Please see www.chriswerrell.com for further updates!

www.chriswerrell.com

Summer Thus Far...

So far this summer has been quite a whirlwind (no pun intended) I have been super busy with Family, Training, Work and Coaching...Whew that was a mouthful! But yeah the back has been yo-yo-ing and is so far on the good side! I have to admit I am really enjoying the balancing of life, work and training. Working at Runners Sole has been a blast!, and training has been Great! I just thought I would give a quick update with a longer on to follw shortly!


until later!


C

The "New Balance" to my life

So with training in full swing for the last 6 weeks for me I started working at Runners Sole. While working there I manged to meet Paige who represents New Balance. She offered to send me a pair of "875"'s to try and I was stoked!!!! I put these shoes on and immediately fell in love with them! This Amazing trail shoe has wicked cushioning and is super responsive! It fits my foot like a sock and feels as comfortable as a slipper. I Especially love the flexible forefoot in the shoe, it really gives it a natural feel with every toe off.

Admiring my 875's

Following my love of the 875's, Paige said "Hey! Why don't you give the 1063 a go". Liking the 875 I was actually pretty excited to strap on the new road shoe and give it a burn! So immediatly after getting the shoe; despite just finishing a 1.5 hour zone 2 roller ski I was headed out for a short run...Ok I really like this shoe. Never have I had a shoe feel so natural, as if i was running on a cloud! The 1063 has such a smooth transition from heel to toe with again a softer forefoot to really give a natural feeling toe off! Being a bigger guy with probably the worlds worst running technique....wait judging by the guy who just ran by my window, worlds 2nd worst running technique, This shoe is a cadiallac for cushioning!

Loving the 1063's!!!

I just wanted to fill everyone in on the new gear I have and how much I am loving it! Remember if your ever around Kamloops stop by Runners Sole or get ahold of me and I can hook ya up with a Sick pair of New Balance Shoes!!!

Until next time....Guess who's Back.....


C

Keeping me on track!!

I have recently had New Balance send me a couple pairs of shoes! Thanks Paige!!!!!

New Partner!!!

I would like to welcome a new partner aboard to my team...Keepin' me Keepin' on!

Where am I?

So I am sure that many of you have been wondering where i am and whats going on???? Well I have finally somewhat got my back under control, it is still a factor but I have got to the point where it isn't chronic anymore, keeping my fingers crossed that I can keep it that way!

I have had quite a few people ask me what I am doing next year. Well I am skiing we are now down to 286 days until Whistler 2010. I am lead to believe that the majority of these questions come from the fact that I was not named to the BC ski team. This was totally political. The fact that I left the training center due to the change in coaching staff with the combination of my decision to make the move to Kamloops to start pursuing my career on a part time basis. The funding that I was receiving 2 years ago made it sufficient to survive on. Last year was a struggle and a half. This way I am now looking towards the future in more ways than one! I am currently assembling a team in which I can rely on for coaching and racing support ( and hopefully some funding!) So this is the most important year of my ski career, I am coming into it fresh, with a great attitude and secondary focus! The club here in Kamloops is great! There are a ton of young athletes with a hungry attitude!

Stay tuned for more updates aswell as to my website!


enjoy the sun!

C

Is anybody out there?

Hey....so I have realized that I have gotten zero feedback on the new site (www.chriswerrell.com) so please take a browse and let me know you can contact me right from the site or shoot me an email if you have my private e-mail!!!
Seeing that I am not at nationals I have been checking the results page continuously...anyway feel free to follow my team as well as other Canadian skiers!
www.zone4.ca


until next time!


Chris

UPDATE: .COM

*** So the launch will be tonight we ran into a few problems so expect it later on today sometime!!!***

It's offical point your browser towards www.chriswerrell.com a little later today and the new site should be up and running! enjoy and let me know what you think !!!

C

Westerns...A No Go...

