Open Ski Day on Thursday. We'll meet in the clubhouse at 7PM and then head out around 7:10 in groups of similar speed for a steady ski. I'm suggesting skating, but feel free to come and do classic,
Steve
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Monday, February 25, 2013
Coach Tim at Westerns
I'm not quite sure what to make of this photo. What has happened to Tim since he went to Saskatchewan???
Tim and Levi:
And a rare moment when Tim is not promoting "beer and wings":
Tim and Levi:
And a rare moment when Tim is not promoting "beer and wings":
Frank Symonds Classic in Kenora
The Frank Symonds Classic race was held on the incredible Mount Evergreen trails near Kenora on Sunday. Perfect day for a ski.
This year's event also involved a retro costume contest.
Full story here:
http://www.kenoradailyminerandnews.com/2013/02/25/sunshine-and-ideal-trail-conditions-highlight-2013-frank-symonds-10-km-classic
This year's event also involved a retro costume contest.
Full story here:
http://www.kenoradailyminerandnews.com/2013/02/25/sunshine-and-ideal-trail-conditions-highlight-2013-frank-symonds-10-km-classic
More Westerns photos
Levi skating in the mass start race on Sunday:
Levi skating in the indiviudual start on Friday:
Or are the two photos the same and the second one just has the other skiers photo-shopped out???
Downtown Nordic Skier-of-the-Week
Often we pick the Downtown Nordic Skier-of-the-Week based on some great result or accomplishment. But there are often many variables that go into a result or an accomplishment that are out of your control.
For example, you could do everything right in your training and preparation, only to catch a virus the day before your big event. That is what happened to club member Chris Harrington this weekend at the American Birkie race in Wisconsin.
After training really well all fall and winter, Chris was struck with an illness on the drive down to Wisconsin. He made an heroic effort to do the race but was not able to complete it.
For the rollerski sessions in September, the dryland exercises at Garbage Dump hill in October, and the skating on the cold lifeless snow of January, Chris made an outstanding effort to improve his skiing and for that ... he is awarded Downtown Nordic Skier-of-the-Week.
For example, you could do everything right in your training and preparation, only to catch a virus the day before your big event. That is what happened to club member Chris Harrington this weekend at the American Birkie race in Wisconsin.
After training really well all fall and winter, Chris was struck with an illness on the drive down to Wisconsin. He made an heroic effort to do the race but was not able to complete it.
For the rollerski sessions in September, the dryland exercises at Garbage Dump hill in October, and the skating on the cold lifeless snow of January, Chris made an outstanding effort to improve his skiing and for that ... he is awarded Downtown Nordic Skier-of-the-Week.
Trials and tribulations of a beginner skate skier
Just as a follow-up to the Lazy Bunny Loppet post, a number of members were gravely concerned for Ruth. Ruth has been located and sends this report from her new adventure ... learning to skate ski:
Trials and tribulations of a beginner skate skier
Firstly, to set your minds at ease: I finally completed the Lazy Bunny Loppet and returned home safely. I have had time to recover so I no longer look as haggard as I did in the photo Steve posted of me.
Regarding skate skiing, I just started about a month ago and progress has been fairly slow. Today though, I think I had a bit of a breakthrough.
After skiing several loops of the oval with my poles against my butt – parallel to my butt, (not perpendicular like a fussili Jerry - for those of you that don't know the drill) and something finally clicked. I could finally get my ankles close between strides without falling over :)
Now, you know how they say the biggest mistake newbies make is skiing with their feet too wide apart. Well everyone kept telling me to try clicking my ankles to get my feet closer together. I think the good skiers like to keep a secret about that process. Maybe I'm a little slow, but I pictured clicking my ankles with my skies parallel – which I now believe is near to impossible. The trick is to keep your foot at about a 45 degree angle and click your heel to your ankle (bending you knee a little helps too).
Those of you who have been skating for a while are probably thinking “Duh” right now, but I just want to help any of the other newbies who are struggling with this concept. I'm hoping in a couple years all these minor points will be instinctive to me, but right now some of the smallest details help in figuring out how to skate.
Maybe now I'll be able to finish the next race before it gets dark :)
Ruth
(PS. I'd like to thank Jacek for his pointers today as well.)
Friday, February 22, 2013
Western Canadian Championships
Here's a photo of Tim and Levi at the Western Canadian Championships in Grande Prairie, Alberta.
Tim is there helping out the Saskatchewan athletes and Levi.
The championships have 3 days of racing starting today. Levi races just after 3:30PM our time today in the 2.5km free technique prologue. There are also 13 more Manitobans at this race. Live results can be found here: http://zone4.ca/live.asp?id=5506 Go Manitoba!!
Tim is there helping out the Saskatchewan athletes and Levi.
The championships have 3 days of racing starting today. Levi races just after 3:30PM our time today in the 2.5km free technique prologue. There are also 13 more Manitobans at this race. Live results can be found here: http://zone4.ca/live.asp?id=5506 Go Manitoba!!
