4th and 5th Highlight part 1 of period 1

Photos

Wed, Dec  5, 2007 - By Pete Vordenberg, TeamToday.org

More cool stuff afoot as well...

Perseverance and positivity pay...

Newell ( #7) in the mix. Eventual winner Kjoelstad (#6) leading here.

Kikkan (#12) in one of her best ever classical races. Great job to Kikkan and to APU!

Torin Koos (#19) off the death bed into WC heats.

Newell leading the charge in one of the heats.

Damn these dark Finnish day and the broken flash on my camera! Besides the light I have to fire these off the cuff because I need to watch for broken poles more than anything... so I am not too stoked with these shots, but oh well...

You don't try to stride big, and long glide doesn't come from taking a huge step. Striding big happens when you apply quick force to the kick and are in a good position to ride the ski. In the immortal words of the great Nikolai Anikin: strong push, long glide.

Go for the strong push and long glide can result. Long glide results from but does not cause fast skiing.

A good position for applying power. Newell.

Two guys laying down the power (Koos (#19) and Emil Jonsson (#2).

Lind getting down in the "fighting hedgehog" position.

Kjoelstad. First: body position. Second: efficient/effective movements. Third: power.

Marit Bjorgen getting the power to the skis and poles.

Ladies in the transition from herringbone (humorously called Bone Fishing by one of our techs) to classical. Kikkan in great position to turn power into glide.

Driving it.

left foot - power on the ball of the foot, left arm driving forward. Right arm power, right foot driving forward. Back rounded C position...the fighting hedgehog position in action (Street fighter - you know you are the original hedgehog...)

Koos mixing it up.

The women's final cresting a quick hill. The race was won by Petra Majic (#8). Astrid Jacobsen (#1) was second. Alena Prochazkova (#3) was third. Last year Alena won U23's just ahead of Laura Valaas who took second there.

NOW - there are some great technique articles and general education materials to be found at:

http://www.ussa.org/magnoliaPublic/ussa/en/formembers/athletes/education.html?tab=xc

This is through www.ussa.org which is a site we are turning into a great resource that will fit into the education system we are building together with NENSA (www.nensa.net). Check it out!

 

Anders Soedegren in the 15km classical. He took 3rd last weekend and was 17th in this race. Mathias Fredrickson was 40th. We can count on the disapointments just like anyone else...the good races we have to fight for every day. At no time is getting down about a bad race or being pessimistic and negative a good strategy for success. We are All In. Not just on the good days, but also on the bad ones. ALL IN.

Starting conservatively with confidence that you can kill it over the last 5km takes...well besides top fitness you know what it takes. Teichman.

Teichman in the final 100m. He is so patient with each kick. First: body position, then right motions and only then power. and loads of it. The germans were doing their no-pole and one pole drills almost everyday before these races.

Chris Cook still building fitness. He has got to know it will just take more training, racing, more resting, more time... patience and perseverence.

Canada's Kershaw with a hell of a race and more to come I'm sure of it.

E Ron takes 2nd.

Rotchev gets the wooden medal for 4th.

JASvartedal 6th.

Lars Flora - our continental cup winner from last year. The fans were out even though it was -15c, very humid and windy.

Lukas Bauer took it. He is a notoriously tough trainer who puts in big hours.

Kris Freeman on lap one. Alert, focused and engaged yet relaxed...

Kris on the final lap laying it down. Nothing fancy about this one, just big hills and hard racing.

NOW - for more about the first half of the first period of WC please visit:

http://www.ussa.org/magnoliaPublic/ussa/en/news/crosscountry.html

This is a part of the news segment on www.ussa.org and will be a really good place to get an inside look at what is going on with the team. Also be sure to check out the education materials also found here. We are still building this site so check back in as we do so.

Final scoreboard.

Kris' 5th is a good indication of where his fitness is. There is room to improve, and Zach Caldwell, Kris and I are working on that with our great partnership, but we are quite satisfied with this progress so far.

Dark comes early in Kuusamo. Here Vibeke Skofterud gets underway.

Tough finishing stretch against the wind. Kowalczyk from Poland takes 3rd.

Kikkan Randall. It cannot be over emphasized how well and how hard Kikkan trains and how well designed her training is. The APU coaches and her team mates are doing great work in training and in building a positive atmosphere which has grown the program considerably.

Kikkan heading toward the finish.

Don't miss the post from Silverstar !

Please visit www.ussa.org for news, training and technique... we are building our Education System which is and will take time but use the resources we have available. From the front page you can go to "sports" Cross Country... and navigate through the materials (Education is most built out) or go to "news" Cross Country. The resources available to the US ski community include the coaches of the USST... so email us with your ideas and your questions.

There is also a "foundation" tab. This is one great way to join the team. We will have a great trip to Estonia and to Norway - so if you can join us I hope you do.

As always we here at Team Today will continue to give you photos and, I hope, inspiration and insight.

Ideas? Questions? Don't hesitate: [email protected]

(vordenberg images)