Nicole De Yong- Soldier Hollow training camp

Soldier Hollow Training Camp

I just returned to Ketchum from a 5 day training camp in Soldier Hollow. We took advantage of the great roller ski trails at the venue and used the terrain to work on V1 and striding technique…two things we do not have much of in Sun Valley.

The first day we worked on our hops with plyos: jumping over hurdles, jumping up multiple stairs, single leg hops, etc. We completed the workout with an hour run around the Soldier Hollow trails. I spent the afternoon resting and relaxing, trying to make-up for the little sleep I got the night before. Our afternoon workout was spent doing max strength at the gym. I think everyone is getting pretty strong!

The next morning we woke up to do some 5x4minute level 4 intervals up Hermod’s Hill. If you are not familiar with the 2002 Soldier Hollow Cross-Country Olympic Venue, there is a long, tough hill called Hermod’s Hill. Even though it was a tough workout, I was pleased with the way I held my technique together and completed the workout as it was meant to be done. After watching my technique on video and reviewing it with my coach, I went out that afternoon and skied Hermod’s Hill a few more times to work specific things.

Wednesday morning we woke up bright and early to hike Mount Timpanogos. With 4,580 feet of elevation gain, it took us about three hours to reach the summit. The trail brought us behind waterfalls, across snow fields, along ridges, near lakes, eye to eye with mountain goats, and glissades down snow. All in all it was an awesome hike! To top off the day we spent the afternoon at the water park!

Thursday morning we did a 13k pursuit time trial. A pursuit consists of racing the first half with classic gear and then switching to skate gear for the second half. The classic portion of the race started out really well. I felt like I was able to hold my technique together and maintain a good pace. After switching to my skate gear for the second half, my legs cramped up and felt as heavy as bricks! Ug…a horrible feeling! The long over-distance hike from the day before had done my legs in. I lost a lot of time on the skate portion and was disappointed to end the way I did. I immediately iced my legs after the race by sitting in the 50 degree river! Brrr!

Friday morning we went for a distance classic roller ski, focusing once again, on technique. I received some good feedback on things I was improving on and things I needed to keep working on. That afternoon we made our trek back to Sun Valley. After a long drive and some time spent gathering equipment that fell of the roof rack onto the freeway, we finally made it back home.

All in all it was a great camp!

Rebecca Sorensen- Perks of being an athlete

Perks of my Job...Okay it’s not a “real” job- but, it (training) is what I do all day, every day. So, for argument sake- let’s just call it a job. My week started like any normal week... Little did I know what a great week it would turn out to be. A few amazing perks popped up this week and made feel quite lucky to have the job I have. I got invited to meet with the execs from Procter and Gamble. We had a great lunch and I got the opportunity to thank them for their recent agreement to come on board with the usoc and let them know how much it is appreciate, especially in these economically hard times. That meeting, lead me the following morning into a possible national ad campaign for another usoc sponsor. I’ll be working hard this weekend to come up with the special material that they are looking for. Keep your fingers crossed for me. It is a special opportunity that rarely comes around. In addition to all of that, I will meet with the Hartford group to have dinner and even make a few (much needed) almighty dollars Thank you perks- I really needed you *remember~ when life takes a turn, make sure to have your hands on the wheel.

Annie O'Shea- Working out to music

I love listening to my Ipod when I work out at the track or in the weight room. Although I do need to update my music selection some, and download more music.

I haven't had much time to make good playlists so I have been working out to certain artists. No one would probably guess but I am a heavy metal girl at heart. I'm pretty girly on the outside, don't get me wrong I love pop every now and then when I'm in the car singing with friends, but put me in front of my computer and its metal all the way.

I would say right now I'm on a Five Finger Death Punch kick, but my all time favorite would be Mudvayne. I also love Disturbed, Slipknot, Korn and MushroomHead. On the lighter side I go for Seether, Staind, Finger Eleven, and Nickelback.

Everyone does a double take when I put my music on in the weight room, it makes me laugh and I just start rocking out. I love listening to music it makes me happy. I just thought I would share a little something extra about myself. I might start a fact a week. So this week is I love Heavy Metal!!

Must get ready for work now!

Chris Cook- Recovery Week

Northside Update 2

Another training week in the books… After a couple large volume weeks of hours totaling more than 20, I got a good sized recovery week in. With the training volume down I was able to get out on the boat and do some waterskiing and the woods of Wisconsin actually offered up some warm sunny weather which was outstanding. Got through another week of moto camps and had the campers extremely sore after a solid core strength workout. Each and every one of them had trouble sitting and twisting the next day, which means the workout was a complete success. I have a weekend free of mountain bike racing and rollerski camps so I will most likely get a nice long ride in on the road bike.