Thursday, February 21, 2013
WC Classic Sprint Final
Video from today's world championship classic sprint. Canada's Alex Harvey was in the final. The men's final starts around the 2 minute point. The commentary is in Russian ...
There is also some nice slow motion footage of the men's and women's finals to see the double-poling.
fasterskier.com had this photo of the "victory" lap. Now that's a flag ... I think Downtown Nordic needs one of those!
Article on former Winnipeg skier Leah Kirchmann
Nice article on cyclingnews.com about cyclist (and former Winnipeg cross country skier) Leah Kirchmann.
Two-time Canadian national criterium champion Leah Kirchmann is ready to tackle her third professional season after a year in which she had to overcome the one-two punch of suffering a broken collarbone shortly after finding out she hadn't been selected for the Canadian team that would compete in the London Olympic Games.
Although the broken bone put her out of racing for more than a month and kept her from defending her 2010 and 2011 criterium titles, the news that she hadn't been selected for the London squad may have hurt even more.
“It was disappointing, honestly,” the Optum Pro Cycling-Kelly Benefit Strategies rider told Cyclingnews during a break from team training camp last week. “But at the same time, I know I'm still young and have lots of racing years ahead of me. So I'm looking forward and I'm definitely targeting the 2016 Olympics. I have four years to build up, and I think I'm in a good position to try and qualify.”
....
“I started skiing when I was about five years old,” said Kirchmann, who hails from Winnipeg. “My whole family was into skiing, and I raced until I was about 18. So all growing up I was racing across the country and doing nationals. I was kind of competing year round doing skiing and cycling in the summers. As soon as I started racing I really loved it and had a lot of fun kind of racing the boys and starting to beat them. With every year I got more and more involved, eventually into road racing as well.”
....
full article here:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/kirchmann-thinking-big-in-third-season-with-optum
Kirchmann thinking big in third season with Optum
Canadian targets Worlds, 2016 Olympics after London snub
Although the broken bone put her out of racing for more than a month and kept her from defending her 2010 and 2011 criterium titles, the news that she hadn't been selected for the London squad may have hurt even more.
“It was disappointing, honestly,” the Optum Pro Cycling-Kelly Benefit Strategies rider told Cyclingnews during a break from team training camp last week. “But at the same time, I know I'm still young and have lots of racing years ahead of me. So I'm looking forward and I'm definitely targeting the 2016 Olympics. I have four years to build up, and I think I'm in a good position to try and qualify.”
....
“I started skiing when I was about five years old,” said Kirchmann, who hails from Winnipeg. “My whole family was into skiing, and I raced until I was about 18. So all growing up I was racing across the country and doing nationals. I was kind of competing year round doing skiing and cycling in the summers. As soon as I started racing I really loved it and had a lot of fun kind of racing the boys and starting to beat them. With every year I got more and more involved, eventually into road racing as well.”
....
full article here:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/kirchmann-thinking-big-in-third-season-with-optum
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Racing Experiences of and Inexperienced Skier
We have two race report's this week.
Downtown Nordic has members that cover the complete range of skiing ... from recreational skiers to grizzled veterans. Our first report comes from one recreational skier now making his first "stride" towards grizzled veteran. First year club member Jacek Siudowski shares his story from last week's Wednesday night race.
(As an aside, at Jacek's first club practice, Coach Tim was not aware that Jacek was Polish and there was a moment of quiet awkwardness in the group when Tim announced that for the next drill no "poles" were allowed.)
Now on to Jacek's story ...
Racing Experiences of an Inexperienced Skier
Downtown Nordic has members that cover the complete range of skiing ... from recreational skiers to grizzled veterans. Our first report comes from one recreational skier now making his first "stride" towards grizzled veteran. First year club member Jacek Siudowski shares his story from last week's Wednesday night race.
(As an aside, at Jacek's first club practice, Coach Tim was not aware that Jacek was Polish and there was a moment of quiet awkwardness in the group when Tim announced that for the next drill no "poles" were allowed.)
Now on to Jacek's story ...
Racing Experiences of an Inexperienced Skier
However much research you do, and however much you talk to experienced skiers prior to your first mass start skiing race (on a fast, icy course to boot), there are some things you are completely unprepared for. Well, at least I was. So, all of you skiers who are considering taking part in races, let me share with you some of my experiences from my last mass start race:
The start
At the mass start, if you don’t want your eye poked out by a flying pole or your foot impaled by one, start either ten meters ahead of the pack or ten behind. Since the first option is out of the question: no self respecting pro skier will let you, a rookie, in front of him (there is a pecking order in skiing, you know), stay well behind of what will in a few seconds turn into a pack of mad hounds. That’s what I will do next time. Standing right in the middle of the, at first, chatty and encouraging bunch, I was blissfully unaware of the whooshing, darting pole tips that would in a few moments miss my head by barely inches. Then there were elbows in the ribcage, holes in the ski boots, and bruises on my calves. Although I dished out some (sorry about your foot, Neil), it wasn’t nearly as much as I got. That’s inexperience for you. Next time I will be better prepared or, more likely, will just stand well behind.
