Andy Newell joined the National Nordic Foundation (NNF) for its summer speaker series at the end of June. The BSF Pro Team head coach gave a 35-minute presentation on race-day preparation, which was followed by 45 minutes of valuable Q&A.

U.S. cross-country ski team head coach Matt Whitcomb said when Newell was on the U.S. Ski Team, he didn’t harbor knowledge for himself, Rather, he could always be counted on to have put a ton of thought into the next day’s event.

“And to have something unique, something encouraging, something creative to say,” Whitcomb added. “I felt like you know, more than perhaps any athlete you really helped me develop as a World cup coach and got me up to speed to where I felt like I was becoming an asset.”

Over the next 80 minutes, the four-time Olympian did exactly that.

Newell began his speech defining terms.

“Race-day performance,” he said, is a buzzword rooted in Norwegian scientists’ work on quantifying quality training. A 2023 study by Silvana Bucher Sandbakk included a model to think about these workouts where massive gains are made.

“And we’ve kind of realized that the most effective, the most high quality training sessions have a preparation phase, they have an execution phase, and they have an evaluation phase,” Newell said.

The 40-year-old’s challenge for the audience was to think about race performance the same way one thinks about quality training.
“Quality training, we know is better for us. It’s better absorbed by the body and the mind,” he explained. “And I think that quality race performances are also absorbed by the body and mind a lot better, and it can lead to much better long term development.”

He encouraged listeners to think not as much about a result, but about the process behind the prep and execution. In his mind, this creates “a much healthier relationship with competition.”

“It also creates more mentally resilient athletes,” he said.

Newell took Sandbakk’s visual model and created a new one for racing. Three elements emerged: before races, during races and after races. His main focus during the discussion was on the first two, though he added a quick note on the importance of post-race discussions. The main thing is to ensure athletes and their coaches talk about the performance “in a productive way,” Newell said.

“Meaning, evaluating the preparation and the execution, not so much the result itself.” 

Before the race

Newell addressed two key areas under this bullet point: midweek intervals and course inspection.

Though physiological philosophies might alter one’s view, Newell’s point was that when one thinks about necessary adaptations, they consider long-term goals in relation to the race weekend. During the early season, he likes to keep midweek workouts solely in either the L3 or L4 range. But, at peak championship time, he often mixes those flavors within a single workout.

Example: Sprinters = 2×3 min. L3, 4-6×90 seconds L4; distance = 5×5 minu. (3 at L3 and 2 at L4) to practice subtle injections of pace.

Perhaps the most applicable portion of the entire presentation came as Newell fleshed out his process for negotiating the pre-race course inspection. This guy really has it dialed down to a science. Probably because he “respects the inspection.” He noted that Alpine skiers often spend days slipping a course.

“I think we should give our course inspection that same kind of priority,” he said before adding that athletes should break down what can be seen and how it plays to their strengths. Then, they should mentally (and even literally) map out the course and — perhaps more importantly — their mental and strategical cues that correspond with different sections.

Newell walked through an example of his mind map, which included cues of how he wanted to ski certain sections, where he needed to be placed in the pack at specific points, as well as mental thoughts and self-talk phrases.

“The point is, tactics don’t just happen,” he said. “They need to be practiced.”

In other words, intentionally approaching course inspection is the means by which one improves their tactical abilities.

“You can’t expect to show up on race day having not prepared mentally for tactics or not kind of mapped any tactics out in your mind and expect to be a tactical skier,” Newell stated.

He then listed some common tactical mistakes. First, Newell believes most skiers don’t know where and when to occupy space. Pack positioning is related to responding to attacks or staggering in such a way so as to meet a specific course demand.

Secondly, Newell stated that not all drafts are created equal.

“I think the biggest mistake people make is they tend to follow their targets a little bit too closely when they’re cresting hills,” he said. “So, we often need to leave a little bit of space. You kind of give a meter, and then you take that meter back during the the highest speed section of the draft.”

During the race

Newell broke this section down into six elements: warm-up, activation, self-talk, tactics, fueling and cool down. He spent a large portion of time discussing specific warm-up protocols, which he differentiates between sprinters and distance skiers to tailor to their specific needs and demands.

Four common mistakes to the warm-up:

• It is rushed and too short
• Athletes don’t fuel well enough during them
• Slow-twitch athletes don’t do high enough intensity
• Fast-twitch athletes do their high intensity too close to the start

His goal for sprinters is to “prime the system” — not flood it. Thus, a slower build in intensity. For distance skiers, his emphases are to make things relatively extensive and keep the final L4 at a pretty high intensity.

Newell then spoke to a special concern: ski activation. These are the muscle-priming activities done in the last 10-15 minutes of a warm-up (right before heading to the holding pen). They exaggerate specific motions (i.e. how fast your hands come up, pole retrieval, hip high points, pole plant impact, breathing, etc.). Newell compared it to the high-intensity, over-exaggerated drills performed by a miler right before a track race.

In the pen, Newell advises athletes to bundle up — puffy and pants — during activation drills. These include band drills, single leg exercises, med ball throws, push ups, plyos and other dynamic movements.

Final thoughts

Newell’s demeanor was far from dogmatic throughout the presentation. If anything, his plea was for athlete and coach to reflect and reevaluate procedures with the hope of improving intentionality in this area.

