October 17, 2012 (Park City, UT) – This is why I love going to Park City for October camp ever year – the weather is so awesome it makes for incredible training! While it’s starting to get rainy and gross outside in most of the U.S. once the leaves have changed and fallen, PC has been sunny and reasonably warm. Although I’m such a hot-blooded creature that it’s been much warmer for me than the rest of the team. 🙂

After allowing some time to acclimate to the high altitude, we’ve moved to putting in more speed and intensity sessions, including some harder L4 intervals.

So, this weird thing happens to me every fall. I start to worry that I’m not going fast enough in speeds, not long enough in intervals, and I lose confidence and worry that my season is going to be a disaster. But then the season goes just fine and I feel silly for stressing so much about it!

However, yesterday we did a 6×4 min L4 bounding session, and although I went as hard as I could, I was just out of it and ended up being pretty hard on myself. I figured sometimes you’re the bug, and sometimes you’re the windshield, and that day I was most definitely the bug. And it felt pretty bad.

But then my coaches and teammates reminded me…they’re not going to kick me off the team, or think any less of me, if I don’t perform 100% every single day. In fact, it’d be impossible to have a perfect training session or race every time! It’s normal to get nervous before the start of the race season…that that’s something that might never go away, just something I need to get better at dealing with.

So why am I going on about this? Because everybody has those days when, for whatever reason (bad session, injuries, sickness, bad day at work) they feel like the bug. Sometimes it just sucks! And it’s good to be able to admit when you’re feeling down and simply ask for a hug. I feel so lucky to know that I can get one anytime from such a great group of teammates and coaches. We’ve got each other’s backs!

But today was a rest day, and I think this cartoon (forwarded by Soph) pretty accurately sums up a skier’s day off: it’s never really as empty as we say it is.

Today’s day off consisted of chilling at the SMS team house and then finishing part 2 of a photo shoot for One Way Sport with Reese Hanneman (Engine Room Media – check out his site HERE! ). Reese took some good shots and was super fun to work with, and I can’t wait to post some of the photos in a couple days!

We took photos all over different parts of Park City, but my favorite spots included skiing up Main Street at night, climbing a rusty tower at an old mining site, and skiing over Guardsman Pass.

Doing the shoot on Main St was really cool because of all the lights and people but also a little sketchy; we’d wait for the street to clear and then I’d do a sprint up the middle of the street, and Reese would take some shots, then I’d scoot down the side of the street and do it again.

We got some great comments from the peanut gallery of pedestrians, too. “Ski like you MEAN IT!”…”Where can I get some of those wheels?”…”Whoa. That’s a lot of neon”…”so, uh, do those things mainly roll uphill or downhill?”. Luckily, it was dark, so although my face went red whenever people would stop and stare I don’t think anyone could tell!

August 16, 2012 (Davos, Switzerland) – The defending FIS Tour de Ski Champion and FIS Cross-Country World Cup winner is getting ready for the coming season at home, in Switzerland. After a few days at his home place Davos, Cologna started a high altitude training block in Engadin and Flüelapass. “I spent a great week with Curdin in Engadin. We trained together very well and he showed me some great tours in his home area,” Dario Cologna wrote on his website.

After the week in Engadin Cologna returned back to Davos “I am sleeping at Flüelapass in 2382 m but mainly do the training down in the valley in Davos. Together with Toni Livers we will carry out running tours at the Flüellapass,” Cologna adds.

Cologna’s training program is full packed for the rest of the month. “On Friday we are having an Odlo bike tour. On Sunday I am taking part in the roller skiing competition in San Bernardino. At the end of the month we are travelling to Oberhof where we will be training again on snow,” Dario Cologna revealed plans for August.

Find out more about Dario Cologna:
Website: www.dariocologna.ch
Twitter: twitter.com/dariocologna
Facebook: www.facebook.com/

October 27, 2011 (Italy) – A high altitude training camp of the Swedish cross country ski team is coming to an end and Swedish coaches are satisfied with it. Running, cycling, roller skiing and strength training at 1800 meters were on the training schedule of the first week in Livigno.

The camp continued with seven days at 2,000-3,000 meters altitude in Val Senales and glacier skiing every day. Thin air, hard work and stress – what it takes to become an even better national team.

“We have been constantly developing both as individuals and as a group. Autumn high altitude has given us a lot. We are looking towards the season with confidence. What we have seen and experienced by the active attitude and performance during the camp week in the Italian Alps makes us look forward to the season with confidence. It is a hungry bunch who bit down and have shown what they want,” head coaches Joakim Abrahamsson and Richard Grip said.

