For this week’s Wednesday Workout, FasterSkier talked to University of New Mexico (UNM) racer Ben Berend about how his teammate, Kornelius Groev, the fastest skate skier on the
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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.
If you find yourself this morning in a part of the world where it’s truly cold, we feel for you. If you get outside and ski today, say in the Midwest (we’re thinking of you Duluth), the snow might be sandpaper slow, but the upside, there will be no snow melt. The trail conditions will hold until the next banana belt puff of air blows through. Here at FasterSkier, we scanned the archives to bring...
First Tracks as a New Parent: Kikkan Randall [Part 2]
Rachel PerkinsJanuary 28, 2019
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...
Wednesday Workout: Exploring Macro and Micro Terrain with Bernie Nelson
Jason AlbertJanuary 23, 2019
This Wednesday Workout comes from a true cross-country coaching whisperer: Bernie Nelson. First off, if you aren’t familiar with Bernie — she’s not a dude as the name might suggest. It’s Bernadette, but its Bernie on the name tag. Nelson grew up in Truckee, California as a cross-country ski racer and you’d have to ask her yourself, but she came into her own mentoring aspiring skiers. An informal or formal on-snow technique session with Nelson...
![First Tracks as a New Parent: Kikkan Randall [Part 1]](https://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2019/01/Kikkan-Pregnant-Birkie-Start.png)
First Tracks as a New Parent: Kikkan Randall [Part 1]
Rachel PerkinsJanuary 21, 2019
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...
2014 is when a relatively green Patrick O’Brien took charge of the Stratton Mountain School’s elite team, otherwise known as SMS T2. In a relatively short time, by way of juggling athletes, wax-teching, training plan writing, and life-living O’Brien has become a problem-solving resource. Jack of many trades, and very much an emerging master of elite level coaching, FasterSkier tossed a general question out to O’Brien for our Wednesday Workout series: what are some workouts...
In March of 2016, we published an article penned by Scott “Bjorn” Cummings, a Postbaccalaureate student working towards his Academic Behavorial Strategist K-12 (ABS) Special Education License at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD), titled “
2018 FS Gift Guide: The Complex Realities of Sport and Life as Told by Andre Agassi
Harald ZimmerDecember 20, 2018
As FasterSkier staff stroll into an upcoming weekend with no cross-country World Cups, it’s time to scramble and score some holiday gifts for friends and loved ones. Christmas is around the corner. It’s never too late for Hanukkah (Hanukkah ended on December 10). In this third book idea for the gift-giving season, Harald Zimmer, German-based FS contributor, highlights Andre Agassi’s gem. *** 2018 Gift Guide – Open: An Autobiography The autobiography of a star tennis...
Wednesday Workout: A Flashback to 2016 and Midweek Race Prep with the U.S. Ski Team
Aleks TangenDecember 19, 2018
We hear a lot about the details of a cross-country ski racer’s day on race day, but what about those four or five days in between? What do World Cup racers do then, in the middle of the week? FasterSkier Norwegian contributor Aleks Tangen ventured to Lillehammer back in late November 2016 to find out. *** LILLEHAMMER, Norway — FasterSkier spoke with Bjornsen, Jessie Diggins, Andy Newell and U.S. Ski Team Coach Matt Whitcomb to see how they...
A Holiday Gift for Improved Mobility: ‘Becoming a Supple Leopard’ by Kelly Starrett
Gavin KentchDecember 18, 2018
As FasterSkier staff stroll into an upcoming weekend with no cross-country World Cups, it’s time to scramble and score some holiday gifts for friends and loved ones. Christmas is around the corner. It’s never too late for Hanukkah (Hanukkah ended on December 10). In this first gift idea for the season, Anchorage, Alaska’s supple leopard Gavin Kentch brings limberness to our lives. *** 2018 gift guide – Supple Leopard What’s one book that Crossfit...
Wednesday Workout: Getting Out With Kids in Tow
Rachel PerkinsDecember 12, 2018
This week’s workout comes from contributing reporter Rachel Perkins, a former USCSA National Champion turned dedicated citizen racer and now a new mom to a baby girl born in October. Here Rachel shares tips from her own experience as well as the wisdom of local chariot pulling veterans. This article is an introduction to an upcoming series highlighting the pregnancy and postpartum experiences of skiers including Kikkan Randall, Holly Brooks, and Caitlin Gregg as they...
