Archive for January, 2009
Telemark SuperTour
Results from today are Here.
It was a very good day for CXC. Not only did Brian Cook win, but we also had all of our girls AND five men in the top 10! Feels pretty good to do that on the home course.
After the ladies race, I got out on the course and tried my best to take some pictures of our men. My photography skills are limited though, so I only got three decent ones. Sorry Cook, Chuck and Kuz…maybe next time.
Brian Gregg
Andre Watt
Gus Kaeding
Sprint Race Today
The women’s start list for the race today:
1 13:30:15 WILLIAMS, Lindsay US Ski Team
2 13:30:30 DEHLIN, Lindsey US Ski Team
3 13:30:45 RONSSE, Katie APUNSC
4 13:31:00 ARDUSER, Kate APU/Rossignol
5 13:31:15 DE YONG, Nicole Fischer/SVSEF
6 13:31:30 TRYGSTAD-SAARI, Kristina BSF/Saab Salomon Factory Team
7 13:31:45 WINTERS, Johanna CXC Elite
8 13:32:00 STRANDBERG, Kristina Saab/Salomon Factory Team
9 13:32:15 OWEN, Kristina CXC Elite
10 13:32:30 STUBER, Maria CXC Elite
11 13:32:45 STURSOVA, Martina Rossignol
12 13:33:00 ZIMMERMAN, Heather CXC Elite
13 13:33:15 GROULX, Christina NTDC/Big Thunder Nordic
Pretty short. But also pretty tough. (Sam’s words: stacked. But I’m not sure he was talking about speed 
)
Because of the numbers, only the top 8 are making it into the rounds. But it’s a SuperTour event, so they still pay top 10.
Update: Well, three ladies didn’t start, so there was a grand total of 10 women today. And I was…10th. DFL. And yet, somehow, I still made $25. Seems kinda…wrong, somehow.
Race Results Here
Full House
Normally, life in hayward can be a little dull. Just the same four teamates to look at, with maybe a weekly trip into town to spice things up (and get groceries). But this week is looking awesome! We’ve got Gus K. and Sam Naney staying with us at our house, and APU & Maine Winter Sports staying at the Manor House across the Lagoon. The rest of our out of town CXC teamies are scattered at nearby, and most of the SuperTour athletes are somewhere in the area too! The 20-30 year old population of Hayward has multiplied five times overnight!
Itascan Update
It’s been a while. I know. I’m sorry. I was kinda funked out last week, and when I feel all blue, I have no desire to share it with the world. But I’m all better now, because I had a very good weekend of racing in Mt. Itasca! A 5th on Saturday in the 10k classic, which I am very happy with; and an 8th today in the 10k skate, which wasn’t as good, but had some highlights. My teamate Maria started 30 seconds behind me today, and when she caught me 3k in, I was pretty sure it was going to be a bad day. But I stuck with her, and we started taking turns pulling, and I think we both helped each other to better races. Plus, our other teamate Caitlin (who started waaaay behind us, but also ended up winning by a minute) caught us in the last 100m, so there was a 3-way CXC sprint for the finish! It was pretty exiting, and if anyone got a picture of it, I would love a copy.
Seeley Hills
…is pretty much the coolest race of the year. Sure, the Birkie’s bigger, and the SuperTour’s might have better money, but when it comes down to straight up ambiance and fun of racing, the Seeley’s got them all beat. This year, the event is dedicated to the memory of Gary Penman, who developed the ski trails around Seeley.
The race is organized by Dennis Kruse, who is a HUGE friend of the skiing community. Seriously, I’ve lived in the area for 1.5 years now, and I can’t even begin to count the number of starving athletes he’s let stay at his house. Not to mention organizing this race, being president of the Birkie Board, and being one of the original movers and shakers behind CXC. This guy’s sweet, and you should come to the race just to meet him.
But I digress. There’s two distances, a 22k and a 44k. None of this 5k sprint nonsense. Cross Country skiing is about skiing across the country, and you can’t freaking do that in 5k. For a real race, I say it’s gotta be at least 15. Still, marathon-ish distances take a bit out of ya, so the CXC Ladies (Heather, Jojo, and I) will be representing in the 22k event.
The race is this Saturday, and starts around 10ish, depending on the distance. Registration is in person at the Sawmill Saloon from 5-9 p.m. Friday Jan. 16 or from 7-9 a.m. Jan. 17.
Cya there?
Found Vids from Nats
from Fasterskier.com? Not sure, I found them on googlevideo, and there doesn’t seem to be a username..
interview with Chuck:
some seriously crazy kids:
Ski and Tea to the Rescue!
Whew! Home, finally! I and I wouldn’t have made it if Ski and Tea hadn’t saved my butt! Let me explain..
So I left on this trip way back in early November. I left in the team van, which departed from Hayward, and didn’t pay too much attention to the logistics for the rest of the trip. So I failed to realize that my return trip only went so far as the Twin Cities. Which is fairly close to Hayward…but not if you’re walking.
I fly into the Cities, Maria lets me crash at her house for the night, and get down to figuring out how to get home. Luckily, I remember the wonderful Ski and Tea ladies, and how widespread their network is. I wrote a email to Linda, one of their fearless leaders, who passed it on to their list, and within hours (hours!) one of them got back to me with a ride!
So thank you soooo much to Megan, who lives in St. Paul, and Bridget, who is from Cable, but was visiting her sister Megan yesterday and agreed to give me a ride back! You girls rock my socks, and definitely saved me! Cya soon at Ski and Tea practice?
FYI: Ski and Tea turned one year old last week! Congratulations Ladies!
Chuck Rocked It!
I mean, like seriously, seriously rocked it. Chuck (also known as Matt Liebsch) has a special place in all of our hearts on the CXC team. He’s not the oldest member…but he is the only one with a wife, baby, and before 3 weeks ago, a serious engineering job. How he finds time to train is beyond me. But somehow he does, and today, he was the THIRD FASTEST MAN IN THE NATION!!!!! It was probably the best race of his life, and we are all bouncing off the walls with excitement for him! Congratulations Matt, you definitely deserve it!
The rest of the men did great too, with Kuz right behind Chuck in 8th, Cook in 14th, and Gregg in 39th.
On the women’s side, Compton continued her stellar season with yet another win. I was the next CXC lady in 17th, jslipping in .4 seconds ahead of Jojo, who was 18th. Stuber and Diggins were just a second back from us, in 20th and 21st, with just .1 seconds separating them. What a pack! We race again tomorrow, either a 5 or 10k classic, depending on how cold it is. Momentum baby! We raced great today, but we’re going to race even better tomorrow! Can’t wait!
It’s Official, I’m Obsessed
One more graph, this one of stadium temps from the last two days. You can find this data on the US Nationals website, but it just comes as a giant excel sheet. You have to be obsessed enough to make the graph yourself!
Double Brrrr.
The sprint races that were scheduled for yesterday were moved till today, same times. So start time is 11:30, they’ll make a temp call at 11am, and if it gets delayed it’ll go at 1:30pm, with a qualification round only. I dunno..it’s looking pretty out cold out there again. I’ll bring my camera, but I don’t think I’m going to see any racing.
And here’s the day’s history from the Airport, which is pretty darn close to the trails.
Update: No race today either. But I’ve got a real good feeling about tomorrow! They’ve moved the skate race back till 1pm, and shortened it to a 5k, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to happen. After all this time hanging out at the hotel, it’s finally time to ski FAST!!!
Click Here!