A few members of the Kuz and Compton (CXC Team Vertical Limit) fan club at the Olympics after the Sprint Race on Wednesday. From Left to Right: Joe Stuber, Lynda Stuber, Anne Riendl, Kim Stuber, Bill Stuber.
Archive for February, 2010
Go USA!
Posted: Friday, February 19th, 2010Update
Posted: Thursday, February 18th, 2010The past 10 days I’ve been able to stay at home in Marquette, MI. It is funny how being at home for an extended period of time in the winter feels like vacation. I have not been writing updates because I am totally enthralled by the Olympics. Not just the cross-country races, the whole big thing. It’s like a 2 week long holiday where I wake up, spend a long time drinking my coffee and eating breakfast, while I read all the new stuff and watch the new videos on www.nbcolympics.com. The weather has been in the high 20’s, it’s been snowing like crazy, and the skiing has been magical. Life is good. Happy Olympics to all.
Here are some of the noteworthy things that have happened since the Telemark SuperTour:
I competed in the City of Lakes Loppet in Minneapolis, MN. I was 2nd place overall and part of another awesome CXC Team Vertical Limit sweep with teammates Kristina Owen and JoJo Winters.
I’m dog sitting for my parents puppy, Kya. She fits in very well at my home when I am not traveling.
Puppy Kya (she is much bigger now)
My older brother, Matthew, and his dog, Sammy, came to visit last weekend. We did lots of skiing on the dog trails in Marquette and Olympic watching.
The CCSA Conference Championships were in Marquette last weekend. I went out to cheer on the NMU squad. You can read about the race HERE.
My vacation ends tomorrow when I hit the road for Madison, WI and the Madison Winter Festival. We will be racing on the streets around the capitol. It’s one of the greatest events of the year so be sure to come watch if you’re in the area. After Madison we will head up to Hayward, WI for The Great American Birkebeiner!
Here is a visual preview of the next 2 weekends:
Madison Winter Festival Excitement 2009 (Renee Callaway photo)
Brian Gregg Skis to 1st place -Madison Winter Festival 2009 (Renee Callaway photo)
Maria jockeying for spots at the Madison Winter Festival 2009 (Renee Callaway photo)
Looking tired at the 2009 Birkie with only about 30K to go (AP Photo)
Canmore.
Posted: Thursday, February 11th, 2010I have finally arrived back in Marquette after my two week long trip that started at the Telemark SuperTour and ended in Canmore, Canada. The trip was really awesome and I have to thank all of my supporters who helped me make the trip up to Canmore possible.
However, the trip did start with a weekend in Hayward, racing the always great Telemark World Cup trails. There is something about the number 147, my amazing old, white Salomon classic skis, and the Telemark 10km classic course that really suit my style. The reason for mentioning these things is that I was able to win the 10km classic last year and this year wearing the same bib number 147, on the same pair of skis, and skiing the exact same course. It was especially nice being able to sweep the podium with fellow CXC Team Vertical Limit teammates Matt Liebsch and Brian Gregg for the second weekend in a row. It was also great to be back racing in my home state on a course I have skied on since I could walk. Once again the Tidd Tech grooming was great for both the 10km classic and the 15km skate that was held the very next day. I decided to sit out the mass start 15km because my asthma has been bothering me for the past couple of weeks and I did not want to chance anything heading to my first World Cup race the following Friday. My teammates did awesome though with Brian breaking away with Matt for first and second while Karl Nygren was out sprinted by quite the sprinter (Chris Cook) to end up fourth on the day. The women then managed to get a podium sweep of their own with Rebecca Dussault, Maria, and Kristina Owen skiing really well.
Last year or this year?
The very next day I was on a plane heading to Canmore for my very first 15km skate World Cup. The travel went really well with a three hour flight from Minneapolis to Calgary followed by an hour and a half shuttle ride up to Canmore. Once in Canmore, Matt and his amazing wife MaryBeth picked me up and brought me to the condo that Bryan Fish, Tad Elliot, Matt, MaryBeth, and I shared while we were there. The condo was really nice but it seemed like the housekeeper’s had some kind of marijuana addiction as it tended to smell pretty intense while they were cleaning the condos around ours.
The weather for the entire week really could not have been better. Every night it would cool off into the teens and every day it would be in the 30’s with a bright, blue sky. The course was also in perfect shape even though the Canmore Nordic Centre had to make all of the snow for the entire 5km loop. They had at least a two foot base around that loop as well as about another 10km of biathlon and other trails groomed to perfection around the Centre. Combine the great snow conditions with arguably the hardest 5km course in the World and you have a World Cup in Canmore. To see the course map and profile click HERE. The course started with about 3km of climbing to the high point before flying down some sweet hills with a couple 90 and 180 degree turns added in. I really liked the course, but it was pretty hard to keep it easy while training on the course with all the climbing.
The week flew by with mostly just easy distance training, and Friday came around with me feeling really good. I was able to pick out a really fast pair of my new Salomon skate skis the day before the race, and I was really confident that Bryan Fish and the rest of the waxing crew would have the skis dialed come race time.
To be continued…
Telemark SuperTour Photos
Posted: Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010All photos are courtesy of Bob Stuber (Maria’s Uncle)
Telemark SuperTour (Sunday)
Posted: Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010Sunday’s race at Telemark Resort was equally successful for the CXC Team Vertical Limit. Brian Gregg (CXC) won the Men’s race, followed closely by Matt Liebsch (CXC). Chris Cook (Steinbock Racing) led the rest of the field to a 3rd place finish, with Karl Nygren (CXC) right behind him in 4th. Bryan Cook (CXC) opted to sit out Sunday’s race to focus on training for the following weekend at the Canmore World Cup.
CXC Team Vertical Limit Women's Team SuperTour Podium Sweep!---Kristina Owen (3rd), Rebecca Dussault (1st), Maria Stuber (2nd).
The Women’s race was similar, with Rebecca Dussualt (CXC) and I (Maria-CXC) pulling away from the field early on. This time, we skied together until about 7.5K where Rebecca pulled away on a gradual climb. I kept skiing hard and managed to only lose about 11 seconds by the finish. This was a great result for me. Kristina Owen led the rest of the group in finishing 3rd and completing a CXC Team Vertical Limit SuperTour podium sweep! This is something the CXC Men’s team has done several times, but it was an exciting first for the Women.
Full results from the weekend can be found HERE.
I had tons of friends and family at the race cheering me on, including: my parents, my brother and his girlfriend, my Uncle Bob, my high school coaches and team (Peak Nordic), my college coaches and team (NMU), the Lapham Ladies, the Ski and Tea women, the Cook family, the Kaeding family, and many of CXC’s administration, coaches, juniors, and masters. Thank you to everyone who came out to support myself and the other racers. Thank you also to all the volunteers and everyone who helped make this event happen.
Rebecca and Maria climbing Mt. Telemark. Notice my Peak Nordic fans in the background. Thank you Thomas and Coach Mary!
Now, many of my teammates are headed to Canada for the pre-Olympic World Cup races in Canmore. They will be racing on Friday and Saturday and you can check back here for Bryan Cook’s reports from Canada.
I am currently staying with some generous friends, Juli Lynch and Chris Ransom, in Seeley getting in some Birkie training. Juli and Chris have a beautiful home with back door access to the Birkie trail just down the road from the OO trailhead. My focus this week will be on long slow distance, long L-3 intervals, sleeping, and eating.