Vakava Race Team

So this is finals week for me. span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected"Hopefully/span, the last finals week of my life. (I just think back to how many tests and exams I have taken over the last 26 years and cringe). But as with most finals weeks, my training has taken a bit of a hit. I have a final early in the morning on Mon, Tues and Wed mornings, but I will still be in the clinic after that until 4pm, leaving little time to both study and get a workout of any substance.br /br /My plan for yesterday was to try and get a short run in once I got home just to clear my head before I started studying for this morning's span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error"TMD/span/span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error"orofacial/span pain exam. All was going to plan when at the Franklin Ave light rail station (I ride the train to a park-and-ride every day) it was announced that the train would be going no further. span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-corrected"Apparently/span there had been a crash further down the line. When this happens span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-corrected"buses/span come and shuttle people to the next stops, but there are thousands of people that take the train, and the people around me were mumbling that the last time this span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-corrected"happened/span the span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-corrected"buses/span never really showed up. So I decided that I should at least start moving towards my car, since walking put me closer to home than standing waiting for a bus that I did not know if it would ever show. When I got to Lake street I could see a news chopper hovering over the next station. I figured that that is where the a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/52379067.html?elr=KArksUUUU"crash/a was, and about this time I also figured I should really try to use my time wisely and double-task. So I span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-corrected"cinched/span up my back pack and started to run. I am sure I got some strange looks from the cars on 55 as I ran along with my backpack and lunch pail, but because of the crash I was actually going faster than they were. The crash site its self was pretty bad. I guess some guy decided to try and drive around the crossing arms and drove right in front of an span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-corrected"oncoming/span train (really, how stupid can you be?). I just kept on running to the next station, and since I was now on the opposite side of the crash, I was able to catch a bus to my car. All total I got 20 minutes of running in, and although that really is not much to write home about, what I have learned is that 20 minutes is better that nothing (a point that Chad span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error"Giese/span drove home earlier this year in talking about his transition to full time job with a young kid), and that fitting in little extra workouts can add up. Its why I do push ups in the morning while waiting for my oatmeal to cook in the microwave, or do pull ups every time I go down to my basement. If I can't always block out big chunks of time to train, I just train when I can.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1572647974447867713-8637885782001674767?l=vakavaraceteam.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

Last Thursday's practice was the second 1k double pole TT of the summer (and it was so much fun that Dave had us do it twice!). It seems like almost everyone was able to set a new personal best, and a couple people were even faster on the second 1k than the first. I felt good on the first 1k up, and my time was fast - a new course record and personal best by 5 seconds in 2:34. Bjorn started a few people back came in at 2:36, and Derek finished in 2:40. The second time up the course was tough for me though. The first thing to give out in these all out sprints is my legs, and they were getting pretty bogged down by half way up the course. I also had Bjorn starting just a couple seconds behind me, and I could hear his poles getting closer and closer. In the end I was able to hold Bjorn off, and finished faster than I thought I would in 2:37, but Bjorn killed the course in a new course record time of 2:30. The TT confirmed to me that I need to get my legs stronger. I have been putting in lots of running this year, and that has really helped my fitness, but I have been lacking in the leg strength category. I will have to find time to get to the gym for more lifting, and should ideally add some bounding to the training. At least I know what I should do, now its just whather I find the time/energy to do it.br /br /Sunday was the first long group rollerski of the summer. Last year these group skis got very popular, drawing in most of the top skiers in the Metro at one point or another (with our biggest group being 28 people). Every year we move the start date further up the calender than the last year, so I wasn't sure how many people would be up for the long group skis on August 1st, but there must have been some pent up demand since we still drew a group of 12, including olympian Carolyn Bramante and national champ Caitlin Compton, among others.br /br /The discussion on these long skis often involves how fast we (as individuals) should be going. The course that we take around Afton always includes plenty of out and back sections that allow for regrouping, but some people are better at going there own pace than others. I know that I have probably "won" a few to many hills on these long skis. Caitlin is inspiring on these long skis not for how fast she goes, but for how slow she takes these long skis. She is a master of the "ski slow to ski fast" mentality. My struggle is always how to adapt this to my training. She is training twice (or three times) as many hours as I am in any given week, and she has to keep her long skis easy so that she can hit her intervals hard. I am often not able to get in a workout every day, and so have more recovery built in to a given week, but does this mean that I should be taking the long skis harder? This week was easy to go slow since I raced a half marathon the day before (and set a new PB by over a minute!), and needed the recovery. Next week will be the real challenge to hold myself back.br /br /Anyone have any thoughts?div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1572647974447867713-5523128407872706189?l=vakavaraceteam.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