”Friendly Manitoba”
Most of you, fast skiers, have hardly any idea what goes on behind you. So let me enlighten you. During my first wipe-out, while gracelessly picking myself up, I was passed by a “midget” racer, probably the last one of the field. Despite, just like myself being close to a cardiac arrest, he still turned to me and asked me if I was all right. Now, that would never happen to you anywhere else in the world, I thought, this brotherly concern for a fellow competitor’s well being. I did not reply, because when my heart is racing like a Ferrari I can’t speak, and he just went by. Next time we “met”, this time he wiped out some distance down the track so I, thank god, caught up with him, there was significantly less friendly concern. I, still unable to speak, cardiac arrest ever closer, passed him by without a word and he didn't move to make it easy for me. Well, further still (yes, you guessed it) I was down this time and he (you probably guessed it too) caught me, again. This time forget the civility altogether. All that was left was the gritty resolve on both our faces to beat the other one. No concerned questions, no well-wishing, no stepping aside to let pass, just a dogged determination to get the better of the other one. As we stumbled along, the lead in this race within a race kept changing many times along the way. I am not going to tell you who won that duel, that’s not important, but I can tell you this, potential first time racers: when someone asks you during a race if you are all right, they are not being friendly, they are only trying to gauge how exhausted you are and how much of a threat you still pose. My advice: say nothing or “I’m wiped” to fool them. “Friendly Manitoba”, yeah right!
Post race talk
When after the race someone says to you “You really looked good at the last stretch” don’t get fooled by that either. That basically means you looked less than good during the rest of it.
Well, If some of you got the impression I’m prone to exaggeration perhaps you are not far the truth. So, without exaggeration I can say this: despite all that happened, or more because of it, I loved every minute of it: the competition, the spirit of camaraderie and the true, drop of a hat willingness of my more experienced fellow-DN-skiers to help me with my technique and racing and share their knowledge. Even the fact that after I crossed the finish line I felt like I had left my lungs in the snow behind me, won’t discourage me from skiing and racing again. So get ready, you’ll be seeing me in many more races to come and the gloves, sorry the poles, will be off.
Sincerely,
Jacek
17 Years
And now onto the "race report" of a grizzled veteran (me). This is a long story ... 17 years in the making.
Just over 17 years ago in 1996 I decided to give up on ski racing. In fact, I actually decided I would do one last ski race and then move on to something else. That race was the Finlandia in Bemidji, Minnesota.
Let me back up for a bit to give you the background of how I arrived at that decision. I started ski racing in 1992. My real sport back then was bike racing and I skied lots in the winter for training but never wanted to actually ski race. Randy Plett, another bike racer and also a ski racer, nagged me to try a ski race. I finally relented and did my first ski race ... the 30 km Grand Beach Loppet ski race. I bonked horribly in the last 10k and barely made it to the finish, but I was hooked. I did several more races that winter and the next winter. As my bike racing career came to an end in 1993, I still wanted to do some ski racing.
I soon found out that ski racing was a lot harder when I wasn't training 20 hours a week year-round for bike racing. In 1996, I decided to train more than a few hours a week to do better at my now sole sport of ski racing. Unfortunately, the winter of 1995-96 was horrendous with almost every ski race I wanted to do being canceled because of cold weather. I did race in the Windsor Park Open that year in January, but on an open stretch with a strong wind at my back, I managed to plant my pole between my skis, face plant, and then get up to see one of my poles broken. A few kilometres later, provincial coach Ihor Barwinsky gave me one of his poles to finish the race. I was somewhat demoralized, but decided to contest a final sprint with a couple of skiers that had caught up to me. A skier, who will go unnamed, skied over my ski in the final sprint and sent me down with another face plant and then proceeded over the next several months to bring up his "victory" over me whenever he could.
After a series of cancelled ski races, I finally got to do another race -- the Red River Ski Fest in mid-February of 1996, also at Windsor Park. I signed up for the 15 km race which started along side the 30km race. I had an absolutely miserable race seemingly being passed by everyone. Late in my race, Kirk Karlowsky, a top skier at the time and doing the 30km race, suffered a broken pole. By the time he got a replacement, I had caught up to him. Right then and there I set upon doing everything possible to stay with him for the remaining 5 km of my race (he still had 20km to go and had to pace himself). I buried myself for about the next 15 mintues staying behind Kirk. I crossed the line and collapsed. Only 3 years earlier in longer and hillier ski races, I had got fast enought that I could keep up with Kirk without much diificulty. Now I could barely stay with him for 5 km's of a flat course and him using a pole that was too short for him ... and he was pacing himeslef for a much longer race!
At this point, I made my decsion. I was done with ski racing. It didn't seem worth it to do so poorly.
