Dussledorf to Davos to Mini tour Rossland

Dussledorf to Davos to Mini tour Rossland

There was allot of exciting moments the last few weeks and some ups and downs skiing related and others not skiing related. We traveled to Dusseldorf anticipating a fairly short travel form Finland.

(Plenty of snow in Davos)

Arriving a day later and with no bags was not ideal. The weather was a bit of a shock as well. -10 and every other time i have raced here it has been no cold then +5. The racing went well i was 0.4 sec form qualifying so close. The team sprint was exciting as normal and it looked as Lenny and i would make it threw till a collision on my last lap cost us the positioning we needed. We slowly start to pick up or bags one at a time traveling from Dusseldorf to Davos.


I was so happy to get to davos amazing skiing/food/accom and sunshine to boot. I was all set for a good classic race and a new sprint course that suited me well. The body thought other Wise still not sure what happened. I ended the week a very upset skier. After skiing well for three weeks it was a hard one to swallow. So i had to re-group quickly and focus a a huge task at hand.


Since or two sprint boys made a quali standard in davos it was down to one last spot the win in rossland BC sprint on Friday. So a solid travel home and a quick turn over in canmore before i knew it we where skiing amongst good friends that i have not seen in a while on the Canadian circuit. I was staying with George and his family which was perfect to catch up on some sleep and relax just get back to normal life. The racing for me was perfect i had amazing skis and a the body was able to push. I won the skate sprint which gets me to Oslo World champs.


Big goal achieved wow that was intense day. Then next part of the mini tour was for me racing to get my self in better shape for Oslo. I skied really well in the skate race, and i had an awesome day in the classic part to catch the leaders and have a classic battle with my friend George Grey right to the line.


With me out sprinting him that was fun and exciting. I am home now and excited to enjoy the holidays. Merry xmas to all have fun and enjoy some egg nog!!

Rovaniemi/Kuusamo

Rovaniemi to Kuusamo

The travel to europe was pretty exciting this year as the team was a full quota team. We Started off in Ostersund for a few days of easy training. Then we moved to our favourite early season spot Bruks. The snow was average this year but it still means brighter days and we could ski 3 hours no problem.

( George and Ivan and I training at Sunshine , fun little photo )

I took part in both races on out first weekend there. Saturday was a skate sprint and sunday was a 15km skate ( which i was going to use as a training work out)The Skate sprint i felt a bit slugish but started to feel better after the first quarter but i didnt get to go through as it got pretty tight and i got tangled up with another swede.


Then team then split into distance and Sprinters. The Distance dudes went up to the start of the World cup in gallivare and we sprinters went to rovaniemi for a Classic sprint and 10km classic. Perfect i thought. Rovaniemi was a lot of fun, we celebrated two birthdays and had a awesome house to chill at and the skiing was not bad. We enjoyed a few self cooked meals, as the finish buffet is not allways up to par.

( lenny and Crawfords Bday )

The team got back together in Kuusamo for out first mini tour starting with one of my favoutire races the classic sprint. Followed by a 10km classic and a 15km skate ( which i did not do) The sprint went fairly well 4 seconds back of the winner in the prologue. I Had a good heat going, but i strugled with the fresh snow up the last hill. Coming in last30th was ok, I came out of that day with good confidence that the shape is right where it needs to be. The 10km classic went allright. We are now heading to Dusseldorf for a mutch awaited skate sprint and team sprint.

(The Brightest part of the day)

PC Life

PC life


We have been in Park City now for just around three weeks. For most of us this has been a first visit to PC for a training camp. I must say this is an awesome place to live or visit.


Training here has been amazing and over the last 3 weeks we have almost never done the same trail run or roller ski twice. We have hit Soldier Hollow a few times to get in some hard intensity sessions. Doing intensity at Soldier hollow is extremely hard because we have a great group here to push each other and because it also has an elevation of 1700 meters.

The camp has gone fantastic for me and really enjoyed this new venue for altitude training. The team has also had some good times goofing around playing some doubles tennis under the lights. Our team seems to also enjoy growing out the moustaches when we are at these long camps.


(notice Kershaw went with growing his hair out over growing a moustache)


One of out last intensity session we did a Team sprint relay. That was great way to end the camp with a competitive sprint like that. I was teamed up with Kikkan and we battled it out against George and Dasha. It was a close finish but we got the win. Before we started the sprint event i spat out that the winner had to buy the beer that night. So that evening there was Kokanee on ice for the whole team as we enjoyed one of our last nights before heading back to canmore.

The Team after a solid 2hr uphill ski.