I'm going to be up north on the Gunflint trail at the in-laws cabin all next week. I wanted to get in a good hard week of training this week because I don't expect to get much in up North besides a little running, and hiking and canoeing with the kids. I decided to go out to Afton to hit the hills for some intervals. I was using the hill on Trading Post Rd., long but not too steep. When I got to the top there was a car full of teenage boys hanging out. After turning around to head back down, I saw that they were preparing to go down the hill on skateboards. I was going down leisurely, catching my breath, standing up to get a nice long recovery and they zoomed by. When I reached the bottom after them I just turned around and headed back up. When I turned at the top to head down again, I passed them as they prepared to head down again also. I was standing again and they caught me in the middle of the hill. There was a slight rise before it heads down again and I decided to follow them. I did a few quick skates over the rise and went into a tuck. One of the boys was half standing and doing some slalom back and forth. I had to squeek by him as he swerved toward me and didn't see me coming. I passed him and started catching another boy who was just crouching low on the board. We all reached the bottom about the same time and I turned and headed back up again. As the boys passed me in their car on the way to the top, I got a double toot on the horn and a two-fingered, peace-sign wave. I thought it was pretty cool for a 42 yr old woman to get that kind of recognition from a group of young skate boarding boys. I guess we connected on understanding the need for speed; the rush of wind in your face as the ground zooms by under your feet. I just love that. Don't we all?div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1572647974447867713-8519594767011320175?l=vakavaraceteam.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

Truth be told, my lawn really needed the rain, but as I drove towards Afton this evening and my radio was saying "severe weather going through span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"Woodbury/span/span and Afton right now" I was not thinking of my lawn. Tonight was the first set of 5k time trials for the summer (we do them three times each summer). The time trial consists of a 5k skate, a bit of recovery, and then a 5k classic. Tonight I got to the time trial location on span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"Nybeck/span/span road 45 minutes early hoping to get a little extra skiing in, but this is what I saw rolling in:br /pimg id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361121782811046226" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hvZteNu0E40/SmaH22YPsVI/AAAAAAAAAE0/vwW3gs-mRiY/s320/P1030076.JPG" border="0" /Instead of skiing in I got to sit in my car and watch the clouds roll through and dump quite an impressive amount of rain. span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"Fortunately/span by the time that we were supposed to start it had pretty much passed, and we were left with just a drizzle./pimg id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361146206048992786" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hvZteNu0E40/SmaeEeB7vhI/AAAAAAAAAE8/mrXD2ownirE/s320/P1030078.JPG" border="0" /By the time we finished our warm up the rain had stopped and the sun had come out. It actually got pretty hot! (or at least muggy). The time trail went well. My arms could span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"definitely/span feel the 2:45 classic ski from Sunday, but I was still able to post a personal best time in the skate race (the classic was a bit slow for me). Dave should send out results in a day or two.br /pMore span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"pictures/span:/pimg id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361147471378561474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hvZteNu0E40/SmafOHwAucI/AAAAAAAAAFE/WNSXI1JTStY/s320/P1030080.JPG" border="0" / img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361147638215338610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hvZteNu0E40/SmafX1Q_6nI/AAAAAAAAAFM/nJStRTVgM6g/s320/P1030082.JPG" border="0" / img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361147770558450914" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_hvZteNu0E40/SmaffiSDjOI/AAAAAAAAAFU/uD2LRnVQ2Ss/s320/P1030083.JPG" border="0" / img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361147916349760242" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hvZteNu0E40/SmafoBZaYvI/AAAAAAAAAFc/mIzuODz1w1E/s320/P1030085.JPG" border="0" / img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361148071479184882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_hvZteNu0E40/SmafxDTJjfI/AAAAAAAAAFk/WNDqAALxfyk/s320/P1030087.JPG" border="0" /It was Cheryl's birthday, and that meant treats! But don't try to steal any of her brownie - she will cut you! img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361148220305605554" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hvZteNu0E40/Smaf5tuIg7I/AAAAAAAAAFs/Fn7rA_A-7xI/s320/P1030088.JPG" border="0" /div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1572647974447867713-2093495822419888522?l=vakavaraceteam.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

