What the results don't show

Our careers as a coaches have been very traditionally successful. We have coached state and national champion teams and individuals. We have coached at numerous national and international events. We have have seen athletes come and go, both the winners and the beginners. While it's fun to coach the winners and great to have a winning team the thing we love most about coaching is often what the results don't show.

The World University Games is a good example of this. Our athletes are not standing on the podium in the stadium but they are certainly standing tall in our hearts.

The results don't show Willie smiling as he starts skating in the skiathlon the last part of one of the best races of his career.

The results don't show Sierra flying up the hill in the sprint nor gliding past the Italian athlete in the finishing stretch looking every bit of the world class athlete that she has become.

The results don't show the sheer joy in Taylor as he finishes the first round of the sprint relay nor the grit and determination that took him through to the finish of the 30km.

The results don't show Elise in the freestyle as she methodically takes down women with FIS points 4 times better than hers nor.

The results don't show Britta as she makes up 2 minutes to catch the Chinese racers in the relay nor her smile at the finish.

The results don't show Catherine's poise as she just skied stronger and stronger in the race to the finish nor her face when her legs are numb and she can hardly move them in the he 15km and I say I'm OK with her stopping and she says, "I'm NOT!"

The results don't show the heart and soul that Sarah puts into everything she does, both in her power on the course and her support off.

The results don't show Pat as he accelerates through the 10km, skiing better and faster at the end than the beginning nor the sheer will that gets him around the final lap of the 30km.

The results don't show Kyle's good tactics as he sits in a tuck gliding beside a skier who is skating nor his strength as he powers up the hill.

The results certainly don't show Nathan, who had bronchitis before we left, had to go to the hospital here in Italy and still managed to finish the 10km skate on nothing but desire.

The results don't show Sindre as he dedicates his summer and fall to improving and strains every muscle flying into the finish, nor his willingness to jump into the relay. 

The results don't show Sam as he fights through his newly discovered asthma to ski solid in the 10km after having to stop with an asthma attack in the skiathlon.

The results don't show Bridget, after a good day in the 5km, tough out a really rough race the opening leg of the relay, so tough that she ended up in the infirmary after the race.

The results also don't show the amazing work that goes behind the racing. Hours spent by Shanna & Anna (the Shananigans) waxing, brushing, scraping and doing it all again and again and again. Nor do they show Dick & Evelyn running all over the Dolomites looking for a specific type of klister or a wax remover.

The results only show who skied the fastest on that particular day and not the hundreds of stories,  hours of training and sheer heart that typify this team.

We have never been so proud as we are tonight, after the final race of the Games. We look forward to the rest of the season with these phenomenal young people!

Do Not Get Stuck In A Routine

For most people today was probably just another day. Finding a routine seems to be almost second nature to us as humans, which I think is the cause of most of false perceptions of boring lives. It is easy for us to lose track of the important things in life when we are finding routines in everything we do. If I look closely and get stuck in a routine, I find myself lost and searching for something more. We must be careful not to get stuck in a rut otherwise we lose sight of all the wonderful things we experience. Since we have been here it seems as though all of us have found our own unique daily routines, myself included.

Wake-up.
Eat. 
Pack and get ready for the day. 
Ride the bus to the venue.
Ski.
Eat.
Ride the bus back to the hotel.
Shower.
Wait for food (they eat late here).
Eat again.
Sleep.
Repeat.

This has been my routine for the majority of the days since I have been here. Of course there have been a few variations, but as a whole this is has described most of my days. I have found myself lost and searching for more. Wait, WHAT!?!?! How is that possible? I'm in Italy skiing with some of my best friends, representing the United States of America, something I have dreamed about doing since I was a child. Looking back on all that has happened the last week and a half I feel so honored to be here. Every day has been one amazing day after another, filled with unimaginable experiences. Yesterday Sam and I had the opportunity to ski from the venue all the way to the end of the Marcialonga trail which ends roughly a mile from our hotel where from which we walked back to the hotel. I have always enjoyed being able to travel from one place to another powered solely by the human body especially when it involves skiing. Being able to get from the hotel to the venue without having to use any cars or other modes of modern transportation is unbelievably satisfying (not to mention skiing under the moonlight for about half of the way up). Today we were also able to walk to the trail and ski back down to the race venue. Mountains with peaks veiled behind a wall of fog and clouds is an excellent background to any skiing experience, especially today's.
Watching the girls race today in the 3x5K relay was so much fun. Standing on the world cup venue enjoying the company of my men's team will never get old. I am proud to call both the men and women on our team my teammates. We are all so unique and full of different specialties and diversity it amazes me how talented we all are. I am grateful for every opportunity that I have been given. Thank you to all of those who have been supportive to myself and our team, we wouldn't be here without the endless support that we have been given.

With all the excitement that has been going on I refuse to get stuck in a routine, tomorrow will be yet another amazing day here in Pradazzo and I hope yours is just as well!!