A fellow teammate of mine and friend, Garrott Kuzzy, was coming through town yesterday so we hooked up for a nice interval /speed session. We knocked out 3 sets of 6x30seconds on skate rollerskis. The workout intensity was supposed to be a little more controlled but Kuzzy and I were pretty much pinning it for the last set. All in all it was a great workout and good to get an intensity workout with Kuzzy, where we could push each other head to head.

After the weekend training should hit the off day on Monday and knock off a 21 hour medium volume week. Back to business as usual.

Play hard, Train Harder.

Kaitlyn Farrington- Snow Test

Rehab…July 23, 2009 by kaitlynfarrington
It has been a little over 5 weeks since my surgery and I am now just waiting till the day Jess (physical therapist) at the COE give me the okay.
Last week I took my first, “back to snow test” hoping that I was ready to ride at Hood this week… I was mistaken! When taking the test I realized that my knee was not as strong as I thought. So long story short I started doing PT 5 days a week so I will be ready to ride in New Zealand in the beginning of August. Next Friday I will be taking a second, “back to snow test” again, hoping that this time I am ready.

Jennifer Rodriguez - 2010 Olympic Oval

Hey Everyone!

Well right now I'm in Vancouver, Canada at a 2 week training camp with my team. Actually, we're in Richmond just outside of Vancouver. That's where the Olympic Oval is. So far things have been great. I was able to get on the ice once before I got out here, but since we've been out here we've been on the ice pretty much every day.

It's a good and exciting feeling to be able to train where you know you're going to be competing. I'm not going to lie though...the ice is not very fast. It seems like they are still trying to work the kinks out which is to be expected. Right now it feels pretty soft and slow, but we knew that coming here. I think things will be a little better for the Games, but don't expect to see any world records being broken.

The facility itself is very beautiful though and sits right along a river. On one side of the building is all windows so it has a very pretty view. During the Games though they will blacken out all the windows for tv coverage.

Like I said, training has been going very well although I just found out through an MRI last week that I have a torn labrum in my right hip. Its an injury I've had for a number of years, but this year it seems to have gotten worse. When the results came back from the MRI, the news was not good. The only good news is that so far it doesn't seem to give me any pain to skate. Right now that's all that matters.

Dr. Heiden has recommended to me to have surgery done, but that would require a month of rehabilitation which is something I can't afford to do at this time. Since my hip seems to be okay while I'm skating, I will just deal with it the best way we (trainers, doctors, coaches) know how and get the surgery done after the season. I just have to make adjustments with some of my other training. If I have to later in the season I will get a cortizone shot, but I hoping I won't need to.

Other small news...I traded in my car for a 2005 VW Beetle. I needed to save some money, so I got something quite a bit smaller with better gas milage. I'm just curious to see how she runs in the winter time! :)

Other than that, not much else worth talking about. Hasta luego!

jen

Chris Cook- Summer training

Northside update #1

My training continues here in Rhinelander Wisconsin and summer has been extremely busy. My training volume has been ramping up since May and I should hit my biggest month of the year as July comes to an end. So far I have been putting in lots of big hours but I have been getting some quality intensity training in as I have been racing Mountain Bikes nearly every other weekend. The next big mountain bike race will be coming up August 8, Ore to Shore, in Marquette MI. I will be up in Marquette leading into the week to get a little change of training scenery.
To explain why this summer has been so busy, I not only have boosted my training hours this year, but I have been involved with motocross camps and running roller ski clinics on the weekends. Before you wonder how I got involved with motocross camps with no motorcycle skills to speak of I will explain. A long time friend of mine and profession motocross rider Chad Johnson has returned to Rhinelander for the summer to run camps. He asked me to take the campers three mornings a week and take them on a hour long mountain bike ride. He then gets the campers back for the middle of the day to focus on engine related riding and then I get the campers back at the end of the day to go through a core strength session. The camps have been a blast and it’s always great to work with highly motivated kids. The rollerski clinics have been a success as well. So far I have done a double pole clinic and a skate technique clinic, and the improvements made by the end of day has been extraordinary.
So between training sessions and motocross camp during the week, and rollerski clinics and mountain bike racing on the weekends, the summer so far has been nonstop. But as Chad would say you got to pin it to win it!

