October 7, 2008 (Lake Placid, NY) – The US Ski Team athlete’s training this week has been impressive. NENSA’s Janice Sibilia had a chance to sit down with USST member Andy Newell and speak with him about the camp, his own progress, and some of his goals for this season.

This summer you spent some time training with the SMS team and at the summer camps that were held there. Obviously It is very motivating for the athletes to see you there training with them. What do you take away from this experience that helps you with your own skiing?
Andy Newell: When I was a kid, the SMS summer training camps were a highlight of the off-season. It’s right during the time of year when younger juniors should be getting into more and more rollerskiing so it’s a good way for them to gauge where their fitness is at and get a taste of what it’s like to train as a full time XC skier. Hopefully I can motivate most of them to train hard for the season, and it keeps me motivated to know that there is a strong young crew of junior skiers climbing the ladder here in New England because that’s the future of our sport. Those are the kids that I want to be in the World Cup racing circuit before it’s my time to retire.

You also spend some time in high schools talking to kids about xc-ski racing. Do you have any more visits planned this fall and if so where?
AN: I have two elementary school visits planned during our camp here in Lake Placid. It’s a good chance to recruit more young kids to our sport before they hit the high school years and to get them excited about winter. The more kids we can get participating in our ski clubs the stronger they are going to be in the future.

What was the main focus or goal for your training this summer?
AN: The goal of my summer training was to increase my overall hours, incorporate longer threshold training, and keep the hard intervals pretty short and consistent. I like having three different kinds of intervals that I use throughout the off-season. Then simply increase the number of reps and decrease the amount of rest in-between the intervals as we get closer to the season. It’s a good way to see positive improvement in your fitness throughout the summer and know you’re on the right track. This is an important year to learn which intervals work best for me so that we can better prepare for the 2010 Olympics.

For the complete interview please click here.