The Lake Superior Shore Run

September 29th, 2008. Published under Bryan Cook. No Comments.

Just before heading out to Lake Placid, NY for camp, I jumped in the best half-marathon race in the U.P.  I have done the Lake Superior Shore Run a few times and it has always been a blast for me.  I ran my best race this year and ended up with a solid 3rd place.  I am always happy taking part in this race because it is put on to support the Youth Nordic Ski Program of the Superiorland Ski Club here in Marquette.  It was really cool to watch the kids 1km race after I was finished.  Some of those little kids are going to be fast one day.  I would also like to thank Downwind Sports here in Marquette, because they donated the prizes for the top three men and women overall prizes.  I was able to use my $25 gift certificate on a badly needed new pair of flip-flops.

Skiing in New York

September 27th, 2008. Published under Maria Stuber. No Comments.

The roller skiing out here has been absolutely beautiful. There is not much sun, but it only makes the colors stand out more. Here are some pics from our rollerski on Friday. I love Fall.

Intervals

September 27th, 2008. Published under Bryan Cook. No Comments.

While here at the OTC we have been able to take advantage of the great sports medicine lab they have here. We had hard uphill classic intervals and were able to cool down in the stream right after the workout. The stream was quite cold, but not as cold as the ice bath Maria and I used the next day. It was pretty painful for the first few minutes but after that initial freeze it was not too bad. Training has been going well and we are looking forward to the U.S. Ski Team athletes showing up next week.

CXC Elite Vs. Sun Valley ODT Soccer Match

September 26th, 2008. Published under Maria Stuber. No Comments.

Yesterday, at the Lake Placid OTC, the Sun Valley Olympic Development Team challenged CXC Elite to a soccer match. We laced up our boots and hit the pitch at about five o’clock in the afternoon. Both teams had some amazing plays, but CXC managed to edge Sun Valley out with a 5-4 victory. The score was tied 3-3 at about half time. Play was back and forth for most of the second half, but Sun Valley struggled to maintain the same pressure that they had applied in the first half. Travis Jones tried his hardest to create an opening for Sun Valley late in the game, but his crosses were easily dealt with by CXC defenders, Gus Kaeding and Bryan Cook. Jo Jo Winters had several impressive shots on goal, however she usually fired just wide of the goal post. In the last minute of the game, Garrott Kuzzy capped a brilliant display of CXC’s swarm defense with a breakaway goal. Everyone on the field put forth their best effort and we look forward to a re-match next year.

Lake Placid

September 24th, 2008. Published under Maria Stuber. No Comments.

Bryan and I got picked up in Marquette on Sunday morning by the CXC Elite Team van. We drove all day, stayed overnight in Canada, and arrived at the Olympic Training Center (OTC) in Lake Placid, NY around 1:00 PM on Monday. The drive took about 16 hours (from Marquette) and it went very smoothly. Today was the second day of training at the Lake Placid OTC and it is going to be a hard couple of weeks. Although there are many hills in the Midwest, I understand why skiers from the East and West refuse to acknowledge them. Yesterday, we did intervals on a road that was so steep even the boys had to V1 the whole time. It took 3, 4 minute intervals (with 4 minutes of recovery between intervals) to get up the hill and when you got to the top you had to be driven back down to the bottom in the van. Then, today we went for a 1 hour and 45 minute roller ski where the women’s team went up a huge hill, down the other side, up another hill, and then had to turn around to make it back to the van in time. The hills are huge.

Staying at the OTC is extremely convenient.  The weight room is right down the hall, there is a gymnasium, a training room, a sports science lab, an ice bath, a sauna, and cafeteria food that is available at any time of the day.  It makes me feel like a freshman in college again, living in the dorms.  Hopefully, I will be able to get some studying done while I am here.  This semester I am enrolled in 3 graduate school credits and I have only been able to make it to class once.  Thank goodness for the internet and for my dear friend Laura Dewitt who is taking notes for me.

Hayward Camp Week 2

September 18th, 2008. Published under Bryan Cook. No Comments.

The second week of the CXC Elite team camp in Hayward started with quite the off day. Instead of our usual day of rest and relaxation on Monday, we took to the Birkie trail to clear rocks and whatever else we could find that was in our way. This was a great project in that we were able to clear a couple kilometers worth of the newly cut and graded classic trail around the OO trailhead. We basically walked the classic trail sections and threw the rocks off the trail that we felt would damage skis and get in the way. It was a great couple hours working with Terry Penman from the ABSF Board of Directors and executive director of the Birkie Ned Zuelsdorff.
Tuesday brought us back to the usual training routine of isometric strength at 7 a.m. and some skate speeds at 9 a.m. After throwing a ton of rocks on Monday we hammered our three sets of 6×30 second uphill skating sprints. We then hit up OO for some intense specific strength. This workout is always brutal because of the steepness of the climb we use on OO. I think our coach Bryan Fish loves watching us suffer on this particular workout, but I always try to put on a tough face to not let him get the satisfaction of killing me.
Wednesday was the last day of our training camp and started off right with a filmmaking session. You will have to check out the CXC Academy to see what I am talking about. We took some time to film the strength routine we have been using and that will be posted at www.cxcacademy.com for your viewing pleasure. We then had an easy classic distance workout planned and it was a good way to end the camp.
That was the end of the training camp but not the end of our team adventures.We all headed over to the Twin Cities for the big tent sales at Gear West, Finn Sisu, and Hoigaard’s. was great to help spread the word about our sport and give back to these shops who have supported Nordic skiing in the Midwest for so many years. The team was split between the three stores and we had the chance to talk to the customers and help fit and sell various products to them. We were supported by Andy Gerlach and Kevin Johnson from Salomon as we were primarily helping customers find the perfect Salomon products.
On the way home from the Twin Cities tent sales, Maria and I stopped in Bloomer, WI to give a masters clinic. Check out the clinics link for more information on how it went.
We then stopped in my hometown of Rhinelander, WI for some late season bare footing. The weather cooperated long enough for me to get in a decent run without freezing too bad. My brother Chris put in a solid 5:30 minute run and our good friend from across the lake, Jaime, put in another solid run before we were through. It was a great way to spend a few days before heading back up to Marquette.