Nordic Combined Canada

I am sitting in the hostel in Lillehammer, thinking about all the things that I have done to get me to where I am. All the steps that I have taken to get me to where I am now. How every minute has lead me to this point, every choice has brought me to this seat overlooking the railway tracks listening to the people around me speak a language that I have no idea how to even figure out. Its amazing to think that over 11 years ago I had finished a multi-sport camp at COP (Canada Olympic Park) and thought that Ski Jumping was the best sport out there. Little did I know that Nordic Combined was waiting for me just around the corner. The rest is as they say…”history”.

I think the same way about this season, how everything that I have done has helped me get to the point where I am getting ready for the “big” race of the year. Where I am preparing myself to get up in front of millions of viewers and do what I love most, jumping far and skiing fast. This season has been the best one that I have seen from myself. I have produced results that I knew but didnt know the I could do, I have skied faster and jumped farther then ever and have been in a way better”spot” to train and compete from. While the results on a global standpoint are nothing to look at,  from my stand point they are something, and something to build upon. My racing this season has felt like it has been really up and down, sometimes I have felt like I could not ski any faster and time when I felt as though I could not go any slower. That is racing though, you cannot be skiing fast all of the time. Jumping has been going well also, with way more quality and focus I have been able to improve my jumping this winter more then any other I can think of. It has been a huge mental boost to know that I have the talent to continue to improve on that side of things. All of those good things have helped me to get to where I am now. Every race, every painful day of training has brought me to this train station hostel where I am getting ready for the “big show”. All the hard work has paid off and I can now just enjoy what is to come.

I am starting to get really excited about the racing in Oslo. Not nervous, just excited. There is no pressure, no weight, I just need to go out and do what I enjoy. The hardest part is over now, and all I have left to do is just enjoy the racing and learn the stresses that an athlete is under during a high pressure event. It is just another step to take that will get me to where I want to be.

I know it is cliche and its all been said before, but this post describes how I have felt about where I was, am and going. The steps that I have taken to get to this train station are more then just the ones that got me out of the tunnel under the track, but have been a little more metaphorical. Right now I am on a new one, and I can only hope that all the next ones are as exciting and thrilling as the ones that I have already climbed.

I would also like to announce that the Nordic Combined Canada team has a new sponsor. CEP compression wear has decided to help us along our way, and I cannot thank them enough. Their product is by far the best in quality and function. I have never put on a pair of compression sock that come close to the fit and function of the CEP sock. I would recommended these to anyone and everyone. For more information go to their website: http://www.cepsocks.com/ or comment on this blog posting.

Carpe Diem

Wesley Savill

When I started this season, my primary goal was making the World Championships Qualification criteria (40 continental cup points or 1 world cup point). I knew that my best shot of making that criteria was through the continental cup circuit(and I was right, I had my worst event on my one world cup chance). From June the plan had been to do the racing in North America and Klingenthal and Harrachov which meant that I had 8 races in 4 stops to make the criteria. So from the beginning I had planned to get at least 5 points a race(26th), however after Park City I found myself a little short of my projections, and in need of a few extra points(5 to be exact). After my first race in Klingenthal I was down another 5 points, and feeling really down on the whole situation, not really sure what to think about it. Now though things are back on the rails and looking better with my 17th place finish in the Sunday race in Klingenthal. It wasn’t really until the last up hill that I made any significant gains either, being in 28th with roughly 1-1.5 Km left in the ski was not the best thing. I just rolled my eyes back into my head and gav’er the last time up, and that was it. Passing 8 skiers on one climb is something that I have never done before, as I past one and then another I just kept getting stronger and stronger. It was the most pain I have ever been in, but it was worth it. Then coming out of the downhill I was able to pass another skier and holdoff all of the skiers that I had worked so hard to pass until the end. It was my best result of the season, my best time rank and the most that I have ever skied up in a race. This was still two places shy of my best result ever though, kind of disappointed, such is life though.

