Here comes US Champs

Oh the past two weeks has been really nice for me. Coming off of sickness in Canmore, I was very excited to head to the Midwest to spend some time with Sarah's family for Christmas. But I won't get ahead of myself because before we left for the Midwest, Sarah and I got to hang out in Banff and Canmore for a couple extra days thanks to my great friend Chandra Crawford. She hooked us up with a place to stay in Canmore and in Banff, two places which I would highly recommend visiting someday. We stayed at her house in Canmore and then Chateau Lake Louise the next night.

Christmas time in Minnesota was great. Comfy, happy, and really just a great place to train and reset the body from the 1st period of World Cup racing.

I headed back to Colorado and then onto visit my mom and her her side of the family in Fort Collins. It is also so nice to be around my family this time of the year. My aunt from Montana comes and my world-traveling uncle sneaks in some good time to make it to Fort Collins every year. I love hanging out with them and my Nana makes some mean cranberry pudding. And hanging out with my mom is always a special time for me.

Then into the mountains where I didn't unpack and just kept the same duffle for my races here in Soldier's Hollow, Utah where our National Championships are being held this season. We have a great house and a great group of skiers who are ready to get down to business at these races.

I am excited as well for these races. I'm excited to see ow my sprinting will have turned out after much intensity and altitude training over the years. I am hoping to win at least me of the races here this year, but who knows how things will turn out.

I am also very hopeful on making the World Championships team come late February. Right now my points put me right on the edge of making it. Again, we'll see...

I hope my next post brings good news. Ill check in soon. Hopefully with some more pictures!

Best,
Sylvan

The Last World Cups

Hey all.

My last world cups of the first period were this weekend. To say the least, they were a learning experience. I got sick last week and tried to get healthy all week. I mostly did, and took a shot at the weekend races, skipping out on the 15km classic on Thursday. My movements were good, but my body was not.

I had to drop from the 30km classic after 2 laps. Only the second time I have ever done that. Hard, but I couldn't dig a hole any deeper.

I'm now on the road to recovery hoping to have some good races in Utah at US Nationals.

Hopefully get back into the classroom quite a bit in January and February too!

As a last note I really felt the hurt of the recent Newtown, CT shootings. After spending much time in an elementary school and having a mother-in-law that is also an elementary school teacher, I really affected me. All my weekend efforts went to those who lost their lives. It was the least I felt I could do.

S

The First World Cups

We have just finished the first two weeks of World Cup racing in Sweden and Finland. For most of the time we have been above the Arctic Circle, but it hasn't been as cold as you might think it could be. Both locations we have skied at in Gallivare, Sweden and Kuusamo, Finland haven't gotten below 0, but it has been close.

My results here I think are not very exemplary of my best skiing. Whether it is the pressure I have put on myself to ski well or whether my fitness truly isn't where I want it to be, I am not skiing as fast as I would like to. Not to mention I froze my toe today, so its as tender as a well-cooked pork loin. Starting to turn some colors = not good.

We now head to Quebec for some sprints next to parliament and then to Canmore for the last World Cups of Period 1. In order to get back to the World Cup I will have to race my way through the season gaining points on our national circuit. I am looking forward to racing again in the US. I have been feeling a little out of whack over here.

National Team members Andy Newell and Skylar Davis. I'm the meat of the sammy.

Turns out I made the cover of BNS Magazine. Cool.

Starting the first race of the season.

Andy, me, and Simi supporting Movember efforts.

Simi and I were prime media workers. The US ladies were a historic 3rd place in the team relay.

We got to go to a school in Muonio, Finland and talk with the local kids about being ski racers. It was a great experience and I got to sign some cards, hats, and foreheads...

 

World Cup Warmups

Life in Muonio, Finland is dark. The sun comes up at 10am and down around 3:30pm. But the races here have been a great warm-up for my first World Cup races this coming season.

We have raced for 3 days straight now and it has been pretty exciting stuff. I had my best result yesterday in 29th in the skate race. The  field here is much deeper than in the US and we have team from almost 30 different nations. Its super fun and nice the the weather has been holding up so well above the arctic circle.

More to come. Internet is so sporadic up here and I am nervous I won't even get this post up. I will be in Gallivare, Sweden for the first World Cup race in a week. I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Wedding, Football, and World Cup Prep

Immediately from Canmore I flew to my cousin's wedding in Hudson, WI. My cousin, Bjørn Selander, is a very accomplished cyclist who road raced for the LiveStrong U-23 team for 2 years and then rode for RadioShack for another year. He was injured last year and didn't have the results he wanted but will be competing again next year. His wife Heidi is awesome and can't wait to spend some time with them in the near future.

After the wedding my family and I headed straight to Green Bay, WI for a Packer game. It was so great to be at Lambeau Field again and especially with my family. We tailgates from 8:30 - noon and had a fantastic time at the game. Some pictures are below.

I am back home now for 9 more days until I travel to Europe for my first World Cup races of the season. Trying to get everything together before I leave between my skis, house, and yard.

