Fall Semester Wrap

Exams are winding down and campus is emptying out - time for break!  As always, the last couple weeks of the semester kept us on our toes.  We had a pretty good run for the first several days after Thanksgiving Camp - a nice storm set us up for great skiing at Pineland.  It's rare that we're on snow in December (not counting an occasional Quarry Road trip), so this was a wonderful gift.  We took it easy for a few days after camp and then came back strong with a couple good speed/intensity sessions.  After that it was time for another pre-season test at the Quarry Road Opener.  The team looked pretty solid despite the mounting academic load weighing everyone down.  Elliot took the men's win, with Christian 3rd and Peter 4th.  Gabby was 4th for women and Lily was 5th.  So great to get another early season race under our belts!

Sadly, the weather turned on us a couple days later - two downpours in one week wiped out all of our beautiful snow.  Refusing to come back to rollerskiing, we patched together a solid training week with a mix of run, erg, and strength - it was actually kind of nice to get back to a little dryland after weeks of skiing.  We made one more trip up to Quarry Road for a 15/20k threshold workout, a workout that's become a Bowdoin Nordic staple.  It's a dry run for the upcoming 15/20k races, but it's not a race - just a chance to get a feel for the pacing and duration of the long races.  Conditions were a bit dodgy after all the rain, and we had some impressive crashes and some ragged skiing as wax wore off, but grinding it out is always a good experience.  I'm confident that we'll be ready when the time comes to go long in carnivals.

For the last few days the skiers have been on their own - easy workouts and lots of studying.  Everyone's going home with an individual plan to make the most of the break and patch up any areas of need.  Overall, it's been a fun and productive semester, and the team looks strong - don't want to get carried away, but if we can stay on this trajectory we're going to have a really good year.  We'll be starting up again in just a couple weeks - can't wait!

Lost Jumpers and Egg Failures: Thanksgiving Camp 2019

What a great camp!  This year's Thanksgiving trip to Foret Montmorency went about as well as we could have possibly hoped - good food, good roads, good energy, and great skiing.  Lots of great skiing.  Our first group arrived in time to steal a quick ski before sunset, and things only got better from there.  The next morning we settled into our usual routine - long morning classic, double lunch with napping and homework in between, afternoon skate, and a fine dinner before evening downtime.  We also broke in the team playlist - this odd little song quickly became the theme for camp.  The first cook group got us off to a hot start with a lovely curry with homemade naan and chocolate lava cake.  We only set off the smoke alarm twice all day, so that was good.

Next morning was more of the same (minus the smoke alarms, thankfully).  Although we'd already had a few days of skating on snow, this camp was our first on-snow classic action, so we spent a good amount of time on drills and filming to get our technique dialed in.  As the day went on, we had an ever-increasing parade of people in and out of the kitchen working on Thanksgiving dishes.  Elliot and Russell took on turkey duty, as they've done for the last few years, so the meat eaters were in good hands.  By the time evening rolled around, we had a great spread:  mashed potatoes, green beans, squash, sweet potatoes, homemade bread, stuffing, pies, pumpkin cheesecake, cranberry sauce, and probably all kinds of other stuff I'm forgetting.  Our team has much to be thankful for, and this dinner is always a great way to acknowledge and celebrate that.

By Friday some new trails had opened up, and people started scattering in all directions to explore far off places.  We lost about half the team to a long adventure ski, but fortunately they found their way back after a few hours.  It's amazing that after all these years at Foret we're still finding previously unexplored places (or at least places that very few people on the team have ever been).  That afternoon we previewed the time trial course with an eye on tactics.  Our dinner group capped off the day with a hearty and healthful meal of bibimbap, accompanied by a gargantuan cabbage salad and an exquisite baclava for dessert.

Next morning was a 10k skate time trial.  The first on-snow time trial of the year is always a mixed bag, and we try not to get too high or too low about whatever results we get - it's more about the process than the outcome.  That said, we had some unusually good outcomes from this one!  The men looked remarkably sharp considering the high training load of the week, with three in the top 11.  The women had a more typical Bowdoin Nordic Thanksgiving showing - strong but tired.  Overall, good solid prep for race season.  That afternoon we got the whole team together for a long easy classic ski that stretched into the evening - we finished up with a beautiful crescent moon overhead.  Our last camp dinner was burritos with homemade guacamole, capped off with an elegant cinnamon cake.  Outstanding entries in this year's cooking competition - judging will be tough!

