Classic Time Trial

We had a classic time trial on Saturday. This went well although this was the coldest weather we have been in this year, probably around 8-10F by start, perhaps colder. There was no wind so it certainly could have been worse. This made for some great classic skiing and I think everyone put in a solid effort considering we are heading into exams and I am sure that most aren't getting enough sleep. Robin took the win in the women's 12K, looking about the best I have seen her in the 4 years she has been on the team. Steve won the men's 17K which is exciting to have a freshmen do. You can see the full results on the team information page, there is a link to the right.
Today it snowed about a foot with more on the way according the weather, this made for some rather tough skate skiing this morning but we won't complain about the snow.
Right now I am waiting to see results from the opening Eastern Cup races in Presque Isle, ME. Ben Knowles left Friday as he was already finished with classes and exams for the semester.

Mass Start practice

We worked on classic mass start within an interval set today. To do this master groomer Bob Washo set up the lanes on the beach parking lot at Higley, setting up a lane funnel of 5 to 3 to 1 in an effort to mimic a real start area. It actually came out pretty good. The weather wasn't great for classic skiing 32/33F and snowing a little bit so everyone either had to little or to much kick. Even so they all put forth a solid effort and it ended up being a really fun workout, something we will definitely do again. If I remember I will try putting up some of the video clips from the starts tomorrow morning. It seems to take an exceptionally long time to upload them, maybe better in the morning.

Some photos from yesterday's race

Is Hunter just going really fast or is it just Johannah's superb picture-taking ability...

Yesterday was a fun first race day, and the team looks really great! I think we can finally begin our countdown to the carnival season...

NYSEF opener

We just got back from the NYSEF opener in Lake Placid today. It was a 10K freestyle for everyone. Conditions were quite soft but still great for this time of year.
The big story on the day was Ben Knowles kicking it into high gear with about 2K left and winning the race. This is quite exciting for a guy who has been sidelined the past two years between back injury and mono. I havn't seen results yet but they should be posted on nysef.org by this evening perhaps sooner. Kalie was first for the team on the womens side, close behind 3 or 4 of the Middlebury girls. For our first race this season I am really please with how everyone performed. Sure there were some that weren't really happy with their race but it sounds like these were not fitness related issues so I am not to worried, we can't have our best day everyday and there is plenty of racing still to come.
I hope those reading, the team included can forgive me for not including something about everyone.
As for my race, I think it was reasonable considering my training.

Higley and lots of snow

Some pictures from intervals at Higley yesterday. It is getting really good there now with a solid classic track. Its great to have such good conditions this early on and the forecast also looks favorable over the next couple weeks. Everyone is getting really excited for the opening race in Lake Placid on Saturday. I guess we will see how ready we are. They are even grooming the golf course on campus now which is great for those that have late classes.

Gatineu was sweet

Near mid winter conditions on about 3-5inches of hard packed snow at Gatineu in Ottawa/Hull today. The trails were in fantastic shape with a quality double track set which along with single digit temps made for some great classic skiing. After about 2.5 hours with some no pole skiing about halfway through we hit the Tim Hortons and headed home. Tomorrow we are skiing at Higley our home training site, not enough to set track yet but the report is that we have decent coverage on the main trails so after a good night freeze up should be fine for skate skiing. Hoping that the Sunday night storm is a good one, trying not to get my hopes up, just glad we have some skiing nearby.

Bounding in a Blinding Snowstorm

Well all we had to do to make it snow more was put in a hard level 4 session of bounding intervals. By midway through the session it was blizzard conditions. For some reason the flash only worked on a couple of the pics, one of these days I will learn to use this camera better.
We are off to Gatineu Park in Ottawa tomorrow. It sounds like it is about as good as Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid but there are tracks already set so hopefully a little better. Maybe Van Ho next weekend, either place is about 1:45 to 2hour drive so same time commitment either way.