Enter Randy Plett once more. Randy and Kirk were headed to the Finlandia race that very next week-end and Randy asked me if I wanted to join them as Kirk had room in his mini-van for one more skier. Randy, persistent as ever, got me to go. My thinking was that I would make the Finlandia my last ski race ever. And I mean ever. Like Never, Ever, Ever Again.
Little did I know a couple of things were about to change my outlook on ski racing. First, I guess my body was quickly digesting the hard effort I had made to stay with Kirk in the Red River Ski Fest and was about to overcompensate dramatically in time for the next week-end.
The second thing that happened was Randy and Kirk pointing out that I was not scraping my skis properly. It was going to be a cold day for the Finlandia ski race which neccesitated having your excess ski wax scraped and brushed out well. My wax scaper had become quite dull and I hadn't realized that I was not scraping the wax off my skis enough. Randy and Kirk went to work on my skiss taking an amazing amount of excess wax off.
The importance of these two things were not that apparent to me as we went to register at race headquarters the night before the race. As I mulled around the race registration area, I noticed they had the race winner's "trophies" on display. The trophies were actaully beautifully decorated axes. Bemidji was the home of the legendary lumberjack Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox. I remember thinking that was a really cool trophy.
The next day I lined up at the start for the 25km race and the Finlandia. The 50 km race started 5 minutes earlier with Randy and Kirk doing that one. The race starts in a field near a downhill ski area. About 500 meteres into the race, you ascend a downhill ski run. As we crested the top of the ski run, I was in the top 5 skiers and something didn't seem to feel right. I didn't seem to need to be trying that hard to stay with these lead skiers. And then on the down hills, my skis would run up easily to the other skiers to the point I was sometimes having to snow-plow on downhills while other skiers were in full tuck.
About 15km into our race, I passed Kirk (who had started 5 minutes ahead as part of the 50km race). Six days earlier I had to literally kill myself to stay with him. Now our lead pack flew by him. Late in the race, I was starting to feel tired, but I managed to get second in the final sprint. Second place at the 25km race at the Finlandia. What the ...? A complete turnaround from a week before.
On the ride home from Bemidji, I thought, "well, I have to come back and win this race and get one of those axes". So much for my decision to stop ski racing!
Well, little did I know (this seems to be a theme here in this story), my goal to win an axe would stretch some 17 years. Without going into too much detail here are some of my subsequent Finlandia results:
1997 - 3rd place in the 25 km skate race
1998 - over-trained and while managing some great races early in the season, was 8th place in the Finlandia 25 km skate race
1999 - super fit, great results leading up to the race, felt great on the Friday afternoon before the race. The night of the race, had a horrible stomach flu and was up all night. The next day, as I was deciding to whether to even do the race, fellow Downtown Nordic club member Paul Lapointe suggested "sometimes when you are not feeling well, you have your best races". Let me assure you that this is terrible advice! I finished in 63rd place in the 25 km skate race being passed in the final few metres by a 12 year old.
2000 - My best ski season ever. The Finlandia was cancelled due to lack of snow.
2002 - racing well that season. On the Friday afternoon, the person I was going to get a ride with to Bemidji had to cancel because of a family emergency.
2006 - peaked peferectly for the race. I guess I ate something wrong the night before the race. In the morning, I could not keep anything down. I raced and stayed with the lead pack unitl about 5km and then my body completely shut down. Dropped out at kilometer 8.
2008 - 3rd in the 25km classic race. First podium since 1997, but I was way back from the first 2 finishers.
At this point, I gave up on trying to win an axe. It seemed pointless to set such a difficult goal.
2013
My original plan for the Finlandia this year was to do the 50km skate race as I wanted to try something different this year. As the race approached and the temperature forecast was for colder (and slower conditions), I decided to to just do the 25 km classic race. On Saturday as I was warming up for the race, I felt the snow conditions weren't too bad and decided to do a last minute switch to the Pursuit race (13 km of classic followed by 12km of skating).
The classic portion of my race was not too bad, but I knew I wasn't quite at the level I had been a few weeks earlier. However, I realized that there was only one other Pursuit skier in my pack. I entered the skate portion in the lead for the pursuit race, but it seemed it was just a matter of time before I would be caught and passed. At that point I just focused on using smooth skating technique and repeated Coach Tim's skating mantra of "quick feet" to myself on the uphill climbs.
With a little over a kilometre to go, it started to sink in that I might actually finish in first place in the men's pursuit race and take the axe! At this point I realized I was skating on the exact same skis that I had finsihed second on 17 years earlier. Yes, I was skiing on those same Fischer RCS skis. I had found them to almost always be my fastest skis in cold snow conditions and I picked them when I made my last tminute decison to switch to the pursuit. My skis and I were completing a 17 year journey!!
It was a great day all-around for Manitoba skiers with Murray Carter winning the axe for the 25 km classic race and Joel Peltz taking third place in a very tough field in the 25 km skate race.
Stay tuned for the upcoming movie version ...
(Brad Pitt is starring with Justin Bieber playing a younger me)
Just over 17 years ago in 1996 I decided to give up on ski racing. In fact, I actually decided I would do one last ski race and then move on to something else. That race was the Finlandia in Bemidji, Minnesota.