Ski Jumping

After a short jog east up the valley to watch ski jumping last night it was decided amongst the jogees (willie, pat, nathan and I) that ski jumping would most likely not be a part of our future aspirations. Sledding down the bottom part however proved tempting idea. *Provided below is a reference picture to exhibit my artistic talent in realism.

The Monster Inside

The gun goes off and the race begins. The competition is fierce but so am I and I know deep down I can do battle with this course and this field of incredible skiers. But after a few minutes into the race the pack is slowly but surly slipping out of my grasp. I keep hearing this wheezing from the racer behind me. The world slows down and the small fear in the back of my head slowly grows into a giant monster chasing me around the course. I outrun it for a little while but eventually it catches me and attacks. I suddenly feel like I have swallowed to big of a bit of food and it just wont move out of my windpipe. The wheezing is louder but the racer is still behind me and I know I can still beat him. Coming into the stadium the world starts to fade around the edges. In a moment of clarity and acceptance I know the wheezing racer is really me and that something is terribly wrong. The coaches appear in the distance and I make heartbreaking decision to drop out of a race for the first time in my life. There in Rachel’s arms breathing but not really getting any air I accept my fate and that I have full blown, real life, asthma. Sarah hands me an inhaler and I accept it desperate to breath again. The feeling of getting that first breath was like being woken up from a deep sleep with a cold bucket of water. The next few hours were mostly a blur of pain, anger, sadness, and finally, acceptance. As confirmed by doctors that night and the next day I have asthma and will have to start taking medicine to get better again.  They upside is that I can and will get better and will be able to race again. Racing is one of the greatest joys in my life and to be racing internationally has been a dream of mine for years now. Yet hear I am, competing against some of the best in the world. To say the least I am not at my best but in the past few days I have come to realize I can still live this dream. And I have.  Five days after the asthma attack I completed my first international race on the beautiful course here at Val Di Fiemme. It wasn’t my best and I still had some problems breathing but it was infinitely better than the skiathalon. I have begun down the road to recovery and I now know deep down that I can beat the monster inside of me. 

Although having this experience here has been a challenge I am loving the time spent with the team spent here in Italy. Skiing here has been a jaw dropping experience every time I am out on the course and I can't imagine dong anything better!

A few of the photos from the day in Trento

Ancient ruins and stunning architecture

To enter the church

Hand written!

Secret passageway in the church walls!

Cheese!!!!!

Elise bought a yummy sweet tomato-like fruit!

One of many dogs in poof coats..

Waitin' for the bus back to Predazzo

Collision. Impact. Chance.

Collision. Impact. Chance. Sometimes I look at life like a massive web of interconnected lines and stories with criss-crossing intersections, some of which pass by each other smoothly and others that completely change the course of another life. Being here and experiencing Italy made me realize that standing on the start line of today’s race was a result of those moments. You see, I’m not supposed to be here. As of July I wasn’t even going to be skiing this year, I wasn’t going to be at UW, I wasn’t supposed to be on the WUG team, I wasn’t going to be on a ski team at all after several life transitions. But here I am!  Breath in. Breath out. Every sinew of my being is present in this moment as I realize the magnitude of the events and impacts that occurred to bring me to this red line that I’m about to cross at the start of the women’s 5k freestyle. Five four three two one, and our legs know exactly how to carry out the job for which we have trained them for so long. All the overwhelming feelings fade away when the only task in the moment is to embrace the pain that strains against the gravity of the hill. All of the built up anxiety is thrust into every new stride.

            There is never a more beautiful sound that the voices of my wonderful teammates and beautiful coaches who scream their hearts out as if to transfer more energy to us with every cheer. We Americans are by far the loudest people in the entire valley. The fact that each and every one of them has impacted me over the time that I have known them makes their presence even more motivating. I can’t imagine having two more inspirational women than Christi and Rachael pour their hearts and souls into my racing experience and the personal development of every one of their athletes. The chances that I have been given overwhelm me. I can only hope I can have the courage to take full advantage of the impacts, and end up completely spent in a gasping heap on the finish line knowing that the job was done fully well. Being content in knowing that I have nothing left to give is the best feeling in the world. Collisions, impacts, chances: make the most of the moments you’re given.

Pre-race jidders

This is a picture of our wonderful coaches waiting for the race to start. Today is the 5k skate! The pre-race routine has consists of Bridget, Sarah, and I laying around with lots of water, electrolytes, and pump up music (Enya). The course today will wind around two different 2.5K laps with lots of fun hills. My goal for the race will be to keep my tempo snappy. The sun is shining and I feel good and ready!

