Rollerskiing with Friends

Sundays are the usual day of the week that our CXC Team does an Over Distance workout. These workouts are typically anywhere from 2 - 4+ hours long and are usually down at a very slow pace. Today was a three hour skate OD and I rollerskied with some of my closest friends.

 The  roller ski started today in downtown Afton, which has a population of about 50, at 7:30 AM. I met up with 5 women who I have been training with for the last 7 years here in Minneapolis. Jojo, Katherine, Claire, Katie and Carolyn. There were a few of the other usual girls missing but this was a big part of the "core" group.

Today was beautiful but the roller ski was sad because it would be the last group ski we would all get to do with our friend Katherine. Katherine accepted a job in Washington D.C. and will be moving out there at the end of the week. So today a roller ski full of memories and goodbyes. We met up with another group called the Vakava training group and together we formed a mass of roller skiers totaling around 30!

I cannot emphasize how important to my athletic career and my successes this huge group has been!

Katherine...we will all miss you and your awesome jokes!

Street Skiing

By Caitlin Gregg

After a solid two weeks of training in Maquette, MI and Cabel, WI Brian and I returned home for what is going to be our longest time yet (3 weeks). As soon as we returned we began unpacking and getting the house up and running again. Within an hour the neighborhood kids saw Lahti and knew we were home. Ten kids  stopped over to say “hello” and “welcome back”. While visiting on our porch the kids saw all of our Marwe rollerskis and were really excited to try the “Street Skiing” they see Brian and I do everyday.

Brian and I began outfitting the neighborhood kids with our boots, roller skis (street skis) and poles. The kids were psyched. We could barely get them to stop playing as the sun was setting.

I find the learning curve for kids starting out on  rollerskis pretty incredible. By the end of the evening all of the kids where skating and striding without ever skiing before. There were a few crashes but the thrill of cruising around the block was worth it for them.

Back @ NMU

This past week was one of the best training camp weeks I have ever had. The CXC Elite Team spent a week in Marquette, Michigan a place where I spent 5 years of my life and missed. Marquette is where I went to college at Northern Michigan University and graduated over 7 years ago!!! I cannot believe it has been so long. Looking back on those years and visiting the places I went to class and the trails I trained on, I realized how lucky I was to be a  part of the Northern Michigan family.

On this trip I was able to meet up with my College Coach Sten Fjeldheim. He has changed a lot, as have I, but we still had a blast sharing stories and lessons learned during our time together as NCAA Coach and Student-Athlete.

A lot of people ask about what it was like to be an athlete of Sten's at NMU. There are stories of grueling intervals and the notorious weather scenarios we would do them in. There were big consequences for forgetting something at  practice, being late to a meeting and of course not keeping your grades up. Sten was a tough coach but also knew we were at NMU for and education and he made sure that was always first. Despite all the rumors of how tough it was to be an skier at NMU the truth is we, as athletes, made it as tough as we wanted it! And we all knew that the tougher it was the better we would become.

Since Sten has been coaching at NMU there have been countless All-Americans, National Champions and 5 NCAA Champions in Cross Country Skiing. The atmosphere in the ski room is one of pride in all the hard work we, as members of the team, have contributed to the success of the program.

All of the positive energy, and fantastic weather, made every training session in Marquette incredible and I felt awesome! Sten even came to a couple of workouts and was pleased with how my technique has progressed even since this last winter! I am feeling like my old self again and look to make even bigger gains in the next couple of months before the season kicks off! Just like at NMU I am putting in a lot of effort now and look forward to the outcome later this winter!

Although I did not reach my fullest potential as an athlete while I was at NMU, I did earn a degree. Even more importantly I have learned to balance multiple demands and remain well rounded. I wouldn't trade anything in the world for the experiences and lessons I learned while at NMU. I know I would not have the depth of knowledge and success I have had as an athlete or person if I had not gone to NMU. Looking back on the thousands of hours I spent studying and training in the UP I can hardly think think of anything as awesome as the back drop of Lake Superior.

Coaching Weekend

This past weekend I spent three consecutive days coaching ALL DAY! I began by volunteering for the City of Lakes Nordic Ski Foundation's Kid's Adventure Camp. I got up extra early and headed out for my Threshold Ski workout so that I could make it over to the Theodore Wirth Pavilion in time for the first group. This week the camp consisted of approximately 45 campers. The kids were broken up into groups of 5-8 and they would switch from station to station throughout the day. The stations ranged from Mt. Biking to Canoeing, to Orienteering, to capture the flag, to Rollerskiing. each kid spends almost 45 minutes participating in the activity at each station. By the end of the day the kids have trained over 4.5 hours!!! I am sure their parents loved it :) i was in charge of the rollerskiing on Friday. I made a point to remember every kid's name throughout the day. This made the feedback more direct and individual and I think everyone loves when they are remembered and addressed.

