Mansfield Nordic Club

The time has come for the first round of dryland testing for Juniors. Our tests include a 1km uphill double pole test, a 3000m track run, the Bolton uphill run test, and a strength test (which may-or-may-not be obsolete by modern biomechanical and functional movement standards).

Why test? And why in May, when we’re so far away from race season?

The goal is to measure improvement and development…and make sure that we keep in touch with “race mode” even if our main comparisons are with individual progress rather than the rank of skiers on the team.

The first round of tests can be brutal, because it’s the longest span of time we go in the year without a race. For anyone not doing track, the last race effort was likely in mid-March. Having a mental and physical break from racing is critical, and it’s why I often am cautioning athletes to be very careful if jumping right from ski racing into a busy track season: track races put a lot of demand on the body and mind right as the full weight of the ski racing season comes crashing down and the need for a more relaxed season is most pronounced. That being said, we’ve obviously got some phenomenal runners out there crushing the spring track season!

Ironically, the testing week started out in the totally opposite way: a workout with no times, no data, and no photos. It was a “NO STRAVA DAY” in which I brought out the SDC (Strava Device Container) and collected all of the instruments of GPS tomfoolery. The only watch for the workout was the one I brought with me: a $4 watch from the department store that didn’t even have the time-of-day right, but had a working stopwatch. Team members bore witness as I turned my phone off and put it into a ziplock baggie (it was raining) to carry in the running vest along with way…its purpose was strictly for safety reasons in the event of an emergency.

Strava is fun and I use it myself, although I’ve tried to cut back a bit. The issue is when any athlete gets compulsive about workouts and data…in the best cases, Strava acts as a social media distraction. In the worst cases, the quest for the minutiae can suck all the joy out of sport. So the hope is to implement a few days here and there when we focus on just being out doing what we love, and maybe discovering NEW things to love about training. For anyone interested, here are a few “discussion piece” articles I sent out to the team after our low-tech trail run.

• We don’t want to be at our best in May, and the times and feelings were a good motivator that gives targets to shoot for throughout the dryland season
• Mentally, this was the first race in a long time. It was like ripping off the Band-Aid for what it takes to be in the psychological sweet spot balancing nerves/excitement/pacing/positivity/energy
• Maybe most importantly, we’re coming off what was without a doubt our best season as a ski club. After a season full of highs and great results, it’s easy to get in a rhythm of expecting greatness at every turn. The thing is, you ALWAYS have to work for great things, and can never take them for granted! So in the best way possible, this is a reminder that nothing comes easy.

Kate and Elsa in the DP test, with chasers behind

Some have tried (and not all have succeeded) rollerskiing down Greystone. In a group, we stick to walking!

The 3000m run Saturday morning was hot and humid, but much like a cold or rainy winter race you can’t just call it off because conditions aren’t perfect. With some times that clearly show we’ve been running more than rollerskiing this spring (as is the intent) there’s a lot of confidence that it won’t take much more rollerski work to bring down the DP test times when we next hit that hill!

Jonah followed closely by Taylor, Emma, and Anders in the 3k

A reminder that I’m trying to upload more photos of training sessions to our Flickr page where folks can view and download them, as well as see even more of what our training looks like!

It was a hot week out there, but it only takes one day of forgotten sunscreen or a water belt left in the car on a ski to never forget either for the rest of the summer. The watch tans are forming rapidly for the Juniors, as prep for a few of our fitness tests got underway.

Often, we do these tests once in the spring, twice in the summer, and once or twice in the fall (weather can play more of a factor in autumn). There’s the double pole test, our 1km uphill double poling competition at Greystone in Richmond. There’s the 3000m run on a track. And there’s the Bolton uphill run.

Instead of just going right into the tests this year, we took a few weeks to get in at least one prep workout aimed at helping us come into each test with a good sense of effort. With a track workout already under us, it was time for the first double pole intervals of the season on Thursday, and some uphill running L3 efforts on Saturday.

Out on the rollerskis in Southridge!

As the weather continued to heat up, we took to the shady hills of Honey Hollow road for some uphill running in prep for Bolton. Many a skier knows this iconic road, where running and bounding intervals have taken place for decades (literally! Just ask UVM skiers from bygone eras). With ultrarunning vests starting to outnumber water belts, people were making sure to stay on top of fueling. The leaves were just beginning to emerge and it was a classic Vermont morning.