Let me back up for a bit to give you the background of how I arrived at that decision. I started ski racing in 1992. My real sport back then was bike racing and I skied lots in the winter for training but never wanted to actually ski race. Randy Plett, another bike racer and also a ski racer, nagged me to try a ski race. I finally relented and did my first ski race ... the 30 km Grand Beach Loppet ski race. I bonked horribly in the last 10k and barely made it to the finish, but I was hooked. I did several more races that winter and the next winter. As my bike racing career came to an end in 1993, I still wanted to do some ski racing.
I soon found out that ski racing was a lot harder when I wasn't training 20 hours a week year-round for bike racing. In 1996, I decided to train more than a few hours a week to do better at my now sole sport of ski racing. Unfortunately, the winter of 1995-96 was horrendous with almost every ski race I wanted to do being canceled because of cold weather. I did race in the Windsor Park Open that year in January, but on an open stretch with a strong wind at my back, I managed to plant my pole between my skis, face plant, and then get up to see one of my poles broken. A few kilometres later, provincial coach Ihor Barwinsky gave me one of his poles to finish the race. I was somewhat demoralized, but decided to contest a final sprint with a couple of skiers that had caught up to me. A skier, who will go unnamed, skied over my ski in the final sprint and sent me down with another face plant and then proceeded over the next several months to bring up his "victory" over me whenever he could.
After a series of cancelled ski races, I finally got to do another race -- the Red River Ski Fest in mid-February of 1996, also at Windsor Park. I signed up for the 15 km race which started along side the 30km race. I had an absolutely miserable race seemingly being passed by everyone. Late in my race, Kirk Karlowsky, a top skier at the time and doing the 30km race, suffered a broken pole. By the time he got a replacement, I had caught up to him. Right then and there I set upon doing everything possible to stay with him for the remaining 5 km of my race (he still had 20km to go and had to pace himself). I buried myself for about the next 15 mintues staying behind Kirk. I crossed the line and collapsed. Only 3 years earlier in longer and hillier ski races, I had got fast enought that I could keep up with Kirk without much diificulty. Now I could barely stay with him for 5 km's of a flat course and him using a pole that was too short for him ... and he was pacing himeslef for a much longer race!
At this point, I made my decsion. I was done with ski racing. It didn't seem worth it to do so poorly.
Enter Randy Plett once more. Randy and Kirk were headed to the Finlandia race that very next week-end and Randy asked me if I wanted to join them as Kirk had room in his mini-van for one more skier. Randy, persistent as ever, got me to go. My thinking was that I would make the Finlandia my last ski race ever. And I mean ever. Like Never, Ever, Ever Again.
Little did I know a couple of things were about to change my outlook on ski racing. First, I guess my body was quickly digesting the hard effort I had made to stay with Kirk in the Red River Ski Fest and was about to overcompensate dramatically in time for the next week-end.
The second thing that happened was Randy and Kirk pointing out that I was not scraping my skis properly. It was going to be a cold day for the Finlandia ski race which neccesitated having your excess ski wax scraped and brushed out well. My wax scaper had become quite dull and I hadn't realized that I was not scraping the wax off my skis enough. Randy and Kirk went to work on my skiss taking an amazing amount of excess wax off.
The importance of these two things were not that apparent to me as we went to register at race headquarters the night before the race. As I mulled around the race registration area, I noticed they had the race winner's "trophies" on display. The trophies were actaully beautifully decorated axes. Bemidji was the home of the legendary lumberjack Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox. I remember thinking that was a really cool trophy.
 |
| Paul Bunyan and the Blue Ox |
The next day I lined up at the start for the 25km race and the Finlandia. The 50 km race started 5 minutes earlier with Randy and Kirk doing that one. The race starts in a field near a downhill ski area. About 500 meteres into the race, you ascend a downhill ski run. As we crested the top of the ski run, I was in the top 5 skiers and something didn't seem to feel right. I didn't seem to need to be trying that hard to stay with these lead skiers. And then on the down hills, my skis would run up easily to the other skiers to the point I was sometimes having to snow-plow on downhills while other skiers were in full tuck.
 |
| The Fischer RCS skis I used in the 1996 Finlandia race |
About 15km into our race, I passed Kirk (who had started 5 minutes ahead as part of the 50km race). Six days earlier I had to literally kill myself to stay with him. Now our lead pack flew by him. Late in the race, I was starting to feel tired, but I managed to get second in the final sprint. Second place at the 25km race at the Finlandia. What the ...? A complete turnaround from a week before.
On the ride home from Bemidji, I thought, "well, I have to come back and win this race and get one of those axes". So much for my decision to stop ski racing!
