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Final World Cup in Zakopane, Poland

Sunday, April 17th, 2011

Final World Cup in Zakopane

Poster for Final World Cup

The last world cup of the season was in Zakopane, Poland home of the ski jumping world cup and gateway to the Tatra’s Mountains. Unfortunately due to the weather, we never really saw the mountains but they sure do look beautiful in the photos.

Tatra Mountain Panorama

Even though we could not due the planned course, the organizers did an exceptional job creating a descent course with the conditions we had.

Walking to the Start

A glimpse of the Tatras on race day

Pre-race moment studying the course

Happy to be finished!

It was one of the best organized races I have been to and the enthusiasm for ski mountaineering was also impressive.

Post Race Food- homemade healthy cookies! A nice change from the normal stuff!

Congrats to Michael for his Podium! 1st place Master Division

We also enjoyed seeing and experiencing the culture of Zakopane. In my mind, one of the best way to see another country is to go to a race and experience the culture through meeting the locals.

Pre race ski with Claudia of Zakopane

Traditional Transport

Traditional Tatra Mountain Home

Zakopane Hotel for the World Cup Athletes

 

 

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Pierra Menta 2011

Monday, March 28th, 2011

Veronika & Nina on the portage

The Pierra Menta is often called the Tour de France of Ski Mountaineering racing. It is a stage race of 4 days long, each day involving long stages sometimes up to 5 hrs long.

I can’t quite believe that this was the 4th time I have done the Pierra Menta and completed it too, as that is a feat in itself. The first 3 time were with my great pal and partner Lyndsay Meyer of Brava Bella. We will race the Trofeo Mezzalama this year in a Chamonix Team. This year I raced with Veronika Swidrak of the Austrian National Team.

Veronika & Nina all at the Finish Stage 4- Pierra Menta

The Pierra Menta- could also be called the Pierra Mental….It is not over until your team crosses the finish line on day 4. So many things can happen over the 4 days- illness, broken boot or ski! Just to finish in one piece is a success!

Portage on a ridge

It is especially important to work well with your team mate. Not knowing Veronika very well before the race, and never having raced together we soon were fast friends and worked well together on and off the course.

Nina and Veronika working together as a team

Nina & Veronika working together as a team

Every day you finish a stage,  you have immediately  get yourself ready for the next day. The first thing you think about is recovering from the day. Right away we tried to have a recovery drink with in 15 minutes of crossing the finish line.  I really like Hammer Nutrition Recoverite.

Perservering through bad weather

Then it was time to change to dry clothes and eat some more. It was not often you felt like eating but it was so important to refuel your body!  Sometimes stages were over 4 hours and we burned so many calories that needed replacing. Who ever thought eating would be hard work!

In the afternoon, it was time to recover the legs! Lots of stretching and yoga poses for the quads, calves and hips.

Inspired by the crowds!

Thanks to my yogini friend Tite of yogarunners, she helped remind me of good leg flushing poses like Sirsasana against the wall,  Sarvangasana on chair and Savasana legs on chair. You can find all these restorative poses and much more at the Yoga Joural website.

As usual, the Pierra Menta is fueled by passion from many volunteers. They put on a great race despite the snow and weather conditions. 2 out of 4  days were bad weather: day 1 and 3.

Seriously we have to race in this???

The worst moment! Stage 3 arrete

Then we were blessed with sun on day 2 and day 4!

 

Beautiful sunshine on the Beaufort landscape

Images from the Beaufort countryside

Each day is all about endurance. You are out there between 3h and even up to 5 hours sometimes.  It was important to be fueled well during these long races. In my water bladder, I would put 1- 2 Nuun tablets.  It adds a nice subtle flavor and also keep the electrolytes balanced to prevent cramping. My favorite flavors are orange-ginger and wild berry! It really is about keeping your legs fresh for the ascents and descents too which can be just as challenging in off piste conditions. Sport Legs too are great for keeping the cramps at bay.  Sometimes the stages feel never-ending and going on forever- Hence Hammer Nutrition Perpetuum is a great fuel for any endurance efforts over two hours. The flavor Cafe Latte is a great way to start the morning! This year we got a head start on the trail running season too!

It's never over til it's over! Running to finish on last day!