Annie O'Shea end of a long cycle

My training schedule is on a four week cycle. Three hard weeks followed by a fourth down week. Then I change my program and start something new.
Tomorrow will be the end of my third hard week and I am excited for a down week next week. Its a catch 22 though I will say, I am improving in all my lifts, so I want to keep increasing and not take a lighter week. But I know in the long run it is needed so I don't tire myself out before the season even starts.
I ended up working a lot this week, wasn't supposed to but I picked up some extra shifts because its hard to turn down making good money. Even with all the extra work I couldn't believe how strong and fast I felt. Which is a good thing.
I went to the track today by myself to do my sprint workout before I started my lift. I had one of my best sprint workouts in a while. Just 60m but I stayed in drive phase and I felt good. I got some sun this week which was a huge deal. Now I have to get ready for work, probably going to be a long weekend. Just looking forward to an easier week next week!Annie

Rebecca Sorensen " A day in the life"

I often get the question- What is your training and life like while living at an OTC?I think that the general public gets the idea that we train all day long and they just can’t seem to wrap around that idea and that’s why they ask. Well, the answer is yes we do train most of the day, but not in the way people are thinking. My day, for instance, starts when I wake up approx. 7am. Sometimes, I am awakened by USADA for a drug test at or before 7am. So far, I have been tested 3 times since I took residence here in May at the Colorado Springs OTC. All in all I have been tested less than 10 times in my 6 years of sliding. I like to be awake for training at nine so I have a special blended breakfast in my room and watch the Today Show and check emails. I drink a mixture of raw milk, frozen fruit, yogurt, oat bran, protein powder, cinnamon, acai, chia seeds, flax, soaked almonds and a occasional liquid shot of B12. I also take some vits/ minerals/oils if need be- both morning and night. Training in general, consists of running and lifting.Running workouts include a 25 min warmup, several drills and stretches, several reps of the running workout, misc stairs, sled pulls/pushes, broad jumps, bounds, starts and hills sprints. Once the run is complete for the morning session, I usually go to sports med to partake in some recovery treatments. After that- it’s lunch time! And after that, I usually rest for about an hour before we meet for our next session. Again, a warm up with drills usually lasting about 20 minutes and then it is time to lift. Every workout is different, but we will lift legs first and end with some upper body and abs. Lift sessions last for 2 hours. Again time for rehab. Maybe a painful massage, or compression pants or cold tub (52 degrees for 15 minutes) or all three. Now it’s almost 5pm. I have dinner early, and get back to my room to do evening work. This may include work for my small business, looking for sponsors, catching up with family and friends, laundry, working on equipment, reviewing track notes and video for the upcoming season and/or a number of other things I have signed up for or have been asked to do. I also try to fit in Olympic University classes, sports psy, meditation classes and research of my own. I always try to be in bed by 9 and asleep my 10. Everyday. So that’s it. I wouldn’t trade it. I love every part of it. I am very grateful for it. ~remember: A leader...removes barriers, acts as a resource and should cheer-lead often.

Nicole De Yong mountain marathon

Staying Tuned

It is difficult to consider summer the “off-season” for skiing when the majority of my training hours are logged during this time! This summer I am making an effort to do two races/time trials a month to stay in-tune with racing. I believe racing is a good way to remind your body how to push itself and what it feels like to push yourself.

Today I ran a 10 mile race called the Back Country Run. It is a tough race with almost 2000 feet of elevation gain. It is the type of grade that is difficult to run, but too slow to walk. While I ran a majority of it, there were a few steep places where it was faster for me to “ski walk.” Ski walking is a brisk hiking pace.

Even though the race did not go as well as I hoped, it was a good workout. There is no better way to get a solid workout, than racing! Many times, it is the racing that makes you faster! After a tough week of training, my legs felt heavy and slow on the uphill. I did not have my usual “light feet” feel. While it’s easy to get down on myself about having a poor race, I am reminding myself that it is July and I want to be fast come November, when the racing season begins.

All in all, racing is a good way to keep my body tuned. I am hoping to do a couple races in August to keep up with my monthly racing.

Annie O'Shea Colorado Springs training camp

Check out this great post about the recent US Bobsled/Skeleton training camp in Colorado Springs.

