Athlete Profile: Chandra Crawford

For Olympic-level athletes in pursuit of a podium finish, there is a fragile balance between pushing the limits of their abilities and the limits of what their bodies can handle.  Small changes can make the difference between the high of fulfilling a dream and the lows of loss or injury.

With a string of medals between 2003 and the 2006 Olympics, cross-country skier Chandra Crawford had the balance in her favour.  At just 22 years old, Chandra won the hearts of Canadians with her spirited singing of “Oh Canada” on the Olympic stage, after she turned a low moment from earlier in her career into something incredible.

In a previous World Cup race, a veteran German racer pushed Chandra off the course, taking away her chance for a win.  At the Olympic final in Torino, Chandra met her again. With this previous encounter still fresh in her mind and scared that the German competitor would attempt to do the same thing, Chandra exploded at the start and skied faster than she ever had before.  She surprised herself and Canadians by taking the gold medal. Chandra was definitely on a high.

Soon, however, the delicate balance was disrupted. Chandra battled a nagging knee injury through the 2006 and 2007 seasons, then fought her way back to the top with two first place finishes on the World Cup circuit in early 2008.  After spending her annual vacation backcountry skiing in the mountains and hitting the beach, Chandra started her hardcore off-season training.

Chandra showing off the glamorous life of the injured athlete

Ironically it was running hills that created her most recent career “valley”. By October of 2008, she was feeling stronger than ever and excited to have completed her hundredth hour of running, only to find out that all the time pounding the mountain trails had led to a strained and inflamed tendon in her foot. When an MRI revealed that the inflammation was more extensive, and that surgery offered her best chance for a full recovery, Chandra hopes for competing with her teammates in the World Championships and World Cup in 2009 were dashed.  For an athlete like Chandra, the emotional pain of not competing has been worse than the physical pain in her foot. But she’s optimistic: This low might just be part of the journey that will eventually lead to another podium high.

Skiers on the Canadian National Cross Country team train five months and race six months out of the year, with a twice-a-day routine that usually only allows for one rest day per week.  Although the training program includes strength sessions and specific speed work to build both power and speed, the bulk of the 600 hours of training per year is devoted to improving aerobic capacity. Athletes spend most of their time on skis when and where there is snow. During the warmer months they cross-train with rollerskiing, running and hiking. Off-snow training carries over well to the classic style of cross country; along with increasing fitness levels, these activities also improve ease of movement and leg speed.

Enjoying some downtime in the lake

In 2005, the CNCC decided to improve their athletes’ nutrition, so they called the doctor — Dr. John Berardi and the Precision Nutrition system.  Chandra was excited to have another way to improve her performance.  By following the 10 Habits and individualized strategies for her sport, and with the support of John and her teammates, Chandra went on to compete at her fittest level ever to win the gold medal at the Olympics a year later.

While the strategies she’s used over the years have changed drastically from her initial efforts to get an energy boost by eating a chocolate bar before a race, Chandra’s dedication to improving performance through nutrition remains the same. In the four years since starting Precision Nutrition, Chandra has come to love how eating the PN way improves her performance and makes her feel.

Because she spends so much time training, and prefers to keep things simple, Chandra likes to plan ahead and be in control of her nutrition. She doesn’t like to leave any aspect of nutritious eating to chance and has become aware of how her body performs depending on nutritional intake and body composition. On a typical day, Chandra eats six meals at fairly regular intervals, a habit that’s been easy to sustain because her internal clock always lets her know when two or three hours has passed.

Chandra gets started with a solid breakfast before her long and intense morning workouts:  a “veg-tastic” omelet, a piece of whole wheat bread, and fruit. The lunchtime meal following this hard session is typically more fun, with bigger portions of healthy food. Chandra admits that “a cross country skier’s lunch can look a lot like a big dinner!” With a nap after lunch followed by a snack, Chandra is rested and refueled for another training session in the afternoon.  Whole food meals based on Precision Nutrition principles and lots of green tea are the mainstay of her diet, with carbohydrate and protein drinks added in around workouts to ensure the recovery process starts the minute the workout ends.

Chandra’s biggest nutritional challenge isn’t a food but a person –- her boyfriend and teammate Devon Kershaw (www.devonkershaw.com), who is Canada’s best male cross-country skier. It’s tempting for Chandra to try to match Devon’s portions. To stay on track, she needs to stay aware of what her smaller female body really needs and adjust her intake to eat half to two-thirds of what Devon eats.

For Chandra, balance comes from a positive outlook and activities such as yoga.

The other big adjustment has been managing her favourite foods. Instead of cutting out her treats completely, Chandra brings them as part of her post-workout meal. Timing these foods properly, as well as taking other foods out of the house that aren’t serving her goals, has been empowering for Chandra and has made the adjustment easier.

Even though Chandra can’t ski right now, she can still train. She’s taking advantage of different training priorities to develop a strong upper body and core.  This will be more important than ever for 2010 as the finishing stretch of the classic sprint course will require all double-poling, where the athlete must depend almost entirely on their arms and upper body to speed themselves over the finish line.

The drastic decrease in her overall training intensity and volume has also decreased Chandra’s hunger and meal frequency. Instead of forcing herself to consume six or seven meals per day, she finds that doing four or five is enough to get sufficient nutrients and maintain her body composition.  Chandra’s now working with Ryan Andrews from the Precision Nutrition team to revise her diet, focusing on maximizing nutrient density with all foods she eats, and making sure to include foods rich in arginine (e.g., pumpkin seeds, garbanzo beans, peanuts, soy milk, etc.) to assist in tissue repair.

Recovery activities such as yoga, swimming and biking have always been an integral component of Chandra’s training, and along with the tremendous support she receives from her teammates, friends and family, these continue to keep her grounded and focused.

In all her experiences, Chandra’s learned that anyone can do anything. As she says:

”I was so surprised to achieve the success I’ve had…. It was a dream that I wasn’t even sure was possible for a kid like me, but I knew I would try my best and to this day I’m amazed how it has turned out.  Mostly I’m amazed that it is the journey and not the destination [that matters]. I didn’t totally believe that until I stood on the podium and it suddenly made so much sense. Negatives can be turned into positives, and if you do this with your whole heart and mind you can wind up grateful the bad stuff happened in the first place.”

Chandra’s also used this downtime in her competitive schedule as an opportunity to serve as an athletic role model to kids, including working hard with her not-for-profit organization, Fast and Female, which promotes the healthy, active lifestyle to which Chandra is “unquantifiably addicted and grateful for its many gifts.” Chandra and her female teammates started the group in 2005 to promote the organization’s message of “spread the love (get out there doing fun sports) and dominate the world (push your limits)”, Chandra hopes that Fast and Female will grow into an international program incorporating sports of all kinds.

Even though this isn’t the plan she had for the season leading up to the 2010 games in her home country, Chandra finds inspiration in the words of a neighbour from her hometown, an athlete who has also faced obstacles on the path to her success: “Be less defined by our obstacles and more defined by how we overcome them.“

There’s a sense that the balance is starting to shift for Chandra.  Once again, her lows may set her up for another amazing high next February at the Vancouver/Whistler games.

Visit Chandra at her websites:
www.chandracrawford.ca |  www.fastandfemale.com