New Partnership with Timber Ford of Hayward

Exciting News. Team Gregg is thrilled to partner with Timber Ford of Hayward through the 2018 PeyongChang Olympics. We are very excited to partner with Curt, Amy and the whole crew at Timber Ford of Hayward because they are such a strong part of the community.  Follow us and our Ford Escape on our journey over the next year and a half.  We are very happy to have a safe, reliable American made vehicle to get us to the trail head and to the start line.

SO EXCITED!

After returning from Marquette I had a week of playing catch up on sleep, recovery and life. I knew we were training hard and a lot up in Marquette but I couldn't believe how tired it made me when we returned home!!! Continuing with the recent theme in my training I cut back quite a bit on volume during my time in Marquette and instead focused on my speed and intensity as well as quality recovery. Turns out there is a reason we don't do too much high volume and high intensity. After an easy week it was time to start training more volume and harder again. These past two weeks have been a great opportunity to be back with the Twin Cities ski community and get the opportunity to jump into a few local running events.

Tuesday night I headed over to St. Paul to get a great workout in with Endurance United. They were doing their second double pole only time trial.  It was a great 1.5 KM uphill test that was immediately followed by some more double pole and kick double pole intervals. It was fun to share some new technique topics with the group.

Head Coach of EU Jake Morgan and I go head to head in the TT!

The Tuesday night EU interval group!

My first running race of the fall was the Trail Loppet 13.1K. They also have a 1/2 Marathon and 5K event and it is held right out my back door on the Theodore Wirth trails. The City of Lakes Loppet Foundation puts on this event as well as the Tri-Loppet (a triathlon), the City Trail Race (10 Mile Urban Trail Run) and the City of Lakes Loppet Ski Races in the winter. Brian and I feel pretty lucky to be a part of such an awesome club that holds so many events, clinics and races in our neighborhood.

Biking to the start. We could also run but wanted to bring our bags so we could change for the after party!

Brian and I decided to race the 13.1K because we knew the following weekend we would be racing a half marathon and we wanted to feel good for both. Mission accomplished the 13.1K was the perfect distance to race without getting too fatigued. Brian and I felt great during our races and were able to win. We were happy with how we felt and that we were able to avoid any twisted ankles on the twisty and fun single track trails at Wirth.  It is so great to see how well the Loppet Foundation has helped so many people discover the beauty of Wirth Park.  A huge thank you to the many staff and volunteers who make our backyard a better place everyday!

Brian leading it out. Photo: Skinnyski

Hanging onto some men during the race. Photo: Skinnyski

Women's Podium

The Patrick Henry Nordic Team representing at the Trail Loppet.

Hanging out at our sponsor Hoigaard's tent after the race.

During this past week I was able to join the LNR juniors for a great bounding workout. We usually have one day a week at the local Hyland Alpine Hill. Although it is not very high we have been creative in finding ways to maximize the terrain and get in some pretty grueling 4 -5 min bounding intervals.

The boys starting out hard.

The girls not too far behind!

Trianna, myslef and Dottie post workout smiles.

Annie Hart (SMS) who was in town for almost two weeks to work with the community and at sponsor events. We had some great workouts and I really enjoyed sharing ideas and technique cues. I loved that we were able to have two sessions that were both of our favorites! One was a Classic Speed day and the other was an uphill Skate L-3/L-4 day. Max and Ashley our Strength coaches at the Powerhouse came out to help us with the Classic Speed day. It was so helpful to have Annie there to follow as well as Max and Ashley's suggestions on technique from a totally different perspective.

Team Madshus Ladies!

Great to have some video footage to analyze technique.

The day of the skate intervals we asked Annie's mom if she could help by driving us down the hill we were climbing after each interval. She graciously agreed and below is the most incredible post workout re-cap I could ever imagine!!! Thank you Holly Hart for all your support over the years!

Caitlin Gregg and Annie Hart Skate Intervals L3 to L4 finish approximately 6 minutes River Road Afton MN Sep 28 2016 from Anne Hart on Vimeo.