Back to some dryland

The pictures are from our little van mishap in Quebec. This is how you can have an accident without even driving anywhere. One van slid backwards down a slight incline as the snow warmed and got greasy under the wheels.
Well todays weather was not kind to the snow. Temps near 40F and quite windy some snow early on and then mix of rain and snow. So today was a run and stretching session with some abs after. Given that the skiing hasn't been the greatest here anyway I think for most on the team this was good because it keeps us on campus. The extra travel time to Higley or the Snowbowl while not excessive(about 20-25min one way) certainly eats up a good portion of the afternoon.

Still on Snow

Well yesterday we skied on the thinnest of margins but today was a bit more wintery. We have been skiing the old Snowbowl trails which are probably the highest point in Colton, I think its around 800 feet but sometimes even that makes a difference. We groomed Higley today after the moderate snowstorm last night that left about 4-5 inches of new snow through the North Country. We decided to let Higley set up overnight so that it might be better off into next week. I definently think that either Lake Placid or Gatineau are going to be in the plans this weekend at least for Saturday if not both Saturday and Sunday. A little bit of a haul but almost always worth the trip. A rain snow mix is in the forecast for tomorrow but the extended forecast looks favorable at least temperature wise, we just need a good sized snowstorm to hit us.

A look back at Thanksgiving camp...

Looking back on our training camp in Quebec I think that we truly lucked out with the amount of snow available at both the Foret and Mont Sainte Anne. Although it was unfortunate that we were not able to get out to West Yellowstone, I think we benefited much more from getting in the solid hours of training that we did. We began the week by putting in a few single session days and worked our way into doubles with some much needed food and nap breaks in between. The team looked great on our interval days (Wednesday and Friday) where we did some longer classic at level 3 and shorter skate at level 4. It was really a good feeling to put the skis back on, get some balance back, and remember why we all love this sport so much. The weather was absolutely beautiful, and we couldn’t have asked for a better Thanksgiving Day…lots of snow. So much that we had trouble seeing the covered street lights on our drive back from Mont Sainte Anne. Not only was the snow great but we put together a pretty decent Thanksgiving meal…and had enough leftovers to provide for a few following meals. There were also other skiers from UVM, Middlebury, Bates, UMPI, and Colby which was fun to see some friends and obviously stake out the competition. Although we did not compete in the Saturday time trial amongst most of those teams listed including some high school ski schools and some Canadians, I think I can speak on behalf of the team by saying the effort we put in for the week was really great. As most people passed out on the van ride home, it was evident that the trip left us exhausted…but mostly satisfied. As for Canton, NY…current is mostly slushy...lots of rain yesterday although it changed over to snow last night but still too wet to accumulate much. Oh well. Like Ethan said, we are hoping that Gatineau Parc in Ottawa has something to offer us for this weekend. Otherwise we are looking to Christmas break (so soon!) to get back on the white stuff.

looking for snow

Well I just spent about 2-2.5 hours driving around the North Country checking on snow. I wasn't expecting much and I didn't get much. There is a slight bit of icy slush on the ground in Canton that will probably be gone by morning. Higley our home training site in South Colton still had a solid layer of slushy ice that could probably even be skied on but it wouldn't be worthwhile training. If the rain changes over soon and it gets cooler, we may be able to ski there this week but I am not counting on it. I went all the way out to Star Lake but that was even worse, oh well we need lake effect snow for that and these past storms were not really lake storms. This week will be difficult given that we rollerskiing is going to be ugly on roads that have been salted and sanded. Running should still be fine of course and we have a bounding workout planned for Friday. Gatineu Park in Ottawa was being groomed prior to the weekend but they are getting rain there as well. Even so I would be that we could get in some skiing there this weekend especially if we get some snowfall after the rain. We will see. Back at it again tomorrow morning.

