November So Far

 Quick recap of November so far:

- The team got the month off to a good start with a day of volunteering with Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust doing assorted property maintenance projects at Hideaway Farm. We benefit so much from the beautiful trails at BTLT and elsewhere around midcoast Maine, and it was great to do something to give back.

-  Things got dark in a hurry after Daylight Savings ended - I swear it gets a little darker every year. This year we shifted all rollerskiing to the morning sessions and made good use of some safe venues for evening running/bounding - the Fitzgerald sand hill, Stagecoach Rd in Freeport, and of course the track. It worked out pretty well and allowed us to keep the team together instead of scheduling early afternoon practices and leaving half the team behind.

-  One highlight of our after-dark runs was a chance to finish up with some games under the lights. Game time is a longstanding part of Bowdoin Nordic, and it sometimes gets pushed aside in the rush to get our training done and get off to dinner and schoolwork. This year we made it a priority and got in some good games of ultimate and speedball. Turns out that this year's edition of the team has some decent ball sport skills (by nordic skier standards) - always a good sign for technique development potential!

- We did a combination time trial/interval session at Pineland - a 1.3k skate roll sprint followed by a series of intervals. This was a real grind and a great fitness builder. Will and Emma posted our top times, with the rest of the team close behind in a strong competitive effort.

- We did three point-to-point ODs that really showcased the best of our training venues: the Bradbury to Pineland run, the roll to Pineland, and the roll to Reid. Bradbury to Pineland was perfect weather - a lovely little jaunt through the woods. The Pineland roll was the opposite, with cold drizzles that really tested the spirit - one of those workouts where you're glad you did it even if it was a grind. For the roll to Reid, we started in Georgetown to give ourselves more time to explore a couple of beautiful back roads on little penninsulas - gorgeous coastal rollerskiing - and finished with an exploration of the state park trails, ending on the rocky cliffs overlooking the beach. So nice to get out and ramble around the Maine coast and woods!

After all that, we're so incredibly eager to get on snow. Fortunately, Thanksgiving Camp is here and conditions at Foret look amazing! We're headed up tomorrow for eight days of skiing and quality team time - check back for a recap soon!

October Training

 Ok, we're back! To be honest, we've been back for a month, but it's been hard to find time for a blog post with all the amazing training we've been doing. Here's a quick recap of October:

- We started the month with a great turnout at the Phil Soule Phlail 5k - over 100 people turned out on a beautiful fall day. Bowdoin Nordic legend Tom Cook '09 took the men's win, with Ava Collemore winning the women's category.

- After a few days of low intensity training and skills evaluations, we jumped into testing with our 2k erg and 3k run. Michael set the pace for the men's erg (6:51.8), while Francie and newcomer Ruth Krebs tied for the women's win in 8:05.8 - very impressive showing by the first-year! I should also mention that Michael pulled a 6:47.3 in a self-test a few weeks earlier, breaking Zach Ennis's old team record (sorry Zach, even a self-test counts). Overall team performance was very solid. We've been doing this test since 2013, and it was striking to look back at the historical record and see how much we've improved. Just a few years ago, a 7:30 for men and 8:30 for women would have been among the better times on the team - this year almost everyone beat those marks. In the 3k test, Emma led the women in 11:07, and Lars nudged his own team record higher with a 9:27. Again, the overall team performance was strong, with lots of PRs and five men under 10 - a big improvement and a nice indicator of team depth. Emma and first-year Beckett Cote scored the top combined times. I'm pretty happy with how the team looked in both the skills evals and the fitness testing - we've made good progress in both areas.

- Shortly after testing we jumped right into Fall Camp. This year we stayed at the beautiful Adaptive Outdoor Education Center in Carrabassett Valley. We started off with some technique-focused hill repeats on classic rollerskis on a quiet country road in Kingfield, where a couple energetic local kids ran alongside the team to help with motivation, and finished the day with a nice afternoon trail run. Day 2 was a Bowdoin Nordic classic, a 17-mile hike/run across the stunning Bigelow Range. We wrapped up with a beautiful OD rollerski to Long Falls Dam to close out a very succesful camp. Huge thanks to our many supporters - alumni, parents, and friends - who made this trip possible with their generous gifts to the program.

-  After camp we had a few days to catch our breath and then we tackled our first time trial of the fall, an 8k skate at Runaround Pond. Emma and Ollie blistered the course to take the wins. It was extra encouraging to see Ollie moving well again after lots of grinding rehab to recover from injuries over the past year - so good to see hard work paying off!

- We welcomed a huge crew of family members to campus for Family Weekend. They joined us for our first beach ski of the year - we had a fantastic workout on Seawell Beach at the Morse Mountain Preserve. Later that afternoon, Leslie hosted a nice get-together. We're lucky to have such incredible support from our team parents and other family members, and it's such a pleasure to have these opportunities to get to know them a bit better.

- We closed out the month with another Leslie and DJ-hosted event, our second annual pumpkin carving contest. We had some remarkably creative entries - the winner was a lovingly rendered depiction of a van with wide open doors, an iconic image that truly captured the essence of Bowdoin Nordic.

 That's all for now - off to a good start and looking forward to November!

Graduation 2025

Last weekend we graduated our small but very special Bowdoin Nordic Class of 2025.  Grace and Adam have been cornerstones of our team since they arrived on campus four years ago.  From being energetic, slightly naive first-years to rock solid team leaders and role models, these two have grown and learned so much, and it's been such a privilege to be part of their journey.  We'll miss them not just for their considerable skiing talents, but for their optimism, resilience, and kindness.  Grace and Adam are both headed to DC in August, where Grace will be attending pharmacy school and Adam will be working in finance.  It'll be tough to find snow down there, but no doubt we'll see them starting their master skier careers sometime sooner than later.  Congratulations Grace and Adam - we can't wait to see what you do out in the world!

 

Junior Nationals 2025

Keira and Catcher spent the first week of their Spring Break at Junior Nationals in Utah.  The Soldier Hollow courses are notoriously difficult, and they're even tougher when you just flew in from sea level a couple days ago, so this was no small undertaking.  Catcher caught a cold right away, sadly, but still managed a respectable 34th in the 7.5k classic before bowing out for the remaining races.  Keira got off to a good start by finishing 7th in the classic.  In the skate sprint, she qualified in 9th - using smart tactics and smooth technique, she cruised to wins in her first two rounds before finishing a hard-fought 2nd in the final.  But - she was the first American finisher, which made her the U20 national champion!!!!!  Despite carrying some fatigue from an extra long sprint day, she was able to rally for 8th in the 15k mass start skate on soft and sloppy snow.  She closed out her week by helping the Far West relay team to a respectable 11th place finish.  Keira heads home from JNs as a three-time All-American and a national champion - not a bad way to start Spring Break.  Congratulations to Keira and Catcher both on a fine end to a great season!

Biathlon Junior Worlds 2025

 While we were wrapping up the collegiate season, Mirra was preparing for the Junior World Championships for biathlon in Ostersund, Sweden.  She competed in the 12.5k individual, the mixed relay, the 7.5k sprint, and the 4x6k mixed relay, with her best finish (67th) coming in the 12.5k.  Over the four races she shot 84%, which is a big improvement over her previous biathlon competitions.  This is pretty impressive considering that it's basically impossible to train for shooting during the school year!  Congratulations Mirra - we're proud of you!