Kris Freeman

Recovery from surgery has gone well for Kris - really without a hitch. However, it’s a long road back from a very invasive fasciectomy, and Kris is just starting to introduce some load-bearing exercise to his legs. He’s been on several double-pole sessions on rollerskis without any setbacks, and is slowly introducing other more ski-specific work. In the meantime he’s been training good volume swimming, paddling, cycling, using a double-pole ergometer, and doing his rehab work in the gym. In terms of general fitness there will be no set-backs.

We all learned a great deal this past season and there are some really substantial changes to Kris’s preparation for the coming season. A major overhaul of skate technique is on the way, focusing on better muscular economy and energy management during race efforts. The structure of his training has changed to focus more on shorter load and recovery cycles, and building the tools to develop and support optimal race efforts. There has never been an issue with fitness, and the focus this year moves beyond fitness to race preparation and execution.

These changes are evolutionary - based on a growing understanding of what it takes for Kris to be a podium contender on the right day. We’ve got a lot of confidence in the equation that has emerged. Over time this website has been a way to support Kris’s efforts. By sharing his commitment with the public we’ve reinforced a mutual belief in the chosen path. We’ve built confidence through the telling of a story. This weblog has served multiple purposes, with it’s first purpose being to reinforce the strength of belief behind Kris’s efforts. It’s no longer necessary. Kris knows what he is doing - he doesn’t need to be convinced. And there is a subtlety to the approach now that, frankly, is likely to be lost on most readers. So we’re not going to be talking much about specifics on here anymore. There is a plan. The goal is clear and the path is clear. Kris is building a sense of inevitability. And that’s about all there is to say about that!

Kris is bored. As far as I can tell he’s been spending a fair amount of time on the phone. It surfaced, in one of several conversations we’ve had (so far) today, that my number is on speed-dial. Not surprising, considering how frequently we talk. I’m number 9 on Kris’s speed dial.

Number 9 ???!?

OK - the phone probably has number 1 pre-set to voicemail. Julie must be number 2, and his mom must be number 3. Who the hell are 4,5,6,7&8? Kris claims that number 9 is actually a really good number - you know - corner position and all. I think he’s backpedalling like crazy.

Kris had surgery this morning. I’ve talked with him a couple of times on the phone, and it’s been comical. Between the dwindling effects of anaesthesia, the first dose of heavy duty pain medication, and his third cup of post-surgical coffee he’s been fairly hyperactive and nonsensical. All things told it sound (as far as I can tell) as though things went well. They found extensive scarring in his anterior compartments, apparently providing an immediate explanation for at least part of his condition. They released everything available to release, but I don’t know exactly what that means, and neither does Kris. The cross-fade from anaesthesia to caffeine and oxycontin has put Kris in the mood to climb on an airplane and get back over to Europe for the Trondheim 50K. Or maybe, on second thought - the Vasaloppet - that’s pretty much a double-pole race, right? His HR was 28 during surgery, and responded to the first two cups of coffee and consciousness by climbing all the way up to 35. He’s fit, and he’s about to be really bored. 8 days until Julie arrives to keep him company (or whatever).

The website was down there for a bit, but we’re back now. It would be nice to pretend that all the web traffic after the 15K crashed the server, but that’s not the case. The host got changed and I screwed up the nameserver something or other. Managed to lose some content along the way as well (if anybody has any saved copies of the missing reports please send them to me!). Anyway, it’s a multi-purpose title as it works for Kris as well. He’s back in a pretty big way, and at just the right time to hit his major race goal of the season. Full Post »

Well, it wasn’t a good day at the races for Kris. His fitness appeared to be right where we expected, but the combination of an average (not better) fitness day a raging blizzard, and a crash in the first 200 meters made for some frustration. Full Post »

Kris is in La Clusaz with Justin Wadsworth and Oleg Ragila as his support staff. The crew made it onto their Zurich flight from Helsinki without too many problems after I last saw them on Monday. They got ushered through security and onto the plane, and even got their bags on the other end. A short run that afternoon was all the training that Kris took, but Tuesday and Wednesday were solid training days with perfect endless extra blue skiing right out the hotel door. Wednesday evening Kris took the cargo van to Zurich to trade some coaches - drop off Pete and Randy and pick-up Justin and Oleg. A night at the hotel there, and a drive from Zurich to La Clusaz this morning. Tomorrow he’ll test skis and do a little light speed, and Saturday is a mass-start 30K.