Annie O'Shea

After Colorado I realized that this summer has already gone by very quickly. Just look at the calender its July 12th today, the track in Lake Placid opens on October 5th. My workouts have been going great but there are so many aspects to this coming season that I haven’t started on yet.
Between workouts, working and doing rehab and recovery I run out of time in the day. When I do have a few extra minutes I just want to sit and stare at the t.v. or look out the window. I am trying to work on my time management skills so I can do the extra things to prepare myself for the upcoming season. For example I need to start doing mind runs, it is a great way to prepare yourself so you feel like you haven’t been off your sled for 5 or so months.
I know this coming season is going to be difficult but I am looking forward to it. I’m excited to experience my first Olympic season, and as long as I keep my head on my shoulders and do my best, I will be satisfied with everything.
I will admit every now and then I think about “the Olympics” (in quotes only because it haunts me sometimes) and how nervous I already am sometimes, but I guess its inevitable, how could you not be nervous. I am talking with a sports psychologist every now and then on certain ways to learn to turn these thoughts into positive ones. I realized that a lot of people have thoughts like this, and the way to become a better athlete is to learn how to deal with these thoughts.
I don’t want to rush the summer any faster than its already going, but I am very excited to go home in August. I plan on going home for only about 5 days or so really because I don’t want to miss too much of work. But I am excited to see my family and go to the beach.
These are just some random thoughts that I’ve had and I wanted to share them with everybody.

Rebecca Sorensen

I was just thinking about the phase “the other side of the tracks” and it made me think about our neighbors to the west. It happens to be the children’s miracle hospital. On our side of the “tracks” we have athletic dreams and the opportunity for the ultimate pursuit of them. On their side, they also have dreams, but the dreams and the pursuit of them is quite different. Their road is not paved in or to gold, their rooms are not paid for, their dreams are not every four years. They are children. They didn’t choose this life. They didn’t ask to be sick. They live grown-up lives and deal with grown-up issues. Their goals are to feel better, be better, live. We visited the hospital last year and I often think of the children and how they have been doing. I often consider how different my life would be if I lived on the other side of the tracks...becca

Jennifer Rodriguez training cycle

July 9, 2009

Well, after having to train by myself for 5 weeks in Miami, I'd have to say its been real nice to be back with my team again! My team is awesome and like my second family. I missed them!!!Right now I'm at the end of 2 hard weeks of training with 2 days left to go in our cycle. It's been tough! On Saturday I get to ride from Salt Lake City up to Deer Valley. Its my last workout of the cycle, its going to be real hard but I'm actually really looking forward to it.Next week we finally get the chance to get back on long track ice! It s very exciting for all of us. We've been doing some short track skating and inlines, but its not the same. My feet are all cut up because my inline boots are not nearly as good as my long track skates, so another reason to be excited to get back on the long track ice. Next week is a rest week for us, so we'll just get to play around on the ice for a little and mess around with our skates before we head out to Vancouver for a 2 week camp on the 19th.Anyway, that's it for now. Until next week!