Well, little did I know (this seems to be a theme here in this story), my goal to win an axe would stretch some 17 years. Without going into too much detail here are some of my subsequent Finlandia results:
1997 - 3rd place in the 25 km skate race
1998 - over-trained and while managing some great races early in the season, was 8th place in the Finlandia 25 km skate race
1999 - super fit, great results leading up to the race, felt great on the Friday afternoon before the race. The night of the race, had a horrible stomach flu and was up all night. The next day, as I was deciding to whether to even do the race, fellow Downtown Nordic club member Paul Lapointe suggested "sometimes when you are not feeling well, you have your best races". Let me assure you that this is terrible advice! I finished in 63rd place in the 25 km skate race being passed in the final few metres by a 12 year old.
2000 - My best ski season ever. The Finlandia was cancelled due to lack of snow.
2002 - racing well that season. On the Friday afternoon, the person I was going to get a ride with to Bemidji had to cancel because of a family emergency.
2006 - peaked peferectly for the race. I guess I ate something wrong the night before the race. In the morning, I could not keep anything down. I raced and stayed with the lead pack unitl about 5km and then my body completely shut down. Dropped out at kilometer 8.
2008 - 3rd in the 25km classic race. First podium since 1997, but I was way back from the first 2 finishers.
At this point, I gave up on trying to win an axe. It seemed pointless to set such a difficult goal.
2013
My original plan for the Finlandia this year was to do the 50km skate race as I wanted to try something different this year. As the race approached and the temperature forecast was for colder (and slower conditions), I decided to to just do the 25 km classic race. On Saturday as I was warming up for the race, I felt the snow conditions weren't too bad and decided to do a last minute switch to the Pursuit race (13 km of classic followed by 12km of skating).
The classic portion of my race was not too bad, but I knew I wasn't quite at the level I had been a few weeks earlier. However, I realized that there was only one other Pursuit skier in my pack. I entered the skate portion in the lead for the pursuit race, but it seemed it was just a matter of time before I would be caught and passed. At that point I just focused on using smooth skating technique and repeated Coach Tim's skating mantra of "quick feet" to myself on the uphill climbs.
With a little over a kilometre to go, it started to sink in that I might actually finish in first place in the men's pursuit race and take the axe! At this point I realized I was skating on the exact same skis that I had finsihed second on 17 years earlier. Yes, I was skiing on those same Fischer RCS skis. I had found them to almost always be my fastest skis in cold snow conditions and I picked them when I made my last tminute decison to switch to the pursuit. My skis and I were completing a 17 year journey!!
 |
| Someone's a happy camper |
It was a great day all-around for Manitoba skiers with Murray Carter winning the axe for the 25 km classic race and Joel Peltz taking third place in a very tough field in the 25 km skate race.
Stay tuned for the upcoming movie version ...
(Brad Pitt is starring with Justin Bieber playing a younger me)
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Grand Beach and the Lazy Bunny Loppet
"Race" report from last week-end ...
Sunday was the first annual International Lazy Bunny Loppet. Five members of the Downtown Nordickers took part in this event. (Including representatives from Denmark and Germany)
Sunday was the first annual International Lazy Bunny Loppet. Five members of the Downtown Nordickers took part in this event. (Including representatives from Denmark and Germany)
The Lazy Bunny Loppet is a coed race in which the males begin with a slight head start from the females.
Each male competitor is allocated a carrot at the start of the race.
The winner is determined to be either the male with the fastest time who completes the 26.8 km** race with a carrot, or the fastest female who completes it with a carrot in her possession. A 15 minute time bonus is given to any female who is able to abscond a carrot from one of the male participants. (**the 26.8km distance is based on The typical distance a rabbit is able to outrun the hounds in rabbit hunting, known as Beagling in the UK.)
There was a surprisingly low turnout for this years event (5), but we expect popularity to grow once marketing for the annual event begins.
Unfortunately a winner could not be declared this year because both males; Gyula and Stig ate their carrots, Esther tried absconding a carrot from a male who wasn't in the race (court date is pending), Freddie tried whittling a piece of tree into a carrot, but it ended up looking more like broccoli, and Ruth is still skate skiing somewhere out on the trail... We hope she finishes before nightfall.
All in all it was a success, even though there was no sighting of Pinawata or her pet bison Loppet. We hope for many more years of the historically significant International Lazy Bunny Loppet!
*Improtant Note*: we have not yet heard from Ruth ... please be on the lookout for this women:
Pinawa photos
These photos are a bit late. Photos from the Manitoba Loppet in Pinawa on Jaunary 27th. Photos courtesy of the Whiteshell ski club. (lots more photos here: http://whiteshellskiclub.com/?page_id=246)
Nice kick-doble-pole from Jamie:
Levi passing some skiers that started 15 minutes in front of him:
Brian putting the hurt on:
Cory and Jeff:
Andy near the finish:
The start ... check out the blue and white of Downtown Nordic!
Nice kick-doble-pole from Jamie:
Levi passing some skiers that started 15 minutes in front of him:
Brian putting the hurt on:
Cory and Jeff:
Andy near the finish:
The start ... check out the blue and white of Downtown Nordic!
Monday, February 11, 2013
The start of a ski race ...
