NCAA Nordic Skiing Regionals

The 2008 NCAA Nordic skiing Central region championships were held on February 16th and 17 at Giants Ridge in Biwabik, MN. The races were hosted by the two year old program at St. Scholastica this year.

For the men, the first day was a 10k skate race. The race was individual start based on season points standing, so the fastest in the field got the best seeds. I started in middle of the seed list. Just :30 seconds ahead of me was A. Tillman from Gustavus. He would be my target for the race as I had beaten him through out the season. For the first lap of the two lap course my plan was to race strong, but not all out and then to switch on the afterburners for the second lap.

The race plan went well. I was feeling strong on the first lap and came through faster then I thought I would. About half a kilometer from the end of the first lap I caught Tilman, and passed him earlier than I anticipated, but this unexpected turn gave me a big shot of adrenaline and strength for the second 5k lap.

My 10K skate race went well and I felt good about the performance. I met my goals and finished fifth on my team.

In the team standings for the 10k skate race, Alaska edged out Northern Michigan University, 79-78, while Saint Scholastica was third with 65 – A great performance for us as a second year D-III program!

The championships wrapped up with a 15k classic race on Sunday. The race was also the last of eight NCAA qualifiers, after which the 10 men and 11 women who earned a berth to the NCAA Skiing Championships next month were announced.

My classic race did not go as well as my skate race. I have always been a stronger skater, and in the week leading up to the regional races I neglected my classic skiing, running instead to help my transition to track season.

With the college Nordic ski season over, I am nothing but happy with my performances though out the season. I raced well all year remaining my team’s 5th or 6th skier and once again showing my skills as a skate skier. Next up: the Birkie, and then track season!

Also, a quick congrats to my teammate Bjorn who qualified for the NCAA national championships in Bozeman, Mt! Great work Bjorn!!!

Some photos of me from the two races:

My January Training

The month of January saw the Nordic ski season coming to a close and the track season just beginning. My training hours and miles decreased at the end of the month because of the peak for Nordic skiing, but those numbers will be back up at the start of February.

January 1st - January 6th: Other than the US National Championships skate race on the first, this week was mostly long workouts including several multi hour skis and of course the 12 hours of Telemark race at which I won the 12 Solo title.
18:20 Hours 12 Miles Ran

January 7th - January 13th: Several long workouts at the CSS Nordic skiing camp, and a hard workout on Wednesday consisting of 5x4 minute intervals at 10k race pace. I felt really good for this workout.
13:30 Hours 43 Miles Ran

January 14th – January 20th: Mileage and workout house reducing for taper. Tuesday featured 2x4 minute reps as race pace and then 3x1 minute VO2 max reps. My high end and racing feels really good. Saturday and Sunday were the second of the NCAA qualifiers in Houghton, MI, which included a 10k skate on Saturday and a 15k classic on Sunday.
9:10 Hours 21 Miles Ran

January 21st – January 27th: I am still cutting back on my mileage and training hours before regionals and the Birkie. I had two races, a Saturday and Sunday 10k skate and 15k classic split again. Wednesday of this week was my intensity day with 8x1 minute all out sprints to push the upper end a little.
9:00 Hours 20 Miles Ran

January 28th – February 3rd: I began running more this week in preparation for the upcoming UMAC indoor conference meet in which I will attempt to defend my 5000m title. My fitness is top notch, but I need to get my running legs back under me.
7:30 Hours 39 Miles Ran

Year Total:
57:30 Hours
135 Miles Ran

MN Nordic Skiing College Championships

Wicked cold and blowing wind. That is what greeted the CSS ski team as we disembarked the bus in St. Cloud for the Minnesota College Nordic skiing championships. The temperature at the time of the men’s start was just 4 degrees with winds of 20 miles an hour. But we are Nordic skiers, and we are tough.
The race was a relay format, with each team submitting 2 person teams. Each member of the team would skate and then classic with a rolling time format. That means that as soon as the first leg skier tagged off to their teammate they had better change into their classic equipment quick to be ready for their next leg of the relay.
I started off as my team’s first skier. It was a short start zone, with only some 600 to 700m before the trail narrowed to a single skier width. Never the less I managed to keep a good pace and move up through the field. The legs of the relay were only 5k long, so to me – a long distance racer – it seemed to be over way to fast, but I held my own against more short distance specialists in the field. I finished the leg within about 25 seconds of the peloton, which was lead by my fellow CSS skier Jason K. I felt really good about this performance.
After tagging off to my teammate Matt Nistler I hustled over to the bus to change into my classic boots. After grabbing my skis and poles I ran back to the exchange zone where I waited for the appearance of my teammate. Matt also had a good race and came into the stadium area with a strong sprint. After tagging off to me, I was off to ski my 5k classic leg. The leg was also a strong performance for me and I felt strong for the duration of the race.
My race, and especially the skate leg of the relay, gave me a lot of confidence going into the college regional race this coming weekend. It was fun for the entire CSS team to do a relay format race, and just have an admittedly low key race with a little less pressure.

