Birkie 2010

This year's Birkie started out great. I had fantastic skis and my body
was all there. It could not have been better. I felt like I was
stalking the pack rather than skiing in it, always a great sign.
Unfortunately that ended when I got dragged to the ground by someone
behind me. One of my poles snapped and my ski split in two. I got up
and limped along hoping to get some new gear but the thrill of the
hunt faded after 10 km on broken equipment. I hopped a ride to the
finish at the 30km mark and was able to see my Steinbock teammate grab
third place!

Such is sport. Live to fight another day. I'm off to the Engadin
Marathon on Friday for another stab at the world's largest skate race!

Fight For it. BMT Victory 2010.

As I wrote in my last post, one of my favorite things about racing are the last kilometers... I love to be right in the thick of it, fighting for position– banging elbows. The more of a dog fight the race becomes, the more I enjoy what I'm doing.

If you don't believe me, here is proof... A photo from the Boulder Mt Tour, taken within a Km of the finish.

Having the time of my life - 2010 Boulder Mt Tour (photo by Mike Turzian)

What is missing from this photo is AJ. He is just out of the frame, leading me out as he did for several Km's before this picture was taken. He hit it as hard as he could to keep the pace high and get me to the finish lanes in the front of the pack. And as with any good lead out, he practically keeled over when the dash for the finish began– though he did hold on for a solid 5th place.

But thats not the point, the point is that we raced as a team and won as a team. And there is a lot to be said about that...

-ZSi

Governor's Cup Weekend

I just got home from a quick weekend trip to Winter Park, CO, for a 30km Skate race called the Governors Cup, held at Devils Thumb Resort.

It was a good trip overall. I stayed at the Beaver Village Hotel with former teammate and now coach of Denver University, Dave Stewart. The skiing was awesome over there, as always. It seems that every time I ski at Devils Thumb, its perfect. Blue ski, tons of trails, great grooming... this time around was no different.

It was a pretty typical race weekend for me. I arrived Thursday night and went for a short run. On Friday I tested my skis and waxed them for the race. Saturday, race.

The race went OK, though certainly not my best ever performance. Glenn Randall, NCAA Champ, was on hand. Glenn has been known to ski quite well at altitude, likely because he trains at 10,000ft! When we started, he was content to lead. He pushed the pace early and near the 5k mark, I was starting to feel it. One thing I know about racing near 9000ft is that you don't want to go under early. So I backed off, hoping to ski the fastest race I could and catch him if he blew up late in the race...

Well, when we came through the lap at 15k, he was no where in sight and I didn't have it to speed up. Looking around, I saw former teammate - now sponsor - Natron a bit behind me and I slowed up hoping to pull him a bit. It worked but he couldn't quite hang on at the end of the lap and was beaten by another well known Coloradan, Michael Brothers. I cruised in to 2nd.

Natron and I both have experience cycling and it seems everytime we race together, we find ways to bring new tactics into skiing. I enjoy that.

It was a bit of a strange day for me. I didn't feel much snap in my body and had a tough time really putting it down when I needed to. In the past week I did some really big workouts to prepare for these upcoming marathons and I think I was just a bit behind the eight ball for this race... I think the training was good, it was the recovery that wasn't happening... Anyone can train hard, the key is recovering from it quickly...

I have another 30k coming up next weekend in Idaho, the famed Boulder Mtn Tour, where I will be defending my title...

I intent to do a lot of resting this week to create some speed. I know my fitness is there, I just need to get it out from under the training load I've been piling on!

Waiting and Working and Training....

Well this is a first for me... It mid-January and my race season is about to start in earnest. Typically, this time of year I am in a mid season training block, scrambling to recover from the many early season races that populate the North American race schedule and simultaneously trying to get in some long workouts that will allow me to race 50kms weekend after weekend.

This year has been a bit different as funds have been tight in the ski world and upon the conclusion that I was to have no mathematical chance at making the 2010 Olympic Team. I have focused heavily on marathons this season and soon I will find out whether my plan has paid off.

These past weeks have been tough in many respects. Many of my friends are preparing for World Cups and waiting to hear about Olympic selection. At times I really wish I was in their camp. But I've gone a different route and I feel confident in my decision. Especially after many long hours on the bike this summer, I feel well prepared for the long events ahead.