This video is a yead old, but I still enjoy watching it. Definitely NOT a motivational video.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Double pole technique
The infamous "fourth point" ... using legs and hips to initiate the recovery phase of the double pole motion ...
... shoulders rolled forward and elbows forward as you are about to drop your center of gravity ...
... creating a very powerful force to overcome inertia when the poles contact the snow
... arms and hands follow through like the end of a whip ... while the hips and legs are already initiating the recovery phase ...
... and me attempting to do the same thing!
... shoulders rolled forward and elbows forward as you are about to drop your center of gravity ...
... creating a very powerful force to overcome inertia when the poles contact the snow
... arms and hands follow through like the end of a whip ... while the hips and legs are already initiating the recovery phase ...
... and me attempting to do the same thing!
Easterns ....
Aside from Ottawa, Downtown Nordic had some great results in Sandilands and Minneapolis this week-end. World domination contiues.
Training this week
Tuesday - intensity training - start your warm-up by 7 and intervals start at 7:20
Thursday - technique training - it looks like it will be a bit warmer so we will be doing skate drills
This week and next week will be our final big intensity workouts of the season. After next week, Tuesdays will be technique workouts with a few intervals thrown in.
Thursday - technique training - it looks like it will be a bit warmer so we will be doing skate drills
This week and next week will be our final big intensity workouts of the season. After next week, Tuesdays will be technique workouts with a few intervals thrown in.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Friday Results from Eastern Canadian Championships
results from the classic technique "prologue". Saturday is 7.5 K skate and Sunday is 10 K classic
http://zone4.ca/results.asp?ID=5384&cat=1569
http://zone4.ca/results.asp?ID=5384&cat=1569
| PL | Bib | Name | DOB | CCC | FIS | SFQ | Prov | Club | Team | Time | Diff |
| 1 | 264 | Antoine Blais | 1997 | 27382 | 20896 | QC | Skibec | 0:06:15.86 | |||
| 2 | 281 | Ryan Jackson | 1997 | 28149 | ON | Team Hardwood | 0:06:34.02 | +18.16 | |||
| 3 | 286 | Maks Zechel | 1997 | 27387 | ON | Nakkertok | 0:06:40.29 | +24.42 | |||
| 4 | 293 | Julian Alexander-Cook | 1997 | 27369 | ON | Nakkertok | 0:06:43.59 | +27.73 | |||
| 5 | 272 | Fergus Foster | 1997 | 25591 | ON | Big Thunder Nordic | 0:06:44.68 | +28.82 | |||
| 6 | 296 | Levi Nadlersmith | 1998 | 28191 | MB | Downtown Nordic | 0:06:46.58 | +30.71 | |||
| 7 | 265 | Philippe Boucher | 1997 | 27362 | 12979 | QC | Skibec | 0:06:47.63 | +31.76 | ||
| 8 | 273 | Gabriel Sarrazin | 1997 | 28172 | 17552 | QC | Fondeurs-laurentides | 0:06:47.99 | +32.13 | ||
| 9 | 291 | Austin Valjas | 1997 | 29263 | ON | Team Hardwood | 0:06:48.56 | +32.70 | |||
| 10 | 288 | Dominic Gallant | 1997 | 28168 | 13059 | QC | Skibec | 0:06:52.23 | +36.36 | ||
| 11 | 278 | Antony Gunka | 1997 | 27099 | ON | Big Thunder Nordic | 0:06:54.04 | +38.17 | |||
| 12 | 277 | Félix-Antoine Vézina | 1997 | 27357 | 12987 | QC | Club Nordique MSA | 0:07:00.93 | +45.70 | ||
| 13 | 274 | William Gourgues | 1997 | 27419 | 5830 | QC | skibec | 0:07:02.00 | +46.14 | ||
| 14 | 294 | Marcus Nussbaum | 1997 | 27384 | ON | Nakkertok | 0:07:03.58 | +47.71 | |||
| 15 | 313 | Nicholas Schute | 1998 | 29281 | ON | Nakkertok | 0:07:07.16 | +51.29 | |||
