Camp Wrap-up

Another Thanksgiving Camp in the books. This was a particularly successful one - we had decent skiing the whole time, and we accomplished lots of good training and some productive technique work as well. Getting a race under our belts was bonus points. Best of all, everyone stayed healthy - this might be a first for our team. I'm really happy with how our team looks right now. Our returning skiers have made huge technique gains in the past year, and I can't wait to see how this translates into race speed. Fitness is coming along as well - we're definitely not in peak racing form right now, but with some good hard training in December we should get there in time for the first carnival. Team chemistry is really good as well. All told, a very good camp, and one that has me feeling really optimistic about the coming season.

A couple other noteworthy camp items: First, in spite of an impressive final dinner from the Mavericks (Turkish kebabs with some kind of homemade cheese bread), the Dudefish earned the win for their enchiladas. Great performances by all, though - certainly the best meals I've had at any training camp. Also, I'm pleased to announce that Grace is the recipient of the coveted Jeffrey Bush Skier of the Week award. Her capable van driving, occasional French speaking, and general take-charge leadership contributed greatly to the success of our camp. Well done, Grace!

Video, Sprint Race

Here's the video Rainer made:



Today we had a classic sprint race. Several other college teams and some strong Canadian skiers participated, so the competition was very solid. Kaitlynn led the team, qualifying in 8th and advancing to the semifinals (odd format - only 1 advanced from the semifinals, and she finished 2nd to the eventual winner). James, Wilson, Scott, Hannah, and Emma also qualified, but didn't make it out of their first round heats. A decent first race - good to get a chance for a good hard effort. Tomorrow we'll do a morning OD ski and hit the road. It's been a great camp, and we'll be sorry to see it end, but I think everyone is ready to get back home.

Thanksgiving and Snow

Two more good days of skiing in the books. A couple inches smoothed things out yesterday and made for some very nice classic skiing, and a few more today has made it even better. Yesterday was all classic, since good classic skiing is fleeting. Today was a nice combination of both techniques - some easy skiing, fun downhills, and a rousing game of Polasky Ball. Rainer pulled together a video of the highlights from the last couple days - I'll post it as soon as I have it.

We've also been fortunate to have some great meals - lots of hard work in the kitchen from our cook groups. The Uptight Squares made us gnocchi and carrot cake on Tuesday, and everyone pitched in for a fantastic Thanksgiving Dinner. Enchiladas with homemade tortillas and brownies from the Dudefishes tonight, so we're living well.

Classic sprint race tomorrow - should be a fun chance to clean the rust off.

First Day on Snow!

Day One on snow was a big success. There's not a ton of snow up at Foret, and the skiing is pretty marginal - one central trail/road with a little snow over ice, and a few ungroomed side trails with enough snow to slide on - but we had a very productive day nonetheless. Even though there's not much snow, the coverage is surprisingly good - very little in the way of dirt or rocks. Everyone skied for 3-4 hours using both techniques, and I was impressed with how quickly the team adapted to skiing on snow. There's more snow coming, supposedly, so things should get better as the week goes on. All in all, a great start!

World's Steepest Street

Lots going on this past weekend, and lots more coming up soon - we leave for Quebec tomorrow. But for now, a quick final post from abroad. Here are some photos from Spencer's last rollerski in New Zealand, on what was apparently the World's Steepest Street. Somehow, he managed to pose for a shot with a very cute kitten - presumably this happened on the way up.




Spencer, Maren, and Erin will all rejoin us tomorrow for camp - can't wait to have them back!

Good Training

These last couple weeks have been good for us. After a very easy week at the start of the month, we jumped right back into it with some fairly challenging training last week, including a long rollerski pace workout, threshold running intervals at Wolfe's Neck, an extra-long combi roll/run OD, and our bread-and-butter speed and specific strength work. We've also started a new phase in our general strength/athleticism training - hard sprints on the SkiErg and lots of plyos. On top of that, the volume is still fairly high. All told, we're in the middle of a pretty ambitious (perhaps even risky) training phase. But so far so good - I've been really happy with how well the team is handling the load. I think that our easy week set us up nicely, and now we just have a few more tough days to get through before we leave for Quebec next Tuesday. Not that training will get any easier, but at least the external distractions will be minimal, and the mental boost of being on snow will be huge... IF we can get on snow. Still waiting and watching the forecast anxiously...

Forrest Horton '08 in Afghanistan

Here's a great article about former Bowdoin Nordic captain Forrest Horton '08. Forrest recently received a Civilian Service Medal from the US Department of Defense for his work on a geological research project in Afghanistan. Congratulations Forrest!

Lobster Roll

We headed up to North Haven for the 4th Annual Lobster Roll on Sunday - quality rollerskiing at a beautiful and unique venue. Results weren't anything special, but good efforts all around, and a nice chance to practice racing - a very fun and productive day. Check out Flying Point Road for race photos. Thanks to Andy Shepard for making it all happen!

After a fantastic OD classic ski yesterday, we're entering an easy recovery week. Everyone's ready for it, and they've certainly earned it. I've been very happy with what I've seen so far - good focused training and steady technique improvements. Lots of reasons to be optimistic at this point in the fall.