This past weekend was the Birkie Trail Run and Trek. The events included everything from a kids run through an Ultra 100K! Brian and I raced the hilly 1/2 marathon course and had a blast at the weekend's events as American Birkibeiner Ambassadors. Annie and Kyle Bratrud, who are also Birkie Ambassadors were also at the event signing autographs, leading the kids in agility and warm up drills for their races. Annie also ran the Marathon on the 3 person team!

Brian and Kyle leading the kids in a warm-up for their race!

                                      

Annie and Brian working with some young athletes at the expo the day before.

Hurdle Drills

The event expo was an awesome opportunity for Team Gregg to support our sponsors who support us so well.

Radio interview for the American Birkebeiner

FITS Socks

Daehlie clothing.

Bliz Sunglasses.

The races went well and Brian and I were able to win the 1/2 Marathons. It is truly a special moment to share the top step of the podium with your husband.  The course was beautiful and the atmosphere was amazing! The event and entire weekend was so much fun, a huge thank you to American Birkebeiner Foundation and the many volunteers who make this event such a success.

On Sunday Morning we woke up early and headed out to Cable to host a rollerski clinic presented by our new sponsor Timber Ford of Hayward. The event was a huge success and we followed up the 30 minute clinic with another 3.5 hours of skiing on Lake Owen Drive. 

What Success Means to Me.

When I graduated from high school I wanted nothing more in life than to be on the US Ski Team and race for the USA at the Winter Olympics. A lot of close friends gave me great advice and encouraged me to go to college. They told me that cross country skiers peak later in life and that I could take advantage of the awesome support that racing in the NCAA as a student athlete could provide both academically and educationally. I loved racing for Northern Michigan University and my coaches Sten and Jenny in Cross Country Skiing and Cross Country Running. I had amazing teammates from all over the country who chose NMU for the same reasons I did and I also had great classmates and roommates who didn't participate in sports but also chose Northern Michigan University. Balancing school and sports wasn't always easy for me but I would never want to have done it any other way. I met so many incredible people, learned so much about myself and was inspired by all of my experiences, both good and sometimes tough, during my time as an NMU Wildcat.

Coach Sten taking a break from his bench press to take a selfie.

Coach Jennie (Now the head CC Running and Track and Field Coach) out on the trails after leading the team in a workout.

Coach Shane fits right in and pushes the team hard.

Northern Michigan University's Athletic Director Forrest Karr and my signed World Championship poster in the Athletic Department.

I used the lessons I learned from being a student-athlete at NMU to help guide me as a professional athlete. It worked! I reached one of my goals by representing the USA at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, BC.  I have qualified for 4 World Championship Teams (including one in Biathlon), won 7 National titles, 4 American Birkebeiners and a World Championship Medal.   Without a doubt these successes would not have been possible without my experience as an NCAA athlete. I do not believe I would have succeeded being a full-time student or a full-time skier independently. Thanks to NMU and NCAA skiing I could do both and be successful!

Coming back to Northern has given me the opportunity to connect with the student-athletes and share my own story. I've learned from many mistakes and good decisions during my career and I see myself in this next group of skiers.  It is my hope that I can offer these athletes words of support, advice or guidance in their pursuit of excellence.  I also hope that they can adopt the long term mindset for success as they see me still enjoying the daily pursuit of ski racing.

Sharing my story as a Northern Michigan University Student-Athlete.

Talking about the Run Club Brian and I started through our In-the-Arena project to help underprivileged and at-risk youth in North Minneapolis.

Sharing my success as an athlete at the highest level since graduating from NMU.

Wildcat Willie was proud too... plus you have to always have a bit of fun

The Boys Getting Stronger Together

The Girls Getting Faster Together

It's been a a great experience so far in Marquette and I love getting to know each of the athletes on the current NMU Team and  CXC Team better and better. We are two Time Trials in and have one more next week before we head back to Minneapolis for a rest week and some work. So far the Time Trials have been going great and I have been feeling really strong. A new concept for me has been to do the time trials and immediately follow them with hard intensity sessions afterwards. It's some of the best mental training I have ever experienced and I have learned to push myself harder than I thought possible after an all out effort. Having the support of the team has made all of my training session these past few weeks better than I could have imagined and I love working with such a professional and driven group of athletes. 