I have kind of finalized my sponsors for the year with ITA headlining them all! It's always this time of year when I realize how important ITA is to me in terms of how it allows me to grow as an athlete much more than I used to be able to. I still train the same, maybe a little more than I did three years ago, but it is ITA's assistance that allows me to focus more on my training and less on how I can afford it. It makes a truck repair seem like another small ordeal where it used to be a check in the mail from my mom. Without ITA I honestly don't think I would be where I am. I have never been able to focus as much as I had as last year and I can't wait for this upcoming year!

Hope all is well and that our ITA family on the east coast is safe and well from the bothersome, Sandy!

Also Movember just started. If you want to donate $5 to helping create awareness for prostate and testicular cancer check out our team page:

http://mobro.co/sylvan

S



It is always this time of year

Canmore, Alberta

I have been having a great time here in Canmore after a week if training, friends, and new sights to see. The facilities at this venue are more amazing than anything I've ever seen in all of North America. It has been snowing on and off during the couple days that I've been here which is quite nice as it sounds as if usually it snows this time of year and then usually goes away.

I have been focusing my time here on volume training on snow and getting my "ski" feet underneath me. It has been truly great to be skiing with both the US and Canadian national teams here in Canmore. The World Cup races I will be racing during December will be here and so I have been doing some training on them with bikes and on foot.

Life is great here. I got hooked up with a free place to stay because of a good friend, Chandra Crawford and didn't have to rent a car. Coming to a place as beautiful as this when you don't have to empty your pockets is quite the treat so I have been taking it in as much as possible.

I went on a run this morning with some of the members of the Alberta World Cup Academy team this morning followed by another 1.5 hour skate ski. It was a great time and I was able to hang out with them in a way I often don't because we are competitors, but that just comes with the territory.

Below are some shots of the running race I participated in a couple of days ago with results here: http://zone4.ca/results.asp?ID=5097&cat=31

And another picture of my good friend Simi and I with the theme mascot of the Frozen Thunder, which is the name of the 2k loop I have been skiing for the past couple of days.

Hope all is well at home and HI to my 4th graders at RSES!!!

S

Lake Placid Wrap Up

The past two weeks I have been in Lake Placid, New York put on by the US Ski Team. They have run this camp for the past 5-6 years and is always well attended. It gives people like me a chance to do some workouts with the top athletes in the country. This training I believe, helps improve my "threshold" in many aspects but mostly my predicted progression threshold. Many times training in Vail, I often think I am "maxing out" because most of my training partners are quite younger than I am. I get a taste of what my top speed or top level of fitness is, or could be, at these camps.

We had a great camp though with 7 intensity sessions in 12 days there. This is another great aspect of the camp for myself and any other athlete who spends most of their training time at 8000ft of altitude. It's no secret that it is harder to recover and develop fast twitch muscle movement at altitude. Lake Placid gives us a chance to make fast movement faster and more precise.

At last and biggest of all was our big rollerski race of the year, Climb to the Castle. Below is a recap I did from it with some links to actual race recap along with a few pictures:


"Perhaps the hardest intensity session occurred on Saturday. It is called Climb to the Castle and it is a race the climbs just short of 2000 feet from the start to finish. This year I would say that SSCV had the most success, arguably, out of any other club attending. We had Tad who won the Overall, me who won the Senior Division, and Ryan who won the U-23 Divison. We were all in the Top-10 as well. Our PG's also had a very impressive showing in their first climb. Results tell their story. Impressive.

Results: http://blogs.fasterskier.com/insidetrack/2012/09/15/elliott-takes-mens-climb-to-the-castle/

You can read about the climb here: http://blogs.fasterskier.com/insidetrack/2012/09/15/elliott-takes-mens-climb-to-the-castle/

We have been able to take advantage of some very good training here and look forward to returning to Vail to keep it rolling right into the season.

For me personally, it is really cool having teammates out here to train with. I also think it is so cool that Max, Christian, Cal, and Tony are out here doing the same thing. It will make them so much faster and it is really just a cool experience to be out here."

Hope this finds everyone well and am excited to report progress on my school placement as I will be in the classroom for the next 3 weeks.

S

The Interim

The past two weeks has been quite the time for me. Readjusting to altitude, readjusting to rollerskiing (and not running), and getting a chance to catch up on some work before I head to Lake Placid, which is conveniently, tomorrow.

It took a couple days for me to get used to the altitude. For a second there it was almost a little discouraging but it had been awhile since I had last had to adjust to altitude with staying fit at the top of my priority list. Last week was filled with good rollerskiing and some new strength that made it hard to get out of bed in the morning.

Last weekend was filled with fun. Long runs, hikes, bikes, weddings, and Oktoberfest! Two of my best buddies, their significant others, Sarah, and I had a blast living up all of it.

This past week felt much better in terms of training for me. Getting back on my feet with a couple of more days of altitude under my belt and getting some good workouts in before this coming week's workout with the US Ski Team and other fast hombres!

It is the reason I return every year to this camp. To learn from others and to keep pushing each other in a way that will help our men become some of the fastest in the world. This is the best way to get better in my belief.

Below are some pictures from this past two weeks events! Enjoy!

S