This is the twenty-third edition of The Duluth Runner Interview Series, where I get in touch with (mainly) local runners and athletes to share a bit of their story while inspiring others to pursue an active lifestyle.
Intro
Today’s guest has definitely racked up the miles running over his lifetime, but will mainly be filling us in on another sport – cross country skiing! I’ve known him since my own cross country (running, not skiing) days in high school and always enjoyed chatting with him at meets while he was the coach at Marshall.
He is a native of Mountain Iron, MN and has been a Duluthian ever since his senior year of high school. He is very involved in cross country skiing – you may have seen him over the years on TV during Olympic skiing events on NBC. He is currently The College of Saint Scholastica’s head cross country coach, as well as an assistant track coach…today’s guest is Chad Salmela!
Interview
Why is skiing important to you?
I think anything you’ve done and loved since childhood—that has shaped your life in numerous positive ways—will end up being part of your life’s fabric.
What are the top two or three things that you do to prevent injury? Have you been susceptible to certain injuries in the past?
I was in constant pain from shin splints my junior and senior years in cross country. If you see any pictures of me running back then, it looks like I’m wearing knee-high white socks…it’s actually tape. I ran with taped legs to be able to endure the pain of the shin splints. I was stubborn and didn’t know how shin splints might turn to stress fractures, but I was also roller skiing more than running, so that probably saved me.
Since then, I have implemented a few things that I think will keep most, if not all, people injury free:
- Regular strength training. Doesn’t have to be intense or a lot but needs to be done regularly. I think it’s critical for season-runners (i.e. HS & college runners) to be strong coming into seasons—to focus on strength development, then trail off it some, then go back to strength development periods, and back.
- Trails. Running on uneven, soft surfaces develops athleticism and specific strength below the knee. The impact difference is palpable. Slowing down long runs on trails also plays an important role in developing robust aerobic efficiency—which is another topic altogether.
- Shoe rotation. At least 3 pairs in constant rotation—different model, and last—never the same shoes from one run to the next. New pair, medium-old pair, and old pair. Chuck the oldest pair when they are toast and put a new pair at the top of the line up. I used to run up to 18 hours hours a week training for biathlon early in my career before we had a roller loop. That’s way more running than runners ever do. I never got shin splints again and was never injured again.
What keeps you motivated when you don’t feel like heading out the door for a workout?
I haven’t been motivated myself for years! I never trained because I loved exercise. I like being healthy, fit, and I loved being able able to run, bike, or roller ski distances others would only consider doing by car, but I personally haven’t been that fit in 20 years—ok, I got kind of fit in 2007 and road a century two days back-to-back on my road bike, and that had me fit that summer—but since having kids, I honestly don’t work out that much. I was fit only because I had competitive goals. So, for me, getting out the door had everything to do with hating getting beat, or loving to win.
Who is in your skiing/running support group (training partners, people to bounce ideas off of, etc.)?
I bounce ideas off of and consult my assistant coaches a lot. Maria Stuber and I probably interact the most nowadays. Jeff Cottrell as a mid-distance guy, has some great and helpful insights.
I read new studies in exercise science that I come across through threads on social media. I used to get stuff from folks working with the US Biathlon Team. Per Nilsson, a Swede who now is back in Sweden coaching at ski gymnasium and very successful, had some great ideas that changed the way I saw seasonal capacity development.
Jason Cork (Jessie Diggin’s coach) and I had good interactions when he was a college coach for Michigan Tech. Also, US Ski Team development director, Bryan Fish always was a good guy to banter with when I coached skiing.
I think Per’s models were a paradigm shift for a lot of my best successes as a coach, and I saw the adaptations happen in the lab, which only strengthened my conviction in the models/development priorities I plan with training now. I got a huge foundation from my early coaches, John Underwood, Algis Shalna, and Walter Pichler. But I think training models are much different than what I did as an athlete. Some things we did are true today still, but other details have proven themselves valuable.
For running, I’ve gotten a lot of good stuff from Joe Vigil’s models with Deana Kantor, and Rebstock Canova’s work with Kenyan world record holders. Those two always make sense to me when I consider what they’re trying to do and how they measure/control training adaptations.
If you’re interested in reading, one for most people would be Jack Daniel’s book – it’s really good.
When/what is your next race?
Good question!
Do you prefer classic or skate skiing and why?
I like classic, but I’m way better at skating. Classic is a thing of beauty – kicking a waxed ski is an art form. Skating is tougher muscularly. Classic at its best is sublime…15 degrees F at Korkki is simply the best, but Hartley suffices when I’m crunched for time.
What is your most memorable race or skiing achievement?
That’s hard. I think the day I qualified the first time for the World Championships team was awesome.
I didn’t win a lot of races. My best race ever was probably the 10km sprint at the 1996 European Championships, but it didn’t feel like anything special. I probably just skied the best I ever did against an international field.
I also had a really solid day fir me in the 15km freestyle XC race at the Military World Championships in Le Grand Bornand, FRA. I remember I beat some good World Cup XC skiers that day.
Name one racing experience you would like to forget (please describe).
More of those perhaps than the good ones!
I got to race at the Holmenkiollen in Oslo, December 1996. Looking back, I simply wasn’t ready physically for those races. I was skiing poorly and was way too conservative with my prep for the beginning of the season. I started training late, but was so psyched to be at Holmenkollen—it’s like the Yankee Stadium of skiing.
I had this amazing pair of skis for wet snow. It wasn’t wet but it was soft, so I went on those as a bet on the situation. I missed 6 out of 10 shots, stepped on a steal spike hidden in the snow in the penalty loop, fell, saw a huge piece of my ski base on the side of the ski, but just kept going.
With about 500 meters left, my ski broke just behind my left heal and I stumbled to the finish. I was like 104th out of 106 skiers, or something embarrassing like that. Worst I ever shot in a big event and broke the most amazing pair of skis I ever owned in conditions they weren’t made for. That was rough. I never got another chance to race at Holmenkollen.
What is something non-running related you would like to share with readers?
I have been musical most of my life, though never trained. I have probably composed music melodies in my head my entire life. I learned to play violin, guitar, and base guitar by ear and I used to have a rock band – I’ve written upwards of 100 songs. I don’t do it much since being married with kids, but I’m proud to see the trend coming out in my son.
Closing
Many thanks to Chad for agreeing to stop by The Duluth Runner and share some of his knowledge/experiences with everyone. I hope you enjoyed this edition of the Interview Series – stick around for more to come!