So now I am in Harrachov, which is in the north part of the Czech Republic. We had a chance to jump today, and I am pretty excited to be skiing here. It is a smaller k90, which will mean that it is a little easier, so it will favour the faster skiers. It has a really low flying curve, and that is something that is quite a bit different from a lot of the hills that I have been jumping this year. That will make for a good opportunity to learn a few new things on the hill. Hopefully I can move forward with that. I think that after Klingenthal, my jumping is my biggest crux. (for now). As well we were able to throw down some pre-racing intervals, on some really fun cross country ski trails today. Perhaps some of the most fun that I have had while skiing this year. The intensity was great!!! I had really good feeling to go, my legs had lots to give, and I was feeling really strong. I am really pumped to head into this weekends racing, cause I am feeling fit.

It turned out to be a wicked week for the Ski Jumpers. In Sapporo, Japan Mackenzie was able to score some really valuable and tough to come by World Cup points. A feat that is very difficult in a sport that is so tight. Congrats, that is wicked. Yukon was also skiing in the Sapporo World Cup, and had a really good result. As well when Yukon and Eric where in Korea they were able to throw down some fantastic results there. Fantastic skiing all around. The Women’s Special Jumping team were in Baunlage, Germany scoring their first career points, good stuff. This whole time the Juniors were in Ischpaming, Michigan killing it at North American Junior Championships. Sebastian laid the hurt on during the Nordic Combined event, having the fastest time by over 90 seconds, and Chanon winning the Special Jumping events. Also notable was Dusty’s 2^nd place and Bobby’s 4^th place results.

Luv you too

Last weekends event was my lowest quality skiing that I have performed in competition and I am not sure whether I should be disappointed that it happened in a World Cup. It is in the past now and I need to take what I can from it and move forward to the next thing, the next event, the next challenge.  So here I am in Klingenthal Germany, and after a few really good days on the jump hill and good fitness I am ready to get after a good event. I feel as though I am really close to a good day!

It seems as though it will be team North America here, with the two teams working closely with each other, sharing what we have. It is a really positive energy and I think that every athelete here is really looking forward to a solid event.

This week is CANfund awareness week, and they have asked us to promote the CANfund. They are an organization that has supported hundreds of athletes, and have received their highest amount of applicants ever. 600 athletes have applied for this grant this go around and it is their goal to give it to as many as possible. For more information visit their website: http://canadianathletesnow.ca/

With official training tomorrow, and racing of Saturday and Sunday, this is going to be an exciting weekend!! I have heard that this will be a popular event, and I can’t wait for the intensity.

Carpe Diem

Life seems to have found a way to level out after the fairly heck-tick and relaxing break over the holidays (not too sure if that makes any sense !?!?).  It was really nice to have a chance to head home over Christmas, but I am really excited about being back in the saddle and priming for racing again. It seems like yesterday I was getting back from Park City and looking forward to the break, funny how that works. I say Situation: normal, but it seems as racing season is anything but “normal” there are always problems and situations that have to be dealt with, some larger then others. Take now for example, I am Jet lagged, it was -9 yesterday and now it’s pouring rain, and the internet is being problematic. I guess it wouldn’t be Europe or a racing season if these kinds of things weren’t happening. At the least I am not sick, I am motivated and all my bags showed up at the same airport I did. What else does a skier really need?

Right now I am in Schonach Germany, preparing for my first World Cup race of the season. I am really excited to be competing at the highest level possible, and am not nervous at all and do not feel the “need” to get results. I feel I am here for experience and a really good race, and maybe score a point or two if I ski fast enough. I am feeling relaxed and calm, ready to ski relaxed and strong, and if that can happen then I know that the results will come. Unfortunately though there is a team event here, and I am solo so it will only be one race for me, however I will get a chance to watch a World Cup live. That is something that I do not get the opportunity to do very often.

The hill in Schonach was rebuilt this summer and I was able to jump yesterday. I did not like the way the old hill skied at all, and I am very happy with the changes that were made. The old jump had a very short and sharp curve to the inrun which made it difficult to maintain a proper inrun position, and a very short take-off making it tough to nail the timing on the end of the jump. These two problems were fixed this summer as well as a re-profile of the landing hill, and I am very happy with the way that the new hill skis. I am excited to compete on the new hill, and I think that i have a good chance to do well in the jumping portion of the event. The race course this year is the same as it was last year, which means it will be a painful race. There is long climbs and fast twisty descents, which will make for a tough slog of a race. I cant wait.

