After an extended summer of sunny skies, sleeveless shirts, and dry singletrack in every direction, we finally received our expected dose of New England fall weather this week. “Norwegian training weather” I’ve started to call it recently, a more positive spin for what a former teammate of mine from Truckee, CA used to call “East Coast BS”.
Whatever you call it, the work still has to be done!
This Thursday we were hit with the worst of it during regular training time, as wet leaves stuck to the pavement of the rollerski track while a cold rain pummeled us from above. After all of us gathered inside take stock of the various clothing choices (note: no more shorts-and-tank-top combos, please) we took a collective deep breath and made the plunge. I made a game-day decision to not do our usual partner towing workout since that left one partner immobile while being towed, and today was not a day you wanted to stop moving. Instead we opted for a rotating grind of single-stick repeats on the gradual uphill of Pit Loop before cruising the rest of the trails via double poling.
Nothing like a rainy specific strength set
A closeup showing the beautiful soggy pavement!
Luckily we are pretty confident rollerskiers, and the rain didn’t actually deter us from getting in a good workout…Aidan was happy to demonstrate his slalom skills with the nice little trails of rain his skis made behind him:
On Saturday, the weather had done a total 180 and it was sunny and beautiful for a little adventure on the other side of the mountains. Early that morning Ali and Magda met me in Richmond for a field trip to East Warren for a skate timetrial with GMVS. Since Ali and Magda were the only U16 girls racing it wasn’t necessarily a “race race” but the setting of other coaches and athletes made it so the nerves got up a bit. The best part was that both finished the day having learned a few new things and with some new goals for the next few weeks. There were also several moments before, during, and after the race that made me really proud and psyched with some big progress these two have made with their approach to racing and their confidence.
Cooling down after the race with Sugarbush in the background (even a little snow!)
Found some new sunglasses to race in this year at the Warren Store when we had lunch with the GMVS gang
Last but not least, Saturday was also the VT State Meets for XC running and by the looks of the results the race did not disappoint! Many MNC racers were crushing it in the D1 race including Quincy (2nd overall!), Camille, Marika, Sammie, Lily, Isaac (5th overall!), Baxter (8th overall!), Kai, Gavin, and Charles. Way to go gang! Below is a photo from the SMS blog that I like because it also has both Baxter (red) and Kai (blue) in the shot!
Start of the D1 men’s race…can you spot Baxter and Kai?
In addition to the HS action, it was also the Middle School XC championships this past weekend at Trapps. Congrats to Ava (who has been training with the Juniors this summer and fall) for a great 3rd place finish, and MNC up-and-comer Carly Trapeni!
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