Kildow stronger than ever and making tighter turns

By Published On: September 8th, 2006Comments Off on Kildow stronger than ever and making tighter turns

Kildow stronger than ever and making tighter turnsHer disappointment in the Olympics only fueled Lindsey Kildow’s fire to train harder than ever all summer.

Like the rest of the U.S. Ski Team, Kildow had a four-month break from snow between May and August – the largest break she said she’s had since she was 8 years old.

“It’s nice to take time off, but at the same time, you can’t take too much time off because you have to work even harder to get back to where you were,” Kildow said. “I had a lot of work to do. I really wanted to get my back, my hip and my butt stronger. I wanted to retrain the muscles.”

On Thursday night, with another workout to go before joining the rest of the U.S. Ski Team early Friday morning to fly to Chile for more on-snow training, Kildow said her body was back to 100 percent.

With tissue damage sustained in her pre-Olympic crash in downhill training in February, Kildow proved resilient, moving straight from the Torino Games to the top of the super G podium in Norway, then taking second in a downhill in Sweden, and adding several top 10s before the end of the season.

“I think it was a really good experience for me,” Kildow said of her Games ordeal. “It was disappointing with the timing, but it helped me this summer. It gave me motivation to really get my back strong and get healthy, also to look forward to more opportunities.

“I’ve got more Olympics to do. I’ve got more chances, so the only thing I can do is work as hard as I can. Hopefully next time my luck will be better.”

While many U.S. Olympic skiers took full advantage of the down time following the end of last season, Kildow just rested up for a month before getting back into an intensive dryland training program.

“I didn’t go on vacation or anything,” she said. “I just rested my back and my butt from the Olympic crash and healed myself up a little bit. Then I started hammering with my conditioning.”

The Buck Hill, Minnesota, skier, who turns 22 on Oct. 18, has a new trainer – Martin Hager. She has been working on an endurance-based training program with a lot of support from Red Bull.

“I didn’t think I could work any harder compared to last year, but this program has a lot more biking and running, so my endurance is really good,” she said. “It will help with the fact that our season is so long.

“Last year was my best as far as conditioning. I felt like I still had energy at the end of the season. But I feel this new program will help even more.”

By the time the New Zealand summer camp rolled around last month, Kildow, like the rest of the team, was itching to get back on snow.

“It felt really good,” she said. “I was kind of worried, because I’ve never taken a solid four months off. But I was able to get into the swing of things pretty quickly. You get worried that you’re going to forget. But your body never really forgets.”

Still skiing on Rossignols, Kildow tried out some new Rossi boots, and credits them with some of the sweeping strides she made in her giant slalom training Down Under.

“They’re more aggressive [boots]. I can just ski a tighter line,” Kildow said. “I’ve started to pressure the ski earlier so I can go more direct.”

Kildow has struggled with GS for years, but feels as if she is beginning to dial it in and hopes to see more consistent success this season. A pair of GS victories in August FIS races in New Zealand bolstered her confidence and gave her a taste for a winning tactical formula.

“I just feel like things are going really well in GS,” she said. “I was never able to find my rhythm the last couple years. Before [with turning technique] it was just weight, then I’d hit the pressure really hard at the gate. Now I have a tighter arc and I’m pressuring the ski a lot better. The race doesn’t really matter, but it gives me confidence. I feel like the confidence is building.”

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About the Author: Pete Rugh