any stage of their career, whether they are an elite or recreational skier, by demonstrating that it is very possible to return to skiing, competition, and an active lifestyle with a growing family. The series will include the physical challenges of being...

Recover Smarter, Not Harder: A Review of “Good to Go: What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn From the Strange Science of Recovery” and Interview With Author Christie Aschwanden

If you’ve ever set a lofty athletic goal, one that required full commitment, going all in and pulling out all of the stops to optimize your training, you may have searched for strategies to similarly optimize your recovery between sessions, getting you back on the ski trails feeling strong as quickly as possible. In this process, you may have found yourself perusing a seemingly endless array of devices, foods, and drinks, each promising to improve...

Organizing the Winter World Masters Games in Innsbruck/Seefeld

Innsbruck, Austria has a long history of hosting big winter sports events. It is the self-proclaimed “Capital of the Alps,” and is truly one of the most memorable winter sports venues in the world. Innsbruck hosted the Olympic Games in 1964 and 1976. The annual Four Hills ski jumping tournament attracts 30,000 spectators to the iconic Bergisel jump that overlooks the university town of about 120,000 residents. In 2019, the Nordic World Championships were hosted...

First Tracks as a New Parent: Holly Brooks [Part 2]

The “First Tracks” series highlights the pregnancy, postpartum, and parenting experiences of noteworthy athletes in cross-country skiing in various stages of their professional careers. The sharing of these experiences can benefit athletes in any stage of their career, whether they are an elite or recreational skier, by demonstrating that it is very possible to return to skiing, competition, and an active lifestyle with a growing family. The series will include the physical challenges of being...

First Tracks as a New Parent: Holly Brooks [Part 1]

The “First Tracks” series highlights the pregnancy, postpartum, and parenting experiences of noteworthy athletes in cross-country skiing in various stages of their professional careers. The sharing of these experiences can benefit athletes in any stage of their career, whether they are an elite or recreational skier, by demonstrating that it is very possible to return to skiing, competition, and an active lifestyle with a growing family. The series will include the physical challenges of being...

Wednesday Workout: Inside or Out, Improve Your Double Poling

We are trying to stay slightly ahead of the overuse injury and poor air quality curves. You may be midway through your summer training schedule and dealing with a bum ankle. Or you live in a place like much of the Western U.S. that has been or will be affected by poor air quality due to wildfires.  Whatever the causation, skiers can find themselves in make-do mode. If the air quality index (AQI) is high...

Project Langrenn: Maks Zechel

Project Langrenn   Project Langrenn is a series by Maks Zechel. Zechel has been training and racing in Norway for the last several years after concluding his junior racing career in Canada. Zechel is part of Norway’s Team Norconsult and will be writing about his experience for FasterSkier.  I had unwavering confidence in myself as a kid. Ever since I started racing as an eleven-year-old, I’ve never doubted myself. I’m not sure why—I grew up...

  In September, I got an email from my high school club coach, Gus Johnson, about an opportunity to go to Östersund, Sweden to start the summer. The camp entailed participating in some research being conducted at the Swedish Winter Sports Research Center of the Mid Sweden University and training with college age skiers in a part of the world that I had never been to. I decided to Öster-send it, and a little more...

From World Cups to Triathlons: Kris Freeman’s Diabetes Management and Pushing the Envelope

Kris Freeman manages Diabetes. He did this on the World Cup for years and at four Olympics. He remains a competitor and continues to test himself since retiring from elite level skiing in 2018. “Retired” for Freeman means remaining fit and jumping into the odd cross-country ski race: he placed third this year in the National Championship 15-kilometer classic race in Craftsbury, Vermont. Freeman has turned his attention and his considerable capacities to triathlons. We...

Wednesday Workout: Evaluating the Training Year with Caitlin Patterson

  This Wednesday Workout dives into one athlete’s approach to reviewing last season’s training and how to move forward. Newly minted U.S. Ski Team member and longtime Craftsbury Green Racing Project athlete Caitlin Patterson provides the details.  *** Looking back on a year of training is an important part of planning the year ahead. My first step is to think broadly over the past year as a whole and to ask myself a series of...