As always the "Cafe" or "MP" now is always filled with great company and lots of fun times.

Back to School in Da UP!

Well almost...although I am back in Marquette and it is the end of August I am actually not going back to school ;) I already finished that. I am in Marquette this fall for Brian and I to get together with the awesome group of athletes up here who are on the NMU and CXC Teams. Both the men's and women's teams are very strong right now and the opportunity to get together with one of the best training groups in the country is hard to pass up! So after finishing up our work with our In-the-Arena project this year and attending our last LNR Camp Brian and I packed up our Subaru and headed North to the Upper Peninsula.

Essential travel day snacks! Also since we will be gone for so long we also had to finish up everything in the fridge. I can get pretty creative when it comes to using up the last of our ingredients in the final days and managed to make awesome curried rice with steak and a fresh salsa made with tomatillos to go with my chips :)

We packed up our house, filled up our car and loaded Lahti into the back seat. 

 As much as we love bringing Lahti on trips and to training camps whenever we can, he wouldn't be allowed to stay with us in the OTC (Olympic Training Center) aka "the dorms," so we dropped him off with his second parents Jim and Vicki who have watched Lahti during the winter for us on many occasions.

Brian and I drove the 7 hours up to Marquette on our off day which meant we could take our time and stop in Hayward to visit with Scott Wilson at Cresthill. We arrived in Marquette just in time to get dinner and settle into our new room for the next couple of weeks. We are staying in Meyland Hall on the 3rd floor and it is incredible nice and quiet! Brian and I are looking forward to not only getting in solid training but also getting in plenty of recovery. We are eating in the dining hall and have been psyched with the incredible healthy options available at every meal. As much as I love cooking I am happy to not have to wash any dishes for the next couple of weeks!

Brian is pleased with his meal!

Tons of fresh fruit and yogurt at every meal.

We are jumping right into training with the NMU and CXC Teams here in Marquette so we join them for every workout. We want to maximize our time training with others and it has been a blast to have a large group of "teammates" everyday. I will say that the training plan is quite familiar to me since I leanred lots from Sten about his training theories and workout philosophies. He has developed an incredible number of athletes throughout his career and his knowledge about ski training is enormous. I have to say a huge Thank You to Sten Fjeldheim, Shane MacDowell and Andy Keller for letting Team Gregg join their teams this fall.

A few things have changed since I left Marquette including the new South Mountain Bike Trails. They are not only some of the best mountain bike trails in the region but also some of the best trails for running I have ever been on.

So Psyched to be training with a large group of ladies.

This spring as I started laying out my training and racing plans for the season I thought a lot about what makes me ski the fastest. One aspect of my training that I was missing last year was having a consistent group of ladies to train with. I met up with the National Team at 3 camps but that meant that the rest of the year I was training mostly alone. This year has been the complete opposite and my training has been much more productive and made me a much happier person. This summer I trained extensively with my LNR teammates and our PG athlete Abby Drach  and now I have another great group of ladies with the NMU/ CXC Teams. The energy and excitement of these groups is contagious and I hope to be able to bring some of my experience and knowledge to practice and the dining hall :) I am also very grateful all of the NMU and CXC Teams have been so welcoming and open to letting us join them. A few photos from various workouts below!

Brian doing Moosehoofs up Marquette, MT. 

Ian, Adam and Brian Bounding.

Brian warming up for strength

Sarah crushing the dead lifts.

weighted dips.

In addition to the awesome trail running, bounding and weight lifting facilities Marquette also has an extensive network of bike paths that have grown extensively since I was a student here. This afternoon was absolutely gorgeous and the ladies and I had a wonderful double pole through town.

Such a nice day.

I am very sore, tired and happy! I am really looking forward to this entire fall training block working towards that Lahti 30K Skate!