It seems as though all of Canada is getting ready for competition. The Special Jumping team had Official Training in Sapporo Japan yesterday, with Mackenize Boyd-Clowes jumping into the top 10, and Eric Mitchell in the top 30. I am really pumped to see how they do tomorrow, they have been jumping so well over the past couple weeks, I hope that they will kill it. The Junior team is in Ischpaming Minnesota right now getting ready for North American Junior championships, and Sebastien was skiing really fast before we left. I am looking forward to seeing his results from that, they should be fast. As well Mini and Alex will have a chance to get in some really good racing and Dusty and Bobby will hopefully kill it on the special jumping end of things. This is going to be an exciting weekend for Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined, keep your eyes out for some good Canadian results. I can feel it.

As I get ready for a wet a sloppy day, I am looking forward to the days to come. It should be fun to play in the Slush and perhaps maybe even enjoy a little of the liquid sunshine. It’s time for plan B: Giv’r (that may have been the plan the whole time though)

Wesley Savill

After a few technical difficulties I am able to get back to you all with my thoughts and feelings of the 1st period of my winter racing season.

I was very nervous heading into these races, with the need to score points and not having scored in any races in over a year and a half I was very weary of my ability to perform. As it turned out all these worries were pointless and destructive preventing me from feeling free and relaxed. I was relived of this fear after the first race, coming in 26th and scoring a valuable 5 points. With this weight off my shoulders I was able to free my mind and body and prepare for the races to come.

The first events in Steamboat Springs Colorado were a good way to get the lead out and start busting the rust out of the legs. They were very intense races with more craziness and excitement then I have ever before been a part of. The jump hill is a much easier hill and that means the start of the race will be tight and action packed. In the first race I found myself just off the back of the main group but well within striking distance. It is amazing how a narrow course with lots of skiers on a tight course can create big packs and intense races. In the first race the pack was about 10 skiers and I hung off the back and didn’t ski an aggressive race at all, the second race was even tighter with the front skier in 5th and the skier at the back was in 25th with me racing in the thick of it. I skied aggressively with need and grit, however this aggression cost me valuable time and spots on the 3rd lap when another aggressive Austrian passed a little too close and tripped me up which caused  a little tumble in the snow. I have never seen more broken poles, crashes or heard of more skis falling off(two separate incidences), the course was narrow and tough with tight corners and tight skiers. Very exciting, Scott Johnstone (Head Coach) says that the race on Sunday was “one of the most exciting races I have seen in a long time”.

The Park City races were a little less exciting and I perhaps didn’t ski as well as maybe I could have. I felt really good during training and then during the jumping competitions I thought I had a good jump, and looking back at the videos technically pretty clean. That is the frustrating part, when you feel as though things are going well and they don’t. At least the skiing went well. I was able to put down a good feeling race on the Saturday and on Sunday I was able to at least push through and ski a decent race. So I can be happy with that, but a couple more points out of the weekend would have been nice, and made the next few races a little less stressful. Such is life though and now I need to prepare myself for the next few races.

After that two weeks of racing I am feeling just a little down, and am looking forward to Christmas. It will be nice to have a chance to relax and enjoy a bit of time with the family and to myself. This is the life of an athlete and I wouldn’t change it for the world. It is always exciting to start the season, and get the racing underway. I will never get used to the start of the season, and I will always look forward to it. I am hoping that I can take these results and move forward.

Carpe Diem

Sorry for talking a great long time to get this blog rollin again, life has just been pretty crazy!!. Between glacier camps, school and early season skiing there hasn’t been too much time to update the fans. My apologies

Much has happened since my last post. I have been on two glacier camps, a trip to Park City and back, and fantastic early season training in Canmore. Not only have I been training, but I have also been working on finishing my first university course, Biol235 (Human Anatomy and Physiology). This course was very stressful, but thankfully I was able to compete it in time for this upcoming season. It was a huge relief to pass and move on with the course.

The glacier camps were very beneficial, making the transition between roller skiing and skiing on snow very easy and the time on snow is invaluable. Also it is so nice to ski on snow rather then having to run or roller ski.

