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Fall colors clinging-on

We’ve had our first taste of the brutality of fall over the weekend, where bright colorful leaves are swept off the trees with a biting wind and stinging rain. T-shirts are replaced with jackets, and gloves become more necessary for rollerski sessions.

 

But for the majority of this last week, the sun was out and things were downright hot. With three planned intensity sessions this week (classic speeds, L3 skating, L4 bounding) we had a lot to balance.

I may write more deeply on this in another post, but one goal this fall has been to fuel ourselves really well before/during/after practice, especially on weekdays. Training is physiologically most difficult at 4pm. It’s long after lunch, and the hours are approaching dinner…add the emotional downturn of post-school energy and focus, and you have all the pieces in place for a difficult slog throuhg training.

Before practice, I have been setting up a “fuel pitstop” with some suggested before/during/after snacks and drinks. It is most easy to neglect the before and during sections I’ve noticed. Everyone is pretty aware of the need for a snack after practice, and usually most go home and have dinner within a reasonable timeframe. But I’ve definitely noticed the uptick in mood, performance, and focus when a skier can start each training session with a handful of Teddy Grahams, a bag pretzels and Nutella, or a package of crackers and peanut butter.

We also tended to always bring water belts each day, set them down at the start of practice, and forget them until the end. We’ve tried to now have scheduled pitstops between interval sets, or at a designated time during the workout, to consume electrolytes and sugars like Skratch, Gatorade, gummies, or fruit snacks. Again, the differences are noticeable to me, a coach watching from the outside of it all.

For anyone looking for suggestions, here’s what we’ve been going with…

Before

Easy-to-digest carbs , low fiber, easy-to-grab, sits well in stomach.

MNC station: Teddy Grahams, pretzels/GF pretzels with optional Nutella, peanut butter cracker packs

During

Sugars and salts, taken with water (either solids with regular water, or specific electrolyte/carb beverage)

MNC station: Skratch, Gatorade powder, fruit snacks, gummy candy, banana

After

Carbs and protein, easy-to-consume

MNC station: Chocolate milk, with optional protein powder! A good option would also be to add to this with more carbohydrate like crackers, pretzels, or Grahams from the “before” station

Note: many of these suggestions come from the book Roar, by Stacy Sims

We also tended to always bring water belts each day, set them down at the start of practice, and forget them until the end. We’ve tried to now have pitstops between interval sets, or at a designated time during the workout, to consume electrolytes and sugars like Skratch, Gatorade, gummies, or fruit snacks. Again, the differences are noticeable to me, a coach watching from the outside of it all.

So if the goal of all this fueling is to improve our focus, function, and readiness for workouts, how have they been going? Very well!

Nico getting ready to launch into a 5km interval

Gillian putting in the work on a super solid day

We always look forward to the “5k Project” workout, involving multiple intervals of 5 kilometers. This isn’t to be done at a race pace, but rather a controlled effort to work on pacing, focus, technique, and aerobic efficiency. The more we do this workout, the better we get at dialing-in the correct effort level.

Some of the team running XC this fall were present for this session midweek, and they skied an amazing workout…a reminder that there are many ways to go about preparing for the ski season. You don’t have to be at every ski session, and you don’t have to be at every running practice…you can strike a balance if you’re willing to compromise a bit in different scenarios!

Astrid dabbles in at least 4 sports in the fall (XC, soccer, biathlon, skiing) and was able to join us for our easy distance ski this Sunday

Honey Hollow bounding; a hallmark of fall training

Support the VT U16 and EHS teams (and win season passes!)

The U16 Festival and Eastern High School Championships are a highlight of the season for many skiers. These events are competitive, fun, memorable, and pivotal to the development of skiers in our region.

As with many things these days, costs for these trips are escalating. In an effort to cover more of the line items like lodging, bus transport, and team entry fees (while keeping the costs for each trip as close to past years as possible) the Vermont Nordic Ski Team is having a fundraising raffle!

Through the link below, you can make donations to the teams/trips and be entered to win season passes to awesome Nordic areas like Sleepy Hollow, Craftsbury, Wild Wings, Rikert, Kingdom Trails, and Woodstock Nordic Center. Check it out, and help support the future of skiing in Vermont and New England!

VT Nordic Team Raffle/Fundraiser

MNC XC Ski and Gear Swap 2023

Our ski and gear swap event is back for 2023!

On the afternoon of Sunday, October 29th you can stop by the Community Center of Jericho to find all sorts of Nordic needs…used skis, boots, poles, and apparel will be available for purchase. The swap runs from 12-5pm (with the first hour for MNC members).