Sprint Relay

Today was the third race for the World University Games here in Trentino Italy. It has been an amazing journey watching fellow teammates racing, prepping for and racing our own individual races, and of course the year-round training. Watching and competing has been such an amazing experience. Being able to watch the different countries and my own friends competing has been more exciting than I could have ever asked for. Today was a very unique experience, combining both competing, and watching my teammates race all in one. Because of the nature of relays, we were able to race, tag-off, watch our relay partner race. We were to each do three laps each, alternating ever-other one. We had two teams competing in the mixed team sprints (one male and one female racer), and I was fortunate enough to be on one of those teams.

                                                                  The Race:

Heart pounding. Adrenalin pumping. Breathing heavy. Looking down at my skis as I slide them back and forth (in true Nordic fashion) to try to calm myself down. I am lined up with nineteen other guys all waiting for the sound of the start gun to fire.  From the back of the pack I look up, only to see the massive field of men from all over the world with our 1.2 kilometer sprint course is the backdrop.
Everyone begins to settle as the count to the start begins. Breath-by-breath the seconds fly by. There is not a sound coming from the stadium filled with people. No breeze, nothing but the cool air touching my face. The steam from my breath floating up into the sky. Pure serenity. BANG. All hell breaks loose. Simultaneously all of the men begin the race, getting faster and faster all through the start lanes. Skis, poles, arms and legs now up to full speed. Trying to slow my breath and relax into the quickened pace we come the the first rolling hill on the course. Still in the back, I manage to work my way up into the group passing two men as we crest. Getting to the backside over the roller, we all settle into a tuck. Breathing heavily now to recover as much as possible before the big hill. This hill has been ascended by countless racers, many of which have been world cup skiers and Olympians (whom I have watch countless times on this very hill on you-tube). It is now our turn to climb. Standing up and breaking into the hill with as much momentum as possible, I am able to maintain most of my speed. Calm, cool, and relaxed I work my way further towards the front of the pack. Pole, glide, pole, glide all the way to the top. Legs aching, lungs burning, the pack has slowly spread by the top. Feeling exhausted, the downhill tuck is nothing short of painful, filled with desperate grasps for air. Coming into the corner leading to the next up-hill my breath calms and I am prepared to hit the hill hard. Coming out of the tuck and "throwing the hammer down" I pass one of the many guys in front of me. On the the next down hill I tuck in for more grasps for air. Coming back over the other side of the rolling hill, I hold my momentum as best as possible before the last flat to the tag zone. Keeping my distance in front of those who were behind me I sped through the flats and into the tag. Searching for my partner as I skied into the tag zone I finally spotted her. Elise began moving down the track as I quickly tagged her with sheer exhaustion. Elise flew out of the gate to continue the race. And just like that, the first of my three laps were done.

As I watched Elise burn through the course, I couldn't help but give hugs to my two amazing coaches from all the excitement. I didn't need to say anything for them to know how great it was out there, I could tell they knew. I too could tell how excited they were for me, glowing even brighter than  they usually do. Smiles beaming we were all feeding off of each-others excitement. Oddly enough, even though it was only a third of the actual race, it was an experience that I will never forget and one that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

And the stadium!

PicTour

Mountains down near Trento

Wooo fans!!

Women's Pursuit

WUG so far...

Surreal, is a word that I have been using the most to describe my experiences here in Italy. I been trying to suck in everything from the sight of some of the world cup skiers to the odd smell that hits your nose getting off the bus. It really doesn't feel real sometimes. On the classic sprint day, it was weird to think that all the training I have been doing is going to be used in 1.8 km. I wasn't expecting much I just wanted to do my best and represent USA. The lap went so fast, it didn't seem like I had time to think. I wont forget when I was heading toward the finish line and I could hear the commentators voice. It give me an extra burst of energy. I took a spill before the finish line, it was disappointing at first but I knew that I gave it my all. I felt really proud of my teammates as they give everything even though we don't expect move on to the rounds/finals. The only really easy part of the experience will be to remember this for a long time. The excitement is rising for the 10km on tuesday!

Mixed Team Sprints

The Pirates of the Caribbean theme song led the men out of the start gate for the team sprints today. Kyle and I watched from the biathlon range as Taylor and Elise crushed it on each lap of their sprint. It was eerie seeing what I would be doing in just a few minutes...watching coaches rub down our muscles and our skis, offering encouraging words, and giving us a homemade concoction of orange juice and tea. It was a fantastic race. I like the idea of needing a fast woman and man to work together. I like that the men start and the women finish it up. You have to really trust one another and give them the best position you can for the rest of the race.  The sprints felt really good today especially with the entire team on the big hill screaming for me. The best part was the quick uphill right after the big downhill. It felt really powerful and fun.
After the race, Kyle and Taylor and I skied the Marcialonga east. It was really beautiful at night with the towns all lit up and the final sprint announcements in the background.
It was a beautiful day! On to exploring Trento tomorrow.

casa per la settimana

WUG - Italy Adventure

Italy is amazing!! The Hotel Bellaria in the small town of Predazzo, which is 5km from the ski venue and 70km from Trento, and it has been a fantastic home for us. We take public transit to and from the venue and to other sport events throughout the valley. We have had two competitions so far, the skiathlon and classic sprints. Tomorrow is the team sprint where one male and one female from each team comprise a racing team and trade off sprinting 1.2 km with skate technique. Elise and Taylor will be one team, and Kyle and I will be the other team.

