Death Camp

Last week I got a chance to help out at the APUNSC Junior team's "Death Camp". This rigorous training camp was inspired by the "Death Camp" that many of the former East High athletes still speak of fondly. Props to our energetic junior coaches, Holly Brooks and Charlie Renfro, for making it happen. The lovely ladies.The camp kicked off with a 21k rollerski from Indian to Girdwood, AK. For many of the kids there was a sense of accomplishment after they rollerskied to camp in a headwind. Several of the kids admitted that "it was longest rollerski I've done in my life!" We stayed in the Challenge Alaska building and ate like World Champions should-- thanks to a few of the super-Moms who volunteered throughout the entire week.
Nathanial retrieving his shoe from the mud during our run on the Winter Creek trail. Morgan, helping me learn to ride a one-wheeled bike (thanks to Celia for the photo). I am now agog over unicycles. I don't usually have a penchant for buying "things", but this toy may have to be an exception.Juliet--an APU development team athlete and my unicycling inspiration. Lots of training, exploring, laughing, eating, story telling and sleeping. Who says "Death Camp" can't be fun?
A dip in the glacial stream after a long, challenging day of training. Summer days don't get any better than this!

A Start to the Summer

Callie, Mom, and Coda watering down the garden and yard so that we can enjoy the reap the fruits of their labor later this summer and fall.
The Fitz getting in a lot of quality base training this spring --and lookin' good in the process-- so that she can expect to see the fruition of her hard work later this year.
Just it takes initial work to get the garden growing, the spring is also a time to build the fitness foundation so that there's something to work off and have to show for later. I undoubtedly carried the highest training volume that I've ever held for the month of May-- we'll see if this makes a difference by the time winter rolls around. Either way, I've enjoyed myself. Being out of school for the first time ever and having countless sunny days made it easy to work-out and "training" often feel more like "playing". Some days spent outside training were purely for pleasure.
Leah Besh feelin' the flow on Memorial Day weekend.
Neil, Leah, Kelly (above), and Jesse (not pictured) helped me negotiate through the rocks, rapids, and eddies in Willow Creek. This was my first experience in a river kayak outside the Wednesday-night roll sessions in the pool with the DU kayak club. It was far more challenging and exciting than I expected. I was a total tyro but loved every second of it-- including the 2x that spent without my boat after I capsized!
I can now check off "kayak down river rapids" from my "life list", but the net outcome of the experience actually made my life list longer. The thought of kayaking a Class IV river or paddling the _____ River, is now something I may have to jot down on the list. I haven't reached the 100 mark yet for the life list though, so in terms of reaching that number it was a productive adventure!

Northern Fruit Company Sponsorship

I am proud to announce that Northern Fruit Company will be my new sponsor!
Northern Fruit Co. is located in Wenatchee, Washington, the apple capital of the world, and is committed to providing customers with the highest quality of fresh fruit. At Northern they grow and ship over 1 million boxes of the best apples, cherries, and pears to over 40 countries each year.

As a Nordic skier with aspirations of competing at the Olympics and World Championships I am honored to recieve their financial support that will make it possible for me to spend my time devoted to training and competing. I pledge to represent Northern well, and I plan to spend more of my time volunteering with the youth and encouraging others to pursue their dreams and lead active, healthy lifestyles. A huge thanks to Northern and Doug Pauly-- I appreciate the generous support and look forward to being part of the Northern team.

Heather Zimmerman to Complete 48-hours on the Birkie Trail

WHAT: My fabulous friend, Heather Zimmerman, will be running and biking for 48 consecutive hrs.
WHY: To raise money for the development of schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, supporting the Central Asia Institute.
WHEN: This weekend, Friday May 8th- Sunday May 10th.
WHERE: The American Birkibeiner trail in northern Wisconsin.

GO HEATHER! WAY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

See http://hzimm.wordpress.com/fever-cure/ for more information, how you can contribute, and for LIVE updates during the 48hrs (including photos, videos, and kilometers covered) during Heather's journey! Find out more about Greg Mortenson and the Central Asia Institute at www.ikat.org.

Spencer Glacier

I've grown up skiing in AK, but last week was my first time skiing out to the Spencer Glacier. One of my favorite things about this state is the endless possibilities for exploring new places. Bart checking out an ice berg on Spencer Lake. Apparently the glacier has been receding at an accelerated rate.
Glacier blue and APU blue.
Bart getting a little extra balance practice inside the slick glacier cave.
I punched through the ice when landing this jump-- luckily my Atomic boots were impervious to the water which made the ski home much more pleasant than it could've been!
Bart Dengel-- once a small town kid from Valdez, now an APU/Atomic racer ready to make it big on the pro skiing circuit.

The First Day of the New Year

Tomorrow marks the first day of the new year--for xc ski racers. The coming week includes May 1st, which is traditionally the time when skiers start doing a little more intensity after having the opportunity to take a mental and physical break from training and racing. By this time of year, we've also had the chance to analyze the previous season, write down new goals, and map out what needs to be done in order to accomplish those goals.

My logbook holds I a detailed account of each workout I have done, which helps me try to ascertain what training corresponds with my best performance. Here are a few of the '09 statistics:

--Month with Highest Volume of Training: July
--Months with Highest Intensity of Training: September and October
--First ski of the season (excluding summer skiing on the glacier):Oct 8th
--Number of times I went rollerskiing: 92
--Number of times I went running: 173
--Percentage of time skate skiing of total training: 22%
--Percentage of time classic skiing of total training: 22%
--Percentage of time double poling only: 1% on skis, 1% on rollerskis
--Months that included xc skiing as training: May, June, July, August, October, November, December, January, February, March, April
Placer Valley yesterday, on another epic April crust skiing day.