After a final long ski on a gorgeous sunny morning, we packed up and closed the book on another great Thanksgiving Camp.  This year we probably skied more than we ever have before - so much snow and so many good places to explore that people just didn't want to stop.  Good problem to have.  The only real disappointment from camp was the vastly overhyped egg consumption - this team has had a weird egg fetish for the last few years (I blame Mac Groves '17), but despite talking a big game, this year's team didn't come close to eating all the eggs they'd demanded.  Hopefully this means that the fever has broken and they're back to eating a more balanced diet - guess we'll find out next year.  For now, time to blast through a few more days of quality training before exams!

First Snow and More

Snow!  We got a nice little ice and snow squall early this week, which left us just barely able to slide around the athletic fields on skis.  It was pretty bare bones - one step above skiing on frosted grass - but surprisingly legit, and we got a couple good workouts in.  I'm pretty sure this is the earliest real skiing ever for Bowdoin Nordic in my time here - a very welcome change of pace at a dark and cold time of year.  With warming temps we're back to dryland today, but I think/hope the real thing is coming soon!

Prior to our little snow break, we had lots of the usual good dryland stuff going on.  Three highlights of the last couple weeks:  1) A ski to Fiona's house in Freeport, where we had an amazing brunch hosted by Fiona's and Lily's parents; 2) A skate time trial with Bates and Colby on Lewis Hill Rd - great to put on bibs, go fast, and get past some of those early season nerves; and 3) A ski to Reid State Park capped off by a nice run on the beach.  Good solid training and good fun - snow or dryland, we're moving right along.  Thanks to Jim, Lucy, Rosita, and Will for their wonderful hospitality!

Maine Event 2019

It's been a beautiful fall, but yesterday was a throwback to last year - cold and rainy!  That didn't stop seven dauntless Bowdoin nordies from tackling the Maine Event agility challenge at Pineland.  After a smooth qualifying round, we were poised to crush the head-to-head heats.  Sadly, the cold and wet played havoc with the timing equipment, so instead we ended up throwing out the first round and doing a second individual round to determine the final standings.  Our folks held their own in a good strong field of college skiers and juniors - Christian took the men's win with a blazing run, while Greta tied for 2nd and Lily was right behind in 4th.  Greta's sister Elsa was in town for Family Weekend - she jumped into the race and won!  Pretty good day for the Bolinger family.  Overall a good solid dose of skill building and fun times.  Thanks to NENSA for putting this event together!

Fall Camp & More

We started up with official practices a couple weeks ago - so much going on!  Here's a quick recap:

First order of business was tryouts.  We started off gradually with some basic workouts and an agility test; Gabby led the women and Christian blew up the men's test - a real jump for a skier who started his college career as more of a distance/grinder type guy and is now looking like a pretty legit all-arounder.  After a little recovery/intro to pool running, we hit the second half of the week hard:  first a good batch of skate intervals where the group looked sharp and competitive, and then double fitness tests with the 2000m erg test in the morning and the Morse Mountain uphill run in the afternoon.  Zach set a new combined run/erg record, edging out the old standard set by Mac Groves '17 - pretty impressive showing for a first-year - while Gabby and Lily both broke Renae's team record.  Lily also shattered Hannah Miller '17's old erg record.  The whole group put up remarkable numbers - fitness-wise, this group is far ahead of any previous Bowdoin Nordic team.  Exciting way to start the season!

We kept the momentum going with a trip up to Carrabassett Valley for Fall Camp.  About half the team jumped into the Sugarloaf Uphill Climb while the others did a bounding workout up the mountain and cheered them on.  Again, they showed great fitness, this time against outside competition - Christian and Gabby were both second overall and Lily was fourth.  Zach and Meredith were the top juniors, and James was third for junior men.  After an evening recovery jog we settled in for a nice dinner orchestrated by Russell and some quality team time.

