Note: Mountain Camp Participants all received NEGATIVE test results for COVID-19 and quarantined prior to the start of camp. No out-of-camp-group activities other than trails and roads for training were involved during this camp, and additional groceries were only purchased with online order/curbside pickup.
You can tell the mental fatigue of a training camp by my willingness to keep thinking about it and acting on it after the camp finishes. Last year when I got home from Mountain Camp I bought two boxes of sugary cereal, sat down at the kitchen island, watched Netflix and didn’t get up until both boxes were finished and I was sick to my stomach.
This year, I immediately sat down and started typing an email to the parents and athletes recapping the highlights, sharing video footage, and discussing themes and motivations. You could say it was a bit of a different bookend.
Our group was comprised of 14 athletes, 2 coaches, and many pools of sweat. Humidity was fierce this camp: we woke up sticky with sweat, we trained in the heat and left salty pools on the pavement, and no amount of cold showers could keep us from climbing into bed just as coated in perspiration.
For five days our group rollerskied, ran, hiked, and biked as many of the trails and roads around Killington as we could…It’s a perfect spot for training, and even though the rollerski options aren’t so numerous (unless you’re willing to drive a bit more to Bridgewater/Pomfret) there is plenty of other ways to get in a good workout. You can even make use of limited pavement in a number of good ways: We combined a rollerski up the second part of the access road with a ski-walk up the mountain. We held a classic sprint simulation on a 1km stretch of rolling uphill road near the golf course. We rode sharply downhill to River Road where we had a recovery “Gravel Ride” that was quite subdued yet still featured about 1200′ of elevation gain because we had to get back home somehow.
One important workout was a classic rollerski sprint. With the state of the country right now, who knows if and when we will get a mass start race opportunity…given the unique circumstances of safely having a group of competitive skiers together, we knew this could be a great chance to make a race happen. The one hassle? It was POURING rain outside. Luckily there was no thunder, and the morning of this sprint race we watched some footage of the US Ski Team doing a rollerski sprint race in strangely familiar weather…
So the stage was set! We had a perfect stretch of pavement: 1.1 kilometers featuring a gradual start, a swooping downhill curve, and a stair-stepper ending climb to the finish. The course had a net elevation gain but nothing TOO crazy. The qualifier was off in 15 second intervals and many of the team finished right in stride with one another:
Rose 3:28
Ava 3:32
Julia 3:42
Finnegan 3:42
Isabelle 3:44
Emma 3:48
Sammie 3:50
Sage 3:52
Hanna 3:53
Ali 3:53
Virginia 3:54
Hattie 3:56
Lydia 4:00
Mackenzie 4:07
The hardest part of it all was Dana and I syncing watches for start times, recording times, and trying to capture video clips all in the pounding rain. Remembering to bring the radios to camp would have helped. A tent would have been great, but even an umbrella would have helped. As it stood, lots of ripped soggy paper and video gear constantly wiped with a towel would have to do.
We set up heats in a rough bracket format with heats of 3, where winning would move a skier up, the middle would keep consistent, and third place would move down. Of course with 14 racers this was a bit awkward and it wasn’t perfect. There were essentially two “A” finals, won by Ava and Isabelle, respectively. Here is some footage of the qualifier and the first heat, with the photos on the Flickr album being from the finals!
Battles are what it’s all about!
We completed a number of other awesome workouts too, which I’ll share with a photo from each!
Ski up the access road: Ski walk to the top
Mountain biking (and trail running) at Green Mountain Trails, one of my favorite spots!
Long run around the AT and Kent Pond
Skate rollerski all the way up from Rutland to Mountain Top Resort
Quick break atop Pico on a long journey on the ridge toward Killington
It was an awesome week and I couldn’t be more proud of this team. I haven’t mentioned it until now, but you probably picked up from the photos and links that this camp consisted entirely of young women who are some of the best athletes around. That team makeup didn’t impact what workouts we chose to do, how hard we worked, or what the athletes were capable of. This was the most professionally-executed training camp that MNC athletes have ever completed…I thought Thanksgiving Camp last year was the top slot, but these skiers continue to outdo themselves. And yes, I will put it out there to any other club, school, or team that this is the strongest Junior women’s training group in the country.
L-R: Finnegan Mittelstadt, Isabelle Serrano, Sammie Nolan, Emma Page, Julia Oliver, Lydia Hodgeman, Virginia Cobb, Ava Thurston, Rose Clayton, Mackenzie Greenberg, Sage Freeman, Hattie Barker, Ali Priganc, Hanna Holm
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