Mansfield Nordic Club

With the Mansfield Nordic Community Center coming onboard, there is an extra energy in the air! Skiers and coaches are all excited to continue moving this project forward. But it hasn’t meant a slowdown in training, either. Last week was a busy one full of rollerskiing, biking, painting, sanding, and running.

Things got started with a hot and humid few days. The MNC University gang was in a volume week and got in some long distance sessions. The group continued to grow, as the month changing to June meant some new leases and move-ins for skiers coming to our area from different places!

While some Juniors have been rotating-in with MNC University in singles or pairs if their schedules allow, for most days the high schoolers get stuck bearing the brunt of the heat, humidity, thunderstorms, and bugs in the afternoon. They could complain a lot more than they do, but instead they put their energy right into the training and the process. We have kept it interesting with a few different types of warmups and drills, a focus on adding even just a few speeds to every session (to work that muscle memory), and trying out some new snacks at the food table that graces most workouts!

With many hands available and the Juniors actually in a recovery week, we had an alternative practice on Wednesday wherein we all grabbed brushes and rollers to put some coats onto the walls of the new MNCC. These walls required a lot of paint, so it was nice to have lots of help. It was a good thing we were planning to eventually sand the floors though, because just about as much paint ended up on the ground than on the vertical places…hey, it’s not ski training and therefore sometimes quantity, not quality is allowed!

On Saturday a crew consisting of myself, Taylor Carlson, coach Brandon, and MNC board member (and Masters skier) Mike Millar finished up the finer points of the walls, and Mike stayed up late to get most of the ceiling done, too! On Sunday I rented the industrial floor sander. Taylor and I masked-up and got to work turning the uneven, dull floors into [still uneven but] much brighter and cleaner floors. Here’s a timelapse of the beginning of the process, along with before-and-after shots!

BEFORE

AFTER

Next step? Floor polish/sealer, installation of equipment, and more little tasks to get everything in tip-top shape. Oh yeah, and training of course!

If you read enough articles or books related to Nordic skiing, you’ll start to realize how much the term “ski culture” is brought up. This is often in reference to Norway, with images of ski wax sold in vending machines and loaves of bread with Petter Northug or Therese Johaug on the packaging.

But what does skiing culture look like here where we live? I commonly refer to New England as the “Scandinavia of America” and Vermont as the “Norway of that Scandinavia.” And while we may not have quite the same level of lifestyle and Nordic skiing crossover as Nordic nations, a few days last week gave me some goosebumps that we might be moving in that direction.

On Thursday morning the MNC University group was joined by Julia Kern, an Olympian and US Ski Team member who was spending some time in Richmond. Julia didn’t do anything special or unique to announce her presence…she just showed up when training started, listened as drills were explained, went through the same steps as the rest of the crew, and chatted among everyone while they were all skiing easily around.

When we did running speeds up a steep hill, it wasn’t until partway through a number of reps that I remembered Julia’s credentials as a sprinter…as Geo got ready to start a speed, I nudged that “you might want to follow Julia on one of these: she’s probably one of the top six skiers in the entire WORLD at this sort of thing.”

What was revealing of a ski culture was not how novel this session was, but how normal it felt for what seemed like everyone involved. Really cool stuff.

On the following day, Friday, we had no official practice scheduled for the Juniors. An on-your-own workout of your choice was suggested.

It was a big day, training notwithstanding, because of the official signatures on various dotted lines completing the acquisition of the Mansfield Nordic Community Center (MNCC). Read more on that here!

While Liz and I were down at the MNCC checking out the space and making grand plans, we heard a knock on the door. It was Taylor, who saw our cars on a return from a bike ride nearby. The buzz was already growing!

A different day for bikes…Taylor and Nico in Waitsfield on Sunday

Gillian (front) being the skate role model for Mia (back)

When we left the space it was time for me to pick up some groceries…it was a beautiful summery scene, with a hazy late-afternoon glow and the scent of grilled meat in the air and the sound of lawnmowers in the distance. I cruised slowly through a busy Richmond, whose downtown is currently celebrating a “share the road” advocacy/art event. Signs and displays were visible at a couple of creative houses.