jen

With her mom gone, speedskater Jennifer Rodriguez stays determined

By Linda Robertson
lrobertson@MiamiHerald.com
Throughout her skating career, Jennifer Rodriguez has had one indefatigable source of inspiration: her mother.
Barbara Rodriguez was like a stopwatch from afar, providing the push Rodriguez needed in the demanding sport of long-track speedskating, which is as much about beating agony as beating your opponent.
Barbara fought cancer for 16 years. ''If Mom can stand the pain, I can stand the pain,'' was Rodriguez's mantra on the hardest laps.
She, in turn, motivated her mother. ''If Jen can do it, I can do it,'' Barbara would say.
On parallel paths, they tried to steal time.
Barbara succumbed June 15. She was 59. The cancer that started in a breast had spread to her nervous system.
She was at every one of Rodriguez's Olympic races -- 1998 in Nagano, Japan; 2002 in Salt Lake City; 2006 in Turin, Italy. Her first trip to the Winter Games came after a double mastectomy. Her third came after a recurrence of cancer, in her liver, and she learned to give herself injections so she could travel to Italy. There, inside the Lingotto Oval, she wore a blue Team USA beret to hide ''my bad, three-inch hairdo,'' and cheered with husband Joe.
Now Rodriguez faces the prospect of going to her fourth Olympics without her mother. She's entering the second year of a comeback at age 33 with the goal of competing in the 2010 Vancouver Games. Rodriguez, a Miami native and Palmetto High graduate, is the only Cuban-American to win medals at the Winter Olympics -- two bronzes in 2002 in the 1,000 and 1,500 meters. She's our J-Rod, a former roller skater nicknamed ''Miami Ice,'' and she wants to win another medal.
But she is weary from ''the worst year of my life,'' she said. ''I've been an emotional wreck.'' Divorce from skater KC Boutiette, who got her into the sport. Financial problems that have mired her in debt and forced her to sell her car, her training bicycle, her old skinsuits and maybe even her engagement ring. And now the death of her mother.
Rodriguez contemplated quitting, leaving the ice once and for all. That's not what Barbara would want.
''At first my mom thought the comeback was crazy, but she supported my decisions,'' said Rodriguez, who left Miami and the bike shop she and Boutiette owned together to move back to U.S. team headquarters in Utah. 'She said, `OK, you're going to do it and you're going to do it 100 percent.' ''
J-Rod's return was erratic: a few top 10 finishes, a World Cup victory in Nagano, a broken skate blade. Yet, she felt the old rhythm coming around, and the desire.
''I know my body is capable, I know it's in there,'' she said.
`HARD TO WATCH'
After the season, her mother became ill, afflicted with double vision, nausea and unbearable headaches. Barbara was set up in hospice at home. Rodriguez spent the past five weeks of her mother's life at her bedside, rubbing her head, holding her hand, talking as Barbara slipped from lucid reminiscences into hallucinations. The last couple weeks, Barbara couldn't tolerate medication and couldn't eat.
''It was really hard to watch her deteriorate and suffer so horribly,'' Rodriguez said of her father, Joe, and brother, Eric. ``In the past, she had always bounced back.''
Barbara's 10 cats knew she was dying. Her favorite, Bella, licked her face. On what turned out to be Barbara's last day, her family played her favorite music -- Christmas music.
'We hated it, but we said, `Here, Mom, we're playing this nonstop,' '' Rodriguez said.
Barbara was buried wearing her daughter's leather Team USA jacket from 1998. After the funeral, Rodriguez debated whether to continue skating. Did it make sense or was it a mistake, borne out of her frustration from 2006, when she overtrained and didn't win a medal?
She had poured all her savings into the Elite Cycling and Fitness shop, which Boutiette continues to run, and now she's nearly broke. Speedskating doesn't pay the bills. Unless you're Apolo Anton Ohno, the short-track skater who won Dancing With The Stars, you're stuck in obscurity until the comet-like illumination of the Olympics. Rodriguez receives $1,750 per month from U.S. Speedskating and the U.S. Olympic Committee, but like many Olympic athletes in fringe sports, she has no sponsors or endorsements. It's regrettable to see her and her peers struggle when it was revealed in the recent USOC shake-up that more than a dozen executives were earning outlandish six-figure salaries.
''If your sport is not on TV, your chances of sponsorship are slim,'' she said. ``There are only five speedskating tracks in the U.S. Americans don't have access to our sport, even though we have one of the best teams in the world.''
DONATIONS NEEDED
Rodriguez got financial aid from her mother, who worked for Junior Achievement of Miami, but her father, who owns a graphics business, can't afford to send checks. Rodriguez is hoping that even in these tough times, donors will step forward. One way to contribute is through the website Americaforgold.org.
She just wants to get to February. She has to. Her mother is gone, but her message of determination lives on. Rodriguez hopes to skate in tribute to Barbara in Vancouver.
''It's strange but sometimes it feels like she's still here,'' Rodriguez said. ``I feel her presence. She gives me strength.''

Nicole De Yong

It is hard to believe I am 11 weeks into my summer training program…time sure does fly by! These weeks have varied from 24 hour volume weeks, to intensity weeks, to 10 hour recovery weeks. Each week is focused with specific workouts and some even contain benchmark time trial tests. The tests performed so far are a good indicator as to what my fitness level is compared to past years. Pleasantly enough, my results have improved!
Last week I completed a volume week which entailed 6 hours of roller skiing, 7 hours of running, 3 ½ hours biking, 2 ½ hours strength, and a 5 hour over-distance hike. After a big volume week, I am taking advantage of a recovery period this week.
I am looking forward to a team training camp in Park City in two weeks. Camps are a good opportunity to focus 100% on training and recovery without the distractions of everyday life at home. I’ll be sure to keep you posted on my training progress!

Kaitlyn Farrington on her way to recovery!

Snowboarder Kaitlyn Farrington recently had surgery to repair her meniscus and sent us an update. We are all hoping for a speedy recovery!



On tuesday I walk in to the Heber Valley Medical Clinic for my third meniscus surgery…

Signing my knee away!
Tuesday was the day of the surgery and if I could tell you all about it I would, but honestly I think I was a little loopy. I can tell you that my dad came down for the surgery and it was so fun to see him!
Dr. Cooley did my meniscus surgery. I had torn my meniscus in Mammoth. Cooley just went in and trimmed it up. Now my recovery is starting and I am gimping around with my ballin cane…
I will be back on snow in August and I can’t wait! I should be in Hood shredding right now.