Craftsbury Eastern Cup Sprint

Most of the team is in VT right now for the Craftsbury Eastern Cup.  This is pretty amazing - this race weekend always takes place during exams, and usually we're lucky to get 2 or 3 skiers there.  For whatever reason, this year lots of people were finished with their exams early enough to make it to the races.  Yesterday the crew put up a good showing in the skate sprint.  Some highlights:  both Millers made the open heats and moved up nicely (Kaitlynn 6th, Hannah 14th); Tess just missed qualifying for the open and finished 8th in the U20 heats; and Riley and Alec were just a few seconds from qualifying.  As far as I can tell (looking at the results from 2 states away), almost everyone had a decent performance.  This is pretty impressive considering that A) they went straight from exams to the races, and B) they're on their own with no coaches (since it's technically still exam period, we're not allowed to work with them right now).  So, a good day that should give everyone a spark heading into the (very short) break.  Much thanks to Deb Miller for hosting most of the crew this weekend!

Sprint Results

PS - Today's classic race was cancelled, unfortunately - crazy weather across New England.

Sierra in Amsterdam

Things are pretty quiet with the team now that exams have started.  Instead of ski stuff, here's a post from Sierra Frisbie, who's wrapping up a semester in Amsterdam:

Goedemiddag from Amsterdam!

I hope this post finds you all doing well. I just caught up on team happenings from camp to the surprise storm last week. Very jealous that you all are on snow! Not only is it exceedingly flat here, it’s also entirely snow-free. The closest thing I’ve experienced was brief and painful hailstorm on my bike ride home from class.

But here’s a phrase I never thought I’d say being in the below-sea-level-flatland that is the Holland: “Shoot, I really wish I had brought my ski boots!”

As most of you know, I decided to take a hiatus from racing this year due to health issues. That said, I still want to maintain a certain level of fitness and proper ski technique. Which is why I’ve been “cross training” so to speak:
Yup. I’ve been learning how to speed skate! Since they have endless miles of canals, the Dutch have always been good at long distance ice skating. It’s in their history, and they continue to dominate the Olympics in long track. It’s a huge pastime here, and everyone knows how to skate. It’s like the Norwegians and their little kids flying around on cross country skis since they were two years old. And this isn’t ordinary ice skating…the blades are almost as long as rollerskis and you do laps on a 400 meter track.

I hit the ice for the first time and thought I was doing just fine. And by fine, I mean I didn’t fall. Not a hotspot for tourists, I shuffled my way around the outside lane as lycra-clad Dutch guys lapped me a zillion times from the inside. The second time, however, I went to the track with Danielle and her father Rino. They‘re both from the Netherlands; Danielle was my babysitter when I was 3 years old and we reconnected when I came to the city back in August.  Her dad, Rino, used to be a speed skating coach, and he was quick (and very kind) to get to work on my lacking form.

“Glide on each skate longer” “Shift your weight out of the middle” “Don’t let your upper body move so much” “Balance on your gliding skate” “Commit to each push”

I had to honestly look behind me for a second. Nathan?!  Am I at Pineland right now? These are things I’d already heard so many times. I was really shocked at just how similar the sports are. All the same problems I had with skiing, I had with skating. Hey, at least I’m consistent. But good news! I’m usually really bad (in both sports) at putting my weight on the outside of my foot, the little toe side, in order to glide longer. Instead I stay too long on the inside edge. Well, Rino gave me a great tip about how to control that, and I felt like it clicked. I’m curious to see if it transfers to skiing!

I was also really surprised to see a bunch of people walking around in the same exact Salomon skate boots I have at home. Within the last few years, these Nordic skate hybrids have become more and more popular for long distance skating. Almost everybody was wearing them! Not because they ski too, but specifically purchased for skating. It was really really bizarre to see a different niche market for Nordic skiing products …Nathan, I’m seeing some sweet opportunities for cross training here…

I went skating another time with Rino and Danielle at different outdoor (refrigerated from the bottom up) track, but this one was 3K! The Netherlands shares our east coast troubles of winter sport enthusiasm without the guarantee of nice winter weather…so they know how to cope!  I was doing very well by the end and I finished our session with tired quads and cramped feet…felt just like home. On the last lap, I raced Rino and Danielle and got totally schooled.  Abroad lesson #206: Never try to beat the Dutchies at anything related to bikes or ice skating.

Home in a little more than a week! See you guys soon!

