Improve Your Health in Just Days!

Published: Wed Apr 09, 2008 2:00 AM MDT

The Alaska Winter Olympian Foundation is holding a free ski clinic for all ages and abilities.

The fun will include:

- Ski lessons by the best skiers in Anchorage
- Games
- Poster signings
- Slideshow of the 2007/2008 ski season

When: April 12th, 10:30-12:30

Where: Hilltop Chalet on Abbott Road in Anchorage

Youth skis, boots, and poles will be available on a limited basis. If you have your own equipment, please bring it!

The elite athletes who will be giving lessons and participating in the event include:

Kikkan Randall
James Southam
Taz Mannix
Bart Dengel
Jeff Ellis
Laura Valaas
Kristina Strandberg
Lars Flora

Dr. Jeffrey Demain will present an educational public lecture at 12:30. The lecture is titled “Asthma and the Athlete.” Read the rest of this entry »

Published: Thu Feb 14, 2008 2:00 AM MST

The full New York Times article can be read here.

The piece focuses on the question of whether it is ever too cold to exercise. John W. Castellani, an exercise physiologist at the Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine and lead author of a 2006 position paper from the American College of Sports Medicine on exercising in the cold, provides much of the information in the article. In a nutshell, Dr. Castellani says that the answer is “no” it is never too cold to exercise - while it can most certainly be too hot to exercise.

Of particular interest to competitive skiers is the issue of asthma. Asthma is commonly thought to be exacerbated by extreme cold, and that lungs can be damaged, even frostbit, by the cold.

But, no matter how cold the air is, by the time it reaches your lungs, it is body temperature. And athletically induced asthma is not triggered by the cold - it is the dryness of the air that causes the problems.

Reader Tim Kelley brought up the interesting point that perhaps humidity should be taken into account when determining whether or not it is safe to hold a race. Of course the risk of frostbite is a function of temperature.

One more interesting note is that there is currently no evidence to show that a person can acclimatize to the cold as they can to heat.

Please read the full article before commenting. The above is merely short synopsis of the original piece.

The full New York Times article can be read here. Read the rest of this entry »

Published: Fri Nov 02, 2007 2:00 AM MDT

It didnt totally click for the Norwegian sprinters in Dsseldorf this past weekend. Despite the podium performances, Ulf Morten isnt completely satisfied by the teams efforts.

Uncertainty
We arent satisfied, especially not with Saturday. If you look at the historical results from the opener in Dsseldorf, its better than most years. Of course, it went extremely well last year (Ed.- Norway swept the mens podium in the individual sprint, and took 2nd and 4th in the men's Team Sprint. On the women's side, Norway took 1st and 3rd in the individual event and won the Team Sprint). We have so much talent on our team that we should have showed more than we did, said Ulf Morten Aune to langrenn.com.

He went on to explain the reasons that things didnt go as planned:

After some ski and equipment selection mistakes in the prologue, some uncertainty spread among the racers. We were able to make adjustments by the final, but its a long sprint and we are dependent on having good skis the whole time. Many of the skiers were high up before start and we have to dare to take chances and stay offensive.

Accidents, falls, and broken poles characterized much of the day.

Its small stuff that happens all the time. Of course, we can discuss what constitutes a mistake as opposed to what is a tactical miscalculation. On Sunday we made more correct decisions, although Petter Northug got run into and there isnt too much you can do in that case. Matias Strandvall has to be considered this weekends Texas-racer. As a result, John Kristian Dahl and Petter had to use a lot of energy to catch back up. They ended up not having enough left for the finale, surmises Ulf Morten.

ystein Pettersen out with Asthma
However, the second place by Tor Arne Hetland and Johan Kjlstad still proves that the Norwegians have what it takes to challenge for the win:

- I can guarantee that we will be a force to reckon with later in the season. The current plan is for the skiers to train at home until the end of next week. Dryland and high intensity is on the program. On November 8th, we are starting another camp and we are hoping for snow.

ystein “the Sausage” Pettersen, who was supposed to race the team sprint with Kjlstad in Dsseldorf, was knocked out by asthma.

Im out with asthma problems and its a bummer. I probably shouldnt have competed on Saturday either, Pettersen told langrenn.com.

ystein isnt totally healthy and is planning to skip training the next couple of days. If he takes two days off, or five, it doesnt matter too much. Hes in very good form, concludes the sprint coach Ulf Morten.

Source: Langrenn.com