SkiErg World Sprints

We participated in the SkiErg World Sprints last weekend - this was an event organized by Concept2 to promote the new erg. Skiers all around the world did a 1k sprint time trial on the erg and sent in their times for comparison. A 1k double pole sprint with no terrain variation or rest is pretty nasty - people were wrecked by the end of the test. Our skiers put up some respectable times, though. Not sure if the current list of times is complete, but right now Emma and Jeff are both in the top 10 overall. Pretty solid considering how many good skiers did the test. Current results at the link.

Niko and Jeff - dueling ergs. Watching a side-by-side erg race is actually pretty cool.

XC Regionals - Twin Brooks

This morning the team headed down to Twin Brooks in Cumberland to watch the XC teams compete at Regionals. This was a big meet, with all the New England D3 schools in attendance and NCAA berths at stake. Both teams ran well - the men were 5th and the women were 9th. Colman earned a trip to NCAAs with a 1oth place finish. There's a decent chance that the whole men's team will qualify, but team selections won't be announced for a few more days. Congratulations to our runners on a fine season - we'll look forward to cheering on Colman and possibly others at NCAAs!

Full results here.

Bradbury & Bowdoinham

We did a fairly stout bounding workout at Bradbury yesterday and a classic rollerski in Bowdoinham today - I've rediscovered Ridge Rd. as a great rollerski venue.

All of a sudden I'm really into this grass rollerskiing stuff for technique work - Jeff's antics from a couple weeks ago have inspired me.

Wild stallions gotta run free.

A look at the Bradbury landscape. It's hardly a mountain at all, but it's pretty rugged in places.

Part of the trail we used for bounding. I use the word "trail" loosely - it was more of a secret ninja route. There was a fair amount of tree-dodging and improvisation - always good to keep things lively.

A view from the top.

Elissa and Erin. It really wasn't this dark, but there was a nice gloomy forest feel to this part of the mountain.

Emma looking rather possessed.

The boys, route-finding.

This was a hard workout - Sanville might have gotten his lactate above 2 mmols on this one.

Recovery Week

We've had a few pleasant days lately - some mild weather punctuated by a little short-lived snow. After a fairly tough month of training, we took it easy this week with some short and sweet speed work, a threshold session, a few easy workouts, and a beautiful almost-OD out in Bowdoinham today. We're heading into another challenging period that includes some high-intensity weeks and Thanksgiving Camp, so this was a very necessary rest.

Hannah and Maren striding it out on Highland Rd.

Chris and Jeff were moving pretty fast in this workout, but those skid marks were actually caused by a car.

James doing a technique session on the quad. Our campus is great for so many reasons - we're undoubtedly the only people at Bowdoin who appreciate the rollerskiing value of the countless nice smooth walkways.

The ladies wrapping up an OD on Ridge Rd in Bowdoinham on an absolutely perfect day.

A view from the Bowdoinham Fire Station.

Niko loving the hills on Ridge Rd and overachieving. Note the vest-only look - it's November, but you wouldn't know it from the temps. This warm weather won't seem so nice if it's still hanging around in a couple weeks...

The Wilson Plan

Walt isn't the only one taking an experimental training approach this year - Wilson has been up to some secret training in Peru as well:

Little did you know, but all of this "taking a break from skiing" has actually been my secret plan to get back into shape ahead of the curve, and into that NCAA slot Bowdoin has been waiting for.
Here was/is the breakdown of my plan (kinda the same as Walt's, but without the treadmill):

Period 1
Summer: Keep the training sporadic - A weeklong kayak trip (with lots of portaging) here, a four day solo backpacking trip there, couple weeks of being lazy, a couple weeks training with the old ski team.

Period 2
Get realllllly lazy - Arrive in Peru the way you left Salt Lake City, super motivated and active, but quickly descend into a lazy routine of late nights and nonactive days.

