November 01, 2010 – With the winter season almost upon us many North American athletes will soon to be heading off to Europe for final preparations and the start of the World Cup tour. We caught up with USA Olympian Andy Newell who is one very together skier – he loves his sport, gives 100% all the time, and really enjoys life. His diversity of interests reflects his curious nature, and we spoke with him while he was training in Park City.

Where are you now and what are you’re upcoming winter plans?
Andy Newell: Right now I’m training in Park City for one last altitude block before the team and I head over to Northern Finland on November 7th. [Chris] Grover [US XC Ski Team coach] and I have learned a lot this year by spending a lot of time training high and then low in order to see how it effects how I feel during intensity training. I think it’s been really productive and it’s going to help us better prepare for the World Championships and the Olympics in Russia. Once we’re in Europe we’ll be training in Finland and gearing up for the World Cup opener in Sweden and also the Nordic weekend in Kussamo which will consist of one sprint and two distance races. I’m pretty stoked to start racing.

As you enter this World Championship season tell us about your health and fitness?
AN: I guess it’s always hard to tell where you are at this time of year because I think roller skiing TT’s are much different than on snow. So we’ll have to just wait and see how the first world cup races go, but I do feel like my fitness is better than ever. I have been consistently getting fast at our uphill running tests and have stayed injury and illness-free the entire off-season so I think the training has been really productive.

Did you do anything different with your summer training?
AN: Going into last season I made some pretty big changes in my overall training plan and basically went back to training like a traditional xc skier would. I felt that getting back to basics was the best way for me to increase my overall fitness for all events – sprinting and distance skiing were basically blending together. So for this season I have continued to keep things pretty simple and continued with a basic level 3 and level 4 interval plan in order to prepare for sprinting and the longer races. One of my main goals for the year is to show the world that I can be a competitive all around skier no matter what the distance, so one change has been to focus more on making my distance and threshold paces faster and more efficient. I know I still have a ways to go before I’ll be making any podium threats in a distance world cup but it’s a goal this season to race as much as possible and hopefully score some world cup distance points.

There a lots of rule changes this year – any comments good or bad?
AN: I don’t really spend too much time thinking about rule or race format changes. Some skiers get bent out of shape about it but I see no reason to. I actually think that’s what cross-country skiing is all about, there’s a start and a finish and I really don’t care what’s in the middle I’m just going to give it my best. I don’t care if the race is short or long, uphill or downhill I’m just happy to get to the start line and have some fun.

What lessons from the 2010 Games in Whistler will you carry into this season?
AN: I think what I learned most at the Olympics is that you have to be having fun and enjoying what you’re doing…. because you never know when you might crash out of a race – ha-ha. But seriously, you could spend your whole life preparing for one race and it might not go your way, so I think it’s so important to have fun each day with what I do. If all an athlete enjoys is winning gold medals then that’s only going to be one sweet day in exchange for four years of work. I think the Olympics are amazing and I’m already looking forward to Sochi in 2014, but the reality is that skiing is my life, and my lifestyle and that doesn’t just come around once every four years nor do I want to be remembered for just one race. So I’m going to continue to push as hard as I can each time I start a world cup. Being a podium contender makes for some really fun racing, so each sprint I start is super exciting and I know I can get there in distance skiing one day.

What are your goals this year at the World Cup and in Oslo at the Nordic Worlds?
AN: My main goal will be feeling my best for the sprint and I know if that happens I have a great shot at a medal. I’m going to be experimenting a little bit with how I prepare for the world championships and as of right now I’m going to be trying a new altitude preparation from Park City. In addition to the sprint I will be fired up to start the team sprint and also the 4×10 relay. I really hope we can put together a great 4×10 relay team this year because to me that’s the most awesome race.

Are your training hours about the same as last year, or how are they different?
AN: Over all hours are about the same, or maybe a little more. The main difference has been a lot of those hours were transferred over to distance training from strength or sprint hours.

How is the new USST coach set up working for you currently?
AN: For me there hasn’t been much of a change. I’ve been working with Grover since right out of high school when I was named to the development team. Aside from the two years I spent with [Norway’s] Vidar [Lofshus], Grover and I have been training together for a long time and I think we’ve both learned a lot and it’s a great working environment. I enjoy working with really laid back coaches and also people who recognize that ski training is always evolving and that we always need to be adjusting and trying new techniques. Coaches that think they know everything are always going to fail in the end, and I feel like here on the US ski team we all see that and coaches and athletes work together really well.

Will you do Tour de Ski again? I get the feeling you really like those races.
AN: I will for sure be racing in the Tour and I’m really looking forward to it this year. I like the Tour because it brings everyone out of their comfort zone, having distance skiers and sprinters racing some pretty random race formats. I think they have a point-to-point distance race scheduled again this year and of course there will be the final hill climb. I don’t want to promise I’ll finish the whole Tour, because the World Championships are still the main goal, but I’m going to have to be pretty sick or tired to pull out early.

Who will be your toughest challengers?
AN: In sprint racing this year I think you’re going to see the same guys going at it each weekend. Emil [Joensson] and the Swedes, and of course the Norwegians always bring a full squad to each race so in order to make the podium you really need to be on your game. The Russian sprint team has also grown a ton in the past few years and they definitely don’t mess around. Sprinting is great because it’s so intense and so much can happen. We’re always hammering into each other out on the course, but at the end of the day we’re all buddies and I get along with most of my competitors really well. Last year I was a really consistent top-10 skier but only got on the podium once. I think this season I’d like to change that a little bit and maybe not focus on the overall standings as much but instead focus on a few key races and really shoot for the podium.

Torin Koos is not on the team this year but has been training well – do you see him coming back strong?
AN: I think Koos will always be strong and he’ll continue to race well. I really hope he can step up his game and make it back onto the World Cup because the more people we have racing in Europe the better and the more people we can get scoring points the more World Cup spots we can get. That’s what it’s all about, bringing a full team and kicking ass on the rest of the world.

Where is your favourite race course to ski?
AN: Man that’s hard, maybe it’s Kuusamo [Finland] because it’s the first sprint of the year – I can’t stop thinking about hammering up that last monster hill into the stadium. My best finish there has been 4th so I’m really excited to get back to the darkness of Finland and take a shot at the podium.

How was the surfing this spring and reflect on your time at home this summer.
AN: Surfing this spring was amazing! I’ve also been skateboarding a lot more this summer because of all the Park City time. They have an incredible concrete park and I’ve been pushing it pretty hard there throughout the summer. My time at home has been incredibly busy since I’ve been trying to build a cabin on my land in Weston. So I’ve had to put in some long days of digging, hauling boards, and pounding nails but I think that adds character and makes you tougher… and probably helps me ski faster, right?

Have a great season Andy – thanks for your time.
AN: Thank you.