Snow on Campus

We got a nice surprise this week - skiing on campus!  On Monday we had the traditional coastal Maine storm - a couple inches of snow with a little freezing rain on top.  Fortunately, it got nice and cold afterward, so all that moisture created a nice icy glaze over the grass - thanks to this and another dusting yesterday, we've had glorious skiing on the athletic fields these last couple days.  Bonus points - some trucks have been driving around the fields doing some sort of project, which has given us a nice groomed track.  Kind of unorthodox, but at this time of year you take what you can get.  Yesterday we had a good fast interval workout, and today we did a nice poles-only session.  Remarkably good skiing - it's been great to get back on snow so quickly after camp.  Everyone's in good spirits and energy levels are starting to come back - a good place to be heading into the break.

Sunsets

The fall semester is drawing to a close.  In just a few more days, we'll take a break for reading period and exams.  This is always a tricky time of year - everyone's extra busy and a bit tired, days are super short, and there's usually enough fleeting snow to mess up the roads, but not enough to ski on.  But it's also a critical time for training, with carnivals just a few weeks away.  So we're trying to tread carefully, backing off a bit while still trying to fit in a few more quality workouts before everyone heads off for break.  Hopefully, we're nearing the end of dryland training as well....

Foret Wrap

Thanksgiving Camp 2013 is in the books.  The last few days of camp were as good as the first - nice and cold, great snow, and lots of baby steps forward with technique work.  We also did a 5/10k skate time trial - always good to get the first on-snow race out of the way.  As expected, most of our people were dragging a bit, but it was a good effort and a good chance to practice race day.

As for the more important competition, Friday brought a fine meal from Les Poissons Puissants:  red curry with chicken, tofu, and vegetables over rice, as well as a spinach salad and ice cream with berries.  Les Porcelets Bavardes wrapped things up with pasta and alfredo sauce with chicken and peas, garlic bread, spinach & goat cheese salad, and yogurt pies with berry topping on homemade chocolate crusts.  At this point the competition has yet to be decided - that's how close the entries are.  There will surely be controversy when the winners are announced.

Now we're back to reality - sunny and mild in Brunswick after a little snow & rain the last couple days.  We'll work on race gears with short, fast intervals over the next few days before winding down for reading period and exams.

Thanksgiving & Snow!

 Day 3 of camp is complete - so far it's been fantastic.  Right now there are 20-25k groomed - best conditions we've had in 5 or 6 years.  It's been cold and clear, so the tracks are nice and firm - great classic skiing.  We've done a lot of good technique work - a bit harder to manage than in previous years, since the skiers aren't confined to a 2k loop, but that's a trade I'm happy to make.  We're seeing lots of little improvements and even a few breakthroughs.  One example:  James and Tyler have been chipping away improving their striding technique ever since they got to Bowdoin - it's been a long slow grind.  This week it's finally starting to click for both of them.  Super exciting - if I wasn't such an uptight square, I'd be doing a victory dance.

Of course, it wouldn't be Thanksgiving Camp without a mention of the food.  Les Fromages en Colere cooked up a tasty meal of chili, cornbread, and brownies on Day 1 - definitely a strong contender for the title.  Last night everyone worked hard to pull off a lovely Thanksgiving dinner - turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, garlic green beans, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce from scratch, and professional grade pies by Ruth.  Delicious, and by far the smoothest Thanksgiving dinner we've ever had - I think we were eating by 6:30, which is an hour or two earlier than usual.

Still 2 days of on-snow adventures left to be had.  Skate time trial tomorrow!

Sand Skiing

I've been wanting to try sand skiing with the team for years - yesterday we were looking to finish the week with a low-key workout that was a little different, so we headed over to Morse Mtn to give it a try.  With skis/poles in hand and boots in backpacks, we jog/hiked over the mountain and down to the beach.  It was a cold day made colder by the howling wind, but still a spectacular day for the beach.  The skiing was pretty cool - it was basically like real skiing with perfect kick up a steep hill on super slow snow.  We ended up doing a lot of walking and easy shuffling, but real glide was possible.  It came at a high cost, though - my heart rate was through the roof after about 30 seconds of good fast skiing (although this might have been because I'm in terrible shape).  The minimal glide forced you to get into a nice forward position, which was nice for those who have been working on this all fall.  I came away feeling like sand skiing could be a great tool for real workouts - it's basically a more specific version of bounding, so it could be great for short VO2max intervals and explosive power development.  I'm thinking we may give this a try sometime in the future - hopefully not until next year, though.  Headed for the real thing tomorrow!