Co Rod's Updates

Birkie Fever- U Gonna B There?

Thu, 15 Feb 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Well is has been awhile since I have made my contribution to the website. My Midwest photo essay was a bust because the photos are not uploading properly onto the site and I was hoping for my following update to include some encouraging racing to tell everyone about. That has not happened. Thus far the racing season has felt like a good punch below the belt. I was definitely hurting there for a little while but I got up and walked it off. Birkie Fever Baby!
I am really looking forward to this whole Birkie deal coming up in a little more than a week. All I ever hear is, “You can’t really explain it, you just have to be there.” So this year I am going. The FSx team arrives next Wednesday and I am hoping for a successful rematch in the Midwest. My main goal is to go there feeling rested and then we will just see how it all pans out.
I have been doing a few long easy skate skis to get the legs prepped, but mostly just recovering after feeling tired. I am currently enjoying the skiing here in Sun Valley because we have been having klister conditions for classic and I feel like I am back at home in New England. There is not a ton of snow but the skiing is perfect and I have had a good time exploring all of the 150k + of skiing they have here in the Wood River Valley. (Training at Galena Lodge ranks in pretty high on the list of all time best training locations.) After being here all summer I was anxiously awaiting getting back for an extensive amount of time during the winter. I have to admit SV is all it is cracked up to be, if you like skiing underneath the sun and bluebird sky and on top of several feet of snow. Skiing laps on ice and kicking on bomber blue klister ain’t that bad either though. Yep that’s right born and raised in NE. Not selling out just yet.
See some of you folks at the Birkie. If you are not going this year you should be. Rumor has it it is going to be an all American show. - Colin

Midwest Photo Essay

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 07:00:00 GMT

Distance Races Done

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Kate and Zach V. both popped top 10s here in Houghton in the classic races. All of the rest of us hoped to be higher up the results list, but the sprints are still to come. I caught a cold and had to sit out the 10k, but felt like I was able to push today. That is a good sign for this weekend. The snow here is dwindeling so it is a good thing the distance races are completed. There is definately enough snow stockpiled to keep the sprints on for sure. Hopefully it just gets cold though. Tomorrow is a training day and then game on again. Keep checkin' in. Later- C

New Years Day Update

Sun, 31 Dec 2006 07:00:00 GMT

Dumpin'

Sun, 31 Dec 2006 07:00:00 GMT

Dueling Dumptrucks at the Race Venue
Dumpin' Snow, but it ain't fallin from the sky!

The skiing this morning was really pretty good. No track yet because they are trying to preserve the snow on the race course, but they definitely had full coverage. Unfortunately, the race courses have been modified to one 5k loop to be used for all of the races. Unless we get snow that is probably the way it is going to be. The big climb is gone but the 5k they currently have skis nicely rolling and climbing through the woods. Check out the seniornationals.org website for the latest info.
Right now it is raining pretty hard. According to the NOAA.gov website though it is supposed to turn to snow tonight and accumulate a bit. We will see. A few inches on top of a solid base though would be pretty sweet. More updates from NATs as the week goes on. Later- Colin

Ho Ho from Houghton

Fri, 29 Dec 2006 05:00:00 GMT

Sending out a little happy holidays hello from the UP. I made it in to Houghton last night and was able to get out on the ski trails earlier this morning. The skiing is remarkably good considering the base is pretty thin. The good ol’ boys were out in full force with the dump trucks rolling through the local farm fields and picking up what ever snow was to be found and hauling it out onto the courses. These folks up here from Michigan Tech are definitely going to make it happen so bring your game face and be ready to throw down. As I write it is snowing outside (not that hard but it is snowing). Even an inch or two will go a long ways to make the skiing perfect. Hope everyone had a good Christmas and we will see you when you get here. If you are not coming be sure to keep checking back as the team is getting into the swing of updating the site on a more regular basis. Later-Colin
PS You can also check the webcams from the ski stadium at seniornationals.org. We will get some pics up soon.