New Zealand at it's best

New Zealand at it's best

Well another long travel day back home and i am a little shocked how fast this trip down under went. I really enjoy the NZ camp because of the skiing and small possibility to going surfing. Although this time the surf was not happening with only just over two week camp was just not going to happen :(


We had some amazing weather, for any body that has been at the farm knows how quickly things can go sour. We had a few days where we headed down for a run or had to change plans. For those other days we had some amazing weather and some interesting monopoly games to pass the time.


We also participated in the local NZ races where the stakes where high for some of us, from one of my team mates Devon Kershaw i won a tasty 6 pack for his stellar win in the 15km classic.


I tryed to do the same in the sprint the next day but just had enough jam to take third. The American team was down there at the same time which was awesome to train and hang with them as well. Now it's back to summer i hope in Canmore and some recovery to enjoy as well.

First Training camp of the year Bend,Oregon USA

First Training camp of the year Bend,Oregon USA




The first training camp of the year is behind us. It was great to go to a new place with our team ready to really get the ball rollin. We didn't have the greatest weather but we made sure we had a lot of fun.



Bend is a super cool place you can do so much from your door. Amazing skiing,climbing at smith rocks,Biking,running, The ocean is only 3 hours away, Fishing is fantastic too.



We did some workouts with the USA team which was allot of fun some serious work outs on ski's or roller ski's and some fun work out to which included a USA vs Canada soccer match, we lost unfortunately. There will be revenge i hope this summer. We are back in canmore now chilling out for the most part.



We have our next camp coming around very quickly which is the very tough yo-yo camp where we run in and out of the glacier over a 3 1/2 week period.

Post Olympics, Drammen and now Oslo Bound

Post Olympics, Drammen and now Oslo Bound

Well I still cant believe that the Olympics have gone by so fast, it was so exciting to watch Canada do so well at home, and of course to see x-country rock it!!! I came home for a short stay in Canmore, I got some much needed sleep and enjoyed some very important relaxing time too. Then 4 days later I was off to Norway for the last couple world cup sprints 1-drammen classic 2-Oslo Skate.



I was really excited for Drammen it's super hard sprint to qualify in because Norway can enter roughly 20-22 skiers. which makes the top 30 pretty hard. I was confident after qualifying 7th in canmore, 10th at the Olympics. But it was not the case. I am not to sure what happend here, but i struggle again to find any sort of groove and didnt make the top thirty. I have to shake this one off after qualifying for all my world cup races this year. It doesnt always go your way over here and it's time to focus on the next sprint. I have a couple days to get ready for the Oslo skate sprint on the new course at Holmenkollen park. I am super pumped for this new course and to giver on some skating ski's. Some of the boys will be racing the 50km on Saturday and i will put my focus on the skate sprint.

After all that i will head straight to whitehorse to take part in our National Championships. I hope to be able to make the first race it will be tight with connections and ski's arriving on time.

Olympic's OH YA

Olympics OH YA

Well we are almost half way through the Olympics and it has been absolutely amazing.
I Came to Vancouver/Whistler on the 13th fully focused on the sprint which was happening on 17th. I had a few good days of training with beautiful sunshine which is Little unusual, but i definitely am enjoying it. I was Testing ski's a few days before and i must admit i was a little more nervous then any other race i have been in. Seeing the green Olympics rings hanging over the stadium and all the Canadian flags and fans it is pretty amazing.



On the 17th i got my focus on and ran the day as usual, in the qualifier the talk was about the down hill how fast and icy it was. All i could think is great another place i can make up some time. I qualified in 10th which was unreal and i was so pumped. Now my goal is to move through the quarters to the semi's and then hopefully the A final. I was matched up with the fast qualifier which i was pumped about. Game plan follow him to the line and be in top two at the finish.



I was skiing great in third place for the most part of the race. I skied the down hill at the half way point really well and i was moving into second when the Russian skied right into me bumping me to the next lane.( that was a little rougher then expected but it's sprinting) Then we really gaver over the last hill and into the finish. I was in 4th going into the finishing stretch and then we began the frantic double finish, this time i felt super strong. I ended up making some ground up and past one skier moving me into 3rd spot just coming short of 1-2 place. I was lucky loser for a while, till one of the last heats came in with a blistering time too, which ended up knocking me out by 1 second. OH so close to moving on. But for me i skied just like i wanted and that is all i can ask for.



I was 15th for the day which is the best ever result for a Canadian Man in a sprint at the Olympics. So i was really pumped about that. And that i was able to add a good result for our team to keep the ball rolling as Ivan started all of us off on the right foot the first day. I was able to enjoy the evening with my Family and friends and fans in the Whistler village enjoying the atmoshpere which was awesomeness!!!!!