A couple of personal highlights from the trip so far:

At the end of the skiathlon, one of the volunteers saw me carrying my two pairs of skis in my hands and a cup of tea in my mouth. He stuck out a finger and helped pour the cup of tea into my mouth and allowed me to finish it. What a great volunteer!!!

At the end of the women's skiathlon, the Australian women were very impressed with our team cheering for them!

For the finals of the sprints today, I stood next to a local couple who were cheering for their son's best friend. He ended up falling during the final, but they cheered him all the way home. They were curious about Wyoming and whether or not you can ski through Yellowstone.

The kick wax for the classic sprints.

The night ski on our training day Friday on a short trail along the river. The town on the neighboring hill were lighting up the hillside and the moon took care of lighting our trail. Then we moved onto the sprint course to preview. It was really exciting previewing the course at night with all of the other racers, the smell of wax and excitement filling the air.

Late night pizza with the girls and hot vino!

We're Moving!

We have determined that we reach many more people on our Facebook Page than on this Blog.

Consequently we have decided to stop using this and move our announcements over to: http://www.facebook.com/UWNordic

We hope you will 'Like' us and keep track of the team at this new address.

Grand Mesa Thanksgiving Camp!

We may have found the best ever Thanksgiving Camp venue! Grand Mesa has tons of km's of trails, plenty of snow, good grooming, rolling terrain and Powderhorn was a fantastic place to stay!

On the whole it was the best Thanksgiving Camp I have ever been to in 20 years of Thanksgiving Camps! It just doesn't bet any better than this!

We skied tons of hours during the week and on the last day we had a fun relay with Mesa State, thanks for the fun and sharing your area!

Skate Technique Videos:


Classic Technique Videos:

What kind of Dancer are your skis?

I was talking to my sister Holly last week and she gave me her view of skis. Can you add to her list?


Fischers are like a large german woman dancing the tango,  she moves well but not a lot of springyness but good and solid.


The madsus is like an argentinian woman doing the tango, lots of action and tons of springyness.


The atomics are an italian woman, a little less springy but plenty of action.

Lots of news!

Well, it's been an extremely busy few weeks, we really need to update this more often...

First and foremost is the invitation for UW Nordic to represent the USA at the World University Games! Truly incredible! Instead of writing a huge post here's the link to our news page where you'll find a bunch of articles about it, http://www.uwyo.edu/ski/news.html We'll be doing tons of fundraising for this event and soliciting donations so please consider sending some money for this once-in-a-lifetime honor!

We also just had our first ever Nordic day for UW Ski Week. It was awesome fun with a rollerski race around Prexy's Pasture at Noon! We had full support of the University and bunches of spectators, even though it was raining and cold. It was wonderful! We also had a strongest double-pole competition with a Ski Erg and did waxing of skis for $20/pair. It was awesome fun, awesome exposure AND we actually made $426! Crazy! Check the Photo Album and YouTube site soon for pictures and videos.

Who Needs Snow? Freshman Kai Sharp of Houghton, Mich., leads members of the UW Nordic ski team in the Nordic Rollerski Sprint Race around Prexy's Pasture Monday. The race is among several activities scheduled during UW Ski Week through Thursday, Oct. 21. (UW Photo)

Vests and Headbands too!

You've got to have new vests and headbands to match the new suits!

NEW SUITS !

This year the UW Ski Team will not only have a sweet now logo but new suits !

A little bit cowboy, a bit racing and all Wyoming!

New Logo!

Visual Literacy Journal#1

Rachel Watson

I began reading the two texts for this course early in the spring and slowly, at an enjoyable pace, made my way through both. I found this a very fulfilling experience as my mind began to knit together the concepts and to create visual works with, as Freud might say, my id, ego and superego (Berger, 2008, p. 4). In fact, I found myself awake at 2:30 am one morning contemplating a new logo for the University of Wyoming (UW) Ski team. Thoughts regarding shape, balance and direction floated through my head (Berger, 2008, ch. 3).

Thus, in a state that was half waking, half sleep I imagined an image, that with asymmetrical balance, would create excitement and energy (Berger, 2008, p. 78). I hoped to use lines and shapes to direct the viewer’s eyes and to allow the viewer to see, in the image, both a skier and the letters “U” and “W” (Berger, 2008, pp. 80-81). It was when I realized that I could use psychological closure to “complete” the body of the skier that the image began to truly take form (Berger, 2008, p. 83). As I worked, I found that I was able to complete the entire logo using derivations of only one shape, a circle. In retrospect, this seems fitting as a circle is said to represent endlessness, warmth and protection (Berger, 2008, p. 75). These are all emotions that I associate with skiing, as I will be a skier forever and as a coach, I hope I represent warmth and protection to my athletes. Although I journal about this logo here for the first time and show it for the first time (below), I have not yet described all aspects of visual literacy that informed my creation. I hope to do this in future journal entries. I also hope that the logo will continue to evolve throughout the summer as I incorporate additional principles of visual literacy. 