some pictures finally

The skiing continues to get better, a couple of inches of new snow yesterday. Conditions are just a couple notches shy of excellent. Tomorrow we will give Mt. Saint Anne a try for a change of scenery. I am feeling really good about the training we have been putting in this week. It is going to be a big let down when we return to less snowy climes at the end of the week but at least we should be able to feel good about what we got done. Maybe the weather will pull through and we could at least ski in Ottawa or Star Lake.
We may participate in the Colby/UVM annual Foret Time trial on Saturday but we are scheduled to head back to campus that day so that will be up to the athletes. I would would really rather have the time trial on Friday but its not my show so we will stick with the level 4 intervals for those that choose not to time trial before we head back Saturday.
So I have a few pictures from the last couple of days when we stayed up at Foret and skied twice after lunch and a nap. Matty is the king of napping.

Foret Montmorency

Well this looks like the place to be for Nordic skiers this week. The snow is good, pretty close to the best we saw all last winter most places in New England and the team is doing well. The drive up from Stoneham is probably going to get old by the end of the week but for now it pays off with some great skiing. Today the trails were busy with some ski clubs from Quebec. These clubs were huge spanning the range from around 10 or 11 years old all the way up to 60plus master blasters. One group had about 80 total and another probably near the same. Made for some congested trails at some points but thats congestion by nordic ski standards.

Most of them were nice but I couldn't help feeling like we were poaching their secret skiing trails.

We have a pretty big week planned, should be interesting to see how everyone is doing by the end.
Sorry about the lack of pictures, I keep forgeting the camera in the excitement of getting on snow, I will try to take some tomorrow.

Long Week

Well, it seems like my (and I have to assume everyone's) dreams of riding buffalos and hunting wolves and doing some skiing in West are a wash. As of this morning, we have changed trajectories north instead of west and are traveling to northern Quebec to bone up on our French and hopefully buy some poutine and Nordiques shirts.
The snow looks good, and almost every other college team is planning to be there skiing, so the week should be very productive. We have lost a few and gained a few, but all in all a good trip should be had.
Besides the indecisions and the cursing out of Montana, this week has seen a solid week back from a rest week...for everyone else. Two solid morning lifts left people dozing in 8:30s I'm sure, and last nights track workout under the lights, in the rain, in the cold, looked brutal but beneficial. A couple nice long easy rolls with some specific strentgh on the inbetweens, and some skate intervals tomorrow perhaps if the weather holds out...or a solid game of indoor soccer before we depart early Saturday morning.
I, unfortunately was left on the sidelines this week (just takin a little extra rest week) due to popcorn (and the fact that freak health issues always happen to me). It seems that a tiny piece of kernel got lost in my tonsil...decided to hangout and give me crazy fevers and coughs for a full 5 days. I finally figured out what it was last night, got on some antibiotics, and had the doc in town fish that guy out. Hopefully, skiing is in my future (although I'm getting a little light headed typing this so I might have to take it easy and focus on the gravy french fries the first few days in Canada.)
Happy there's snow somewhere, happy there's only one day of school left, happy we are training well, and unhappy that I will never, ever, eat popcorn again.
I'm sure pics of the white stuff will come from the road.
Cheers.

Marissa Marleau '09 in France

I've got two great stories for you. The first being the strike and riots that have occurred at our school this past week. Sarkozi passed a law stating that as of next year there will be a privatization of all public colleges. The FAC (the college that we attend here) is public and free of charge to all students so as you can imagine they are upset at the idea that they might have to pay a tuition to continue school. All the French students refuse to come to class until Sarkozi changes the law. They have piled chairs in front of all the entrances so no one can enter for class and last week a small riot broke out in the center square of school. The SLU kids of course still have class but to get in to the building we now have to call the dean directly for her to let us in what is normally a fire escape exit, off the side of the school. In the mean time all the facilities on campus have also shut down, meaning the fitness center! Just to use the equipment you have to pay 25 Eros and now it's not even open! hahahaha, So I'm giving up, I've resorted to doing squats, lunges, and sit-ups in my room. I thought about putting various pieces of furniture on my back as weight for the squats, but I'm not that desperate yet.