Period 3
Then make an immediate shift about a month and a half in (the immediacy is key here). Spend 6 days backpacking in some really tough terrain (Cotahuasi canyon). Then as soon as it seems like you'll settle back into laziness get on your feet once again. This time a trip though the Incan ruins of Choquequirao and onto MachuPicchu. (5.5 days of walking, 150ish K, 20-25Kg packs, 4000+M elevation gain, 40ish hrs walking in total).

Period 4
Rest week.
Travel to La Paz, Bolivia (high altitude training camp). Go and find a big moutain to climb. Huayna Potosi is a great choice (6088M). The idea here is to increase hemoglobin levels above legal FIS levels, and to take some totally awesome pictures with crampons and ice axes.
Three days rest.

Period 5
This is the, as of yet, uncertain part of the training plan.
Probably head off to Condorriri (a set of about 6 prominent peaks), get there, choose two, come back down.
It looks like another trip to Cotahuasi to help out some old folks who live about an 8 hour walk (for me) from the nearest road. Also to explore some side canyons which looked SOOO cool but I just didn't have the time... oh and to eat another head-sized avocado.
Then back to Lima for a few days (let's call that another rest week). And finally back home just in time for the West Yellowstone Ski Festival.
From then on I don't want to make predictions on what I'll be doing (I'll have a bit over a month before coming back to Bowdoin).

Well... we'll see what happens, but with such a specifically designed plan I expect to be putting Walt's 12% to shame. I wish the internet worked well enough that I could attach some pictures, but you'll just have to wait on those. See you all soon!

Pies Results & Photos

Eyes on the Pies Results

Here are results from the BBC running time trial:

Name	School	Run Split
Wyatt Fereday	Colby	15:59
Corey Park	Colby	16:02
Brandon Cooper	Bates	16:11
Jake Barton	Colby	16:34
Jared Supple	Colby	16:59
Corey Hill	Bates	16:59
Chase Hammond	Colby	17:04
Ben Haydock	Colby	17:18
Jim Burnham	Bates	17:29
Niko Kubota	Bowdoin	17:42
Dan Brodhead	Bates	18:07
Lucy Garrec	Colby	18:26
Jeremy Blazar	Colby	18:31
Will McCartney	Bowdoin	18:36
Natalie Ruppertsburger	Bates	18:47
Danny Kuzio	Bates	18:48
Missy Krause	Colby	19:16
Nate Fuller	Bates	19:33
Rainer Kenney	Bowdoin	20:04
Erin Hatton	Bowdoin	20:06
Jennie Brentrup	Colby	20:13
Hannah Wright	Bowdoin	20:18
Jeff Bush	Bowdoin	20:39
Sam Forrest	Bates	20:42
Emma James	Bowdoin	21:48
Kirsten Stray-Gunderson	Colby	21:52
Catherine ?	Bates	21:58
Melanie Ross	Colby	22:00
Dayna Stimson	Bates	22:06
Maren Askins	Bowdoin	22:38
Kaitlyn Bernard	Colby	22:50

And a few photos:

Emma - get those arms out!

Maren

Jeff

Will

Niko

Rainer

Will and Jeff

Parents Weekend/Eyes on the Pies

It's been a busy weekend for our team. Yesterday we did an OD combo workout (a classic rollerski around Runaround Pond followed by a trail run at Bradbury) and then had brunch at Thorne with the team parents visiting for Parents Weekend. Today we took about half the team to Pineland for the Eyes on the Pies skate rollerski race. We were joined by Colby and Bates, among others. After the race, the college teams headed over to Oak Hill for a running pursuit. It was a beautiful day and a nice workout opportunity against some good competition. No results right now - hopefully I can get ahold of them soon. Photos coming soon - for now, here's a great one from Steve Fuller:

I have no idea what Jeff is doing in this photo.

Lots of people had other things going on this weekend. Elissa was perhaps the most hardcore - she ran from Orr's Island to campus on the way to brunch, about 15 miles. A few others competed in a Parents Weekend 5k fun run - from what I hear, Chris dominated, crushing the egos of countless parents. Lastly, the XC teams raced at NESCACs today - men 5th, women 6th. Full results here.