This is your chance to clean out all the Nordic ski gear in your basement earn some money, help MNC, and outfit local skiers with gear.  You can drop-off items on Saturday, October 28th from 4-6pm.

After the event? Stop by to pick up your unsold items. If you’d like to keep them out of your closet, garage, or basement, MNC will bring them to the Cochran’s Ski Swap the following weekend, and/or consider them a donation.

Come to the swap to make sure you have the equipment you need for the ’23/‘24 season and beyond.

In addition to traditional ski swap items we will have our full stock of BKL rental skis, boots, and poles from Alpina to get younger skiers all set for winter.

  • If you would like to bring your own items to the swap you may choose to contribute either 25%, 50%, or 100% of your sold items to MNC.
  • Item drop-off is on Saturday, October 28th from 4-6pm at the Community Center. Additionally, we will announce drop-off options with Coach Adam in the MNC trailer in Jericho.
  • Please keep in mind that this swap/sale is for Nordic-specific skis, boots, poles, and apparel only! Thanks.

Items contributed will need to be registered for tracking and sale purchases. You may fill out a hard copy of this information on-site, but it is preferred that you use the form below to provide details of your gear and equipment (up to 5 items per form).

Online gear intake is now closed. You may do consignment on Saturday with an in-person form.

Interested in volunteering to help work at the swap? You can find a volunteer sign-up form below. Thanks for your interest in helping make the sale a success!

Ski Swap Volunteer Form

Beautiful fall training

The cool nights and bright, crisp days have made for amazing training this past week! From leaves crunching under the rollerski wheels, to colorful backdrops on dirt road runs, you can’t really beat this time of year.

After a busy weekend with two races in Lake Placid, it was nice to take a step back and focus on some basics…on Tuesday and Thursday we stuck to mostly easy distance skiing and technique work at the Range, and we visited Sleepy Hollow for some running intervals on Wednesday.

We ran into Eli in the parking lot and asked him about some trail work, and the date is now official: join us this coming Wednesday, 10/4, for some trailwork (limb trimming, debris clearing, log hauling) at Sleepy! We’ll go for a short run at 4pm (30-45 minutes) and then head out to the Sap Run and Upper Saddle trails. Tools will be provided.

On Saturday, a group piled into the van and headed to one of our favorite roads for smooth, gradual, scenic classic skiing…Road 101 at Smuggs! The views never disappoint, and the striding was looking pro.

Behind the scenes…if you’ve ever wondered how some of our smoothest video clips get created, Sara is shown here demonstrating the way it’s done. This is how the coaches get their speed workouts in; lots of running at rollerski pace!

Nothing beats a Vermont dirt road in the fall, and while many of our XC running athletes got plenty of strides in at race over the weekend, a smaller group got out for a scenic on-foot tour of Richmond and Huntington via Wes White hill, Mayo Rd, and Dugway Rd.

We’re heading into another busy week. With a government shutdown avoided, we’re happy to be able to continue skiing on the rollerski loop which is ever more critical as daylight fades. Speaking of fading daylight and changing seasons…

Check out this post on rollerski safety

Don’t forget about the MNC apparel order

If you still need to get skis together for stonegrinding, here is the info (skis go south this coming Friday!)

The Skirack ski swap is this weekend, and the MNC ski swap will be on October 29th!

 

Fall rollerski safety

The days are getting shorter, and so it’s time for the annual re-post of this article from Fasterskier outlining safety tips and guidelines from US Ski and Snowboard with regard to rollerskiing on open roads.

Rollerski Safety Best Practices

We have an order on the way for several small lights that can be affixed to helmets or modified to fit on water belts during training sessions. These are ideally to be used in a situation where athletes do not have/forget to bring a light of their own going forward this fall. MNC encourages all rollerskiers to purchase a small “bicycle or running light” either online or at a local store, whether you are a Junior or Masters athlete. The cheaper options for these are only a couple of dollars and could literally save your life!

See below for a screenshot from a recent US Ski Team email. In his note to athletes regarding their upcoming Park City training camp:

In addition to always wearing high-visibility clothing on the roads, please be conscious of your routes and skiing organization (single file vs across a lane).

When we rollerski, we not only represent MNC as a club, but our sport as a whole. For the most part, we live in an extremely rollerski-friendly part of the country…not everyone is so lucky, and that access/friendliness is not a guarantee or a right.

Let’s all be safe whenever we are our training!

Rounding the final curve to end the last ski

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