Next day was the iconic Bigelow Traverse - an 18-mile run/hike of the Bigelow Range.  The older skiers ran the entire 18 miles and five peaks; we played it safe with the younger skiers and sent them down Horns Pond Trail, cutting off Cranberry Peak.  We had some pretty tired folks that night, but not too tired to rally for a long classic roll on the Long Falls Dam Road - another ski team favorite.  By the time we got back to campus, everyone was exhausted but happy - great training, great team time, perfect weather, and some of the most gorgeous fall colors any of us had ever seen.  One other great thing about camp - we ran into lots of Bowdoin Nordic alumni!  James Crimp '13 and Tyler DeAngelis '15 raced the Uphill Climb, Jackson Bloch '15 was there coaching with Colby, and Tess Hamilton '16 crossed paths with us while leading an Outing Club trip in the Bigelows and later ran the traverse, met us at Long Falls Dam Road, and rode along with us while the team skied.  Thanks to Tess for several of these great photos.  Also, many thanks to our hosts, Ronn Gifford and Mary Denison, and Linda and Marty Kenniston, for providing us with comfortable lodging.  This camp would not have been possible without their help!

Since then, we've settled into our regular fall training routine, and we've been hitting up our favorite training venues, including our first beach skiing workout of the year.  A nice hard workout on a wide open beach under blue skies - couldn't ask for better fall training.  One more big week of training and then it's time for a well-earned rest!

Phil Soule Phlail 2019

Yesterday's 14th Annual Phil Soule Phlail 5k was a big success!  It was a fine fall day for a race, and over 100 runners and walkers turned out to honor Phil Soule's legacy and celebrate Homecoming.  Since we had a big group of skiers to work the race this year, for the first time ever some of our people were able to run, and a good time was had by all.  Bowdoin student John Auer '23 won the men's race in a blistering 16:24, and Anh Nguyen of South Portland was the women's winner in 22:49, closely followed by Bowdoin Nordic alum Rachel Zafren '18.  Stephen Lento was the top alumni lineman in 23:44.  We were thrilled to see a few others Bowdoin Nordic folks show up:  Brent Jepson '74, former captain Grace Hyndman '11, and former assistant coach Zach Stegeman.  Overall, a great day at the races.  Complete results here.

Now we're on to the season - tryouts start today!

What We've Learned - 2019

Once things settle down in the spring, I always like to spend a lot of time talking with skiers and reflecting on the season to figure out how we can keep getting faster.  Plenty of good stuff to think about, and plenty of time to ponder now that the skiers have all scattered for the summer.  Here are a few things we learned this past year:

Intensity:  Threshold training is a staple of nordic ski training, and that’s certainly always been true for us.  But these last couple years we’ve been edging away from threshold in the fall, and replacing it with lots of mid-length intervals just above threshold.  There’s been some interesting research over the past few years arguing that threshold isn’t a particularly productive way to train - I don’t completely agree with this, but I’m starting to feel that we don’t need to do quite as much of it as we’ve done in the past.  This past year we ramped up the intensity earlier than ever – starting in September, we did lots of threshold plus training, lots of faster race pace work, and not a lot of threshold.  We’ve always had our best results in longer races, but these days we’re equally competitive in the 5/10k races.  It’s hard to nail down the exact reasons for a whole team’s performance changes, but it’s doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch to think that this is driven by more training at 5-10k speeds and intensities.  We’re still doing fine in the 15-20k races, so for now it looks like a worthwhile change.

Peaking:  One of the reasons I’ve been conservative with higher intensity training is because I’m super paranoid about peaking the team early.  We’re pretty good at peaking on time – we’re generally on an upward trend for Regionals and NCAAs, to the point where I’m feeling like we’re actually a bit too cautious.  Our NCAA qualifiers seem to have plenty in the tank even into late March (we do have some people who are pretty exhausted by the end of Regionals every year, but this seems to be distinctly about school and travel rather than training).  So we were a bit more aggressive about peaking this year – less focus on maintaining fitness and more focus on getting fast and rested earlier in the season.  Starting in late January we cut back volume more than usual and focused only on short fast intervals for the rest of the way.  Seemed to work out fine – our last two carnivals were our best, and we had our best NCAA showing ever.  Probably will continue to experiment with this approach going forward.