On Friday night Brian and I packed up our car and headed down to Rochester, MN where we were to coach a Master's Clinic. We stayed with one of the local XC Skiers in the Rochester community and had a blast learning about their up and  coming club!

Bright and early before 6AM I was awake and heading out the door for my morning training session. When I finished I quickly showered and changed and was off to the first coaching part of the camp. I spent the next few hours on my feet and after a short lunch break I was back at it until 4:30 in the afternoon. The next day was the same!

Despite all of the time on my feet I felt that my energy levels were high and my legs were fresh. I am feeling like every week I am getting in better and better shape! I am excited to report in two weeks about returning to Marquette and spending time at NMU again!

Namekagon Art Festival and the CXC Summer Championships

This past weekend the CXC Team put on a one day event that include the three different types of racing that we encounter throughout the ski season. These races included a running distance event (in place of a distance ski event), a prologue classic ski, and a sprint skate ski with rounds.

The goal of the event was to get the community involved in our time trials and allow the kids who are up at Telemark with us the opportunity to go head to head with World Championship and Olympic Athletes! Pretty Sweet!

For me the event was my first attempt at racing since the end of the ski season in March. I have been pretty busy with life and while I have maintained my fitness I have been very careful about pushing myself too far, for fear of overdoing it. The plan seemed to have worked out well. While I was not the fastest in any of the three events, I have a great starting place to build from.

The results from the 5K trail run (aka Hill Climb). Here

The double pole (classic prologue) is my weakness. I have been focusing a lot on improving my double poling, as it relates a lot to my lower results in classic skiing, and feeling like I have been making the technical gains I need.

The last event was a skate sprint that was held in downtown Cable, WI. The town is very small but hosts some of the biggest endurance sporting events in the country for Cross Country Skiing and Mountain Biking. These events are the Chequamegon Fat Tire Mountain Bike race and the American Birkebeiner Cross Country Ski race.

We woke up the small town on Saturday night with skate sprint heats. The heats were based off of the classic prologue (not typical). Unfortunately I had a nasty crash in my first round. Jessie broke a pole and the pole fell right between my legs. I went down hard but bounced back up and moved onto the final. In the final I was able to ski aggressively and move from fourth up to second in the finishing straight. I held onto second and learned a lot about tactics and racing from the entire day's events.

Moving forward... I have some work to do... I look forward to the challenge and will report back about how my results progress!

Working with Andrew Nelson

A few weeks ago I had the chance to work with Andrew Nelson. Andrew Nelson is a Physical Therapist in the Methow Valley of Washington. Brian and I were visiting his parents and finalizing wedding preparations after our final races in Sun Valley. Brian has wanted me to work with Andrew for quite a while and this was the time when he was available.

When I went in to see Andrew I learned a lot about bio-mechanics and how your foot alignment can altar the rest of your alignment in your entire body. Andrew looked at my feet extensively and found a number of weaknesses. I have been able to use my muscles in my lower leg to compensate where my feet failed to support me. My feet seem to collapse as soon as I put pressure on them. This leaves me with a lack of balance and coordination that is crucial for Nordic Skiing.

Andrew developed a kind of Footbed/ Orthodic for my feet that puts me into a more stabilized position. I can now generate much more power off of each step, stride, etc... when my foot has a more rigid platform to push against.

The results have been awesome in my training as well. I have never used a Footbed or Orthodic before so I was a little nervous about how my body would feel and how my knees and other joints would respond. So far everything has been excellent. I have found my balance and stability increase and my glide and power on skis to be extremely positive.

I never wanted to think that I would have a deficit in my alignment or ligaments that would inhibit me but I guess this is all a part of being an athlete and growing older :)

Wedding Bells ringing in Washington

Just over a week ago fellow ITA and CXC member Brian Gregg and I were married high above his parent's house in Winthrop, WA. The entire day was incredible and having so many friends and family there was the best part of the entire event. I got to reconnect with people who I had not seen in years and share the most important day of my life with both Brian's family and my own. My sister was my flower girl and even though there is 16 years between us and we do not get to see each other more then once every 3-4 years, we bonded and became great friends.