This post was supposed to be about setting my P.R. at this years 25K Grand Rapids River Bank Run by 6 minutes.  I was going to thank the fine coaches at CXC for their awesome training program,  as well as Salomon for their shoes that fit like a glove.  But this post is much less sunshiny as a seismic shift has taken place in my life and my training.  If anyone out their read my last fasterskier post I spoke of hope that I would not need surgery on my troubled knee.  After my most recent MRI I would see a surgical repair as a blessing.  The MRI showed avascular necrosis of the end of the femur that makes up the knee-joint.  My ortho doc feels that I had contused the bone and then relentlessly abused it setting up a cycle of inflammation that stopped blood flow in to the femur end.  So to help it heal I can’t place load bearing stress on knee for three months.  This means no running, no skate rollerskiing, no lower body weights, no bounding, no jumping, no fun.  Gone to are all the summer running and mtn. bike races I had planned.  What I can do is double pole (Thank God), bike in a light gear, aqua jog (whatever the heck that is), and upper body weights.  At first this news was devastating but I’ve channeled this energy into being insanely motivated to double pole my self into the best shape of my life.  The hope now is that by resting my knee it will heal and I will be able to hit it full-bore and hang up my eye patch no longer being a peg legged skier.

double pole till you puke

Organization is key to training with a family, but flexibility is also important. In the past I always ran a warm up for a strength session, but now I play soccer, field hockey, and tag with the girls in the backyard for warm up. We have a strength room in our house with a door to the backyard, so the girls can continue playing or join in as I do my exercises. When everything is planned accordingly my husband gets home from work as I am finishing up my workout and we do a 30 min run together taking turns pushing the girls in the chariot jogger. My distance runs are altered to fit into a lifestyle with a family as well. I plan them at nap time so the girls will rest for an hour: either sleeping, listening to a book on tape, or taking in the beautiful scenery as I push them along a coastal trail. After an hour they jump out and hike and climb on the rocks or just beach comb while I stretch and do Tai Chi on the beach. After 45 minutes they are usually ready to head home, so we run home in time to get dinner ready.

One of the biggest obstacles I face as a wife/mom and skier is getting enough sleep. Getting to bed early is difficult to achieve, but crucial since the majority of my training is done in the early morning while my family is sleeping. After two months of solid training I feel stronger than I have in years! I can feel gains from my speed and weight sessions, but I need to continue to get more organized as the volume and intensity continues to increase.

Our favorite running route has a long section of rolling and curvy board walk. I push the girls fast over the hills to simulate a kiddie roller coaster and the girls squeal with delight!

A view on our running route!

It seems that after the Birkie the season always seems to start to wind down really fast.  This year after the Birkie the weather seemed to immediately change from Winter into Spring.  For the past two weeks I have not skied without it being over 40 degrees and sunny.  It really has been amazing, but at the same time it makes me want to hop on the bike more than train for the upcoming 50km skate National Championship in Fort Kent, ME.  However, I am really excited by the chance to become a National Champion so I am hammering out my training (minus getting a head cold this past weekend.)

The trails here in Marquette are still really good despite the fact that they will not groom very often for some reason.  I do not understand why people think that if it gets warm they should no longer groom because they think they will lose more snow that way; when in fact grooming the snow makes it way more enjoyable to ski along with keeping the snow more compact so it will last longer.  I just finished an interval workout at Blueberry Ridge where they decided to groom and the trail was clean and fast.

A really cool thing Maria and I were able to do last Friday was help with the new disabled program we have here in Marquette that is headed by Jodi Tervo and Andrew Rickauer .  CXC has sent a sitski here where they created an Opportunity Center for people with disabilities.  They have been meeting on most Friday’s at 5:30 at Suicide Bowl in Ishpeming.  There they can rent equipment if needed and they have a nice loop to ski.  The program already has youngsters with their eye’s on the next Paralympics.  I was able to ski with Dominic and his twin brother for about an hour and it was really fun.  Dominic is probably around six or eight years old and really enjoys being able to get out and ski despite having some balance and numbness issues in his lower body.  He was also really interested in why we could not just go and jump off the ski jumps?  It was really fun to see his excitement about everything outdoors.

As for the rest of the season, Maria, Gus, and I are heading to Gus’ house in Vermont on the 16th where we will be doing some races at Craftsbury before heading to Maine to finish off the season with the 30/50km and the SuperTour finals.  It should be a really good time especially if the weather stays like this!

The weather here has been on the chillier side, but it is awesome wearing spandex again because that means that snow is just around the corner! The change in terrain has also been great and very refreshing. As to be expected, Lake Placid is pretty different from the Midwest for the reason that it is not lacking the solid V1/striding hills that the Midwest tends to. We are definitely taking advantage of the long, steep up-hills by focusing on the hill climbs for every interval workout we have had out here. As I mentioned before, the change in terrain is refreshing, but more mentally refreshing than physically! Luckily the Olympic Training Center has a variety of recovery options.

One highlight of the week, which Fish briefly mentioned, was the hike/run up White Face. An estimated 2 hour recovery run abruptly turned into 4.5/5 hours (for the girls + Igor) after receiving the wrong directions to get down. The adventure was surprisingly fun though, which I was very impressed with because situations like that can easily become extremely frustrating and stressful. The best part of the run down was seeing Fish appear out of nowhere from the woods, telling us that the van, which had food in it, was only a little over half a mile away. I’ve never been SO happy to see the van. Though the run wasn’t much of a recovery run like it was meant to be, it was still a lot of fun.