One of the best things about our sport of Nordic skiing is that it is a sport for all ages. How many high school football players are still playing at 50 (or even 25) years old? This makes it a great family activity, as everyone can participate. I have it particularly good, as my dad has always been a skier (although mostly downhill when I was growing up) and is always willing to hop into a race or some crazy endurance adventure. My wife is also my best training partner, and by far my greatest motivation to work out (I have to keep up with her!). She has also been a fantastic sport and has been willing to leave the comfort and speed of her running shoes to wobble around on span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"rollerskis/span trying to learn a sport that can take frustratingly long to feel comfortable.br /br /This year, even my mom has gotten into the act. She has always been an avid walker (and she can really move!), but she never did much more than the occasional cross country ski in the winter. However the past couple of winters she (I think feeling a little sorry for Nichole, as well as wanting to improve her fitness) has been out more, and even got skate span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"equipment/span. My dad and I have been giving some pointers, but this spring he (and Greg) managed to talk my mom into joining span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"Sisu/span Skiers. She has loved it so far! She got a pair of span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"Marwe/span span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"combis/span, and has been going out on her own and practicing. I worried about how she would get the balance (since she has had minimal skating on snow experience, and she had a pretty serious knee injury in the span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"BWCA/span a couple years ago), but she has actually picked that part up quite well (I think years of downhill skiing and some limited rollerblading with my sister have helped). The irony is all that worrying about span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"rollerskiing/span didn't account for other freak accidents... since last Thursday at span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"Sisu/span Skiers practice (a emspan class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"dryland/span/em practice at battle creek) one of the guys there span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"accidentally/span ran into her and she landed awkwardly on her arm. Unfortunately the ensuing trip to the ER revealed that she broken the end of her radius at her elbow, and her span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"rollerskiing/span will be on hiatus for the near future. span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"Hopefully/span she will have the speediest of recoveries, since I know she would much rather be out with her group of span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"Sisu/span Skier newbies.br /br /Winter days on snow are wonderful, but not nearly so when spent alone every day. I just want to thank my family for participating in this great sport, and in doing so supporting me and all the fun I have skiing.br /br /Hopefully I won't kill you all in the process :)div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1572647974447867713-7449936663265102323?l=vakavaraceteam.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