SV

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 05:00:00 GMT

Hello from Sun Valley
It has been awhile since the Lake Placid USSA camp so I figure it is about time for an update. I have been back in the West since the beginning of Oct and life has mostly consisted of part time painting and wood splitting and full time training. I was really happy with how my body digested the training done in the East as well as the return to 6,000 feet. It seems to get easier and easier every time. Because my return went smoothly I was able to keep the volume pretty high and not miss out on too much. I had two solid volume weeks right off the bat (20 and 22). The only intensity that was completed however, was L3 and not until I was back for 5 days. Those 2 weeks had 4 intensity sessions. Following the volume was a recovery week (16 hrs, 2 int sessions) that served as a build up to the final period of hard training for this fall. For this period I wanted to re-introduce some bounding with poles and fartlek workouts because they have helped me to sharpen my fitness the most in the past. During the past 2 weeks they have really taken priority (along with getting good sleep). Here is what the hard workouts have looked like during the block. Hopefully, they can give some folks a few good ideas for themselves.

Mon 10/23 Bounding with poles -4 sets of 4 by 20 sec max bounds. Bound hard uphill for 20 sec, jog or walk down, go hard up again 4 times. 5 min jogging in between sets.

Wed 8X 5 min hard bounding/ ski walking steeps with poles up Baldy Mtn. 2.50 min rest in between reps. Almost made it to the top! This was hard but there was snow on the ground so I could imagine it was race season.

Sat Fartlek with poles at Lake Creek. The trails were newly mowed thanks to Rick K and 2 of the hills I used are going to be included in the SuperTour races here in Dec. I went for 50 min continuous. Uphills were bounded hard, downhills were recovery and flats were L3. This is a great workout and cannot be more ski specific. Try it. Start with 10, 15, 40 min- whatever is best for you and work your way up.

Mon Skate Sprint Session- 20 min warm up, 1X1k hard prologue type effort, 20 min warm down and lactate removal experimentation, 2 (3X1 min hard). Take 5 min recovery in between sets.

Wed Harpers uphill running TT. I set a new PR by 1 min. Felt strong. 12.16

Sat 11/4 Tomorrow I will do 6X4 min uphill skate intervals unless there is snow on the bike path and then I will do another Fartlek bounding session.

Sun+Mon- Recover

Next few weeks- Hopefully on snow- get the volume back up and do some more L3 training. Prepare to race in the end of November in West Yellowstone.

Hope everyone is nailing the fall training and see you on snow in Yellowstone- CR

The East Side

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 05:00:00 GMT

I have been back East for about 2 weeks now training in Lake Placid, NY. The USST open camp finished up yesterday and everyone has headed home. I tacked on an extra week to my plane ticket so I could come home to VT for a bit. It is real nice this time of year with the Fall colors coming out in combination with some plush indian summer days. Training has gone real well thus far and I am feeling happy with where I am at. I was able to jump in with the USST sprinters at the Lake Placid camp just like I did in New Zealand. It is really good to see what these guys are doing and I always learn a ton. They will be racing in Dusseldorf, Germany in about a month and I hope they kill it there. Here is a copy of my training log over the past 2 weeks. It includes a fair amount of intensity but I am also trying not to let the volume slip too much.

Monday Sept 11 -Travel to Lake Placid from Idaho

Tuesday - 1.45 easy skate ski- 30 min no poles

PM 1.30 Str with running warm up and spin cool down

Wed - Cl/ DP threshold intensity (Lactate 4-5mmol) 5X 10 min

PM - 1 hr easy run

Thurs- 1.45 Skate Threshold (Lactate 4-5mmol) 8X 3 min steep V1 climb

PM - 2 hr 1hr DP Speed and 1hr core Str/ Explosiveness

Fri 3.30 Run up Mt.Marcy

PM Off

Sat 1.15 DP

PM 1.15 Str and Explosiveness

Sunday 3.15 Cl Sprint Time Trial

PM 1 hr Easy Run

Total hrs 20.15

Monday Off

PM Easy run followed by ice bath

Tuesday 2 hr Speed with Sprint Team. Timing lights used. A lot X 70 meters. We worked on standing starts and moving starts. Some were at 80% of max, some were 90-95% and others were 100%.