Only a couple more days left of camp in Lake Placid, and our 20 some hour drive home is waiting! The next camp for our team is in Yellowstone. Cross your fingers for early snow!

Me and Audrey at the top!

Not knowing the climb down was going to be so long...

Instead of sending Fish a monthly training log, I think pictures of my increasingly awful sportsbra tanline will be sufficient.

Captain of the pontoon...

Huge fish!!! Unfortunately just a huge rock...

Well, we’re in Hayward again. It’s absolutely nuts how quickly the summer is passing! It’s September already and we can technically consider it fall, yikes. Don’t get me wrong, fall is probably my favorite season, with all of the leaves changing colors and the temperature dropping a bit, but I don’t think I’m quite ready for it. I’m pretty sure I can count the number of typical “summer days” that we’ve had on one hand…maybe two…but of course none of those fell on a Monday, which is usually our only day off each week. Oh well, I can’t complain too much. The weather has been optimal for training, and though not every day is perfectly sunny in the 80’s, I still found a few days to have some relaxed, fun-in-the-sun.

One of those days that I found was during my last two week period at home. One of the perks of working at Silver Rapids Lodge (where I work the front desk and waitress) is that employees are able to rent watercrafts for free. KP and I took advantage of that one of the Mondays that we both had off while he was visiting in Ely, and took out one of SRL’s pontoons. We were only able to stay out on the water for a few hours (due to a storm that was coming in) but it was still a relaxing, and awesome time. We packed a lunch, some fishing rods, and sunscreen, and were all set to enjoy the afternoon.

Another highlight of my time at home was the “Get Your Nordic On” Nordic Walking Clinic that I held in Ely. I was really nervous no one was going to show up…but I actually had a few make the clinic. Though I am not an expert Nordic walker by any means, the clinic went especially well. It is awesome leaving a clinic that everyone enjoyed, and over half the people are asking you where to buy the Nordic walking poles so that they can continue the sport that you introduced to them.

As for the Hayward camp, it has been going really well. As Karl was writing, we VO2max tested on Thursday. My test went well and it’s really encouraging to see on paper that I’m becoming fitter and just improving as an endurance athlete in general. As for the next couple of days we are taking it a bit easier than usual, getting ready for our second speed block of the year. It’s a week that not many people are ever REALLY looking forward to, but it’s just one of those times that you are have to be mentally tough and think about how much faster it will make you this winter. So…bring it on!

Video Work by Audrey Weber – CXC Team Vetical Limit Member

     After the Hayward camp, I spent about a week in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, training with my boyfriend, Kevin Patzoldt, who is a biathlete. We got some really good training in (though my week was pretty small since it was a rest week after our intensity block), while also attending a wedding and spending a day or two on the lake swimming and fishing on off days. Once I left Grand Rapids, I drove back to Ely for about a week, where I spent time with my parents, worked, and of course got some more solid training in. The week in Ely just flew by, and by the time I knew it I was traveling back to the Cable/Hayward area to help coach at the Birkie Master’s Camp  August 7^th through the 9^th. Throughout the camp there were several technique sessions, evening lectures, and even one videoing/analyzing session. Matt Liebsch and I also led a trail run and bounding/ski walking session Saturday afternoon. A planned 1:30 trail run quickly turned into a 2:15 session…yeah…Matt and I aren’t from the area ; ). But the run was great, and luckily we didn’t make TOO many wrong turns in the woods, thanks to a GPS unit on a heart rate monitor that Aaron, one of the masters, had!

     All in all the camp was great! I learned a lot about coaching and found even more respect for my coaches for all of the hard work they put in every day. I am very thankful for the experience and also for the chance I had to meet so many talented and hardworking master skiers from the area. I look forward to looking up their results in the next Birkie!

     Now it’s off to Ironwood, Michigan for another CXC Team Vertical Limit training camp. Kuzzy and I are taking off from Cresthill Resort in a little less than an hour.

Enjoying the view of Lake Superior

Training Time

There was an unofficial CXC Team Vertical Limit training camp held in Crested Butte, CO over this past weekend.  The players were myself, Maria Stuber, and Gus Kaeding.  However, it was not just  a training camp, but it was also my best-friend’s wedding.  Our former NMU Ski Team teammates James Letson and Kelly Ahern were married at the amazing Lazy F Bar Ranch in Crested Butte.  This place was unreal, and the weather for the wedding was perfect.

James and Kelly

If you have never been to Crested Butte you are really missing out.  The whole town was great for anything outdoor, as well as indoor, where we celebrated James’ bachelor party on Friday night.  We then hiked up Mount Crested Butte on Saturday until we cleared 10,000 feet.  The rehearsal dinner was on Saturday night, and then the wedding at 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Crested Butte, CO

Currently, Maria and I are still in Colorado for the rest of the week.  We are staying near Boulder with our good friend’s Tami Kochen and Shane Mundt of Mundt Arts.  We will be here training at altitude until Saturday when we will fly back to Milwaukee and go to Maria’s high school friend Nicole’s wedding.  Back-to-back wedding weekends are going to be pretty intense, but we are both really looking forward to it.  After that it is back to Marquette for some more working and training. 

Colorado Living