The life of a researcher is tough... especially when conferences are held in the middle of the summer in a happening "town" like Oslo. At the end of June I hopped a plane to Norway with my ears ready for some serious listening and my USB stick (with my own presentation on concurrent strength and endurance training in recreational runners about 98% ready) in my bag. Upon arrival, I found the sun shining (didn't stop once during our stay) on a beautiful city with lots of good dining/outdoor activities/shopping/parks/museums... the only disappointment was that BlogItemURLa href="http://www.holmenkollen.com/index.jsp?SDP_CHANGE_USERLANG=en"Holmenkollen/aBlogItemURL is being renovated so I didn't get to visit the place (I guess I just have to go back sometime!). I definitely recommend a visit to Oslo (though it's not such a cheap place - cheers to traveling on "business"!)br /br /Norway's obsession with nordic skiing makes most folks' obsession with nordic skiing look like child's play. Thus, the conference had a relatively high number of skiing-related presentations (many by Norwegian researchers, quite a few Swedes, a couple Finns and an Austrian if I remember all... topics covered biomechanics, physiology and coaching, among others).br /br /One of the themes that stuck out in the presentations on training was span style="font-style:italic;"volume and intensity of training/span. There was, an entire session on training to achieve optimal adaptations that, after "careful consideration", I chose to attend over the other 7 sessions happening at the same time (well, in reality the skier-magnet in me didn't really give me any other choice...). Other presentations were linked into sessions on physiology, coaching/testing, etc. The presentations discussed, for example, how high intensity training improves VO2max more effectively than moderate intensity training, and how long slow distance (LSD) training is essential for VO2max development/maintenance in even highly trained individuals. These presentations confirmed most of what we already understand about adaptations to training and there were no groundbreaking secrets on how to train, though throughout the congress, some new methods for the assessment of the effectiveness of training and what is going on at e.g. the neuromuscular or cellular level, were presented. br /br /One presentation that stood out for me in a practical sense was one in which the researcher presented three colored charts of yearly training volume (intensity was denoted by different colors) from some TOP level skiers in Europe (I mean world-class here). The next slide was yearly training volume and intensity from a research project done in '99 using top US skiers. The main difference between these plans/training logs was the amount of green on the charts. Green was the color used to denote low-intensity distance training, of which there was significantly more of on the Euro charts than the US chart. While many training methods can produce good skiers, and while there are interindividual variations in training responses, I found it interesting that many of the best skiers in the world really do ski EASY (LOTS of green on their charts which is equal to about 75 to 90% of training volume performed below 2mmol blood lactate). The key observation here was not that total training volume between the Euros and the US differed, but that there was a lot more low intensity training visible on the Euro charts than on the US ones. Could this difference in volume of low intensity training be one of the keys as to why Euro skiers have traditionally dominated the podium? To my knowledge there are no studies directly comparing training between skiers from different nations (and which method(s) might be more effective), but from an observational standpoint I would venture to say that it makes a difference.br /br /In my skiing experience, long slow distance workouts didn't always end on such a slow note even if they started out in the zone and I'm betting I'm not the only one... The competitiveness of a team and multitasking (thinking about the homework/upcoming exam/*insert something else that could make your mind spin here* while skiing) can gradually work you out of the zone as can the expectation that you always work as a team. In college, we logged our hours of training as "easy" when we skied for 3 hours even when the heart rate monitor average BPM didn't necessarily agree...this means that the training volume I had at moderate and high intensity was greater than my training log will let you believe....of course I should have known better, but hindsight is always 20/20 (If you want to read more on that on a "personal level" I wrote a series of six "ski lessons" last year after going to a Finnish Ski Association Coaching Seminar. span style="font-style:italic;"(the views expressed are mine alone)/span Here are the links: BlogItemURLa href="http://ritvat.blogspot.com/2008/05/ski-lessons-1.html"Lesson 1/aBlogItemURL, BlogItemURLa href="http://ritvat.blogspot.com/2008/05/ski-lessons-2.html"Lesson 2/aBlogItemURL, BlogItemURLa href="http://ritvat.blogspot.com/2008/05/ski-lessons-3.html"Lesson 3/aBlogItemURL, BlogItemURLa href="http://ritvat.blogspot.com/2008/05/ski-lessons-4.html"Lesson 4/aBlogItemURL, BlogItemURLa href="http://ritvat.blogspot.com/2008/05/ski-lessons-5.html"Lesson 5/aBlogItemURL, BlogItemURLa href="http://ritvat.blogspot.com/2008/05/ski-lessons-6.html"Lesson 6/aBlogItemURL). Based on what I listened to and observed in Oslo, I cannot, unfortunately, write a formula to achieve skiing glory, but the take-home message was to train with purpose (easy when you need to go easy and hard when you mean to go hard) and do not underestimate the power of low intensity training!div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1572647974447867713-6623429200946775750?l=vakavaraceteam.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

a href="http://www.sisuskiers.org/uncategorized/sisu-informal-skate-tt"Time Trial/a. Battle Creek. Thursday. Try to stay in front of Caitlin Compton. Be there!div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1572647974447867713-9100292987056799582?l=vakavaraceteam.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

