Nordic Nation

Live, from Vermont, it was Ben Lustgarten of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project -- we spoke to Ben about his recent retirement announcement from full-time training and racing at the elite level. Lustgarten's name is synonymous with the SuperTour's sharp end. He's also known to throw down burly strength workouts. He qualified and raced in two World Championships and claimed a 30 k classic National Championship in 2017. 

In this episode, we discuss the reasons why Lustgarten stepped away from full-time training and the key aspects of the training-racing he's embraced along the way. He's honest and earnest as he ruminates on the difficulty of cracking into the World Cup top-30, and missing out on the 2018 Olympics. 

Lastly, Lustrgarten is a grinder and we applaud his dedication and fidelity to the sport. Onward Ben. 

Independent of one another, Brian Gregg and Matt Liebsch are always to be feared as they line up for a ski race. Now in their mid-thirties, their lives have transitioned to other responsibilities that include partners, children, and full-time work. Yet, in the highly competitive world of elite level ski racing, these two have maintained a healthy friendship and are fast and furious training partners.

We could spend time noting their accomplishments on the ski tracks - but that would be another story. They are accomplished. But when speaking to them both, it is clear that each wants the other to succeed and in fact, they understand their friendship and training have made them both faster. Although defining themselves as 'master-blasters', Gregg was second overall and Liebsch third in last season's American Birkebeiner. Gregg lost out by a toe to Akeo Maifeld-Carucci, while Liebsch faded slightly down Main Street in Hayward to place third 8.5 seconds back. So 'master-blaster' or not, these two are still fast and competitive. 

So maybe get inspired, find your own best bud, become a better person and get faster together too. 

In this episode, hosted by FasterSkier contributor Rachel Perkins, we dive into the issue of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S). This condition was formerly known as the female athlete triad, which was described as inadequate energy intake, the loss of menstruation (amenorrhea), and decreased bone mineral density. The name was changed to include males, who are also affected, and to expand beyond the three symptoms originally included. Though not quite the same, the condition is closely linked with eating disorders.

This topic has seen a lot of buzz following a November opinion piece in the New York Times where former high school running phenom Mary Cain shared her story of abuse by her coach, Alberto Salazar, at the Nike Oregon Project. While trying to get down to the weight he deemed optimal for her, she lost her period, her performance decreased, and she was littered with stress fractures.

Further concerns arose a few weeks later when Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg and Frida Karlsson were pulled from their World Cup starts after not meeting team health standards for BMI and bone density, presumably due to under eating. 

We speak with licensed professional counselor and two-time Olympian Holly Brooks, registered sports dietician and author of “Finding Your Sweet Spot: How to Avoid RED-S (Relative Energy Deficit in Sport) by Optimizing Your Energy Balance” Rebecca McConville, and long-time coach turned voice of World Cup cross country skiing and biathlon, Chad Salmela. 

This panel unpacks the misunderstanding that RED-S is an exclusively female phenomenon and how the climate in sport influences the prevalence of this condition, and offers suggestions to shift from a results focused climate in sport to a positive, informed, healthy, and athlete centric program. 

Here are links to the resources and articles mentioned in this episode:

Jessie Diggins Eating Disorder Activism

Lauren Fleshman’s New York Times Opinion Piece “I Changed My Body for My Sport. No Girl Should.” and letter to her younger self, which was posted to MileSplit.

The WithAll Foundation and the "What To Say" campaign, which  offers suggestions for talking to food and body positive phrases to include in conversations with kids and athletes. 

HBO Documentary “The Norwegian Way” which details the Norwegian development program, in particular the omission of results in youth skiing before the age of 12.  

The IOC Periodic Health Evaluation statement regarding more regular health screenings, including bone density measurement and blood laboratory work. 

The National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) “Coaches & Trainers’ Toolkit”

The Opal Treatment Center and Podcast

In this episode, we connect with John Munger, Executive Director of the Loppet Foundation in Minneapolis and Garrott Kuzzy, former U.S. Ski Team member who grew up near Wirth Park. From impressions of Wirth back-in-the-day to exploring how the World Cup ended up in Minneapolis, we drill down on most (but not all) things Minneapolis World Cup. That event goes down on March, 17. 

We cover the cost of hosting, infrastructure demands, and how the pieces are coming together a few months out from the event. Thanks for listening. 

If you’ve been following along with the global ski scene and wax, you know this: perfluorinated waxes have been a hot button topic. From issues with importing into the U.S., stories on potential health and environmental risk, and new “green” wax products coming on-line...it’s been hard to keep up with trends. The International Ski Federation announced last month that it would move towards a fluoro-free race series next year. That caught the surprise of many — it was expected that any potential fluoro ban would come down after the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Perhaps the most wide-ranging series on fluoro use in the cross-country world was published this fall by Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet. The series was multi-faceted. It explored fluoro use and personal stories about illness and even death, and industries response to upcoming EU regulations on C-8 chemistry.    

We spoke to one of the lead journalists involved with the project, John Rasmussen. He’s based in Oslo and among his beats, is covering the World Cup. 

Here's a link to the story series. But keep this in mind: Google Translate often offers rough approximations when translating Norwegian to English. 

Devon Kershaw, for many years, was a go-to on the World Cup for Canada. He won a gold medal at the 2011 World Championship in the team sprint with Alex Harvey and finished second in the World Cup overall in 2012. He is accomplished.