Visual Literacy Journal #2

Rachel Watson

In this entry, I return to the logo for the University of Wyoming (UW) Ski team about which I wrote in entry 1. With continued insights from the course, I have considered not only elements of shape, balance and direction but I have also begun to consider color. Lynell Burmark (2002) writes that color can increase engagement and recall. She further notes that the color yellow can be very stimulating. For my design, this is serendipitous happenchance because the only appropriate colors for the logo are those incorporating the University’s colors of brown and gold (yellow). Burmark further goes on to remind us that text (or logo in this case) should contrast with the background (p. 73). Again, a fortunate consequence of school colors in brown and gold is their natural contrast. However, when suggesting effective design for presentations, Burmark notes that a darker background is preferable. She notes that these dark colors are calming and tend to recede whereas warm colors, such as yellow, are better for the foreground text and graphical elements (p. 73). I thus have attempted a logo in which the skier / letters are in yellow against a brown background. The darker color then theoretically recedes, leaving the yellow to “jump out” and excite (fig. 1).

            Upon completing this design, I was pleased with the way in which the UW now seems more evident. It does seem that the background recedes leaving the logo to be the “eye grabber”. I still felt some concern about the head of the skier, which in effect is the only portion of the logo that is not both a part of the skier and the UW. Thus, I further incorporated Burmark’s design principles and attempted to make the head a slightly darker color with the hope that it would recede with respect to the remainder of the skier. Also, in order to further detract attention from the skier’s head, I noted that Berger (2008) states that, “We can use focus to emphasize certain things and deemphasize others…” (p. 135). I thus attempted to deemphasize the head by making it appear less focused.

This leaves me now to ponder the appropriateness of a brown background for a skier who, of course, always skis on snow and a radiant, light background. Perhaps my design of this logo will be ever evolving but it is unarguably made better with the application of each new design principle and with each rendering. 

Watch for the double-pole hints or watch for the quotes. It's all good!

"This is for sure the gear that gives you the girls. At least that's what I think. But it separates the boys from the men I guess you can say. Beause you know what, real men they don't spread their thighs, they doublepole."


Couldn't say it better myself... Despite this cryptic and entertaining quote from this video it's actually really great and talks about double-poling. It also has a catchy song...


Enjoy!

Staying Healthy, courtesy of Faster Skier

Great blog post from Josh Smullin. Well worth reading.

http://fasterskier.com/2010/09/back-to-school-staying-healthy/

More PR on Johnny Klister!

Check it out, on August 30 Johnny Klister posted the  Cynthia Lummis video!

You know you've made it when you are noticed by Johnny Klister!

http://www.johnnyklister.com/

Here's a good summary of Training Zone by SkiPost

Training Zones

Optimal performance is reached by subjecting the body to specific types of stress in order to elicit specific types of adaptations. Using the Lactate Threshold lactate level or heart-rate, as we have done here, is the most precise way to determine training zones.

Recovery
Intensity: Level 1. Easy, 2-3mmol/L below LT; 30-50 bpm below LT.
Duration: 30 mins. - 1.5 hours.
Objective: This zone is used for warm-up and cool-down periods. Training at this intensity will promote recovery following glycogen-depleting workouts or high intensity intervals and maintain cardiovascular and muscular adaptations. The primary goal of recovery is to deliver O2 and CHO (carbohydrates) back to the muscles.

Endurance
Intensity: Level 2. Moderate, 1-2 mmol/L below LT; 10-30 bpm below LT. Level 1. Easy, 2-3 mmol/L below LT; 25-50 bpm below LT.
Duration: 30 mins. - 3 hours.
Objective: A moderate intensity is the optimum zone for improving endurance adaptations. An easy intensity delivers the same benefits, but more slowly. Unlike many athletes in bipedal and less-weight bearing sports, most skiers do most of their endurance training at the easier of these two intensities (around 35 bpm below LT). Training in both of the endurance zones improves the ability to deliver more oxygen to the muscle cell and process more energy from aerobic sources. Specific training adaptations include an increase in the size and number of mitochondria, an increase in myoglobin, increased capillarization, and an increased number of aerobic enzymes. Skiers tend to lower the intensity the longer the session. Over two hours = level 1. Under an hour = level 2.

Lactate Threshold
Intensity: Level 3. Moderately high, below LT by 5 bpm, or above LT by 5 bpm.
Duration:
· Tempo: 15 to 60 minute continuous effort at 5 bpm below LT.
· Interval: 5 to 15 minutes at LT and up to 5 bpm over LT.
Objective: Training at this intensity will raise LT as a percentage of Vo2 max as well as increase Vo2 max.