Last night Derek and I finally got out for a rollerski together. Derek and his wife moved this spring to a house only about 4 miles from mine, but it has taken us until last night to actually get out for a ski together (we have certainly talked about doing it a number of times before).br /div/divbr /divToday is actually Nichole's 26th birthday (everyone wish her happy birthday!), but it is way too predictable to suprise her on her birthday (and you can't suprise someone emafter /emtheir birthday, since then it just looks like you forgot), so last night I got home a bit before she did and got her gift out and started baking chocolate chip cookies (we have a long history of me providing cookies, just ask Brent). This was going great until I realized that we were out of chocholate chips. I raced over to the store, and was in the chocolate chip isle when my phone rang. At first I thought it was going to be Nichole telling me that she was almost home and my suprise would be ruined, but instead it was Derek asking if I wanted to rollerski. I raced back home, got the cookies in the oven, got my rollerski stuff on, got the cookies out of the oven, and was able to suprise Nichole when she got home. I then headed out for my ski with Derek. We did a nice little double pole together, were able to loop around to check out his house, and then we ended up back at my house for a water bottle fill-up and some fresh cookies. Very nice, since it is great to have someone to train with that is nearby. We will have to do that more often (including some runs in Lebanon Hills that Nichole will have to join us on too). /divbr /div/diva href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hvZteNu0E40/SktvSaFZVYI/AAAAAAAAAEU/wG1xkI27zSo/s1600-h/Cookies.jpg"img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 207px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353494944090248578" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hvZteNu0E40/SktvSaFZVYI/AAAAAAAAAEU/wG1xkI27zSo/s320/Cookies.jpg" //abr /divHappy Birthday Nichole :)/divbr /div/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1572647974447867713-5447363339071860281?l=vakavaraceteam.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

I discovered a new roller ski route close to my house today. I was even able to ski there from home! It's in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood of St. Paul, nestled between Hwy 280 and Como Ave. John Swain mentioned that he grew up there and would roller ski in the neighborhood so I thought I would check it out. It's a small area with little traffic and good terrain so it will be a nice place to do some intervals. There are a few hills that you can't go down, and I wouldn't recommend skiing there if you aren't really comfortable on skis because there are plenty of intersections to navigate, but it was fine for me. I'll have to work out the best route for an interval, but I think it has great potential. I'm psyched!div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1572647974447867713-6802252519235555219?l=vakavaraceteam.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

Looking to get in some speed work? How about a 1 mile race on the track at Macalester? Next Tuesday there will be a fundraiser for Cindy Brochman who is currently fighting cancer (check out an interview a href="http://runningminnesota.blogspot.com/2009/05/cynthia-brochman.html"here/a). A $10 minimum donation is suggested, and races start at 6pm (including kids races that are shorter distances) with the fast heats going off at 8 and 8:15pm. Should be a good time for a good cause. Check out more info a href="http://downthebackstretch.blogspot.com/2009/06/milers-to-raise-funds-for-cindy.html"here/a, and registration form a href="http://www.skinnyski.com/racing/forms/2009/RockBrocRun.pdf"here/a.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1572647974447867713-1979845040142772590?l=vakavaraceteam.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