Additionally, I've had a heavy load on my back in preparation for the upcoming Outdoor Retailer Show, here in Utah. I will be on hand to help out my ski sponsor, Rossignol, as well as to promote my own team, Steinbock Racing. In the past four days I put in something like 50 hours redesigning our Program Overview.... I'm an all or nothing kind of guy and this was definitely an "all" situation. I'm excited to present it later this week.

This coming Saturday I will race the University of Utah Invitational, at Soldier Hollow, which will be my last tune up before I head out to some bigger events... The following weekend I will be in Winter Park, CO, for the Governor's Cup– which from what I understand is the longest running ski race in Colorado. After that I head up to Sun Valley to defend my Boulder Mountain Tour title. The following weekend is a 10km classic race and the Owl Creek Chase in Aspen, CO. The weekend after that is the Minnesota Finlandia, a 50k, on Saturday and a sprint race in Madison, WI, on Sunday... And the weekend after that is the American Birkebeiner. The next two weeks are up in the air, I may head over to do the Engadin Marathon again or maybe ski the Yellowstone Rendezvous. The week after the Rendezvous is the Great Race in Truckee, California.

And this is where things get blurry.... After the Great Race I may head to the coast (of California) to ride my bike for a few days and hit the San Dimas Stage Race. That would be abruptly followed by the Califonia Gold Rush, another ski race... And then back to the coast for some more riding and likely the Redlands Classic and Sea Otter Road Races...

And then likely back to Park City for May and June to finish out the school year with my crew at Ecker Hill Middle School.

I can't wait for the races to start. I love to be in the mix– banging elbows, as they say– and fighting for position in the last kilometers of a race.

I'll be sure to keep you posted on how things unfold...

Some biking, some skiing, lots of training.

The last few weeks have flown by here in Park City. I accomplished some great workouts, a lot of extracurriculars and survived the holidays.

Yesterday I skied another race here in Park City. It was a good one, on my home course - an extremely flat 5km, that I have been around several thousand times, literally. There were a few more fast skiers around than usual, my brother is in town and he is a Biathlete with the US Devo Team, as well as a couple of guys from the US Nordic Combined team and several from the University of Utah.

When I was warming up for the race my pole started to make a funny crackling sound. It was coming from the grip and when I checked to see if my pole was still glued on, it was not. It was spinning loosely in the handle. I hoped it wouldn't be an issue but the first pole plant of the race, my pole came off. I had to wait for the 50 or so skiers in the front wave to pass before I could see my pole, javelined into the snow. I grabbed it and jammed it back into my grip and got going again... I had to ski through all those people to get back into the front group. It took me 2k or so to get back up there. When I caught up, I was already going pretty hard so I figured I'd just keep the pressure on. I blew the front group up pretty quickly and it was down to three of us with my brother dangling a bit off the back. I slowed up a bit to give him a chance to get back on. I skied most the rest of the race with the Nordic Combined guys, who were going really well. I felt super comfortable and was looking for the best place to make some sort of move that would stick. I waited for my standard spot - a long gradual hill with essentially no recovery afterwards. I put the hammer down and left them, taking the win by a good 20 or 30 seconds in the last 2k.

It was a solid effort considering this week has been fairly unusual in terms of a lead up to competition. This is what my week looked like:

Mon: 4x10 min L3 w Bill Demong pm: 3x15min @ tempo on a trainer
Tue: 2.5 hr Classic pm: 1.25 hrs riding on rollers
Wed: 2.5 hrs on a trainer w 3x20 @ tempo pm: 1.5 hr skate
Thur: Ramp test, cycling followed by 2hrs of skating
Fri: 2 hrs skating w 3x3 min L3 pm: .75 hrs on rollers
Sat: Race 15k skate

Cycling has not hurt my fitness, though hard cycling workouts make my legs feel sluggish for ski races. As bigger ski races approach, I won't be able to do these types of workouts in the days before. Skiing is good for skiing and biking is good for biking...

The next couple weeks are a bit more of the same. Lots of training. My first big race will around the 25th of this month in Marquette, MI. The Noquemanon Marathon, a 50km classic race. I'm looking forward to that.

Happy Holidays!

One Race Down.

This weekend was a good one. I finally put a bib on and got back to racing... And like most races, it was a lot of fun.

The race wasn't exactly a world cup but my teammate, Andrew Johnson, and I lined up and threw down for 10km at Soldier Hollow, the 2002 Olympic venue. The race series is called the Wasatch Citizen Series. It's always fun to come back and do a WCS race because its where I learned to race. My first ski race of all time was a WCS race. The local crowds are great and its always fun to ski with the people who I grew up idolizing.