Bellow are some race photos taken by my teammate Alex Wall (AKA: Awall)

A Look At My 2007 Training

Below is the month by month breakdown of my training for 2007.

January: I did mostly ski training this month with some scattered ANT work, but a lot of base building to rebuild after cross country and before the high point of ski racing. Most weeks included a long workout, and one ANT workout. Total hours: 57 1/2 Total miles ran: 219

February: I added morning runs and core workouts almost every morning to my training this month. I continued with ANT work with 5x5’s and other long duration reps, and also added some light race pace workouts as well. This month the ANT and race pace workouts shifted from skiing to running to prep for the UMAC indoor conference meet and the outdoor season as well. At the indoor conference meet I raced the 5000m to a commanding win. Total hours: 36 1/2 Total miles ran: 154

March: Continued with tempo workouts at the beginning of the month, and moved to base building in the third and fourth weeks to maintain my base and build endurance for the outdoor season. My weekly mileage averaged 75 this month. Total hours: 41 Total miles run: 298

April: The base building and endurance work continued the first week of April. In the following weeks I began to rebuild my speed by racing shorter races (1500m and 800m). These races would allow me to continue to build endurance during the week, and use races as primary speed workouts for the week. Average mileage remains at about 75 miles a week. Total hours: 42 1/2 Total miles ran: 271 1/2

May: In prep for the approaching UMAC conference meet I began to add more short speed workout to my plan including 400m and 200m strides. At the outdoor conference meet I placed second in the 5000m and helped my team clinch the team title. After the conference meet I immediately began training for fall cross country with recovery/base rebuilding. I did no workouts above DE zone (the developmental endurance zone, which for me was about 168 to 175 BPM) for the rest of the month. Total hours: 37 Total miles ran: 251

June: I continued base work with BE-1 and 2 runs. In the second week of June I added some long (2 mile) DE zone reps. In the last week of June I did one low end ANT zone workout. I also did one of my three major races of the summer in the middle of this month – the Gary Bjorklund half marathon. I PR’d with a 1:17. Good for doing no workouts above DE zone before the race. Total hours: 48 1/2 Total miles: 309

July: ANT work was added to my plan in July with ANT zone mile and half mile reps on the roads near my home training grounds. My half mile ANT rep workouts (I did three this month I think) were good. I did sessions of as many as 8 in a 2:12 to 2:18 range feeling strong the entire time. The third week of June was a rebuilding and recovery week with no speed workouts and long base mileage. This month also featured my second major race of the summer with the Park Point 5 miler where I placed 5th and ran a 27:27. Very good for this time of the summer. This seems to be suggestive of things to come. The end of the month had a return to long mid to high end ANT reps of a mile or two in length. Total hours: 40 Total miles: 241

August: The beginning of the month served as the bridge between summer training and the cross country season. I began the month with a recovery week after the long ANT rep filled month of July. In the second week I dove back into high end ANT mile reps which now felt like a breeze. The cross season was quickly approaching now! The best workout of the month came in the third week – at cross country camp - where I did 10x1 mile ANT zone reps in an average of 5:19. I felt great! Total hours: 54 Total miles run: 302

September: The theme of long ANT reps continued with several workouts of 4 to 6x10 minute ANT reps. But by the third week of September I had moved down to 4 minute ANT and race pace sessions Including workouts of 6x4 minutes at race pace. Total hours: 35 1/2 Total miles run: 266

October: With the end of cross country season approaching quickly my speed workout moved into VO2 max zone with the well known 400’s to build upper end speed and that ‘extra gear’. The third week saw me inject one more workout of mile ANT reps., partly because I like those workouts so much, and partly because I felt that I was peaking too soon. I worked, because this month I moved into second place on the CSS XC all time performance list with a 26:50 and became the first CSS runner to win the UMAC conference cross country individual title! Total hours: 28 1/2 Total miles run: 231.

November: After the cross country season I took the first three weeks of the month, the weeks before the trip to the Nordic skiing training camp at West Yellowstone, as recovery and rebuilding time. During these weeks I averaged only 50 miles a week run and 6 to 8 hours of training. Although I might not have liked taking this time to recover, it is vital to fully recovering from a peaking cycle. Without this time an athlete could never fully take advantage of the gains they make in a training season. Total hours: 50 Total miles run: 189.

December: Now being recovered from the cross country season and with the nordic ski season getting under way I began to once again do ANT zone work, by now almost all on skis. In the last week of December I added race pace zone work to prep for the US national championships for which I had qualified. I did not do nearly as much ANT zone work for ski season as I did for cross season because even though I had peaked, most of the gains I had made were still there. Essentially, I was able to start from a higher rung on the fitness ladder and go right into focusing on the higher end race pace zone that I was working on at the end of cross. Total hours: 37 Total miles ran: 113

Year total hours: 508 Hours
Year total miles run: 2844.5 Miles
PR’s: Half Marathon = 1:17 and 8K (5 Mile) 26:53