VO2 Max
Intensity: Level 4. High, 1-2 mmol/L above LT or at a heart rate associated with 95% of Vo2 max.
Duration: 3-5 minute intervals with half-time to equal recovery.
Objective: This is the optimum zone for improving Vo2 max. Training adaptations include an increase in stroke volume, an increase in maximal aerobic capacity and improved lactate buffering capacity - go fast, hurt less = go faster.

Intensive Repetitions
Intensity: Level 5. Very high, 2-6 mmol/L above LT.
Duration: Short: 30-60 seconds with complete recovery.
Long: 1-2 minutes with complete recovery.
Objective: Training at this zone generally only occurs for a few weeks prior to a major competitive event and increases anaerobic capacity and buffering ability.

Speed
Intensity: Depends on amount of rest taken between and number of repetitions.
Duration: Short. 10-20 seconds generally with full recovery.
Objective: Develops technique and use of dynamic, powerful motions.

UW Nordic Coach Christi is named to Leadville - Lake County Sports Hall of Fame!

UW Nordic Coach Christi Boggs is named to Leadville/Lake County Sports Hall of Fame!

• Video of Induction Video (.m4v)
• Scan of newspaper article (pdf)

Acceptance Speech

Wear Your Helmets!

From Fitz:


I promised that if my little brother lived through his wreck that i would do my part to raise awareness about helmets.  I'm glad to report that he made it in relatively good shape.  Without his helmet, he never would have walked out of that ditch.  I want to take this chance to remind everyone to wear their helmets every time no matter what.  Even if you are just going for a ride across town, a rollerski on the greenbelt or a 45 M.P.H. descent down Rogder's Canyon, wear your brain buckets.  Without a helmet, i would no longer have my brother.  Please remember to wear your helmets next time you get on rollerskis or a bike.  Its not a choice, just do it.

With love,
Fitz.

P.S. Aside from some pretty bad road rash and a few cracked ribs my brother will live to see another day.  Please please please wear your helmets

Pre-Workout/Pre-Race Eating

Good, short, easy article on what is good to eat before that tough workout or a race.

http://wyofile.com/2010/07/pre-workout-nutrition/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pre-workout-nutrition

Yet another reason to sleep!

Want To Get Faster, Smarter? Sleep 10 Hours:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127478147

You can add an actual improvement in performance to the long list of reasons to get sleep that we go over in the fall!

Gotta Love Laramie!

We went crust skiing this weekend and it was amazing! Better snow than I have ever seen up there and it was really quite smooth. It looks to be there awhile since the temperatures aren't too warm yet!

Training for Summer online!

The training schedule for the summer, with strength definitions and interval descriptions, is online. Enjoy!

http://www.uwyo.edu/ski/training.htm

If you have any questions or want to customize to fit your job/summer schedule be sure to let us know!

Congratulations!

Congrats to Marie and Cara for being names to the University of Wyoming President's Honor Roll: Resident and to Kyle and Binny for the Non-Resident.

This is a 4.0 grade for the semester. You Rock Our World!

Resident: http://www.uwyo.edu/news/showrelease.asp?id=42661&from=newssend
Non-Resident: http://www.uwyo.edu/news/showrelease.asp?id=42681&from=newssend

Casper Update (we're still workin' on a catchy name)

Well, to start off, we really haven't done much training wise. According to the all powerful Facebook, it sounds like this is the last week for seniors, so something should start cookin' soon.

Weather wise, it is a typically spring in Wyoming. This is one of the reasons I love this state! It does make it a little hard to train outdoors, but we can get into that later on, when the weather gods start decidin' it's time to bake the place. We've had rain/snow since yesterday mornin'. It's nice, wet stuff and the rancher part of me is dancin'. As of now, this is all that is stickin'.

Another Good Reason to Ski for UW...

...Summer Vacation

Coach Rachel Wins National Teaching Award!

Rachel has won yet another teaching award! This time it's a National award, it won't be long until she's asked to be the Secretary of Education!

http://www.uwyo.edu/news/showrelease.asp?id=42182&from=newssend

Be sure to congratulate her, she's shy and is trying to slip below the radar!

Breakfast! You need it!

It's been awhile since we've posted to the blog. We've all be trying to catch up from Nationals, have fun on Spring Break and finish the semester. We'll try to post to the blog a little more often as we start ramping up for summer.

The first blog post is actually just a link to a great article by US Olympic Team member Abigail Larson about the importance of Breakfast. Abigail knows her stuff so be sure to check this out!

BREAKFAST

Latest press on the team!

For the latest press on the team go to: http://www.uwyo.edu/ski/news.html

Including news articles and two radio interviews of Gracey and Rachel!

UW Nordic Wins Double Championship!

I didn't do the best job of keeping the blog updated during Nationals but here is the final result!