The following strength and performance tips come from one of our resident experts, Stuart Kremzner, MS, CSCS, FMSII, OS, RN, an exercise physiologist who has coached and raced in nordic skiing for over 20 years. Kremzner has trained/consulted with college athletic programs, elite teams, and athletes with the goal of improving athletic performance and injury prevention. When not working, he is running and skiing on the trails in New Hampshire or writing wax tips for the TOKO...
Wednesday Workout: Simi Hamilton’s 10’000 Foot View of Fun
Jason AlbertNovember 14, 2018
This post in our long-running Wednesday Workout series takes the 10,000-foot view — almost literally. The nuts and bolts of it are this: we’re posting Simi Hamilton’s training log from Monday, April, 3oth thru Saturday, June 9th. Hamilton needs no introduction to FasterSkier readers. In any case, here are Hamilton’s basics. Thirty-one-year-old sprint specialist who popped a 12th last season in Seefeld, Austria in a loaded 15-kilometer mass start freestyle. The seventeenth ranked sprinter on...
The workout this week comes from the head coach of the rising Bowdoin Ski Team, Nate Alsobrook. While it can certainly be beneficial to train at altitude or in the mountains, Alsobrook shows that the unexpected beaches of the Maine Coast can be equally well suited for preparation. This workout highlights looking outside the box to take advantage of the terrain you have access to. In our program, we are always looking for creative ways...
Back to Basics: How to ‘Reset’ for Nordic Performance
FasterSkierNovember 5, 2018
The following strength and performance tips come from one of our resident experts, Stuart Kremzner, MS, CSCS, FMSII, OS, RN, an exercise physiologist who has coached and raced in nordic skiing for over 20 years. Kremzner has trained/consulted with college athletic programs, elite teams, and athletes with the goal of improving athletic performance and injury prevention. When not working, he is running and skiing on the trails in New Hampshire or writing wax tips for the TOKO...
Wednesday Workout: Diversify Your Core Strength Progression from U.S. D-Team Coach Gus Kaeding
FasterSkierOctober 31, 2018
This gem of a Wednesday Workout comes from U.S. Ski Team Development Coach Gus Kaeding. Ready yourself for the complete menu of the U.S. Cross Country Team’s core exercises. This spring, the USST coaches sat down to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of our program. One of the areas we identified for improvement was core strength. We felt there was still a gap to our Scandinavian competitors. With the help of the USST strength...
This Wednesday Workout was provided by twenty-six-year-old Bridger Ski Foundation (BSF) skier Nick Michaud. Bates College educated and raised plumb-line north in Fort Kent Maine, Michaud has emerged as a sprinter to watch on the SuperTour. He’s a gritty, salt-of-the-earth athlete who barely missed a nomination to the 2018 Olympic Team. Michaud offered FasterSkier a menu of options for the 30/30 workout — 30 seconds on 30 seconds off. From junior athletes to masters in M8...
This week’s workout comes from Caitlin Patterson, a Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP) skier and 2018 Winter Olympian. We asked the 28-year-old Patterson, an accomplished mountain runner as well, about training and racing with poles while hiking or running. When and what type of terrain does she typically use them for, and what kind of workout would she recommend with poles? *** It may come as no surprise that many of Caitlin Patterson’s dryland workouts...
Wednesday Workout: ‘Trailheading’ with Team Gregg
FasterSkierOctober 10, 2018
This week, we’re featuring a workout from the training logs of Team Gregg. These days, husband and wife Brian and Caitlin Gregg are adjusting to life, training and bodily changes as Caitlin is pregnant with their first child (a girl), due in early February. Read the full story here. Caitlin sent us the following “trailheading” workout, in reference to starting and ending a workout with someone else, which is how they often train together. ***...
Throwback Workout: Marathon Prep with Holly Brooks
FasterSkierSeptember 26, 2018
For this week’s workout, we go back in time four years ago to when former U.S. Ski Team member and two-time Olympian Holly Brooks was prepping for a season of international ski marathons in 2014/2015. Now retired from pro skiing and with her own