I have been very fortunate this fall to have been able to use the Elms house in Canmore, to get in the best possible training. It is very difficult in Calgary to get in quality training between summer training and winter training. In Canmore though the training is really good, and it has given me a huge boost of confidence coming into the season.

We have just finished our first time trial of the season, not quite the confidence booster I was hoping for. It is however the first effort of the winter so I am not to concerned about the feeling. I am excited to see how this will carry forward into the racing season.

We are preparing for our last session in Park City tomorrow, then it is off to Steamboat for the first events of the season. I am very excited to compete in Steamboat, it has been a very long time since I have jumped or raced there. I have always had good luck skiing there, and hopefully I can keep good feelings.

The season is just around the corner, Off to the races!!!

Carpe Diem

After last weekends performance in Oberstdorf, I arrived in Oberwiesenthal with a huge urge to put together an event that I can feel good about, and build from coming into the final stretch of the summer training season. Which at the time seemed a pretty tall order, since I didn’t really leave Oberstdorf feeling I had accomplished much. One good jump and a couple of races that either finished strong(until I got pulled) or started strong(until I took a dive through some thistles), I wasn’t feeling 100% confident in myself.

After the events in Oberstdorf Scott and I moved onto Klingenthal, a jump only an hour away from Oberwiesenthal with one of the best hills for me to be jumping. It forces you to fly and punishes your mistakes, something that I really need. I was not feeling strong however and the jumps were not flowing and improving but becoming more tense and stagnant then before. It took a lot of mental patience and strength to tell myself to jump and commit, and it felt like I needed something more then that. So I put the jump sessions behind me and turned my focus to Oberwiesenthal, a hill I have never jumped in a place that I have never been. I was confident however that I could jump closer to my ability on a smaller and less intimidating hill.

The event was given in a little different format this go around, where we had the official train in the morning on Friday, and the first event that same evening. It made for a stressful day, between preparing for the official training and then having to de-tune from that only to have to build up enough again to have a solid competition. It most likely didn’t help that it was raining all day, and didn’t look like it was going to let up anytime soon. The jumping portion wasn’t quite there on Friday and I didn’t put myself into a very good position for the race, which was frustrating and nerve racking because I was really looking forward to finally having an event that I can be proud of. After the jumping though it was not to be, and the race then became an opportunity to build on the success that I had been having from the previous races leading up to Friday. The weather had decided that it was not going to cooperate and started spitting rain from the end of the jumping event and progressively getting harder and harder until it got to the point were you can’t think it can get any worse, then it does. So wet, cold and ready to race fast I took to the event ready to perform. I started the race in decent fashion, but after the first lap found myself fighting to stay afloat and watching the group that I wanted to ski with pull further and further away, it was not going to be my day. So I toughed it out in the ever worsening rain and cold, navigating 180 degree corners onto rough cobblestone,the feeling though was starting to get stronger and stronger. After I finished the race I knew that I had more to give on the course and was ready for Saturday.

Saturday was what I would consider to be my best World Cup level competition that I have ever had. The jumping event was what I would think would be the norm anywhere that there are wind turbines within 5Km of a ski jump. Inconsistency and gusts prevented the jury from having the most fair event but I think that TD Joe Lamb and his crew did a very good job with what they had to work with, it may not have been perfect but they were able to hold a safe and mostly fair competition. My jump on the other hand did not go as smooth, I made a few adjustments with my inrun and a few other changes for the better but all of that was not important since I watched the take-off slide beneath me missing it by a few meters. Frustrating as it was I was still able to jump 87 meters, and far enough to not be in the wave start and put myself in a much better position to ski from. During the warm up I didn’t feel like I had the day before, the intensity wasn’t there and the body was starting to feel sluggish and slow, but I wasn’t going to let that take me away from building yet again on the racing that I had been doing. The start of the race feeling much better then I had thought, feeling much smoother and free then I had in any race this summer. So I building on that feeling, racing confident and aggressive passing skiers and racing with a group rather then skiing in ”no-mans” land, finishing with a race that I know that I gave everything I had leaving nothing out there. So I am happy with the event on Saturday, but am disappointed that I didn’t have a jump to call home about leaving little doubt in my mind that I can continue to build and improve.

