July Camp - Train, Test, Team

Wed, Aug  8, 2007 - By Pete Vordenberg, TeamToday.org

Push It Up...

USST / APU, World Cup podium in 06, Kikkan Randall coming up fast.

 

Coach Justin Wadsworth watching Alexa Turzian - USST / SVSEF - on the mill.

 

USST / CU: Matt Gelso turning the belt.

 

A graph from our testing plotting lactate, heart rate and speed. This is a threshold test and so is submaximal. The skier just skis through their threshold and stops. They then rest for 20mins and get back up for the max portion. Here the treadmill maintains a steady 4% grade while the speed increases.

 

Some more data we're looking at. Note: this is a seperate test than the one above it.

 

Andy Newell getting up. This is a test of a skiers explosive power.

 

Torin Koos - Push it up. This is a test of pure force.

 

Morgan Arritola - USST / SVSEF - getting in under it.

 

Results from the testing were for the most part encouraging. While we learned a lot about each individual and how their training is going, the best general piece of info we observed is that you truely get what you pay for. If you do a lot of threshold training, your threshold values improve. That may seem obvious, but it is a too oft ignored fact that if you want to be a great cross country ski racer you better do a lot of sport specific, well designed cross country ski training.

Haw! Koos! Haw! Torin Koos doing resisted speed training. Note: this is on a closed road with zero traffic - even so it is the case that rollerskiers should wear helmets at all times.

 

Torin getting up and forward - a perfect position for applying maximal power. Aside from the testing the groups participated in a few training sessions per day. The team also did a lot of fun stuff together and ate nearly every lunch and dinner together as a team. Claire Casey was our cook (like last year) at camp which allowed the skiers to focus on training and recovering and ensured a good diet and lots of fuel for everyone.

As you notice I listed USST / (and some other team) for many of the skiers pictured here. That is because these skiers are members of both the US Ski Team and a home or school team. That is because the USST is your team, this is your team and we all must work together to succeed together. These programs are getting the job done - putting skiers on the national team and helping with their preparation and support all along the way.

Lets all get under the bar

And Push It Up.