Our goals were to finish the race in one piece, get stronger each day (1st 2 days in 7th place and last 2 days in 6th place) and to have fun! We achieved all these goals!

All Smiles at Finish!

 

Pierra Menta 2011- 7th Place Overall

 

 

P…..Perserverance

I………..Intensity

E………Endurance

R…………….Race

R…………Recover

A……….Amazing

 

M……………Mental

E………………….Eat

N………………..Nap

T………………Team

A…………..Again??

 

 

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A Rainbow of Recovery

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011

A Rainbow over Les Drus

Rainbows:

I think just about every little girl loves rainbows, who doesn’t? And seeing one is even better. Have you ever found the pot of gold at the end?   I am still searching, but it sure is a fun journey trying to find it, the journey being the best part. As an artist, an interesting color palatte goes hand in hand with the mood, just as in chromotherapy.

The Color Wheel of the Mind

Dr Suess, who I can proudly say went to my alma matter, Dartmouth College,  has a great children’s book called, My Many Colored Days

 

My Many Colored Days- By Dr Seuss

 

which I often read to my own children and we talk about having blue days, pink days and green days and even gray days. My favorite days are PINK!

Returning to rainbows, and every girls dream…and arcing a little from the post….now- a -days kids are  collecting Bakugan and Silly Bands.In fact Anders in nuts about any little collection in a special box, whether it is rocks or beads or just little things. Back in the 80′s, when I was a little girl,  we collected  Friendship Pins and Stickers. A blast to the past….Lisa Frank stickers. I still have most of my sticker collection to this day.

 

Epitome of a Classic Lisa Frank unicorn sticker

 

Return:  It is never easy to juggle working, and looking after the boys.

They are working on their "Range-ing" Skills

A huge thanks to Michael who did a great job of caring for the boys while out straight working while I was away. I got home late friday night from Italy, left my mountain of gear in the entry way and enjoyed a welcome home from my boys.

Welcome home!

Then we did some serious “range-ing” in french to arrange.  Or, as we sing in the clean up song…”Put it away, put it away, put it away now! ” I really don’t think there will ever be a time any time soon where I won’t be at odds with putting things away, whether it is dishes, legos, laundry, gear and now the new favorite…tiny plastic pearls.

Yes! These are very tiny and all over! But very fun!

Really the list is endless…so I have decided to embrace all aspects of tidying. I may not have the tidiest house in the neighborhood. BUT, it is a house full of life, energy, and movement. What more can I say. I have been known to call on the Secours from time to time. But for now, range-ing is my friend.

We also did some celebrating for A's 5th Birthday!

What else did we do on Return? Had a Birthday Party!  Sang Happy Birthday in French and English! Ate birthday cake!  Hunted  for treasures! Danced to disco music with a pack of lil 4 and 5 year olds.

Race: What? Really? Another race after a week of racing???  You’ve got to be kidding?

 

Start of Run in Run and Skate

 

Saturday morning on a whim…“Do you want to be a mixed team for the Run and Skate?”, I asked Damien Voulliamoz a young talented athlete from Chamonix who keeps saying he will soon try skimo racing .”Why not,” he said. ” I am not in great shape, but I will do it for fun.” Fun was for sure the objective. It was in my own backyard, with friends around. I had done this race t a couple years ago and won the womens catagory with a friend from CMBM running club . So, I signed us up. Sunday morning we did not have to go far to the start! The last races I drove 7 hours to get to  and this was less than 7 minutes! Perfect! The runners set off and less than an hour later Damien finished the 12km winter trail run in first! Luckily I was well warmed up when he tagged me for the relay, and I set off on my 2 x 9km loops remembering how to glide on my skate skis.  I love skate skiing and try to go out a handful of times in the winter for recovery workouts. Believe me, this was no recovery workout!  I enjoyed being in the lead for awhile until a few men started to pass me when I got to the Desert blanche. I managed to hold onto the mix team lead and even better we came 2nd in the overall team catagory out of 52 teams with some tough competition in the top 20.

1st place Mix team- Run and Skate- 2nd Team overall

It was super fun, a pleasure to race with Damien, future recruit for Chamonix Ski Alpinisme and great to have local friends around to enjoy the event! You can find the full results on the Chamonix Club des Sports site.