With some discussions with both of my coaches I have decided to forgo Westerns In Canmore due to the fact I just got over a vicious Flu! and have been dealing with my back injury. I can honestly say that I have not ever been that scared during a sickness...I was barely sleeping at night and sleeping all day. It was really tough with a migrane for 2.5 days and a had that felt horrible. The good news is I just have a slight residual sore throat and my energy has not taken to much of a hit. I have also had the chance to get into the Sage Sports Institue in Kamloops here which was great! I am now headed for some more tests and some extensive physio! The doctors have been very thorough, and concerned with this. So from here I will head back to Squamish sometime next week for some final preparations before we head to National Championships in Duntroon, Ontario. Am I excited for this trip?? Yes, I am! I am hoping i can finally get a hold on my injury and finish the year out strong! I went for an easy ski yesterday and it felt so nice to finally get back out on skis again! So some exciting news for me....I guess as well as all of you..I will have my new website up and running possibly as early as the end of today! I will be making minor tweaks to it but I think I have it almost where I want it! anyway I would appreciate lots of feedback and suggestions from everyone about the content, features or whatever you think! Please feel free to let me know if there is something there you would like to see if its not there!

anyway I am going to head out for another ski this morning and see if I can't start to whip myself back into shape!


until next time, Keep em pointed straight!


C

I'm Back!!!!....Again!

So my blogging has been quite bad lately...my apologies! So racing since the world cup has been going ok for me I had a great qualifier in Rossland and a weird set of heats. Tactics were a little weird and played out not to my favor. I almost skied my way into the a-final but missed out in the lunge....but hey thats racing! Sunday's classic race went very good for the first lap before my injury took over...I was skiing very strong and techniquely sound. I felt as though I could really push the uphills and the flats hard and recover fine. I also had a funny crash with Tristan Flock in the lap lane, Thanks Erik for sick skis all weekend! I don't remember the last time I had skis that good in a classic race. After the weekend I took a bit of time to evaluate and realized that the weekend was not that bad at all. I mean obviously its not the exact place I owuld like to be...but it is a stepping stone towards it. I have been in Kamloops training and building some base and working on some speed. I have noticed that my skate starts have been pathetic! So that has been a big focus as well as technique both in skate and classic. From here i head over to Vancouver to do an appearance event then shoot over to Kelowna to join my home club Omineca to race the BC Champs club relays, one of the races I look forward to the most! So like i said I have been building the base and so far have 8 hours this week and have enjoyed every minute of it! I have also been working on re-vamping my website with my aunt so hopefully will have that up soon! anyway I should head for bed training all these hours makes me look so forward to sleep!

Until next time!

C

Again...I have fallen off...

Ok I m headed out for a ski right now...I promise i will have an update by later on today! I realize that I have fallen off the Blog-wagon hard lately (Thank you for pointing it out You-Know-Who! I do need a little jump start sometimes!) it's good for people to keep me in check! so expect it later today!


C

Travel Day

So I missed last night's blogg....big suprise. I raced todays Classic race which went decent...despite tangling with Tristan in the stadium...Glad some spectators had a good laugh I am sure it looked hilarious....anyway we drove back to Osoyoos where I jumped in my car and booked it to Kamloops to spend some time with Shilo!

I will try to update in the next few days with my world cup update and also Rossland!


stay tuned!

C

This Post is For Cameron Egan!

So Cam pointed out I have not been keeping my blogg up to date...So expect an update later this evening....


C

It's On!

It is official I got the phone call a day ago! I have a World Cup start, I will be starting the Classic Sprint on Jan 16th. I am currently spending a few days in Kamloops with Shilo to clear my head and get some Awesome skiing in here! I head back to Squamish on sunday morning for on eof the biggest events of the year, Gunnar Jackson Caldwell's 5th Birthday party!!!! Sorry to announce that everyone can't come, It was hard enough just to get my invitation!!! haha!


We will see ya on the start line...World Cup style!


C

Trials Race #2

Well I am now in Kamloops after an insane drive from Canmore last night! I decided to leave last night due to the weather report. I am glad I did, checking the road report I saw that the shorter route is closed. But I must admit that the drive last night was one of the worst I have had to endure in quite a while! Anyway back to the title of this post....

Yesterday was the 1.7 km Classic sprint/ Qualifying race for the Classic sprint to be held in Whistler on Jan 17. I will give you the play by play of how the day unfolded for me.

Monday....Had pre-race nerves 1 day early...very wierd for me...went about my race prep as usual and came to the decision I was going to double pole the hilly course on skate skis (which only a small handful of us did!)