| 16 | 267 | Étienne Hébert | 1998 | 29287 | 24173 | QC | Monteriski | 0:07:07.87 | +52.00 | ||
| 17 | 271 | Raphaël Dumas | 1997 | 27394 | 16725 | QC | Chelsea Nordiq | 0:07:08.50 | +52.64 | ||
| 18 | 269 | Benjamin Dionne | 1997 | 29386 | 12844 | QC | Skinouk | 0:07:08.90 | +53.30 | ||
| 19 | 276 | Jean-Christophe Barrette | 1998 | 27432 | 14637 | QC | Fondeurs-laurentides | 0:07:12.99 | +57.13 | ||
| 20 | 316 | Rod Bottrell | 1997 | 27484 | ON | Georgian Bay Nordic | 0:07:13.74 | +57.88 | |||
| 21 | 270 | Félix Longpré | 1998 | 27414 | 16957 | QC | Club Nordique MSA | 0:07:14.08 | +58.21 | ||
| 22 | 295 | Kyle Reinhardt | 1998 | 29299 | ON | Walden | 0:07:16.19 | +1:00.32 | |||
| 23 | 280 | Nilan McIntosh | 1997 | 28177 | 15205 | QC | Chelsea Nordiq | 0:07:16.33 | +1:00.46 | ||
| 24 | 297 | Kieran Tomlinson | 1997 | 27393 | ON | Nakkertok | 0:07:18.96 | +1:03.10 | |||
| 25 | 292 | Nicholas Ek | 1997 | 25597 | 3100280 | ON | Big Thunder Nordic | 0:07:19.96 | +1:04.90 | ||
| 26 | 285 | Nicolas Beaulieu | 1998 | 27403 | 14585 | QC | Orford | 0:07:20.00 | +1:04.14 | ||
| 27 | 268 | Benjamin Boucher | 1997 | 27486 | 17090 | QC | Montériski | 0:07:20.51 | +1:04.65 | ||
| 28 | 275 | Liam Browne | 1997 | 28171 | 19868 | QC | Fondeurs-laurentides | 0:07:24.68 | +1:08.81 | ||
| 29 | 305 | Mathieu Comeau | 1998 | 27095 | 15918 | QC | Club Nordique MSA | 0:07:24.71 | +1:08.84 | ||
| 30 | 311 | Noah Thompson | 1998 | 29393 | ON | Georgian Nordic | 0:07:25.95 | +1:10.90 | |||
| 31 | 310 | Colin Ward | 1997 | 29432 | NS | Martock Nordic | 0:07:28.49 | +1:12.62 | |||
| 32 | 315 | Mitchell Slobodian | 1998 | 29267 | ON | Nakkertok | 0:07:29.83 | +1:13.96 | |||
| 33 | 282 | Antoine Cyr | 1998 | 30263 | 25779 | QC | skinouk | 0:07:30.36 | +1:14.50 | ||
| 34 | 309 | Anthony Burgess | 1997 | 30216 | ON | Mono Nordic | 0:07:34.01 | +1:18.15 | |||
| 35 | 307 | Graham Maycock | 1997 | 30233 | ON | Mono Nordic | 0:07:35.33 | +1:19.46 | |||
| 36 | 298 | Leo Dube | 1997 | 27420 | ON | Big Thunder Nordic | 0:07:35.98 | +1:20.12 | |||
| 37 | 301 | Mikell Blain-Rogers | 1997 | 29312 | ON | North Bay Nordic | 0:07:36.82 | +1:20.95 | |||
| 38 | 284 | Victor Houde | 1998 | 30244 | 22705 | QC | Club défi T.M. | 0:07:37.85 | +1:21.98 | ||
| 39 | 318 | Reid Norman | 1998 | ON | Nakkertok | 0:07:42.18 | +1:26.31 | ||||
| 40 | 287 | David Lanteigne | 1997 | 27376 | NB | Nord-Roi-Caraquet | 0:07:45.26 | +1:29.40 | |||
| 41 | 303 | Patrick Marshall | 1997 | 27374 | ON | Nakkertok | 0:07:45.40 | +1:29.54 | |||
| 42 | 302 | Jacob Hanson | 1997 | 28161 | ON | Walden | 0:07:46.26 | +1:30.40 | |||
| 43 | 283 | Francis Izquierdo-Bernier | 1998 | 30227 | 12538 | QC | Fondeurs-laurentides | 0:07:48.46 | +1:32.59 | ||
| 44 | 300 | Nicko Taillefer | 1998 | 30222 | ON | Laurentian Nordic | 0:07:51.97 | +1:36.10 | |||
| 45 | 304 | Nolan Scheier | 1997 | 27363 | ON | Nakkertok | 0:07:53.91 | +1:38.40 | |||
| 46 | 279 | Benjamin Turgeon | 1998 | 30240 | 13559 | QC | Skinouk | 0:07:56.93 | +1:41.60 | ||
| 47 | 314 | Nicolas Lum | 1998 | 29271 | ON | Nakkertok | 0:08:02.95 | +1:47.90 | |||
| 48 | 312 | Dawson Lyon | 1998 | 29291 | ON | Nakkertok | 0:08:07.79 | +1:51.93 | |||
| 49 | 299 | Carl Grin | 1997 | 29290 | ON | Team Hardwood | 0:08:14.27 | +1:58.40 | |||
| 50 | 289 | Tobin Novosad Izquierdo | 1997 | 30229 | 22605 | QC | Fondeurs-laurentides | 0:08:18.14 | +2:02.28 | ||
| 51 | 306 | Cameron Lennox | 1997 | 30887 | 24261 | QC | Fondeurs-laurentides | 0:08:54.23 | +2:38.37 | ||
| 52 | 317 | Adriaan Vandermeer | 1997 | 25773 | ON | North Bay Nordic | 0:10:34.19 | +4:18.32 |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)