The second bit of news probably takes the cake. Today I went for a run and got lost in the east Jesus of France... and somehow I managed to accidentally join a semi marathon race that was going on. After running for a half an hour I had no idea where I was so I decided I would follow a group of runners that I saw up a head. Normally you never see ANYONE in France run so I assumed it was a race of some sort. No one reprimanded me for running with them so I went with it. I jammed out to my pod, cruised along, and started passing people. Spectators were lined up along the side of the road cheering and half way through there was a feed station... I figured what the hell, I'm running in a race I haven't entered, I might as well take the feed too. I did about 35 min of intense running and then I crossed the line. I had no idea how big the race was until I saw the finish. It was great that I found out where the race ended but then I was like "Oh god, what if they actually check to see if I registered... then I would have to try and explain myself out of the mess in French. But nobody checked me or seemed to notice that I was out of place so I ended up finishing a race I never entered. After I crossed the line they had oranges and water set up for the finishers so I took part in that and then just before I left somebody gave me a bag of sweet gear just for participating. They didn't ask me questions and I didn't ask them questions; I just took the stuff and started running back the way I came. On the way down the mt. I asked one of the officials for directions back to my house. When I got back I opened the bag to see what I got and luckily there was a t-shirt in there to tell me exactly what I had just participated in: Semi-marathon, Bois Guillaume. I laughed all the way back down the mt. and I am still laughing now... weird things like this only happen to me.

Number 9 road

Some level 4 intervals on number nine road today. We had not been here yet this fall so it was good change of scenery. A couple of barking dogs to cheer you on is alway fun as well.
I am going to try posting some video once I get the clips pulled off the camera but in the meantime check out the photo of Isaac carving on his longboard after the workout.

Intervals till dark

Some long level 3 intervals today at Higley. This will be the last week we can meet at 4:30 for practice. Will need to move it up to 3 or 3:30 next week to have enough daylight after the time change on Sunday. This becomes a problem for those with late afternoon classes scheduled but not much we can do about it. Everyone seems to be feeling the grind of school work and lack of sleep. Such is the life of a college student-athlete. The good thing is that everyone seems to come around and still get it done and done well after their warmup. Sorry about the pic it was already getting dark at 5 when I took it. By the time I next saw the girls it was already to dark to get anything decent. Compound that with my obvious lack of photography skills and this is what you get. Pepper actually looks like he has some pipes sporting the vest, no shirt. Not really but he was trying.

and for more fun

I will let Kalie's posting speak for the time trial. A picture of the time trial start, sorry no action shots as I was busy getting some video. Afterward we raked leaves in the rain for clean up fix up day. A little community service by your friendly neighborhood nordic skiers.

Skiing in the rain

Saturday we had our first rollerski time trial of the fall. Unfortunately, all members of sluski awoke to pouring rain that morning. Anyone who has rollerskied in the rain knows it isn't the greatest; however, by the time we drove to River Road in South Colton, it had lightened up a bit and actually remained at a tolerable sprinkle during the race. It only started to pick up again right as most of the girls were finishing. The women did 7.5k, and the men 10. We started a ways down from the beginning of the infamous River Road in 30 second intervals. For those that know it well, this road is pretty hilly and unlike anything we train on in the winter (Higley digley doesn't have such challenging hills), so it was really great to get some solid V2 and V1 work in. There are some great recovery/flat sections as well with a couple long downhills. There's nothing better than tucking down a hill on wet pavement with your rollerskis spitting up water up onto your face - can't beat it. Even though most of the team was probably thinking about their Halloween attire for the evening, everyone put forth huge efforts on both the men and women's sides. There were some great results. With the rain we were luckily there weren't any accidents, minus Robin's rollerski bolt stopping her wheel from rolling forward. Luckily she was on an uphill when this happened and was able to fix it in order to finish the race. Looking forward to another week of solid training before a lighter week after this one (with no morning practice yay!). Everyone looks great and I feel like things are really starting to come together as a team as we keep putting in the hours and praying to the snow gods.