 

Run and Skate Article in Dauphine

Run and Skate Article in Dauphine

Link to article on Run and Skate: in Endurance-Mag.com

Recovery: What are the best ways to recover from a hard week of racing? Rest, Ice Baths, Massage, yoga, Stretching and sleep.

Rainbow of Recovery

For me also,  spending time with my boys who are on vacation.

Ski Day

 

Ski Day!

Well, that is not exactly recovery, but active recovery which is very important too!   They never slow down. We hit the ski slopes in the sunshine and also hit the thermal baths in Switzerland and our favorite place, the UCI cycling center for some BMX riding.

The lil BMX'er

 

French National Team Member Catching Some Air!

 

Recharge: Recharging the batteries for the next races…as the season is just getting underway. Even though its March, there is a solid 2 months of racing left. The next World Cup race,  The Marmotta Trophy, is just around the corner on March 6th in Italy.

Course Profile Marmotta World Cup

And then the Pierra Menta….not too far off.

 

So the journey to find the end of the rainbow continues….

 

Keep Chasing Rainbows

 

 

 

 

 

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World Cup Ski Mountaineering 2010 season wrap up by Michael Silitch

Monday, May 10th, 2010

Nina at World's in Andorra.

Nina finished the World Cup ski mountaineering season totally psyched. Last year, she was burnt out by the end, but this year she wants to keep on going.

7th place overall in the final World Cup rankings and winning World Cup prize money probably helps a bit. Nina was strong throughout the season, and although wanted to peak better for World Championships, right in the middle of the season, felt a little flat then. However, she did make 10th place in the Team Race in Worlds. Some other highlights were finishing the Pierra Menta, with her teammate, Lyndsay Meyer, for the third year in a row. While this year, it wasn’t a world cup event, it still had the same world cup crowd, so 9th overall and one day in 7th felt pretty good. Nina posted an 8th place in the French National Championships, individual race. Considering France, Italy and Switzerland are at the tip top of the sport, I say “chapeau” or hats off to my wife.

Nina (lower right "USA") at the start of the Grand Beal World Cup in France with two Swiss girls in red behind her left shoulder.

In the end she had 26 race days for the 2010 season and in her 3 year World Cup career has racked up 17 World Cup starts and 7 World Cup top tens and two World Championships selections with a top ten in Andorra Worlds 2010.

Nina winning the Cenise Bargy skimo/xc skate/skimo race with our two sons Birken and Anders sharing in the celebration.

Her favorite win of the season was a regional race, the Cenise Bargy which is essentionally a ski mo/xc biathlon, starting with a leg of ski mountaineering racing (800 meters of climbing then a 500 m descent), then you switch to nordic skating equipment for a 3 km skate, then finishing with a skimo (500 m up and 500m down). The start was right through the narrow main street of the little village.

Team USA, Lyndsay, Nina and Mona stopping the clock at 9h52m in Verbier, after leaving Zermatt at midnight. The Patrouille des Glaciers is the most famous ski mo race of them all and traces the Haute Route.

Her last race of the season was a pretty good one too. The Patrouille des Glaciers starts in the middle of the night on mainstreet Zermatt and after crossing numerous passes and valleys, finishes in Verbier, some 4000 meters of climbing later and over 54 horizontal kms (that’s well over 125 kms if you had a bicycle computer). She and her two teammates, Monique Merril of adventure racing fame, and long time race partner, Lyndsay Meyer finished 4 th overall in the World Cup division and stopped the clock at 9 hours 52 minutes!

Julie, Nina, and Lyndsay sporting their Chamonix Ski Alpinisme Race suits.

Another great memory of the season was starting a ski mountaineering race club here in Chamonix, France. Can you believe Chamonix didn’t have a ski mo club? We couldn’t and approached the town and Chamonix Sports Club. They whole heartedly supported the idea, and with Nina as vice president, we forged ahead. Check us out at: www.chamonixskialpinisme.com

Nina is already eager to keep training for next year and is taking an “easy” month, without structured training, but still some, ski tours, mountain bike races, running, swimming and strength. June will be back to the sceduled training and then getting specific (roller skiing, glacier skiing and specific strength). Thanks for following us this season. If you have any questions on ski mountaineering racing, please feel free to email.

All the best for a fun summer of training! michael@high-alpine.com

And a big thanks to all her sponsors! Especially the nordic ones, such as SWIX poles!!!!!