Good skis are good skis:  Everyone knows that ski characteristics are way more important than wax or structure for determining if a ski is going to be fast on a given day.  But I don’t think most people understand how vast the gap is between the importance of good skis and the importance of good wax.  These last couple winters I’ve been borrowing a lot of athlete skis for testing while I slowly upgrade our old and sad test fleet.  This has been pretty eye-opening.  We have some great pairs of skis on our team!  We also have some not great pairs.  Wax can nudge things in one direction or another, but only within a narrow window.  On a 1-10 scale, a fast pair is always going to be at least an 8 or 9 even if flex and/or grind aren’t perfect for the conditions, and even if we don’t have the best wax.  You will always at least be competitive if you’re on a good pair of skis (I know this isn’t true at the World Cup level, where every pair is a good pair and differences are measured by fractions of a percent, but I strongly believe it’s true for college skiing).  The inverse is true for a mediocre pair – you’re never going to get to 9 or 10, even if your coaches nail the wax.  Again, this is nothing new, but it’s really hit home for me after experiencing first-hand the wide range of quality present in our quivers.  We’re going to have to be more proactive about getting our people on good skis – sharing good pairs and ensuring that any new pairs are bought from a reliable source.

Communication:  Although we had a pretty successful season competitively, the team didn’t have quite the same easy and joyful feel that we always strive for – for lots of different reasons, a few of our people really struggled with their enjoyment of the sport this year.  I’m not foolish enough to think that we can overcome all the challenges that people are experiencing in their lives outside of skiing, but one thing we can do is be more proactive about communicating with people – recognizing earlier when people are starting to get burned out and working with them to rekindle the fire a bit.  This is tricky – college skiing is pretty consuming, and it’s not for everyone.  Even so, more communication is always a good thing – sometimes we can help turn things around and sometimes we can’t, but knowing how people are feeling is an important starting point in either case.  I’ll be working hard this coming year to keep improving here.

Graduation 2019

The school year is over and Graduation 2019 is in the books!  Sean was our only graduate this year, and he got a nice send off on a beautiful sunny day from a good group of current skiers and alumni.  It's been a great run for Sean - he's been a cornerstone of our team for the last four years, and during that time he's helped bring Bowdoin Nordic to a new level.  He played a big role in solidifying a culture of dedication and focused training on our team, without losing the sense of fun that's such an important part of our team identity.  It's not a coincidence that we've enjoyed our greatest success ever during Sean's tenure.  He ends his college career with more top-30 finishes than any male skier in Bowdoin Nordic history.  Congratulations Sean - thanks for everything you've done for our team, and good luck!

Thanks to Beth Cork for the great photos!

Bowdoin Magazine Article

We were honored by a great article about our team in Bowdoin Magazine last week - check it out!  The best part is that this was written by one of our own, Nat Herz '09.  Nat is one of the most colorful characters to come through Bowdoin Nordic.  He's spent the last ten years doing fantastic work as a journalist (currently with Alaska Public Media), and I'm so proud of him.  He really personifies the team culture described in the article, so it's fitting that he was the one to write it.  Thanks Nat, and keep up the great work!

NCAA 2019

The 2019 NCAA Championships are in the books, and they were glorious!  Beautiful weather, tons of snow, and fast skiing by our people - couldn't have asked for more.  Here's a recap of how it all went down:

We left campus on Monday evening after classes.  The drive to Stowe felt long, but compared to last year's trip to Steamboat it was pretty painless.  Next morning we were out on the snow to check out the course - everything was in perfect shape.  The skiers had a nice quick course preview and the coaches spent a good while testing and getting things dialed in.  After a lovely banquet in which our skiers showed great fashion sense, we were ready to crush the skate race.

(photo courtesy of Nich Hall)

Wednesday morning was clear and cold and perfect for ski racing.  The atmosphere in the stadium was fun and high-energy, and the scenery was classic Vermont.

Once again we did a ton of testing - as always we cut it close but we found a great combination and got Elliot his skis with at least 30 seconds to spare.  Always on time, always under budget.  Elliot did his usual Elliot thing with a nice relaxed start - I could tell it was going to be a good day, because his smile in the early going was even bigger than usual.  The early splits weren't so encouraging - he had the slowest split of the whole field through 2k - but we knew better.  By the 5k mark he was starting to pick up steam, and by 7k he was regaining time on the skiers who had gained on him in the first lap.  With 1k to go he was absolutely flying, but times were tight and there was no way to know where he'd finish.  After a few tense minutes waiting for the late starters to finish, he was 18th - best ever NCAA finish for a Bowdoin man!  It was a ridiculously close race - he was just 9 seconds from All-American and 14 seconds from 5th!