I can leave the competitions feeling much more confidence then I had before, and am ready to enter the rest of the summer with a renewed vigor and intensity, happy that I am more ready I was before. One of my bigger goals of these Grand Prix events was putting together an event that I can look back on and think that I could not have done any better, I could have not done one thing different to make it a better event. I think though that I will always be chasing this idea of the prefect event, one where I have my best jump and my fastest ski. Maybe it is just not possible, there will always be something that I look back on and think that I could have done differently could have changed and I just need to start focusing on going out every day and performing at the best of my ability and in time the results will come. Then there will be one day that comes along when the stars are aligned in my favour and I am able to put together my ”perfect” event.

Thanks

Wesley Savill

Hi,

My name is Wesley Savill, and this is my Blog.

The Nordic Combined is a very difficult sport, combining the quick twitch explosion of the Ski Jumping and the endurance and power of the Cross Country skiing. I requires a very special athlete to be able to succeed at the top level. Not only is it extremely physically demanding but the combination of the two is very mentally straining as well.

Carole (Scott’s Wife/team nutritionist) suggested to me before leaving on this trip to Grand Prix that I read a few books on sports psychology, so on the reading list is Thinking Body, Dancing Mind. TaoSports for extraordinary performance (Chungliang Al Hung, Jerry Lynch, Bantam books, 1994), a book on mental fortitude and the ability to perform at your best. It has provided a lot of incite into the inner workings of something that in the past has not received a lot of development. I looked forward to introducing some of the ideas that I have learned into my training and competition routines.

This past week in Oberstdorf was my first opportunity to test out some of my new mental preparations. The results however expected are very good to see. I was very happy with how quickly I was able to adapt to a hill that I have never jumped before, an then progress with my jumping just another little step forward. So carrying these newfound skills into the competition I had a renewed sense of confidence and prowess that I had not experienced in all my years of competing.

The first event was the perfect opportunity to test my mental strength when arriving to the hill with the winds starting to swirl, and having had the opportunity to watch this all day. I was able to get past my typical mental blocks and get to the top of the hill in a much better mental position to jump and perform(not that it mattered though since they ended up using the provisional jump from the day before). The ski was one thing that I was very nervous for, the race was very difficult from the getgo since I have not had a race that I have been at all happy with. It started much the same as all the races this summer before, slow, weak and lacking tempo, however at lap 3(of 6) I was able to find a little rhythm and strength. This was a very good feeling to have, and gave me a lot of confidence for the rest of the race but two laps later I was lapped by the leader and forced to pull out. This didn’t phase me though

The Sunday was a little different day, after a better jump and a little luck from the wind gods I found myself at the start line in a better place to ski from. So in preparation for this ski I made a few changes to the warm up, and mental attitude to help me do a little better then the day before. It started really well, feeling good and ready to ski, but three-quarters through the first lap I lost my balance going round a corner and flew off the side of the track off a little roll and through some thistles. Not what I would call the best race strategy, but I found the strength to pick myself up off the ground and finish the race. Not the best day I have ever had, but I learned a lot about myself and the mental and physical strength that is required.

The events in Oberstdorf have taught me how to better play the mental game, the mental strength that I need to perform better. I am very happy with what I have learned so far and am looking forward to taking these techniques and taking them to the next level. I hope that these new techniques will continue to develop and mold me into a much more mentally fit athlete and continue to improve my skiing as it has this past weekend.

Thanks,

Wesley Savill

Ps. I understand that this is a week old, I have just been having a few technical problems

Janaury 1, 2010 at World Cup Nordic Combined

Val di Fiemme, Italy

“we did the hill climb today.
6200m of flats, 2800 m of climbing, 500m vertical, 30% grade, should I say more?

It was the toughest race that I have ever done. They started us off on a modified version of the XC race course, then they made us ski 3 k to the bottom of a ski area before we started up the bottom of a downhill race course. We had to race up the course, and do switch backs, but instead of going up during the switchbacks they would go straight across the hill, and then make us go up again. I think the best way to describe it would be to say that I had to race up a blue ski run, as hard as I could. Very hard!”

Wesley Savill

Val diFiemme