As of now it’s dumping down heavy moist snow. The forecast is for more continuous snowfall at temps of about +1C right through the period, cooling to 0 or even just below after a period of very heavy snow early friday night, but then continuing with snow all day Saturday. Could be a real slugfest!

Expectations for Kris are somewhat muted this weekend. He’s in France to race, and every start is an opportunity. But the focus is on energy management and being ready for Davos.

Our delay in Rovaniemi was nice while it lasted, but it meant a late night - arriving at the hotel in Helsinki at about 1:30AM. Grover had an early flight and was out the door before 5:30 (though I have only the vaguest recollection of him leaving the room). The rest of us were scheduled to catch a 7:00 AM shuttle for flights at 8:45 (me, toward home) and 8:55 (the rest of the crew, headed toward Davos). At breakfast Kris told me that his sugar had gone low again on the airplane ride to Helsinki - down to about 50. He took some sugar and turned down the dose some more. He slept on 0.3 units/hour and sugar went down overnight again. His insulin sensitivity increased a huge amount over the course of the day yesterday, such that his basal dose is now about 40% of what it was the night before the race. This adjustment isn’t unexpected - travel tends to reduce sensitivity, and he has been expecting it to improve. But the rate of change was incredibly high, and the fact that it fell on a race day (when the dosing strategy is one of a ramping-up of basal insulin prior to a large increase in the dose right before the race) obscured the rate of change. Kris should be fine now.

If there was any chance of running low blood sugar this morning that was obliterated when we got to the airport and the crew realized that their flight was at 7:55, not 8:55. Adrenaline causes Kris’s body to release sugar into the blood (as it does to everybody, presumably). I left them hurrying through check-in at about 7:20 to go check into my own flight. Hopefully they made it.

Hard travel and short sleep is far from ideal on a race trip. Blood sugar difficulty on top of that is super stressful. Kris is planning to run for an hour when they arrive in Davos this afternoon. From there he’ll travel to La Cluzas on Thursday for a mass-start 30K skate race on Saturday. Expectation is for Kris to be able to ski comfortably in the pack. We’d like to see him work toward the top-ten during the last ten K. I don’t expect that he’ll have the gears to contest a sprint, and we’ll all be satisfied this week with a very strong 29K. For now, all eyes are on Davos for the next chance at a great performance. Given the challenges of the last 24 hours that’s the most reasonable expectation.

Kris was 16th (tied) today in Kuusamo. It’s not the result he was looking for, but it’s quite respectable for a basically pedestrian day. He set the race up perfectly - was running right near 10th place, and definitely within striking distance, for the first 10 K. These 15K races tend to break open in the last 5, and Kris headed the wrong direction. Not badly - he could have dropped way back - in the past he’s lose close to a minute in the last 5. It wasn’t a bad day at all. But instead of moving up from 10th he moved back. Full Post »

All of us Americans in Kuusamo seem peripherally aware that it’s Thanksgiving today. Happy Thanksgiving! Kris celebrated with about a six K pace session. This is a little harder than the easy activation intervals he’s been doing, but it’s also his first on-snow classic intensity of the season, and it’s a good idea to feel the tough Kuusamo course at pace.

The pace session went well. It’s hard to know what to look for - there were people all over the course, and a lot of them were doing their own intensity sessions today. Kris went by some of them, and a few came by him - mostly Russians doing 30 second sprints. With so many people moving so many different speeds it’s hard to say anything in relative terms. In absolute terms - comparing Kris to Kris - I would say that he was solid and energetic. He was a gear short of what’s required for a podium, but then, it’s Thursday before a Sunday race. We’ll see on Sunday!

The picture above is from Gallivare. It’s one of about five pictures I’ve taken over here. My intentions are good - I have been meaning to take a lot of pictures. But anything that’s not a priority tends to get pushed aside here. Maybe I’ll remember my camera during the races on the weekend.

Kris was 20th today in the World Cup opener in Gallivare. It is (by his calculation) his best-ever points race in a 15K individual start skate. He started 30 seconds ahead of Marcus Hellner who turned out to be a (big) surprise winner. Marcus caught Kris at about 4K and Kris followed him to about 1K from the end when Marcus put down a huge move to pick-up about five seconds on Piller Cotrer for the win. Full Post »