chris klebl .: www.chrisklebl.com :.

Sweden wrapup

Posted on February 7th, 2009

after a long, long bus ride through repetitive countryside we finally arrived in Solleftea from Vuokatti. there was more snow here than in Finland and it has snowed most days this week so the snow situation has been pretty good. the courses here have been challenging and yesterday in the sprint i had some ski problems in the semi finals.
today’s 15k race went better, i raced hard and according to my plan and came in 3rd. off to medal ceremonies now

15k world champs

Posted on January 26th, 2009

4th place today. I raced well, but not fast enough. The course is challenging and will be the same for the 10k on Thursday.
Hopefully I can solve the mystery of my ringing left ear tomorrow as it is really annoying, and I can’t hear very well. It’s not infected. More when I have more time

Switzerland

Posted on January 21st, 2009

a week ago all my gear was finally packed, my car was dropped at the dealer for more repairs and i was in an airport shuttle off to SLC. travel was smooth, double cappucinos in the Lufthansa lounge complemented my shower nicely and i was on my last flight to Zurich. once i was checked into my hotel and had enough stuff unpacked to work out and i had enjoyed a complementary bottle of mineral water which happened to have a capricorn logo on it

i dragged my jetlagged self into the hotel gym for an hour workout. in retrospect it was a great idea, although at the time i was seriously concerned i might drop the weights on my head since my coordination was seriously lacking from the travel.
the next morning i was back to the airport to catch the first of two trains to Goms. train one had lots of room

and i could have also gotten wireless access for the 3 hour ride but instead downloaded data from my heart rate monitor, enjoyed a sandwich and an espresso and enjoyed the views


switching trains involved going from a semi high speed commuter train to a narrower gauge mountain train and a distance of about 500m. the thing is that these ski trips involve me bringing a ton of gear. i’ll try to get a picture of the pile in a couple of days. fortunately the swiss train system had some guys with an ATV and a trailer next to the train and since i only had 10 minutes to connect they helped quite a bit by driving my gear to the other train. i’d probably still be there if i had to move it by hand.
the second train was less plush and the doors to the tiny cars were so small that i sat in the entryway for the 1hr ride up the valley. just about everyone on the train had luggage and skis so there was quite a bit of jostling, but i still managed to snap some pictures.


since the ski trails run the length of most of the valley and the train stops quite a bit i was able to see how good the snow was and i was getting very excited to get out and move.

it turns out that the first day was the only day so far with sunshine because it has been snowing every day since. i can’t complain as this is what i see when i open the door to the studio i am staying in.


tomorrow will be my last day here and the prediction is for sunshine. so i will try to snap some pictures of the rest of the valley as it has been shrouded in clouds up till now.
friday i head to finland. 2 trains, 2 planes and a bus.

my 7 days in Alaska

Posted on January 7th, 2009

Day 1 - skiing, very cold
Day 2 - skiing, very cold
Day 3 - skiing, very, very cold
Day 4 - gym, too cold to ski
Day 5 - ski race
Day 6 - gym, too cold to ski
Day 7 - gym, too cold to ski

not exactly as planned. 2 feet of fresh snow, sun and warm temps at home. i’m ready to go.

too cold again

Posted on January 6th, 2009

this is starting to get a little old. we were supposed to race first today, we got to the venue, ready to race when they sent us back to our hotel. all the other races got pushed back…and pushed back and i’m not sure how many actually happened but our race start option was 4:15pm, at which point it is dark, so our race for today was canceled. it is supposed to be slightly warmer tomorrow. so we will likely race, not sure if it will be distance or a sprint, though.
here are some more toasty warm pictures from yesterday. toasty and warm…
i’m off to the hotel gym for weights and then will do some laps around the indoor mall to get some cardio in. another 36 hours and i’ll be heading home.

9th title

Posted on January 5th, 2009

we finally raced today. i couldn’t have scripted it much better. i skipped breakfast and slept in, which was awesome. i therefore felt very rested when i woke up which is always a good thing. our start was at 3:15pm, which was also great as i really like late starts. so i ate and got all my gear ready to drive to the race site. it was going to be the coldest race i’d ever raced as the temerature was legal for the earlier race starts, at 1pm, but i figured it would be likely at or below -4F by the time we went off. i tested my 2 fastest skis from the last couple of days and warmed up enough to be ready, but not sweaty. then as seems to be a habit of mine i headed quickly to the start as my start time was 4 seconds away. and off i went. i reeled in everyone and passed them by the middle of the second lap, there were four and then just hammered. my skis were quite fast, nothing is ever really fast and snow this cold, and maintained good technique all the way to the line. the best part of the race for me was the confirmation that my training is right on track. every year the first race at nationals is a nailbiter for me, because i am always somewhat clueless about how well prepared i am. i guess i can relax a little now and just focus on skiing fast.
there is another 10k tomorrow and then the sprint on wednesday.
oh, the caveman facial hair is there only to keep my face warm. mom, i am not growing a beard.
more pictures tomorrow, i need to ice and go to bed.

waiting game

Posted on January 4th, 2009

today was supposed to be the makeup of yesterday’s canceled sprint race. it got canceled today as well, since it was again too cold. fortunately the organizers were more proactive today and since i have skied in the freezing cold the last 3 days and not enjoyed it much, today i opted to go to the Anchorage YMCA and lift some weights and hopped on the rowing ergometer. it was nice to sweat a little. hopefully it will be warm enough to race tomorrow, as we will now have 3 race days back to back. 10k, sprint, then 15k. then home to much warmer, much sunnier Utah for a week. i might take a few pictures while i am here if i am ever warm enough.

race postponed…it’s too cold

Posted on January 3rd, 2009

the sprint race scheduled for today was postponed till tomorrow, as it was too cold today. the cutoff is -20C(-4F) and it was -7 or -8F. so they moved the race to tomorrow. some people think it will actually be colder tomorrow. we have of course been out training, but yeah, it’s really cold.

chilly

Posted on January 3rd, 2009

it’s hard to imagine that i was out skiing today again for 2 hours while it was -24 to -21 C. conversations are kept to a minimum and people don’t stop moving for long. tomorrow maybe a sprint race. or it might be moved to the following day as the temperature is technically not supposed to be below -18C to race, for health reasons. while the scenery is often breathtaking and the ski trails are quite nice, it is hard to imagine what it would be like to live here with these cold temperatures for long periods of time. sure, it was light outside for 5 hours today and i have noticed that the ambient light is quite bright here, as opposed to Finland for example, but it does appear to be quite a harsh environment. i’m hoping to get some pictures, it’s just hard to remain still long enough to actually take them.

New Year

Posted on January 1st, 2009

Yesterday i arrived in Anchorage for the US National Championships. the scenery during the landing was quite amazing, snowcapped peaks as far as i could see, and we enjoyed an extended 3hr sunset. after 2 days of warm weather, fast snow and great training in heber i was almost ready to embrace the frigid temperatures and lack of daylight. it was still a shock this morning to be skiing in -20C(-5F) on super slow abrasive snow. our race courses are good and the wintery scenery is quite spectacular. i’m not sure i could handle it for a whole winter though.
i recently got an icing machine to help speed recovery between training sessions and after 3 hrs outside chilling my arms and shoulder caused me to be shivering quite a bit before i got in my hot shower, but i have learned over the past month that the icing makes a huge difference so i endured the 30 minutes of pulsating cold and thoroughly enjoyed the dinner once i had warmed up.
tomorrow will be more ski testing and then on saturday the racing begins. hopefully i’ll see a moose, from a distance. more to come…