Last Thursday we did a video session with Ahvo and worked on double pole. DP has been my weekest stroke and I've been working on it since I started with Vakava two years ago. I went back and looked at some video from the previous two years and compared it to this years. It was amazing to see how much it has improved and shows what working with Vakava has done for me. There is no way that I could've made those improvements without this group. These people have not just helped me with technique, but have also given me the motivation and support to do the hard work required to improve my conditioning and strength which is needed to make the technique improvements. Thanks everybody, I couldn't do it without you!br /br /I know others have made dramatic improvements as well. My husband has wondered what the point of a team was for an individual sport. I think this proves it's worth.br /br /June '07 - out of shape and just getting back on roller skis after a 12 yr. hiatus - pitifulbr /object width="320" height="266" class="BLOG_video_class" id="BLOG_video-2e3253ba7a8435a4" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"param name="movie" value="http://www.blogger.com/img/videoplayer.swf?videoUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fv9.nonxt6.googlevideo.com%2Fvideoplayback%3Fid%3D2e3253ba7a8435a4%26itag%3D5%26begin%3D0%26len%3D86400000%26app%3Dblogger%26et%3Dplay%26el%3DEMBEDDED%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1264857196%26sparams%3Did%252Citag%252Cip%252Cipbits%252Cexpire%26signature%3D809AA870F40417AEE1D2863E6F1FADBB8C97ACC8.6D3A0558C93F2E86B788A6781B6D6E0B6F4E1BE1%26key%3Dck1amp;nogvlm=1amp;thumbnailUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2FThumbnailServer2%3Fapp%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D2e3253ba7a8435a4%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw320%26sigh%3D4Y2UIozYR8H9VO3n2sfui2SUemwamp;messagesUrl=video.google.com%2FFlashUiStrings.xlb%3Fframe%3Dflashstrings%26hl%3Den"param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.blogger.com/img/videoplayer.swf?videoUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fv9.nonxt6.googlevideo.com%2Fvideoplayback%3Fid%3D2e3253ba7a8435a4%26itag%3D5%26begin%3D0%26len%3D86400000%26app%3Dblogger%26et%3Dplay%26el%3DEMBEDDED%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1264857196%26sparams%3Did%252Citag%252Cip%252Cipbits%252Cexpire%26signature%3D809AA870F40417AEE1D2863E6F1FADBB8C97ACC8.6D3A0558C93F2E86B788A6781B6D6E0B6F4E1BE1%26key%3Dck1amp;nogvlm=1amp;thumbnailUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2FThumbnailServer2%3Fapp%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D2e3253ba7a8435a4%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw320%26sigh%3D4Y2UIozYR8H9VO3n2sfui2SUemwamp;messagesUrl=video.google.com%2FFlashUiStrings.xlb%3Fframe%3Dflashstrings%26hl%3Den" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"/embed/objectbr /br /br /pJune'08 - getting much betterbr /object width="320" height="266" class="BLOG_video_class" id="BLOG_video-7fb79df2404edaf8" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"param name="movie" value="http://www.blogger.com/img/videoplayer.swf?videoUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fv21.nonxt1.googlevideo.com%2Fvideoplayback%3Fid%3D7fb79df2404edaf8%26itag%3D5%26begin%3D0%26len%3D86400000%26app%3Dblogger%26et%3Dplay%26el%3DEMBEDDED%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1264857196%26sparams%3Did%252Citag%252Cip%252Cipbits%252Cexpire%26signature%3D3C4ECE02BE4EF6774D295A3A7CD0C9DF40C98876.84041F2B6F8EDA1B13CB696DF13167C22AF02C22%26key%3Dck1amp;nogvlm=1amp;thumbnailUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2FThumbnailServer2%3Fapp%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D7fb79df2404edaf8%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw320%26sigh%3D7T1LMSQRjdaSuPzh6M2zgADjAg4amp;messagesUrl=video.google.com%2FFlashUiStrings.xlb%3Fframe%3Dflashstrings%26hl%3Den"param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.blogger.com/img/videoplayer.swf?videoUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fv21.nonxt1.googlevideo.com%2Fvideoplayback%3Fid%3D7fb79df2404edaf8%26itag%3D5%26begin%3D0%26len%3D86400000%26app%3Dblogger%26et%3Dplay%26el%3DEMBEDDED%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1264857196%26sparams%3Did%252Citag%252Cip%252Cipbits%252Cexpire%26signature%3D3C4ECE02BE4EF6774D295A3A7CD0C9DF40C98876.84041F2B6F8EDA1B13CB696DF13167C22AF02C22%26key%3Dck1amp;nogvlm=1amp;thumbnailUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2FThumbnailServer2%3Fapp%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D7fb79df2404edaf8%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw320%26sigh%3D7T1LMSQRjdaSuPzh6M2zgADjAg4amp;messagesUrl=video.google.com%2FFlashUiStrings.xlb%3Fframe%3Dflashstrings%26hl%3Den" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"/embed/objectbr //ppJune '09 - that's more like it!br /object width="320" height="266" class="BLOG_video_class" id="BLOG_video-c635648ed8009e3f" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"param name="movie" value="http://www.blogger.com/img/videoplayer.swf?videoUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fv15.nonxt7.googlevideo.com%2Fvideoplayback%3Fid%3Dc635648ed8009e3f%26itag%3D5%26begin%3D0%26len%3D86400000%26app%3Dblogger%26et%3Dplay%26el%3DEMBEDDED%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1264857196%26sparams%3Did%252Citag%252Cip%252Cipbits%252Cexpire%26signature%3D4BDAA4F4AA8578E10D8C99A319DE981923B9A179.55CB9F6F6EB7BF2A97AEBEEE7C00BC0FFCC23BC5%26key%3Dck1amp;nogvlm=1amp;thumbnailUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2FThumbnailServer2%3Fapp%3Dblogger%26contentid%3Dc635648ed8009e3f%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw320%26sigh%3DWFBD-0oUVeMlcjruEIupf-5qPq8amp;messagesUrl=video.google.com%2FFlashUiStrings.xlb%3Fframe%3Dflashstrings%26hl%3Den"param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.blogger.com/img/videoplayer.swf?videoUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fv15.nonxt7.googlevideo.com%2Fvideoplayback%3Fid%3Dc635648ed8009e3f%26itag%3D5%26begin%3D0%26len%3D86400000%26app%3Dblogger%26et%3Dplay%26el%3DEMBEDDED%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1264857196%26sparams%3Did%252Citag%252Cip%252Cipbits%252Cexpire%26signature%3D4BDAA4F4AA8578E10D8C99A319DE981923B9A179.55CB9F6F6EB7BF2A97AEBEEE7C00BC0FFCC23BC5%26key%3Dck1amp;nogvlm=1amp;thumbnailUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2FThumbnailServer2%3Fapp%3Dblogger%26contentid%3Dc635648ed8009e3f%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw320%26sigh%3DWFBD-0oUVeMlcjruEIupf-5qPq8amp;messagesUrl=video.google.com%2FFlashUiStrings.xlb%3Fframe%3Dflashstrings%26hl%3Den" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"/embed/object/pdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1572647974447867713-6353847263954332833?l=vakavaraceteam.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