The recognizable Long Trail bridge off Rt 2

A note on photos: I’ve tried to upload photos from training to our club’s Flickr page which can be viewed here!

With training getting more and more challenging this summer, and a group more excited than ever to work hard, I wanted to take a minute to share some resources on training theory that parents and athletes may find helpful. I have tried to begin incorporating notes and photos from these books into the follow-up emails from training sessions (along with the usual video links for technique). All are great reads, and can usually be found pre-owned for reasonable prices online.

Becoming a Supple Leopard

Quickly becoming one of my most often-referenced books at training. This book is focused on strength training, but many underestimate just how much strength and mobility play into everything we do related to athletics.

Training for the Uphill Athlete

This is the most complete and modern book I have come across that explains training theory…almost too much to write about here. Volume? Intensity? Lactate? Strength? Science? Physiology? It’s all here.

Roar

A really good read for anyone, not just female athletes. Tons of information related to helping your body succeed. Most of the team probably doesn’t realize much of my input on hydration, fueling, and travel for races comes from this book!

After a typically-rainy and cold April, the days turned a bit warmer and brighter for our first week of Junior spring training. With new goals, new teammates, and a fresh couple hundred days of the year ahead it was easy to be excited.

For one thing, I don’t think we’ve ever had a spring group quite this ready to hit the ground running. I’ve found myself trying to be assertive in grabbing the reins and keeping some of the team from doing too much and if it weren’t for the excellent 2021/2022 season we’re all coming off it, we may not be in that situation.

What it all has added up to has been a “Week 1” of the highest quality I can remember.

We started off on Tuesday with an easy run at Allen Brook School in Williston. Most people familiar with the area probably wouldn’t take ABS for a good running location…there’s a bike path and some suburban sprawl and that’s about it. But the goal was to have the first day be on foot in order to maximize the ability of everyone to participate without rollerski experience coming into play.

Earlier in the afternoon I separated a few jigsaw puzzles into plastic bags, spaced them around the various neighborhood spots we’re used to rollerskiing (a side-benefit of this workout was familiarizing new skiers with our routes). With a map and two teams, the gang spread out to find the puzzle pieces, with the key rules being:

1. Don’t do on people’s lawns
2. Don’t cut through any woods or water
3. Stick to the main roads to get from Point A to Point B

I went along with one group and of course all three of those rules were broken within about 8 minutes. In typical MNC fashion some fun was had trying to find the best way to navigate the suburbs and get pieces fast enough to “win” (even though the two teams were seeking different puzzles and had different routes, so it was not even a competition). We followed a dirt path and eventually came to a dead end at a stream which, naturally, was jumped-across and forded in any way possible. This led to a scramble through the back of a few condo units in order to arrive at the road and pick up a bag of puzzle pieces.

One of the scavenger teams scanning the map

Jonah crossing Allen Brook

Workout isn’t over until the puzzle is complete

Not every training session can be a ridiculous scavenger hunt though (well, it could, but that wouldn’t help us achieve all our goals) and it was time for some more traditional business on sunny Thursday, when the wheels came out for the first team rollerski of the season.

Despite having a mix of experienced veterans and some who had never rollerskied with the Juniors before, everyone was able to mix it up and get in a great effort. It’s already shaping up to be our biggest spring training group yet!

And in another lucky day of sun and blue sky, everyone teamed-up to get dirty and contribute to Green Up Day. The Juniors were signed up to do their part on Nashville Road in Jericho, and after meeting for a run on some trails and roads in the area and eating some bagels to refuel, the green bags came out and the gloves went on. Fun to get in a little alternative additional exercise and help remove the litter from the roads we travel and train on.

There’s a new GREEN RACING PROJECT in town!

Now, it’s onto more solid training as we incorporate some staples like intensity sessions and a schedule of fitness tests that we’ll use as benchmarks for improvement over both the summer and the long-term. Here are a few important links!

Sign up for training (Spring and Summer) programs, and training camps, HERE

Order apparel (spandex shorts and sweatshirts) by May 10th HERE

MNC graduating seniors,

NWVE awards the Spike Clayton Memorial Scholarship each year. Spike was an institution in the ski world, and a great friend to the club who helped support MNC alongside many local and regional outdoor organizations. Below are the details about this scholarship from the NWVE website. You can apply at the link below:

Spike Clayton Memorial Scholarship