Before the Sun Rises

Most Tuesday and Thursday mornings we have a general strength session at 6:30am. Its a mix of some lifts, core work, and balance routines. At this time of year we start before the sun rises. Its been interesting over the past 4 years to see how many other programs at SLU have begun holding workouts in the morning, we used to arrive to dead silence but now typically swimming, xc running, and often either the mens or womens basketball teams are already up and running when we arrive. I don't think any of the other programs do this as consistently throughout the entire fall as we do but it is still rather impressive how busy it is over in Athletics by 6:30am.

High quality simple training

This is one of my favorite workouts with the team, we do this a couple of times in the fall. Basically running intervals up a long hill that has some flatter and some steeper sections, takes about 5-6 minutes. Everyone seems to be in really good spirits. It has been oddly warm the last couple days after I made that mention of cooler temps in the last. Shirts off today made it seem more like July than October. Well the weather has a way of changing quickly this time of year so just take it as it comes I guess. I need learn how to use my camera better so my shots aren't so blurry.

Seven Springs resort and spa

Well the resort and spa part never seem to work out but we did have an excellent ski walking and bounding interval day. This was the start of what is planned to be one of our most demanding training weeks of the fall. As a college coach I have found that timing these weeks with the academic schedule is key. Its unlikely that everyone on the team will feel great all week but hopefully most will be physically well rested from Midsemester break and through their first big onslaught of academic work. From about this point on though I tend to focus a bit more on our intensity rather than the overall volume. The reason being that the time demands of quality intensity are less than that of high volume. You need to be realistic in a college setting and work with what you have rather than worry about what others are doing. With the temperatures dropping I think we are all fantasizing about getting on snow. Its happened before in October but I am not holding my breath. As great as it is for them I am rather sick of seeing the pictures from out West and Alaska of already being on snow. Good for them but quit rubbing it in. Of course I would do the same if we were on snow right now.

Mid semester break

So mid semester break was this past week...a few days off in the midst of everything just getting into full swing on campus. I'm assuming by the looks on peoples faces this morning that everyone got a lot of rest in, but was like me and decided last week not to do much work because they would do it over break, and then over break decided not to do any work because it's vacation and hey, we earned it. So my guess, this week will be hectic academically and athletically. We are pushing the volume and the intensity this week, running 3 sets of intervals and some longer workouts this weekend. Should be a fine progression, and the weather looks at least somewhat cooperative, which is always nice. Back to focusing on training and on the upcoming racing season. I got schooled this past weekend at the White Face toll road rollerski race. Granted I almost missed the start and didn't warm up and such, theres no denying that the whole field of Midd, UVM, and Clarkson and Harvard skiers are in excellent shape, skiing fast, and lookin for a fight. This is the perfect time to get a little scared, start picturing some race scenarios in your mind while your out on the road, and really have at it.
Im off to a NCAA conference in Boston this upcoming weekend, so hopefully i can finally get that funding for the team Jet so we don't have to drive as far for all the carnivals...


here, ScubaSteve Vargo and Kyle Marvinney are doing some cross training....

Mt. Allen, conquered again by SLUski

So after we had our fun on St. Regis Saturday morning, I took a van a bunch of the manliest men on the ski team and traveled deep into the south Adirondacks to do one of the worst, most unrewarding hikes of all time...one of the 46 high peaks, Mt. Allen. For the third time. Stupid, I know. After a wet night of camping, a 5 am wake up call, and a little under 6 hours of running on the trail, we all survived and made it back to campus. It was a great trip and will post a longer account with some pictures as soon as they are available. It was a great ending to a long, hard week of training. As we head to mid semester break this week, I feel like the guys and girls are looking very strong and handling the training load well. Everyone is pretty excited and forecasts are calling for mountain snow this weekend...