I wanted to do a long roller ski this weekend and didn't want to go alone. It seems like it's been so long since I've trained with a group and was missing it. So I put out some feelers to see if anyone would join me. I got some bites from Mel and Dave and we cajoled Brent and Michele to join us when we saw them at practice on Thursday. Then Kevin decided to bag his mountain bike race and joined us too so we had a nice crew. We had agreed to go on the Gateway Trail for an easy ski, but little did we know that there was an MS sponsored bike ride on the trail that day and about 2500 riders were out. We weren't sure how it would go with all those riders, but we were there and so we braved the crowd. It wasn't too bad going out since most of the riders were fast and experienced and had no trouble going around us. Plus they could see us coming for a ways so they had time to get in line. It was a little shakier coming back. The riders at the back of the crowd were less experienced, had difficulty maneuvering quickly, and were more likely to be riding side-by-side. The fact that we were going in opposite directions now didn't help either since we came upon them with less warning. I was leading and could see the fear in many faces as they struggled to maneuver back to their side of the trail. There was only one mishap when a large group passed and some slowed to quickly for others. No one hit the ground, but it was close. Over all it turned out to be a fine ski on a fine morning. I'm looking forward to many more to come.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1572647974447867713-5259388947950505155?l=vakavaraceteam.blogspot.com'//div

Yesterday was our first practice of the year for the Vakava Race Team. It was kind of an unofficial practice, and really more of a chance to let potential members check out the group. But that dosen't mean that my abs aren't sore after the workout that we did! It mostly consisted of drills that focused on specific parts of classic and skate technique, but I think it is a great way to start the season by re-focusing on the basics. It was also a good way to show the new skiers how Dave and Mark work with the group (and I think that they did a great job, for the record).br /br /The turnout was very promissing, and better than I was expecting (I think even Dave was pleasantly suprised). There were 4 potential new guys, and 4 potential new ladies (one of them being my wife Nichole). If they all stick with the team for the long haul it would be fantastic for the group. I personally couldn't stop smiling on the way home from the practice at the thought of the the new guys joining Derek, Andy, etc. and I on the Burlington Road hill for some epic intervals later this summer. I am excited where the Vakava team is headed, and not just because most of the new skiers were under the age of 30 and fast (there emwas/em one new master skier too - and I think that having the wide age range that we do is a very important and fun aspect of the group). What the turnout last night says to me is that Dave and Mark are on to something, and what we are doing in Vakava is something that other skiers want to be a part of.br /br /The 2009-2010 looks to be a ton of fun!div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1572647974447867713-6543487028413999480?l=vakavaraceteam.blogspot.com'//div