Renae was up next - with only 5k, her race went by in a flash.  She looked strong out of the start and skied with great tempo.  By the final long climb she was clearly tiring but fought really hard to keep it together until the line.  Like the men's race, the times were really tight, and this last great effort kept her ahead of a whole crew of racers.  She finished 31st, just 1.1 seconds from scoring points in the top 30.  It was interesting watching the women's race unfold - the rolling course and moderately fast conditions really rewarded big strong gliders over smaller tempo skiers like Renae.  Something to work on for next year.  Nonetheless, this was one of her best 5k skate races ever.  Overall a great start to the championships!

We took things pretty easy on Thursday - an exam and a quick ski for the racers and a lot of kick testing for the coaches.  That afternoon we got back together for a tour of the Ben and Jerry's factory and a nice dinner.  The skiers were pretty mellow - a bit subdued, but also confident and really excited to race.  A good sign!

Next morning the sun was out and temps were warming quickly - a bit scary for waxing, especially for a pair of longer races, but luckily it had been cold overnight and things stayed well below freezing for the women's race.  It was another perfect day - coaches were testing like crazy and our crew of Bowdoin fans was having fun.

Last time we raced at Stowe, Renae had taken it out aggressively and had been right with the leaders for a couple kilometers, but another skier crashed in front of her and took her out.  Today she was determined to try this strategy again to find out what was possible if she pushed hard from the start.  Good thing, because the women's race went out HOT!  College women's mass starts always start fast, but I don't know if I've ever seen such a fast start as this one.  Renae was ready for it, and she stayed right with the pack - no crashes this time.  By the end of the first lap she was moving well and had skied her way into 14th with a whole hornet's nest right behind her.  As the race went on she slipped back a few places, but she hung on wonderfully, widening the gap between her and the back half of the field.  She finally got tired in the final couple kilometers and the mid-teens group slipped away from her, but once again she fought hard on the final climb to hold off the chasers and lock up a fantastic 20th place finish!  A really gutsy effort that paid off beautifully.

By Elliot's race, the sun was blazing and things were getting pretty toasty - bad flashbacks to Rumford!  This time it was a bit colder, and we felt safe about adding some pre-emptive kick and cover it up without making the skis to sticky or slow.  This was the right choice - things got slick in a hurry after the gun went off, and lots of guys were slipping.  Elliot stayed calm and skied nice and easy for the first half of the race.  He started near the back as usual, but as people got tired and/or started slipping, he picked up places steadily.  By the halfway mark he had sneaked into the top 20 and was looking strong and relaxed.  By this point things had settled - the people who were going to fade had already faded, and the guys around him were pretty well locked in.  The leaders weren't really getting away, and for a while it looked like Elliot might be able to close the gap and make a run at the top 10.  But at the start of the final lap, the leaders upped the pace, everyone else followed, and suddenly he was just trying to hang on.  He kept fighting and was able to maintain a slight gap on a big group of chasers, finishing in 16th - another fantastic race to close out a wonderfully successful week.

All of us left the championships feeling incredibly happy - what a fun and satisfying week.  Renae and Elliot were locked in all week - they did everything right.  They saved their best races for when it counted most - of course that's what everyone hopes and plans for, but so often it doesn't work out.  They represented our team so well on a national stage - with just 2 skiers, we managed to finish 17th, and I'm pretty positive this was our highest-scoring championships ever with 39 points.  As always, we were also lucky to have such great support from parents, friends, and teammates (thanks to Todd Anderson for the great pictures in this post).  Friday's cheering group in particular was fantastic - so good to see a bunch of our skiers make the trip up from Maine!  Christian served as our volunteer tester, and he was a great help in getting the skis dialed in - we couldn't have gotten good skis without him.  I'm really proud of Elliot and Renae and our whole team - already getting fired up for next year!  I can't wait.  Ok, that's only partially true - I think we're all ready to catch our breath and rest up a bit.  But the 2019 season has been fantastic, and the future is bright!