Then I turned left at the light in the center of town. The Farmer’s Market was buzzing and there were pedestrians everywhere. Yet I quickly spotted (as their design intends) a pair of familiar yellow Mansfield Nordic Club t-shirts…it was Astrid and Mia, walking up the sidewalk by the railroad tracks, rollerskis in hand! They were on their way to a pickup at the middle school.

A town filled with everyday people going about their business, and rollerskiers just another part of the scene. Ski community at its finest.

Our MNC University crowd is continuing to grow, even moreso with the start of June as many leases in Burlington are beginning…meaning more out-of-state athletes are arriving in the Green Mountains!

There were also several special guests last week. Some were invited, others were not. You’ll see what I mean.

Even at the highest levels, you’ll still find yourself connecting with the basics. Coach Brandon leads the crew in arm swing drills

Olympian and World Cup/World Champs medalist Julia Kern in the house!

Things have been going smoothly at the Range, with early access to the rollerski loop meaning safe spaces to gather on skis for any type of training; speeds, intervals, and easy distance. As many know, the hills are short but quite steep, which is a blessing and a curse! One benefit of this terrain is great work on techniques that are harder to do on shallower vehicle roads, like running (on skis) and hop-skating.

It was cool to be joined by Olympian, US Ski Team member, and World Cup/World Champs medalist Julia Kern for some days this week. Julia is spending some time in Richmond this summer, so we’re excited to welcome her to some training when it fits with her busy schedule! She’ll be jumping around to various trips and camps across the continent (and globe) but knowing that our own backyard is also one of those key locations for the best to train at is pretty cool.

We knew Julia would be around this summer, but we (and the Range operations folks) were less prepared for the other guest on the base this week…I drove into the facility on Thursday morning to help get set up for training, and right in the middle of the road was a black bear. As soon as I saw it I knew what must’ve been up to, but first I had to get it out of the way. It was a tense standoff between bear and Subaru, long enough for me to snap a photo, but eventually the creature sauntered off.

Sure enough, when I crested the hill up to the parking lot I could see that the contents of the large dumpster had been emptied and spread all across the road. This bear had enjoyed quite the feast! In the afternoon, as the Juniors were getting ready to practice, Sara exclaimed “did you all see the bear right next to the trails on the way up here?”

It’s not the first time we’ve seen bears around, and they generally seem to want nothing to do with humans (except for our trash). But it’s a good reminder not to ski alone at these trails!

The MNCU group was out on bikes, skis, and foot this weekend. Here’s several who made a loop run on Mansfield to kick off June

This ended up being a week full of nice rollerski sessions! Although we got some rain for our running days, the sun and vibes were high for anything on wheels, it seemed. Early in the week the MNC University crew got in the first rollerski intensity of the year with some skate L3. They switched to classic on Thursday morning, while that afternoon the Juniors had their first skate session of the year.

Each week more MNC University skiers finish their semesters, and the group grows!

First skate ski of the year for the Juniors

Spoon-and-egg racing on rollerskis for balance and coordination

We take a lot of video for rollerskiing, pretty much during every session. Even if we aren’t doing intervals or specific drills, most days I end up emailing out about 2-3 minutes worth of ski clips.

Why so much video? For one thing, it’s just so easy these days. When I was in college, taking video meant coaches dragging out a camcorder, filming in a set location as skiers went back-and-forth. Then we would gather in the lodge or the athletic department (sometimes a day later) to plug-in a bunch of cables and play it all onto a TV or computer screen. I’m not talking about the stone ages here…this was like 2009.

Nowadays at least one MNC coach is usually on a bike for a rollerski session. With a GoPro that can fit in a closed palm able to shoot 4k quality video with automatic stabilization, there’s no reason at least a little bit of every session can’t be captured on camera. I usually sent out an email with follow-up session thoughts and a link to video as soon as possible following the ski, or at least by later that evening.

Here’s some video from a nice Sunday double pole down by Lake Champlain in Shelburne. Our “Individual Technique” playlist, where practice footage goes, is up to 974 videos and counting!

Even if we aren’t critically analyzing each clip, skiers just get to see themselves skiing on such a regular basis that they have a really accurate handle on how they currently move. That means that when they try to make changes, or view clips of World Cup skiers, they are able to better comprehend the steps from here to there…at least, that’s the goal!

Sunscreen necessary