UW Men's, Women's Nordic Ski Teams Repeat as National Champions!

http://www.uwyo.edu/news/showrelease.asp?id=40583

Nationals Day 1:

I will try to keep up on the blog but if you want up to date info be sure to watch twitter, http://www.twitter.com/uwski

We got here with the easiest trip ever, in fact we actually spent less time traveling to Rumford than we sometimes do for weekend races!

Thanks to Ev and Dick everything was amazingly easy. We also love Enterprise rental cars, they are always so helpful, nice and dependable.

We got to the Farm, had dinner, a meeting and a good night's sleep.

We then got up and skied the trails, the sprint course is great and the grooming and organization is wonderful as always. The Chilsom Ski Club is amazing!

Tomorrow is the first race 1.4km sprint. Women start at 9am and men at 9:30. We're hoping for great results and fun tomorrow!

Skiers of the Week - Catch up!

It's been a busy season and we have gotten hopelessly behind on the skiers of the week! I'm going to try to get them all in this posting, it will be a little shorter but they've all been amazing!

January 30 & 31 - Mesa State
It was our fist trip to the Mesa State Invite and to Grand Mesa. All I can say is WOW! What a wonderful and beautiful place! If you are reading this and don't want to come to Wyoming for school you should seriously consider Mesa, it's fantastic!

Anyway, the races were a freestyle sprint and a 10km Classic.

For our Men's Skier of the Week we have to go with Dan. Although we think it's likely we'll want to have him as a skier of the day for Nationals you can't ignore the weekend he put together by dominating a tough sprint with rounds that were extremely close together and then following it with an extremely tactically intelligent race to take the 10km classic from 2 Western State boys who wanted to show him what was up. It was an impressive set of races that showed his ski skill as well as his tactical ability. YOU ROCK OUR WORLD!

The Women's Skier of the week will be shared by two great performances in two separate races, both complete surprizes!

First came the sprint and Sarah! Who knew she can sprint, she's never done a sprint before but I think I see a great future for her. For a little context here... We are redshirting Sarah as a freshman because we think she's got a lot more to give with an extra year of nordic training and skiing. So far this season her best points have not gone below 604 and she hasn't broken into the top 10 this year. It was clear after the first round that the sprint was something different. After the qualifying round Sarah sat in 7th place with 320 points! Wow, that alone was a great finish but she continued on, just squeaking through each round until she found herself in the finals! By then she was exhausted but still managed a 5th place! Wow, way to rock the sprint Sarah! YOU ROCK OUR WORLD!




The next day came another surprise, well actually not so much of a surprise, we knew this was coming. Anyway, after a glorious day on Saturday Sunday was snowy, windy and foggy, a little rough for a race. This didn't slow Cara down a bit! In fact she skied like a maniac and had her best points, best place, best race ever! She had already bettered her best race from last season earlier in the year but this Classic race was an announcement that she wants to be taken seriously on her skis! She skied an amazing race and at the end had taken 12o off her best race ever, was only 10ish seconds away from qualifying for Nationals, was the 4th UW woman AND placed 8th in the race! Wow! YOU ROCK OUR WORLD!

February 5 & 6 - New Mexico Invitational
Our Men's Skier of the Week has become our most dependable athlete this year. Both on and off the snow John is a joy. He's skied well and consistently throughout the season and he's been the most helpful and wonderful person off the snow. Whenever I look around to find someone to help, John is not only there but is already helping!

The weekend of New Mexico turned out to be the best season weekend for John in the last two years, possibly the last 4! He not only finished both races with flying colors he had his lowest points for a two race weekend for the last two years. He rocked the classic race, despite not getting his split as his coach crashed and slid beside him. He then came out and despite feeling extremely tired, had a solid skate race. Throughout the weekend he was helpful, cheerful and a great example of a class act. YOU ROCK OUR WORLD - for so many reasons!

The Women's Skier of the Week had to be Morgan. In the classic race she rocked, giving nothing to the NCAA girls that wanted to dominate her. She had her first sub 300 point race ever and skied like a goddess! The second day was a little different, she still struggles with skate and this course was unforgiving. At 3.5km she was in obvious pain and I asked if she needed to stop. She shook me off and kept skiing. On the second loop I watched the other girls ski by and thought that I would have along wait for Morgan and her disfunctional legs when I looked up and there she was! Less than 2 minutes behind Marie! She was skiing well and appeared to actually be gaining ground on Marie and Shanna! Not only did she manage to finish the race she controlled her legs to the point where she could ski well and relatively well. She had one of her best skate points ever and could walk after the race! As I always say, Morgan's too tough for her own good but she really ROCKS OUR WORLD!


February 13 & 14 - Owl Creek Chase
Down to last weekend and the Owl Creek Chase.