SLU Quadathalon

SLUSKI nordic won both the mixed team and female team divisions in this years SLU quadathlon. Our first year womens team of Caitlin Smith, Sophie Allen, Libby Hayden, and Hannah James took the female division with 10th overall. Our mixed team of Arla Casselman, Ben Knowles, Kalie Dunn, Robin Brooks, and Bryan Pepper finished 4th overall winning the mixed division. I didn't get to see that much of the event as I was helping with the bike course but it sounds like the most impressive individual showing was by Caitlin Smith who held her own in the swim finishing closely behind many of the SLU swim team members. Several others on the team took the time to volunteer to help run the event which was quite a success even with some very dreary weather.

Probably the sweetest rollerski ever

Under bright blue skies we had a fantastic rollerski out Raquette River Road today in SoCo (South Colton). Several of the guys were doing a Peak Weekend hike which one of them might post about later. Meanwhile the rest of us rollerkskied 2.5-3hrs today. The scenery and new pavement made it almost as enjoyable as the real thing.

St Regis hill climb, Dunn sets new womens record!

Saturdays run up St. Regis went exceptionally well considering some slick conditions due to rain. It looked like it was going to be a rather miserable day but the rain let up toward the end of the warm up, leaving a slight fog and mist for the run which actually was great for keeping it cool. Nera eagerly anticipated the arrival of the team with Beano summiting first in a time of 29:40, 21 secs shy of the record. The rest of the guys followed closely behind. For the women Kalie crushed her previous PR by 2 minutes, setting a new women's record. The first year women also did great considering its hard to know where the top is if you haven't done this before. The rest of the results can be seen on the team information website, I am quite pleased with everyones effort.

Awesome week so far

What great week of training so far, easy distance skate on Tuesday, threshold skate intervals Wednesday, and today we went on an distance run out at the Higley on our ski trails even went for a swim. Our morning strength sessions have looked good as well even as hard as it is to get up early. The weather this week has been fantastic for training aside from not snowing this is about as good as it gets. Next week looks to turn a little wetter but is planned to be a lighter volume week anyway. I wish I had brought my camera for the run today, won't make that mistake again.

Sundays long run

Went on a long run for Sunday's overdistance. Pictured left are Steven Vargo and Tyler Hendrickson both first year members of the team returning from the trails that loop around SUNY Canton. The bridge they are on crosses over the Grasse River that runs through town. It was a fantastic day for a run, cool temps with partly sunny skies.

SLUSKI Tailgate

What a great time seeing all the new families and the returning ones who have supported us so strongly over the past few years. This was the first ever SLUSKI, Alpine and XC, family weekend tailgate party. Knut and Abi deftly worked the grills while Nera greeted families and searched the lawn for dropped food. It was really a great time and something we will continue in the future. If you check out the team information site you can see the results of the double pole and no pole skate tests that were done in the morning. These are some of the toughest tests we do.

Beano breaks team 3K record

I am fairly certain that Beano broke the 3K record for testing with a 9:31. I am only able to look back to 2000-2001 season. Granted we probably have had some xc runners who joined the team later in the fall who can and have run faster than that. However Ben now holds the record for team testing at least in recent history. Truly impressive for someone who has not been able to race the past two years with back injuries and then mono last year. Zach also had a PR with 10:07 to finish tied for third with first year Kyle Marvinney. The biggest improvement was Jake Birchard who took over a minute off of last years PR.

While there were not any record times on the women's side I am very pleased to have everyone finish under 13:30 with first years Libby Hayden and Sophie Allen winning in a time of 12:07 just one second ahead of Kalie. All in all it was a tight finish all around which made it difficult to keep track of who finished in what place exactly although I know I have the times correct within a second.

90 in September

We decided to postpone the 3K till Wednesday in light of 90 degree temps and 80% humidity on Tuesday. It certainly felt more like July out there, but it was a good ski anyway.