Tuesday...Woke up and had an amazing coffee!!! (thanks Brian!) headed up to the race site after a meager breakfast (just wasn't feeling the food).
Checked the course and it was a go...Double Pole for sure! did my usual warm up and suprisingly kept quite relaxed. GO TIME! I came off the start relaxed and skiing very big, hit the first hill, shortened my tempo and pushed the corner hard and pushed far over the top....Final climb, Tighened my core and got on top of my poles....hit the top, pushed hard over and into a tuck, rode the downhill and waited for the finish stretch...it came what felt like was way to quickly (thanks Erik and Amy for Dynamite Skis!!!) and was on my toes to the finish line....9th place

I went back to the wax room and proceded to Vomit 3 times...in the words of Amy..."That's how you know you have gone hard enough!" I headed back down to Brian and Barbs Place for a short rest, most of which was spent trying to eat half a bagel and lying on the hardwood floor (was actually quite comfy!) Headed back to the race site and decided to switch to striders for the Heats. Dialed in some of the sickest classic skis I have ever raced on, and was set!

First heat...Looked like it was to be quite easy, I took off the line like a rocket 3 strides and I was leading the heat, I relaxed into big double poles, hit the first hill and tucked over the top, Got owned on the big climb, now in 4th, I then realized how good my skis were when I caught right back up to they group. I then rounded the last 180 corner to the approach of the finishing stretch. I tucked longer than the other 3 and then threw on the after burners and cut it close but made 3rd place in my quarter final.

Semi final...Stacked...alot of big names and fast guys, judging by the way i felt in the last heat I can admit I was very nervous...I tried to call on my legs and they weren't there. So it was decided that if I had them to go for it. I started out the same as the previous heat, charging hard off the start and relaxing into a big double pole up front, I also skied the second hill so much better and ddint lose hardly any time! I rounded the corner at the top and was in touch with the group, I hit the finish stretch and GAME ON! Well I tried anyway, it was close we all finished quite close but I was still outside of the top 3, B final for me....Despite being mad as hell I was still happy to see that my body had come back after that embarassing first heat.

B-Final...Started out all of them the same and was out front with Cam on my side. Hit the big hill and...KABOOOOOM! Chris was done for the day, I got dusted so hard on that hill and lost so much time. I did manage to pull some time back on the downhills and flats. The finish stretch I did have a little bit of a finishing kick and came back on 11th place, but still no dice....12th place was the finishing result.


I am not sure if this result is good enough to get me into the World Cup in Whistler, but I think it will be close, I will let you all know if I get in, I imagine that CCC will announce it soon, But then again ya never know. So I have to admit, I am quite disappointed with my weekend, But I am still able to pull out some positives and also found a few things to work on.

Until Next time!!!



C

Comments

Hey so i turned the comments on so anyone can comment on my blog, you no longer have to be a member, so feel free to leave a comment!!!

Trials Day 1!

Well first of all great job to the Omineca Team in Prince George today!!! I just finished looking at their results!

Well today was a day of ups and downs. This mornings Qualifier went at 12:00, 2 hours later due to cold weather. It went quite well for me I came across the line in 13th place, not exactly the number I was looking for but hey! it was better than having those 2 numbers reversed...Anyway it was tight down to 13th, I was 4.97 seconds out of first. A ton of guys skiing fast! Also great job to Thomsen and Jesse who also qualified for open heats in 24th and 26th respectively. So onto the heats!!!! I had a tough heat for my first one with Alex Harvey and Phil Widmer, two extremely strong Sprinters! I cruised through the first heat mostly in 4th position before making my move on the final 180 degree turn before the VERY long finishing stretch. Tucked the hill and challenged Alex and Phil. Round 2 I was now off to! Well this heat was stacked! I ended up with the last lane choice, which translates to the worst one! I pushed out and stayed wide until the first corner where I tangled with Alex and ended up with a gap from the group. I rounded the first right hander and went to close the gap....only thing...I had no gas in the tank, my legs heavy as bricks! so I pushed over the top about 20 feet off the group, Great skis brought me into contact for the 180, then I brought myself to 4th and lost a lunge for 4th. B-final time! I took this one out and cruised in 3rd, now having ultimate confidence in my skis and my finish. I rounded the last corner in 2nd and went for broke!!! I am not sure as of this moment if I ended up 8th or 9th, My awesome friend Cam Egan and I lunged for it. I will update you on it! I think this race is a really good tune up for me for the classic sprint on tuesday! this result today would have probably good enough to get me into the World Cup in Whistler, but was not the qualifier...thats ok though I am really excited for Tuesday now!!! Well thats all to report for now, I will spend the next 2 days playing with Classic skis and possibly toying with the idea of a potential Double pole sprint.....