Devon Kershaw. Vintage 2016 in Lillehammer. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)

He is also a student of the sport. That was evident last season as he helped Eurosport with its television broadcast coverage of the 2019 World Championships. Watching Kershaw provide race previews each day was a highlight. It made sense to ring him up and get his thoughts on the upcoming World Cup season.

Never shy with analysis, Kershaw is a good listen.

It’s a long way from Ruka, Finland to Canmore — the site of the closing races for this season. Onward. (Here’s a link to our map infographic for the 2019-2020 World Cup.)

(To subscribe to the Nordic Nation podcast channel, download the iTunes app. If you have iTunes, subscribe to Nordic Nation here.)

The post Nordic Nation: World Cup Preview with Devon Kershaw appeared first on FasterSkier.com.

In this episode, we speak with now-retired Swedish skier Ida Ingemarsdotter. The thirty-four-year-old Ingemarsdotter became the head coach for the Swedish national development team this fall. She’ll be leading a crew of U23 and U20 skiers as they hope to transition to the senior national team. 

Charlotte Kalla (R) and Ida Ingemarsdotter won the team sprint at the 2011 World Championships.

For many years, Imgemarsdotter was a Swedish World Cup staple. She’s a two-time medalist at the Olympics and a down to earth Swede, as we learn about her recent moose hunt in the podcast.

Her career was an arc of steady improvement which eventually saw several young Swedish skiers not simply emerge but burst onto the World Cup scene to challenge Norway’s dominance.

(To subscribe to the Nordic Nation podcast channel, download the iTunes app. If you have iTunes, subscribe to Nordic Nation here.)

The post Nordic Nation: The New Coach Episode with Sweden’s Ida Ingemarsdotter appeared first on FasterSkier.com.

Back in 2015, prior to her first go at a World Championships, Rosie Brennan was asked this: What’s your biggest motivation while racing?. 

“I am most motivated by wanting to show that my hard work was worth it, that I did everything I could to go as fast as I could,” Brennan replied at the time. She was twenty six years old then, and now at 30 years old, the Park City native grinds away, still doing the hard work.

Rosie Brennan of the U.S. placed 10th in the women’s World Championship 15 k skiathlon in Seefeld, Austria. (Photo:John Lazenby/lazenbyphoto.com)

Brennan, a current member of the U.S. Ski Team’s A-Team, has had an on-again off-again career with the national team. She has, however, been a rock on the APU elite team where she’s surrounded herself with some of the nation’s top cross-country athletes.

In 2018, despite being nominated to the Olympic team, she developed a nagging virus that sapped her energy. She eventually returned to form —  last season  her best World Cup campaign to date. She ranked 27th in the distance standings and popped a career best sixth place in the Davos, Switzerland 10-kilometer skate. 

We spoke to Brennan for the podcast as she finished up a ski team training camp based in Park City. We spoke about her recovery from illness and her role as an athlete representative  at U.S. Ski & Snowboard. 

(To subscribe to the Nordic Nation podcast channel, download the iTunes app. If you have iTunes, subscribe to Nordic Nation here.)

The post Nordic Nation: The Hard Work Pays off Episode with Rosie Brennan appeared first on FasterSkier.com.

In this episode, we connect with Max Cobb, the CEO of U.S. Biathlon. He also sits on the International Biathlon Union’s (IBU) Executive Board. When we spoke, he had just returned from the IBU’s “historic” Extraordinary Congress which took place from October 18th-20th, in Munich.

A 2016 photo of Max Cobb, the president and CEO of U.S. Biathlon. (Photo: Nordic Focus)

The IBU has been rocked in the recent past by internal mismanagement and doping scandals. Rather than succumb to the inertia associated with systemic change, the IBU has reset and begun reforming. Part of that reform manifested in Munich with the formalization of a new Integrity Code and what is called the Biathlon Integrity Unit.

Cobb discusses some of these changes and how the IBU is evolving for the better.

(To subscribe to the Nordic Nation podcast channel, download the iTunes app. If you have iTunes, subscribe to Nordic Nation here.)

The post Nordic Nation Audio Short: Max Cobb and the Extraordinary IBU Congress appeared first on FasterSkier.com.

Vegard Ulvang at fifty six years old remains an icon in Norway. With Olympic and Championship medals, a World Cup Overall title in 1990, he’s in the lineage of Norwegian skiing royalty.

Away from the tracks, Ulvang began and then sold a profitable clothing company. He fills his time making documentaries and television features. He is also, as you’ll hear at the top of the interview, committed to living a life of exploration, calculated risk, and adventure. The South Pole, Northwest Passage, and monumental kite-skiing expeditions to Greenland have shaped his post-racing life.

Although in Norwegian, you can spot up and watch a three part docu-series on a recent kite skiing adventure here.

Six-time Olympic medalist and FIS cross-country chairman, Vegard Ulvang of Norway, after his first American Birkebeiner in 2012. (Photo: Darlene Prois/American Birkebeiner)

Ulvang is still connected to international sport as the chairman of the executive board of the International Ski Federation’s (FIS) cross-country committee. He’s been in this role since 2006. Coordinating the World Cup calendar, juggling race format changes, rule upgrades, and evolving wax protocols as government regulations come into play – they all filter through Ulvang. He is often quoted in Norwegian media when it looks for guidance on how to interpret the state of skiing today.

(To subscribe to the Nordic Nation podcast channel, download the iTunes app. If you have iTunes, subscribe to Nordic Nation here.)

The post Nordic Nation: Vegard Ulvang and the Will to Lead appeared first on FasterSkier.com.