All the pieces are coming together: snow, hard workout, fast skiing, and a racing season that promises to be exciting and memorable! It’s hard to think that last year our bases were barely free of klister and dirt for an entire winter…this week things have been much different. Fresh snow and cold temps have made the final “tune-up” workouts and timetrials more spirited and focused for sure.
On Thursday we went to the Notch Road for some hard L4 skate intervals up the Smuggs side. This winding mountain road receives a lot of snow due to its elevation. Luckily, the powder was groomed in with the help a quick homemade groomer I put together out of some scrap wood and $6 of corrugated pipe from Lowes.
Testing the TerkTech groomer…all systems GO!
Setting up before practice at the Notch Rd…ski training gear, or hobo shelter? Hmm
Although the Notch Rd has a great climb for intervals, it does lack lighting (sometimes we forget how spoiled we are at the Range). I solved the problem with a trip to the dollar store, where they still had a bunch of tiki torches in the back from the summer that were about to get thrown out. As I hiked up and down a few times with the groomer, I also popped torches in the snow every 20 feet or so. Even on a windy night, they held up and made for some unique intervals! Old school for sure.
The torches stayed lit from Junior training to Masters training, and even when they were collected at the end!
By the weekend, snow and temps for the guns meant that Craftsbury was out in full force. The conditions were absolutely incredible…we skied on blue hardwax for the first time in a looooong time on Saturday. We also got some skating in. The goal was to come into today’s timetrial a little bit tired and keep pushing through for another day of tough training before backing off this week in prep for the first Eastern Cup.
Obligatory staged Murphy’s Field picture: Will, Alex, Kai, Ben, Ali, Sammie, Magda
The race this morning went really well! We’ve worked a lot on striding this summer, as you may have read more than once in this blog. With that in mind, I erred on the side of thin layers and extra speed with the kickwax and everyone handled themselves really well and really put the training and striding focus to good use. We were missing the U16 gals squad of Ali, Sammie, and Magda at this event which was a bummer, but Eliza held her own among the notoriously-strong Craftsbury women. She matched the terrain well and adjusted her striding technique to each little terrain change which helped carry lots of speed!
Quincy was moving fast a looking extra pro in her Rudy Project sunglasses and Sochi 2014 race bib, while Marika laid down a fast skate time with her usual smoothness.
In the men’s race, the Pugs really threw down with Timmy showing that his technical and strength improvements in classic (and his dedication and hard work in general) have carried over from rollerskis to the real thing. Brandon nearly stole the win, and Will followed closely behind in a tie for third after a week of sickness had him laying low and unsure about even starting.
Baxter showed good speed and tempo, Ben looked better at the end of a race effort than I’ve ever seen, and Phil rocked the MNC suit to lay down an effort that proved he’ll be a threat on the HS circuit this season!
Aidan hammered home a big win in the 2.5k race as he worked on honing his tempo and speed in preparation for some real-deal Eastern Cups this season!
Craftsbury TT results (thanks to Anna, Ollie, and Audrey for putting everything together!)
Next up is the real deal, as we now know we’re in shape and ready to come out swinging at the first Eastern Cup next weekend! Go Pugs!
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