Pioneer Midwest Blogs

Fall Dryland Training Tips w/ Kim Rudd
Over the last thirty-plus years of ski marathon training, I have discovered several key pre-season workout sessions. My training at twenty years of age looked much different than in my fifties. As...

The One Piece of Active Kid Equipment I Bring Everywhere: KidRunner
When our daughter was born I dove deeply into the various active kid gear available on the market. I either own or have used most of the different devices out there. I have always enjoyed being ou...

Working Through Injury
For all my fellow skiers, runners, or active friends dealing with injury- this one is for you. I’ll preface this article by saying I am clearly not a doctor, PT, or sports therapist. However, I wan...

Common Injuries Among Nordic Skiers
A few years ago I had the pleasure of co-coaching with Cara Battles for one of the Loppet Nordic Racing ski classes at Hyland Park. During the last few years, Cara has diagnosed and treated two d...

Injury Recovery and Prevention with Endurance Adventures
Learn four wisdom nuggets relating to injuries and prevention from coach Kim Rudd! Wisdom shared from over thirty years of ski and bike related injuries.
Wisdom Nugget #1 Slow down and allow your b...

Getting Intentional!
This summer has flown by. It seems like just yesterday I was clicking into my rollerskis for the first workout of the spring. My team and I have been busy putting in a lot of volume over the past f...

Ski Picking Starts '23
We just returned from our first ski picking trip of the season where we sorted through the best skis from Atomic, Salomon, and Fischer. We timed our ski picking this year around peak production and...

Cross Country Ski Lifespan and Performance
Skis wear out. From our vantage point, ski lifespan has been shortening and this seems to be a trend starting since about mid to late 2000s. Whether this is a planned shortening of lifespan (i....

Ski Coaching Above the Arctic Circle
After finishing up my race season, I had the opportunity to venture north to the small village of Shungnak, Alaska. This tiny community is located in Northwestern AK, above the arctic circle and is...

Wrapping Up the Ski Season
Hello! Hannah here, checking in with a quick end of season recap! In Mid-March I flew across the pond to Italy where I represented the U.S at OPA Cup Finals. One of the things I love most about thi...

Hannah’s Birkie Low Down
This year’s American Birkebeiner was one for the books! I am always very excited when February comes around and the Birkie fever starts to set in. This year, I was feeling the excitement and also ...

Mt. Itasca JNQ Wax Recap
Every time I see a JNQ scheduled for Mt. Itasca in January I know that I am in for a cold weekend. It is always brutally cold at this race venue. This was probably one of the first times that I can...

Seeley Hills Supertour Weekend
This past weekend’s Super Tours were held on the Birkie trails in Cable Wisconsin. Having grown up in Minneapolis, I’ve spent a lot of time on these trails, so I was excited for this specific set o...

US Senior National Championships Wax Recap
The US Senior National Championships just wrapped up over the weekend and I finally found some time to spend on a write up with the final test results from the two classic races.
January 4th – Clas...

US Senior National Championships Wax Test Results #1
We just finished the first rest day here at the US Senior National Championships. I finally found a little bit of time to go over my test results from the previous couple of days and give some insi...

Application Method Wax Test Results
I have been meaning to get out a bit more this winter during lulls to test different products, applications, or equipment. This is the first time that I have had so far this season to get out on a ...

Houghton JNQ Wax Results
The weekend in Houghton was originally going to be a skate distance and a classic sprint race. Houghton has unfortunately not had a great start to the year for them and snow levels ended up being t...

Duluth JNQ Testing and Wax Results
I am going to try to put a better effort into releasing my wax notes into the wild after our JNQ race service. When we go to support these races my main focus is on supporting those without other t...