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Trail des Aiguilles Rouges

Sunday, September 27th, 2009

Course details: 51km/ 31 miles

Ascent: 3361 meters/ 11, 027 feet
Descent: 3602/ 11, 817 feet
taken from my Suunto t6c

There is something special about racing the trails in your own backyard. Often you don’t have to set your alarm for quite as early, but for this race that was not the case. The 5 am start meant that I woke with the French bread makers at 3 am. Yup. It brought me back to the middle of the night feedings when the boys were babies, however with night feedings you could always go back to sleep.


We were looking at running in 2hrs of darkness but my Petzl Ultra belt lit the way for me (as well as those runners who were in front.) Most people raced with Petzl tikkas but I wanted to be sure to have a good path as the course was super technical, riddled with roots, rocks and pine needles then in sections scrambling up slabs and across streams. The evening thunderstorm the night prior gave the whole course an additional slickness which was a real challenge. I took a couple nasty diggers, pushing the envelope a bit too much on the downhill, one while crossing a stream and slipping on a slick rock. The worst crash was when I fell into a “cascade” small waterfall in a stream. I felt a firm hand on my arm pulling me up out of the river. I later learned that this kind souls’ name was Lionel. Other runners stampeded by like a herd of wildebeests. For a moment I thought I was done in for the race, smashing up my knee and rolling my ankle but after a few minutes and a good adrenyline rush, I forged on.

It is amazing how much concentration it takes to run downhill. You really have to train your muscles and mind, focusing on having “soft” knees and visualizing stable footing, engaging your core muscles for support. If you loose concentration for even a second, you could be toast. Needless to say this course had 11, 620 feet of descent. Yes, the thighs were screaming at the end and still are as I write this race report.

Somewhere along the course I looked at my watch at 4hrs and thought, hmm if I was doing a marathon I would be finished by now. I was almost half way through this one. I managed to fuel efficiently with Hammer Nutrition Perpetuum combined with the occasional blueberry pompegranate Gu Chomps; Endurolytes and Sport legs helped with electrolyte loss and cramping- though my legs did threaten to cramp a few times, and I just tried to visualize them being long and light. I tried to be efficient as well at the aid stations and take the time I needed to refill my Nathan water carrier and my bottle for Perpetuum. I went with the multi hour bottle of Perpetuum which would last 4 hrs. The Nathan Women’s Intensity running vest was awesome. Super light- carried what I needed and so comfortable!

Managing your digestion and blatter is always a challenge on a long course. That sounds crazy but true. When you are out there for 9 hrs you have to pee at some point or else you are dehydrated and could suffer in other ways. I was pleased that I managed to pee 3 times on the course, trying to discretely find a large boulder or tree to duck behind. I was a little short on water as I did not fill up as I should have at the 2nd aid station. I took some water from a fast running stream up high..and did not treat it. This would be a huge taboo in my book of outdoor education and hopefully the giardia microbes will not come to haunt me in 10 days!

While filling up with water, I managed to drop my Ipod shuffle in the stream; if any of you were wondering….they are somewhat waterproof….and it managed to keep me movin’ through the remainder of the course. I would put songs that got me going on repeat…maybe even 4 times up a big hill. It really helped and I did not have listen to the sloshing of the water in the pack or the rustling of the number on my shirt. I love that mini! Thanks WCC! It keeps me movin’ and groovin’ especially on the long runs.

The weather was actually a perfect temperature. I was never too cold or too hot. In the morning it drizzled lightly with rain to make it even more interesting, rain and darkness, but it was quite refreshing. I had Skins Capri’s and also Skin’s arm bands. The arm bands were great as I could just slide them down when I got hot or pull them up when cooling off. I had a Wild Roses technical tee shirt with a handy zip pocket in the rear for gels etc. Stashed in my Nathan Intensity pack I had a super lightweight Wild Roses wind proof, lightweight gloves and a Buff. On my feet I had Asics 2130 Trail shoes and Smartwool Womens Phd Trail running crews. On my wrist I had a Suunto T6c to help monitor HR and ascent. Leki lightweight Carbon poles to get me up and down the hills. And of course a Bondi Band to keep the hair back and sweat away!




Here were my cheerleaders at the end! They finished strong with me around the lake!





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