Learn to Fly this Summer with USA Nordic

FasterSkier wants to help spread the word that USA Nordic will be organizing camps this summer geared towards new and experienced junior ski jumpers. The first camp will be held in Anchorage, AK., in June, the second in Eau Claire, WI., in July. The schedules and registration for each camp are linked below. buy temovate online Alaska Junior Flyer Camp info: June 17-23 (Alaska registration). Central Junior Flyer Camp: July 19-21 Eau Claire, WI. (Central...

Wednesday Workout: Summer Training for Junior Athletes Competing in Fall Cross Country

This Wednesday Workout comes to us from Matt Boobar who has been coaching the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) nordic team since 2007. In the fall, he also works with the cross country running and mountain bike programs, and leads cycling in the spring. Boobar has a B.S. in exercise science and has earned a USSA Level 200 certification. He has been the head coach of the New England Junior National Team eight times and was...

The World’s Great Age Begins Anew: Athletes Mark May 1

If you’re reading this website, you’re probably well aware that the nordic skiing training year begins on May 1. In a sport where most races happen between November and March, and demand of athletes that they repeatedly race to the point of nearly losing consciousness, the preparation for race season had better start a long time before that. As the well-worn, but accurate, saying has it, skiers are made in the summer. tretinoin Embracing the...

Wednesday Workout: Review the Training with Jessica Yeaton

  May 1. Start of a new training cycle for some. In this Wednesday Workout, we checked in with Jessica Yeaton. Yeaton resides in Anchorage, Alaska where she trains with APU and has represented Australia on the World Cup, World Championships, and the Olympics. She earned two U.S. National Championship podiums in Craftsbury, Vermont last season. She placed second in the 10-kilometer classic and third in the 20 k mass start freestyle. A sixth place...

Eating for Immune Support During Race Week With Kylee Van Horn, RDN

Whether they are traveling through Europe to compete on the World Cup or racing recreationally in local events, skiers are met with the challenge of surviving a race season that takes place during the cold and flu ridden winter months. Registered sports dietitian Kylee Van Horn of FlyNutrition, LLC shares suggestions on how to stay healthy as race day approaches. The scenario is all too familiar. You’ve managed to stay healthy while logging countless kilometers...

Wednesday Workout: How One Skier Keeps Marathon Race Fit in Portland, Ore.

  This Wednesday Workout comes to us from Harrison Harb; Portland, Oregon denizen.  HH grew up racing bicycles and xc skis in Hopkinton, NH. He graduated from Stratton Mountain School in 07, and UNH in 2011. H has lived in Portland, Ore. since 2014 where he coaches cyclists and skiers while racing for XC Oregon on skis and River City Bicycles/Bike Law on the bike.  *** Portland, Oregon: home of craft beer, mycological diversity, and...

New Program Info for the Alpine Insurance Alberta World Cup Academy

(Press Release) March 20, 2019 – Our Academy programs in Canmore and Calgary are currently accepting applications. We have brought changes to our Program Guidelines for 2019-20, new options are now available, providing financial flexibility.  Program Guidelines Submit your application with the Alpine Insurance Alberta World Cup Academy by April 7, 2019. Apply Here! We welcome questions through 

Wednesday Workout: The Pressure is Off Approach to Your First World Cup

At eighteen-years-old, Gus Schumacher remains composed in what is a pressure cooker of endurance sport. There he was last week on his home tracks of Kincaid Park in Anchorage, AK., claiming four first place medals and providing locals a deep-well of pride. If in fact this young man is stressed before or during a race, it’d be hard to notice. And maybe part of that demeanor has to do with his preparedness. Schumacher is prepared. ...

Wednesday Workout: Guiding Junior Athletes With Adam St. Pierre

This Wednesday Workout includes guidance from Boulder Nordic Junior Race Team (BNJRT) Head Coach Adam St. Pierre. After earning a BS in Physics and Biochemistry while skiing for Colby College in Maine, St Pierre earned a masters in Kinesiology and Exercise Science at the University of New Hampshire. While in graduate school, he was the assistant ski coach to Marty Hall at Bowdoin College and has since coached all age groups. His primary role at...