Until next time...

C

Silver Star Part Deux

First of all HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!

So yesterday went quite well for me. I raced a Nor-Am sprint at Sovereign Lake Nordic club in Vernon. The classical style sprint was interesting, almost all the open men went on skate skis with no grip and double poled the whole 1.1km track.
My qualifier round went very well, I came in 3rd place, just under a second back of first place. This helps with the first round of heats. The higher you qualify, the better positioned you are in heats. I lead the Quarter final and cruised in pretty cushioned. The Semi final I also lead out hard and cruised the last 200 meters, in 3rd, a for sure ticket to the a-final. The worst I could now do was 6th. I started out the A-final on a bad note, a short lane with a boat load of powder at the end, I struggled to try and move into the train but wasted a lot of energy trying to get there, from there I just started to fade a slowly, lost my snap on the gradual uphill and even more on the little steep. From there on I had totally Blown up!!! I was pushing as hard as I could and going absolutely no where!!!!

Me getting extreme leading the Quarter final- Photo: Sam Lindsey

I cruised into 6th place, totally shot. I am satisfied with this result, because I know I can improve on it, I am just missing a small bit of sharpening. Getting sick 2 weeks ago for 8 days I am sure was a little bit of a contribution, But I am coming back strong quite quickly. With trials starting in a couple weeks in Canmore, I am sure I am on track, and things are pointed in the right direction. My coaches are happy with things and that gives me a lot of extra confidence too!!!
I was also lucky enough to have a bit of a cheering section show up to support me!!

Thanks a lot Shy!!! The green toque was totally good luck!

Stringing-out the Quarter final - Photo: Sam Lindsey

Tonight we are suppost to race a 15 km classic starting at 5pm, this will be weather permitting, it is suppost to get quite cold and with a windchill factoring in it could be very brutal!

Until next time!!!
Just Giv’r


C

Season Openers

Well there i go again falling off the Blogging train again...I missed the lead up to the first race...things went pretty smooth and I got to race on some new boards!!!! Exciting!
Well I only raced once this weekend, I was suppost to race the distance race on sunday, but I unfortunately woke up with a sore throat. Luckily enough I ended up kicking it pretty quickly after a day at home. Anyway...all over the map right here...sorry...I raced the sprint which went fairly well for the qualifier. I skied like Bambi on ice, and managed to qualify about 4 seconds out. not a bad start. I executed the course exactly how I wanted to with a strong finish! Unfortunately my team mate Thomsen misjudged his start time and missed his start, its ok though he will be back this weekend to unleash his Northern Fury. Anyway back to me again...I ended up messing up the first heat with a rookie tactical error and went out early, Quite embarassing for me...I spent a fair bit of time de-fusing the situation and figuring out what went wrong and I have a whole new race plan. This weekend will be different, I know I have the speed right now, I just got to get with it in the head to head...No problem... until friday...

Keep Em pointed straight!


C

T-Minus 1 week...

Well I am now down to less than 1 week (exactly 5 days) until I kick off my race season! It will be in Silver star, beginning with a freestyle sprint on saturday and a classic 15km on sunday. We did a team time trial on saturday after a week back of training from being sick and it went well pacing wise as well as skiing wise. I was further off the the leaders than I wanted to be but the feel and use of technique was where I was happy. I know I am no where near at my best and this gives me the confidence going into the race season with trials slated for early January. I will use the first 2 weekends of racing to get back into it and try to execute some of the goals I have laid out and hopefully look like an actual skier again!

I will try to update daily with all the nerves and daily happenings leading into the 2008/2009 race season.

Keep 'em pointed straight!!!!


C