Crust Skiing

They're still crust skiing in Alberta ... Sunshine Meadows

US Ski Team Video

From last year ...

Poling for skating and double-pole classic

Just found this great video on poling for skiing.   Avoid the "rectangle of weakness"!

Summer Training - Part 2

Here's a nice little plyometric exercise that you can easily fit into your day ... for example at work or school

Summer Training

Here is what I'm thinking of for summer training.  Particularly the team push-ups ...

Heart-warming story ...

 

Dear Sophie Caldwell
I'm really sorry you fell. Me and my family, Kaisa (my sister) Kira (my mom) Craig (my dad) Sampo (my cat) and Tomah (my dog, we got him 2 weeks ago) were all cheering for you. I have a few questions for you. What does it feel like to be an Olympian? How old are you? Do you have any siblings? What is your favorite book or series? How much time do you spend with your team and how much time do you spend with your family? Do you have any pets? What are some of your hobbies? How tired are you after a race? What is your favorite color? How much time do you spend training? Tell your friends Kikkan and Jessie I like their hair. If you want to write me back my mom's email is: ...

 Love,
Siri Stolen


Sophie's response:

Dear Siri,
Thank you so much for your letter, I loved it! Those are wonderful questions you have and I will do my best to answer them!

It is an amazing feeling to be an Olympian. I think I've dreamed of being an Olympian since I was about your age, so sometimes I need to pinch myself to remind myself that my dream is actually coming true! I am 23 years old and will turn 24 on March 22nd. I have two siblings. I have a brother and a sister and they are twins and two years younger than I am. I have a lot of favorite books, but I just read a great book called The Art of Hearing Heartbeats. My sister's favorite books are the Harry Potter Series and I think she has reread each book several times! I spend a lot of time with my team in the winter and a lot of time with both my team and my family in the other seasons. I am very close with my family, so I try to see them as much as possible when I'm home and miss them very much when I'm gone. My ski team has kind of become a second family though because they are some of my best friends and we spend 5 month in Europe together each winter! Growing up we had two dalmations for pets, but right now we have two cats. My cats' names are Dudley-Rose and Red. I love reading and doing a lot of other outdoor activities. I played a ton of different sports growing up and I love most things outdoors. I am usually very tired after a race, but it's a good tired. My favorite color is blue! I spend up to four hours a day training. Kikkan and Jessie say thank you!

Thank you for your questions and I hope to hear back from you again!
Love,
Sophie

 

 

Full story at:  http://www.skinnyski.com/racing/display.asp?Id=33027

Another great weekend for DN!

Saturday at the Finlandia race in Bemidji, Minnesota, lots of great results by DN skiers:

No axe this year for me, but finished on the podium in a tough classic race (and all-out sprint):

But DN did take home an axe with Kristen winning the Women's pursuit race:

And on Sunday, Levi took a another podium finish ... this time at the Western Canadian Championships in BC:

And some more podium finishes at the Manitoba Loppet on Sunday in Pinawa ...

No photos available at press time.


 

Men's Sprint Final at the Olympics

Well, this was pretty dramatic ....

Interval Training

The scene from yesterday's Downtown Nordic interval workout:

First day

40-year-old biathlete Ole Einar Bjørndalen becomes the oldest Winter Olympic gold medalist.  This is how to skate:

Olympic Schedule

First event starts Saturday morning at 4AM Winnipeg time.


GO CANADA!!

Cross-Country: The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics

Date	Event
Feb 8 4:00 AM	Ladies' Skiathlon
Feb 9 4:00 AM	Men's Skiathlon
Feb 11 4:00 AM	Ladies' Sprint – Qualification
Feb 11 4:25 AM	Men's Sprint – Qualification
Feb 11 6:00 AM	Ladies' Sprint – Quarterfinal
Feb 11 6:25 AM	Men's Sprint – Quarterfinal
Feb 11 6:56 AM	Ladies' Sprint – Semifinal
Feb 11 7:06 AM	Men's Sprint – Semifinal
Feb 11 7:22 AM	Ladies' Sprint – Final
Feb 11 7:30 AM	Men's Sprint – Final
Feb 13 4:00 AM	Ladies' Classic
Feb 14 4:00 AM	Men's Classic
Feb 15 4:00 AM	Ladies' Relay
Feb 16 4:00 AM	Men's Relay
Feb 19 3:15 AM	Ladies' Team Sprint – Semifinal
Feb 19 4:06 AM	Men's Team Sprint – Semifinal
Feb 19 5:45 AM	Ladies' Team Sprint – Final
Feb 19 6:15 AM	Men's Team Sprint – Final
Feb 22 3:30 AM	Ladies' Mass Start
Feb 23 1:00 AM	Men's Mass Start

All times are in CT