“I think this general model can be taught at a young age to developing athletes and it will reinforce a positive relationship with racing,” he said. He said his quality performance model could be the escape hatch for athletes who find themselves stuck in a slump.

“My hunch is that if you were to revisit this model of quality race performance and rethink more appropriately what your race preparation and execution will be — chances are maybe you’re thinking too much about results,” he said.

“Do we need to reset and and go into a race thinking more about. What are your technique ques? What are going to be your pacing goals? What are your tactical goals?”

Q & A highlights

On adapting the sprint warm-up if you’re a favorite….

Newell admitted that going full-gas was the only thing he knew when it came to his person vs. the course qualifier mentality. For heavy favorites like Klaebo, however, he suspects tinkering with the warm-up is perhaps one strategy employed to conserve energy on long sprint days.

“It will allow you to stay a little bit fresher for the heats versus being on your feet for 2 and a half hours throughout the day,” he said.

On adapting to the unknown…

Mind maps are neat and tidy, but how does one prepare for the broken pole or untimely crash by the athlete right in front of you? Newell pointed to an oft-quoted saying: Podiums don’t come from perfection.
“Things don’t have to go perfectly to win a race or be on the podium,” he said.

This is where post-race evaluation and conversation can be especially valuable. Those conversations give coaches the opportunity to assess whether or not a mishap was a fluke or a reoccurring — but hopefully preventable — theme.

“Race days won’t always go as planned,” Newell said. “But when you have the plan and can reflect back on that plan effectively, it will lead to more athletic growth in the long run.”

Newell even said that his sport psych taught him to not always visualize himself succeeding.

“Instead, you want to visualize yourself executing what you want to get done on a day to day basis,” he said.

“You’re teaching your mind to to to connect the mind, body execution on a short term daily basis. The best way, I think, to use visualization is to use it frequently to visualize what you’re going to do that day….and how you might tackle specific obstacles within that session, so that you become more resilient to that on race day.”

Or, as Whitcomb summarized: become a master of the moment.

“It becomes natural to go with the flow and it’s not stressful to deviate from the path,” the coach said.

On practicing the warm-up and activation exercises…

Newell would practice warm-ups and activation drills in his summer workouts.

On warm-up fueling…

Newell doesn’t have a strict calorie count, but he made sure he drank electrolytes before even stepping on snow. During the warm-up, he also remembered to stop and have a swig. The other point of emphasis: consume pure carbohydrates. During a sprint, especially, this is what you’re burning.

On Newell’s lack of podiums despite his immense focus on sprint qualifiers…

Newell said one reason for his relatively low sprint podiums was perhaps due to intentional low volume during an important developmental stage. He joined the U.S. Ski Team at a very young age and at a time when, as he put it, the nation was trying to have “state of the art” sprint training. At that time, state of the art meant low total volumes and a premium on power.

“I don’t think we would coach that way nowadays,” he said.
“We know now that aerobic development aerobic capacity has so much to do with what the amount that you’re training in your mid to late teens. And so I think I think I could have had a much better distance gear (and been) much better, much more effective in the finals.”

On course prep for master blasters who show up day-of….

Newell said to take advantage of every resource available. Strava files, video coverage and veterans of the event. He relies on course profiles to identify hard sections. That’s where he knows he’ll need specific cues — and also plan fueling.

On applying the long warm-up to juniors…

Middle and high school kids seem to be dead before the gun when they do this kind of in-depth warm-up. Newell’s suggestion is to shorten the warm-up, particularly the interval duration.

During this question, he also mentioned the wide array of warm-up approaches, from Emil Johnson parking an entire Olympic weight set next to the wax trailer to Pellegrino’s penchant for performing longer, 8-minute intervals in his warm-up — which was often two days before the event.

On bathroom breaks…

Include a buffer in your warm-up schedule.

On a scientific challenge to the warm-up protocol…

One listener brought up that he’s seen the final L4 prescribed closer to the race start. Newell said he’s tried everything, and he encourages others to develop their own versions.

One consideration on the World Cup level is the distance to the start. In Falun, it’s apparently about 15 minute transport time from the wax trailer to the line.

On where his head is at during the race…

Mostly, it’s on the stuff he mapped out…

Some things he doesn’t dwell on: results, outside noise and pressure, or others’ expectations. Instead, it’s better to lean into your pre-planned, positive self-talk phrases and cues.

“The more you can focus on that kind of stuff, the harder you can push yourself and the more effective you can be,” he said.

On breathing….

Practicing proper breathing mechanics all the time is important.

“You want to be breathing like you’re in a race,” Newell said. “Learning how to fill your lungs while staying relax is pretty important.”

On identifying fast/slow-twitch athletes at the high school level…

Newell emphasized that athletes can make adaptations better when they’re young.

“I’ve always been a proponent of pretty athletic style training for kids within their development between 13-17 years old,” he said. “We gotta teach athletes to be athletic on their skis, which includes agility training on roller skis.”

He did provide hope for older athletes, too, highlighting Jessie Diggins as a prime example of a more genetically predisposed endurance star who made a name for herself in sprinting.

As an athlete ages, the path to sprinting prowess must come via body position, muscle recruitment and momentum.

“If you improve improve your muscle, recruitment, and momentum, and improve your body position, you will sprint faster…regardless of your physiology,” he said.

“And all athletes can do that.”