Pre-Olympic world Cups at home!!!!

Pre-Olympic world Cups at home!!!!

How much better does it get then racing against the best in the world at home as a tune up for the Big event. I was super pumped to see canmore full of skiers and ski fans. And this new idea with putting down a ski track down main street what i great idea.



I was excited to have the world cup at home. My final race before the Olympics and everything for me went super well. The weather was unbelievable, skiing with my friends from other nations could only keep saying how amazing of a place canmore is and how lucky we are to live and train here. How right they are.



Friday was the first event a 15km skate which is not even close to an event that i can compete at on the world cup level. I decided to sit that one out and concentrate on my event the Classic sprint. The boys did well and gave us a great start to the weekend.



Saturday cam rolling around fast and i was pumped up for a real classic course and i knew that my shape has come up to a the level i need to be competitive. The prologue was perfectly skied and i crossed the line in 7th for the day. I was amazed but also told my self Finely this is where you belong amongst the top 10 in sprints. In the heat i took it out my normal pace, getting the whole shot was nothing new to me so i kept cruising like i was skiing the prologue again. Coming up the last hill i could feel two guys pull up beside me, which was perfect if i could sneak behind one or two of them in the downhill and get the draft would really give me a good shot a moving through this heat. It all went so well down the hill getting my sling shot coming to the last 100meter mark in first. But these guys just kicked it up a small notch more then me and i lost out in moving on by 0.2 seconds. OUCH. Well at the end of the day i was super excited about my prologue, and i know what i need to work on a few small tweaks will be done for my race on the 17th of Feb. I cant wait i am ready!!!!

Great article by Calgary Herald

Great article by the Calgary Herald

Cut and past this into your address bar

http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/2010wintergames/Kuhn+Olympic+dream+really+cooking+following+comeback/2525782/story.html

CTV up date

CTV up date

Check out this article
Thanks to CTV

Just copy and paste into your address bar.

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/cross-country-skiing/news/newsid=28443.html#from+chef+olympian+kuhns+comeback

Final Prep

Final Prep

I have Been home for almost a full week. The travel home went well and i received all my bags and was super excited to see my wife and sleep in my own bed again. The trip to Estonia was very good. I had a great race in the classic sprint with a super strong field. I qualified 28th and then ended the day in 29th. I had a few tactical errors through the race but felt strong in the heat. That is sprinting for you i may have felt strong but with some pore decisions and a small tangle up near the finish i went from finishing in the top 20 to 29th really quickly.

Now It's time to relax get over jet leg. After that it's volume time. Which will be fun we have a couple small camps planned in Kananaskis which is an amazing ski park and doing this with the Olympic team is going to be great bonding and allot of fun.

A couple days ago we named the Canadian Team officially. It was really exciting for me and it was the first time i felt that the Games where around the corner and i had goose bumps as i was introduced and put the Official Hudson Bay Olympic jacket on.

I am super pumped for the world cups in Feb5-6th in Canmore to happen. I love the new sprint course which really flows great with my strengths so will see what we can achieve. Hope to see ya on the trails there.

Otepaa

Otepaa

I have finally arrived in Otepaa and i was so pumped to see my ski bag and duffel bag come out on the carousel.

Sun is coming up super low through the day

I started my travels from Calgary going to Quebec for some Nor-am racing. The racing was awesome with some good weather always changing in Quebec you never now what to expect. The racing went well for me i was 2nd in the skate sprint, and i won the classic 15km. We went out for a drink later that night to watch and cheer on the world junior team with some tasty cold beer but unfortunately they lost to the USA.

View from the house to the ski stadium

I was quite happy with how the weekend went. I then flew my way across the pond to Frankfurt and drove up to Oberwiesenthal for some OPA racing. The roads where not good and i also didn't get my duffel till 5hrs later and no sign of ski bag, so i had to head to the races with no ski's which was not a good start.

Checking out some estonia'n jumpers

I borrowed some ski's on the skate sprint day from Andy Newell, but my body was no where near the shape i was last weekend due to some days off and stressful times with the airlines. The second day was a classic race where i went on a 2nd pair from the Aussie team , but again the body was not quite there. So it was back to Frankfurt hoping to see my ski bag. Getting to the counter of air Canada and then seeing them look like it was tuff to find on the computer made me nervous, but in the end they had it and i got on my flight to Tallin Estonia with a big smile and an overwhelming feeling of wanting to ski.

Skiing Otepaa

I was pumped to go training this morning. I went for amazing 3hr ski and it has not felt so good to put my own ski's and poles on. i can only think this will be a good sign for some good racing on the World Cup this weekend here.