The race itself was a lot of fun. I love mass start races of any kind and this was no different. From the start, AJ and I put the hammer down and were out on our own in a big hurry. We battled it out, though he led for the majority of the race. I skied behind him and like a rookie, skied all over the back of his skis. It was the first time I've classic skied with anyone this year and my timing and spacing were a bit off, but that's what early races are for. Towards the end of the race I started to think about how to try beat him. I figured he was looking for a late move so I decided to try to go a little before he would expect it. I dropped the hammer and got a little separation but it didn't last for too long before he was back on my heels. He nabbed me around the last corner and beat me to the line. It was a blast.

After the race we hung around for awards and talked it up with the local ski community. I spent some time talking with some of the young guns from the area about their plans and how things are going. I would love to see some more kids come out of this area and make it to the top.

After the awards I drove home and grabbed a couple hours of rest before getting on my bike in the garage for a 2x25 min interval workout at a tempo pace. Right now I am doing double duty as a cyclist and ski racer. And while the two sports are very different, the basic principles of training are similar. And the tools needed for success are exactly the same: namely, an extreme level of fitness.

I know that I need to get in two intensity sessions (intervals, races, etc) on skis and two on my bike per week in order to continue to improve in both sports. I also know that four days of intervals is too many. So I'm doing back-to-back interval days- that is two interval sessions in one day for two different sports. That way I have good periodization within weeks, hard days and easy days, as well as within 4 week blocks. Its not exactly a text book training plan but I'm not sure one even exists for a dual-sport athlete. I'm making it up as I go and that's exciting.

I will be around Park City for the holidays, training a ton in preparation for next month's races. The season hits hard come mid-January.

Below are some pictures from yesterday's race, taken by Ian Harvey of Toko. I am #331.

First time on snow. High Volume. and Readjusting.

I have arrived in West Yellowstone and so has winter. I have been out skiing one time so far and the conditions were excellent for how little snow there is here. It is always so nice to get on snow again after the summer. Rollerskiing just can't compare to the real thing.

Today I was out for 3.5 hours of skating. I felt pretty good though my skis felt a bit long as always. I am still dealing with a pretty jacked up foot, after twisting my ankle last week while running. I feel as though time is starting to catch up with me as well, and by time I mean age, as my elbows got a bit sore from the different impulse of snow as opposed to asphalt. These minor ailments seem to be happening with greater frequency lately and I can't help but think it has something to do with the fact that I'm not 20 anymore. But I'm not 30 either, so I am confident that neither issue will hold me back from having a good week.

With recent news of our Olympic quotas being cut back from 10 men in the past, to just 4 this year and tighter than usual budget constraints thanks to the general state of the economy, I have had to readjust my goals for this season in order to give myself the greatest chance to come away with some measurable success. I entered this training year with the goal of making the Olympic team, everything else was secondary. Though given my luck last year with Giardia, I enter this year slightly behind points-wise and have had to come to grips with the fact that it is mathematically impossible for me to climb into the top 4 by the time the olympic selection happens. In the past I've been afforded the opportunity to travel to whereever i've seen fit. This season, funds have been clamped down and I have to pick and chose my way through the season in order to make it the whole year. After talking the situation over with teammates and sponsors, I have made the decision to aim for the races that I am best at - marathons. So while my peers here in Yellowstone are putting the final touches on their training before the first races, I am hitting the peak of my volume in order to come out of the New Year swinging in the long races.

Such is life. Especially life as an athlete. Goals are set and some of those goals are achieved. We never really know which ones and that is the beauty of competition. Some times goals are not reached and its importat to readjust in accordance. And while I am a bit jealous of my friends here who are still within grasp of Vancouver 2010, I am confident that the route I am taking is the one that give me the best chance of walking away from this season as a success.

Good luck to everyone here in Yellowstone this week. See you out of the trails.

Here is a look at what this week will look like for me training -wise:

Sun: 3.5hr skate
Mon: 4 hr skate, 1 hr no poles
Tues: 3x20min L3 int, 2.5 total. pm: 1.5 hr
Wed: 4 hr classic
Thur: 2.5 skate/ 1.5 classic
Fri: 3.5 skate
Sat: 6x10 min L3, 2.5 hrs total. 1 hr classic
Sun: 3 hr skate, 1 hr ride on trainer