The training load has been calibrated so that athletes do not go over the limit. “It must not be too much. The athletes have different training backgrounds and differing abilities to handle heavy loads at high altitude over time. Therefore we have chosen to send home some of younger skiers. Calle Halfvarsson, Hanna Falk, Hanna Brodin and Jesper Modin had cut short the camp three days before the others who traveled home on Wednesday,” coaches revealed.

“We want our skiers to be fresh and active at the next camp, which begins the first week in November. The quartet went home and had done a good job. They will have a little more time to recharge their batteries,” the coaches say.

Anna Haag also left Val Senales, slightly sick. “It is the coach’s responsibility not to let the athlete “run down” or walk around with cold,” the coaches explained.

Weather was on the side of the cross country squad and the team could carry out the training program as planned. “Although we are now done here in the Alps and the athletes are tired, their minds are positive,” Joakim Abrahamsson comments while waiting for Marcus Hellner and Anders Sodergren to come back from a demanding long ride.

In the meantime, recovery of Emil Jönsson and Johan Olsson has gone well in Sweden. Emil Joensson pulled his thigh muscle in Livigno and Johan Olsson developed a problem with a shoulder before the trip to Italy. “Both of them are in training, but do not run up,” Joakim Abrahamsson says.

September 20, 2011 – Norwegian Cross-Country athletes have had smooth summer and good training season so far, but there are still two months to go till the FIS Cross-Country World Cup kicks off in Beitostolen… and there are over three months to go till the winter highlight, this year’s FIS Tour de Ski.

“We’ve had only few injuries and illness in the national teams this training season. In general, everything runs very well. We are certainly on good track,” says head coach Vidar Løfshus.

Løfshus has been relatively new in the top position being responsible for various national teams in the World Cup season. He knows the season is approaching, but does not deny that he is looking forward to it.

“It is very fun to get started with the season, and I think we have many that will show their teeth,” Løfshus thinks.

Løfshus has praised both of the new national team coaches for having done very good progress. Junior team coach Sjur Ole Svarstad and men’s distance team coach Trond Nystad’s were hired before the training season.

“Both of them have made very good impression so far. They also have established good dialogue with athletes, service and generally with the whole team,” says Løfshus.

Twenty-two days in the height
In August, before the FIS Rollerski World Championships and Toppidrettsveka in Aure/Kristiansund, Trond Nystad took the men’s distance team to the training camp in Oberhof for the first time. Ladies’ team spent the August training camp in the idyllic surroundings of Hummelfjell in Os. Norwegian Junior teams were also there at the training camps.

In late August the teams left for the traditional high altitude training stay at Seiser Alm and Livigno, while the men’s sprint team went to Ramsau. Tord Asle Gjerdalen, Sjur Røthe, Martin Johnsrud Sundby and Petter Northug stayed longer in Livigno and could enjoy perfect training conditions during the last training week there. The quartet extended the high altitude stay by a week and experienced almost ideal conditions. Northug and Co. carried out twenty-two days in a row at the training camp.

Training Camps in Norway
After the high altitude stay in middle Europe, three Norwegian national teams will meet in three different places next week. Men’s distance team will kick off their gathering in Drammen on Tuesday, ladies’ squad left for Kvitfjell and sprinters will meet in Gjøvik. October will feature, traditional training camps in Livigno (sprint team) and at Val Senales (distance teams). Last week the sprint specialists started on Mallorca their final dry land training phase before the winter World Cup season.

Before the Norwegian national Cross-Country season opening in Beitostølen Norwegian national teams plan to meet at Gala.

June 17, 2011 – The Canadian XC Ski Team is in Hawaii for its second off-season training camp. “We are going to be on Maui ten days doing altitude training on Haleakala volcano,” said Canada’s head coach Justin Wadsworth.

Devon Kershaw, Alex Harvey, Ivan Babikov, Lenny Valjas, Chandra Crawford and Perianne Jones will carry out volume and intensity training. “We will particularly focus on long uphill climbing rollerskiing and good technique,” revealed Wadsworth.

The Canadian team gathered this month for its second off-season training camp. Kershaw, Harvey and Co. carried out the first one together with the U.S ski team at Mount Bachelor, Oregon. Both national teams praised good snow conditions and excellent joint training sessions.

Canada’s head coach Justin Wadsworth decided to go Hawaii because of June weather conditions in Canmore. “It’s a perfect time to get out of Canmore as June is the rainy season there. The locals call it “monsoon June,” he explained.

Cross-Country Canada team gathers every month for a team training camp that usually lasts two weeks. “The next one is going to be on-snow at the Beckie Scott Training center on the Haig Glacier just outside of Canmore. There we will have both our World Cup Team, as well as our Senior Development team focusing on distance training on skis,” revealed Wadsworth plans for upcoming weeks.