For the Men's Skier of the Week we had to go with Zheyna. He had been sick for the last few weeks so none of us were sure how he would feel but he came out with a vengeance on Saturday only 8% and 2.5 minutes out of the top guys and skiing strong and well. He had a great race and felt good, we were extremely pleased. He followed that race with a great effort in the 21km, over the mountain, punishment otherwise known as the Owl Creek Chase. He skied hard and well and his points for the race were only bettered by one race in the last 2 years. It was an extremely great effort and with the inspiration that's bond to come from his brother's Silver we expect great things at Nationals. YOU ROCK OUR WORLD!

We thought long and hard about who to choose for the women, there were several standout finishes but we finally had to give it to the women's elite team on Saturday. As coaches you never have a purely good day and although Saturday was no exception the women's team did their best to give us a great day. All 5 women skied that 5km course better than we have ever seen! Skiing hard, well, fast and just generally looking and skiing amazing! 4 of the 5 women were in the top 25% of the race and most of them tying or bettering their best classic race of the year. It was a truly inspire performance and we appreciate your effort and dedication. YOU ROCK OUR WORLD!

Owl Creek Chase

It was a great weekend! The Elite team competed on Saturday in the Supertour Classic race and did extremely well. Then the Competitive team joined us, after a terrible, snowy drive, for dinner and the Owl Creek Chase on Sunday morning.

The Owl Creek Chase is a 21km point-t0-point race that climbs over a mountain from Snow Mass to Aspen High School. It's a crazy, hard, fun, exciting, exhausting race. The first time out it's usually just an accomplishment, the first hill seems to go on forever. It gets better after the first time you expect the first hill to go on forever and suddenly it actually ends!

We had a great showing from our team at this race. 5 men and 5 women did the elite race with an additional 4 men and 2 women doing the citizen class.

There were only 2 race casualties and 14 athletes finished one of the most grueling nordic races!

College results can be found on the Rocky Mountain Conference Site, http://rmcnordic.wikispaces.com/ and full results can be found at: http://owlcreekchase.aspenrecreation.com/

Great job everyone!

WYO Pride!

Hey! Great job this weekend in NM! You definitely had the altitude on your side! I had to post and let you all know that tonight at my OIA (we call ourselves Only In Alaska...yeah, we are dorks) circuits group my friend Tor (he recently joined the UAA team) came up to me to tell me that Wyoming has more spunk than any other team he has ever seen, and that you guys made the race rock because of it last weekend! We then started to talk about the WY team a little more and he and another UAA alum skier were shocked to find out that UW is a club team that isn't fully funded! It just made me very proud of the team and being a product of it since you guys are doing such a great job keeping up an awesome reputation! Good job!

UNM Day 1!

It was a beautiful day for a classic race! Cold, fast snow, easy kick and beautifully groomed tracks.

The UW skiers took full advantage.

The rest of the teams only brought their top few racers so the field was extremely small AND extremely fast (they only brought their top racers). Despite this we managed to have some great races with some of the best % back and points of the year!

It was a good day!

More tomorrow...

Skiers of the Week - Utah Invite

We totally forgot to get this up last week but better late than never!

As you know, if you've been reading this blog, the Utah race was very difficult. Retrospect and an analysis of times and % points shows that it actually went fairly well for an early season race, despite the feelings of the day. Both men & women were about where they have been in the past and Gwynn tied her best race of last year so things went better than we thought. The only downside was the fact that only two men finished the race on Saturday, John & Dan.

The Men's Skier of the Week is John

John had a really solid weekend with his skate race besting all but one of last year's points! He skied well and smart. With just one slight bobble when Zhenya quit with one lap to go. He pulled it back together though and caught a CU racer in the last 5km!

He struggled a little with rough wax and new skis in the classic race but still pulled off a respectable 254 points, which puts him just about where he started in the first Div-I race last year.

Most importantly, on a weekend of difficult conditions, tough waxing and emotionally difficult trails John was positive, realistic and gave his all to the race.

Great job John!
You'll see John on the first lap at about 1:10

The Women's Skier of the Week is Gwynn.

Gwynn is always a great skier to have on the team, she always works hard, doesn't complain, tries her best and even when she's skiing on too stiff, slow, waxless skis she has a smile on her face.

For the women's race we ended up throwing Gwynn on a pair of waxless skis that were too stiff for her. Despite this she worked hard and managed a decent race under horrific conditions. When asked how it went she said, "Alright." Not a glowing recommendation but considering the skis, wind, lack of track, etc. it is truly amazing!

The skate race went much better with Gwynn fighting from the start and spending most of the race picking people off. She skied the last 2 laps with two racers from CU and MSU. No matter what she tried, they wouldn't take the lead, they just hung on her butt hoping to beat her in the end. That's what they did, just at the finish, but Gwynn made a valiant effort to break them before then and skied hard to hold them off. The % points for that race were better than any of the Elite Team Skate races from last year, not a bad start!

Great job Gwynn, your attitude and toughness is an inspiration!