It's a good thing I enjoy training, because there is an awful lot of time put in for a relatively minuscule amount of time spent racing.
--Total number of races or time trials: 39
--Total number of ski races: 29

They say, If you want to be a fast cyclist, CYCLE. So, if you want to be a fast skier, SKI.

When I was going to school in Denver, people would often ask me, "You go up to the mountains a lot. How many ski days do you have this year?" Counting ski days has always been foreign concept for me-- skiing has just been a way of life and I just go every day possible. But, for curiosity's sake, I did finally tally up the grand total this year.

--Number of "ski days" I've had this year: 162
--Number of times I went skiing (snow only): 202

This is by far the most time I've been able to spend on-snow, so it's fortunate that I am so passionate about skiing. If I didn't love to ski, I probably wouldn't be able to look back at this past year and think, "that was awesome!"

Crust Skiing AK

With nights below freezing and clear days the crust has been immaculate in the early mornings at Placer Valley.
Crust skiing in the mountains is one of my favorite activities of all time. Just about every time I go, I am constantly reminded why I LOVE to ski. For those of you who have never been crust skiing and can't grasp my enthusiasm toward this blissful sport, imagine this: it's like mt. biking at Slick Rock-- except you can create your own sinuous own path, find knolls to descend, random bushes to slalom around, rivers to cross, and there's rarely anyone else out there besides you and your buddies! Erin Phillips, Don Hearing, Pete Kling, Bobby Miller, and Eric Strabel deciding where to cruise next. Skookum glacier is in the background.On the Skookum.
Don Hearing cruising down the crusty slope that was perfect for practicing our turns. After half a dozen descents where we were successively improving each time, Pete made the comment, "I could do this all day". I had to agree. We didn't get to stay all day, since there was a scheduled departure time for the team van, but I have been able to get back out for a few more crust adventures with my friends and family recently. Stay tuned for more photos!

Californ-i-a

Bentley and I soaking up the sun in Loma Linda, California.
Ronsse vs. Bently vs. Libby Medusa?
Janelle on our Easter Sunday ride.
Justin Libby waxing up one of the boards pre-surf-sesh. I spend most of my time in the the nordic racing microcosm, so it was fascinating for me to get to spend time learning about the world of water sports. Even though surfing and nordic skiing are entirely different sports, they both include waxing as well as adjusting to the varying conditions (waves/snow) with different techniques and equipment (boards/skis). There are "Shortboards", "Longboards", "Fishes", "Funboards", and "Guns"... Oh MY! Also, we got to stay with my cousin, Nick, in Ventura and learn all about shaping and making a boards! Pretty cool.
I absolutely loved getting out of my element and learning how to surf. It's challenging and fun-- something I I could see myself doing in another lifetime.
Justin, Katie, Michelle, Landon, Kai, Melissa, Clark, and Jason jumping for joy. Life is good.

Telemark Skiing, AK

The racing season culminated in Fairbanks recently. I'm soaking up every opportunity I have to do non-nordic specific things that I love to do, during our 3 week stint from structured training. Here are a few photos from recent tele skiing adventures.
About to descend Corn Biscuit (Turnagain Pass)
Clint the climber skinning up Magnum (Turnagain Pass)
CXC's Andre and Brian beginning the climb up Peak 3 at about 8pm. The view of the Anchorage city lights at the the summit and descent through the powder was hard to beat.Emma, Catherine, Leah, Paige and I after we got to see Paige rally down the Headwall at Alyeska. Congrats to Paige on WINNING the World Telemark Extremes!

US National Championships in Fairbanks, AK

Brent Knight, James Southam, and Becca Rorabaugh each metaled in the 5k classic race. Results can be found here.
Kikkan Randall (APU) tags Katie Ronsse (APU), while Maria Stuber (CXC) tags off to Caitlin Compton (CXC) in the 6x1.5k Sprint Relay event at the 2009 US National Championships. (Photo credit: Sam Harrel of the Fairbanks Daily News Miner). The team sprint was one of the hardest races I've ever done. The distance skiers and sprinters were mixing it up together since the race didnt entirely cater to either type of athlete. It was basically doing 3x4' intervals as hard as possible-- with some extra motivation knowing I wasn't just racing for myself, but also for my teammate, club, and spectators who have watched me develop as a skier. I lost some ground to the US ski Team's team, CXC, and Saab/Salomon, but have to be satisfied with giving my absolute best effort. Kikkan skied strong despite having arrived earlier in the day from traveling for 3 months on the World Cup circuit, and we still ended up with a bronze medal.
Home-town hero, Becca Rorabaugh, with an up and coming local skier. Many of the elite female skiers got a chance to ski and play games with the female youth of Fairbanks. Becca's family took care of me for the week and there was a lot of laughing to be had at the "Rorabaugh Ranch". Also, I got a fantastic massage from Norma Haubenstock, which helped me recover in between racing. Check out her clinic if you're in Fairbanks!

Time to Recharge

In attempt to get back on Alaska-time and off east-coast-time I laid down for a nap at 5:30pm thinking when I got up I would be able to keep my eyes open a little later. That "little nap" turned into a 14hrs snooze-fest, where I didn't wake up until 7:30 the next morning. I guess that's an even better way of adjusting to a time zone and recovering from a week of 5 races.

I feel like my fitness is up to scratch and the training I needed has been done; all I need to do at this point is recharge. We are driving up to Fairbanks this weekend to prep for the continuation of the US National Championships. By the time Tuesday rolls around I will be ready for another solid week of racing.

Congratulations DU- 2009 NCAA Champs!

University of Denver's Ski Team claimed their 20th NCAA title today and are once again back-to-back NCAA National Champions. DU continues to be the most winning NCAA skiing history. Way to go Alma mater!