PM- 1.30 Str

Wed 2 hr Skate Threshold following prologue simulation. --1 time hard for 3 min simulating prologue. 20 min following prologue we began 8X 90 sec threshold. Warm down following prologue was very specific to try and clear lactate as quickly as possilbe. 90 sec intervals were between 4-6 mmol of lactate

PM Off

Thurs- 2.10 Max bounding workout. 6X 5 min bounding with poles up Whiteface Mtn. Lactates were to be between 8-10 mmol.

PM -2 hr-1hr Skate speed plus 1 hr str and explosiveness

Fri- 1.30 run at Mt. Vanhovenburg

PM Off

Sat -1.30 Skate Time Trial

PM- Spin plus core strength and explosiveness

Sunday 4.15 OD Run to Avalanche Lake and Mt Colden

Total 19.20

Everyone checking out this website should also be dropping by USST website- teamtoday.org. Coach Vordenberg snaps some sic pics and the Ski Team is getting the job done. This past camp was very well organized, professional and well attended. The quality and quantity of the coaches and athletes at the camp was the best I have ever seen. It is exciting to see. Also, Simons has been working real hard on a new website for Newell- andrewnewell.com. Check it- see what the kid is about because he is going places. That's it for now. Later- CR

Movin'

Wed, 13 Sep 2006 07:00:00 GMT

I don’t think I have slept in the same bed for more than a month straight since I graduated from college over 2 years ago. Most often it is a lot less time than that. Movin’ is what I do these days. I move in order to train in new places and I move in order to make my body go as fast as I can on skis. To me movin’ is fun. I like going non-stop.

In June I packed up my skis in New England and flew out West for a little something new. A little change is good sometimes so I jumped on the opportunity to join the very well respected Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation. The training in the Wood River Valley is hard to beat. There are endless trail running and hiking opportunities within 30 minutes of the town of Ketchum, but most of them are right out the back door. For rollerskiing there is an extensive bike path weaving throughout town and between the training hut and the local gym there is more strength equipment than a cross country skier knows what to do with.

After 5 weeks of being in Sun Valley and living in 3 different places (a hotel room and with 2 different families) I was settled enough to call it home and proceeded to leave in order to do a road trip from Anchorage, Alaska. After the AK came New Zealand and now Lake Placid. Life has been a whirlwind, but can’t say I have anything to complain about. It even feels good to be back in the East and have it really rain for a day or two. The Westerners can’t seem to handle it, but it is definitely what I was brought up in and I couldn’t really call it the Fall without training in the rain. Here are a few pics from the travels. Hope you like em’ and that you too are movin’ in the right direction- forward and up. Late-

Lake Louise, BC

Cool Clouds in NZ

Full Moon Over The Snow Farm

Me Skiing in August

View from the top of Mt. Borah
The highest peak in Idaho

It's About That Time

Mon, 22 May 2006 05:00:00 GMT

April is gone and we are already into the fourth week of May. If you are not out training again on a regular basis it is about time. The best World Cup skiers both male and female are training between 60 and 90 hours during the month of May. Do the math- that is more than 2 hours a day on the light side. If you want to be good there is no screwing around. Make the training fun, but go out there and get focused. Make a plan. It is definitely a cliché in the ski world, but it is true- “Good skiers are made in the summer.” Whether you want to bump heads with the best Euros or trounce one of your Master buddies next year on the trail now is the time. Get on it.

My schedule:

6.30 Wake up and run (includes a little stretching, balance and technique drills, and/ or spenst depending on the day)

7.45 Breakfast

8.30-5.30 Work ( I am working at a the von Trapp Greenhouse in Waitsfield, VT. If you are in the area come and buy some plants.)

5.45 Eat

6-8 PM Training- Biking, running, strength, rollerskiing

8.30 Dinner

9 Watch the Red Sox kick some arse

11 Bed

Training Hours/ week- 15-17