Author Archive | Adam Terko

Heat Wave Madness

By Adam Terko on 9 July, 2018 in Junior Blog

Although the heat wave hit the area hard, this past week was a Recovery week for the Pugs as we rest up after our volume week and REG camp in preparation for Mountain Camp. I think the photos pretty much capture the epic heat and humidity, but we continued to train hard!

Jenny pushed her skis to the max in Tuesday’s skate intervals! I have to say, it’s not too uncommon in these parts to see a busted V2/Jenex product! Magda and Sammie in the background are giving their approval of the switch to SWENOR…pick yours up at Skirack today!

While the older kids were on their intervals, Carl and Farmer worked on their rollerski 180s!

On Thursday, it was time to take it much easier. Most everyone got a chance to test their blood lactate mid-ski to make sure they were going at a good Level 1 pace! Sammie worked up the courage to give it a go with the test for her first time

We ended the day with some all-team relays. Here’s Conor showing great weight commitment on the classic skis around the corner

On Friday it was time for the MNC BikeGang to get back in gear. After a few rides at Saxon we stepped up our game and ventured to Cady Hill in Stowe

We called and placed an order right from the trail, then jumped onto the bike path and rode straight to…

Piecasso!!!

For a little extra fun (of the skier’s kind) Magda competed in the US Mountain Running National Championships on Sunday! Nice!

Paradin’ around on skis

By Adam Terko on 9 July, 2018 in Uncategorized

We had a great time at the Williston 4th of July parade this past week! MNC skiers of all ages hit the road with our official float (MNC trailer) that was filled with SNOW from the Gutterson ice rink. On a hot and humid summer day, lots of spectators were excited to experience a bit of winter during an event that is likely to become an annual outing for the club. We hope you’ll plan to join us on rollerskis for next year’s 4th of July festivities!

A Week in 4 Videos

By Adam Terko on 2 July, 2018 in Junior Blog

I’ve been more excited about MNC this summer than ever before. This has happened for each of the past 4 summers in a row, so it’s not a surprise, but it’s a good reminder of how lucky I am to do what I do. This past winter, it felt like the momentum that had been building a a few years finally snowballed into a fully-formed avalanche of collective drive, teamwork, passion, and speed.

I don’t think that went unnoticed, and we’ve been fortunate to welcome new skiers to the group who have jumped right aboard the Pug Train and kept that momentum barreling ahead.

This week, for whatever reason, I ended up taking more video clips than usual. Some for technique, some for fun. There’s short “edits” put together from Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday which might be a Youtube record for us…so, in lieu of more words for everyone to read on a hot summer day (and because analytics tell us that video clips are always the most clicked-on components of the website and Eblast!), here are some videos…so turn out the lights, crank up the air conditioning, and enjoy a sample of our training week in moving pictures!

Tuesday: Skate Intervals and strength at the gym

Wednesday: 2 hour trail run. Sorry, no footage!

Thursday: Double pole drills and speeds followed by strength at the gym. POURING RAIN

Friday: Easy run or bike, on-your-own so no footage!

Saturday: L3 classic intervals at Road 101 near the base of Smuggs. One of our all-time favorite workouts and what amazing weather for it

Sunday: 2 hour run on dirt roads and trails, followed by a trip to a refreshing swimming hole. 97 degrees!

First Summer Week

By Adam Terko on 24 June, 2018 in Junior Blog

We’ve had veteran Pugs as well as a LOT of new skiers joining us this summer, which has made for a really exciting time at our sessions. 30 skiers all rolling around Sprint Loop is quite a sight!

Big squad on day 1

Since it was our first official week of Summer training, we got in two of our big fitness tests which we’ll repeat again in a few weeks. First up was the double pole test on Thursday. 1 kilometer of uphill rollin’! The newer rollerskiers watched at the halfway point with coach Perry while rest of the crew did the test. Lots of fast times for the first test of the year: big PR for Sammie Nolan and PRs for Quincy, Marika, and Conor. A bit of video below, as well as the test archive.

The next day, we continued one of the coolest parts of the summer and an element I’ve been most excited about…the MNC Bikegang! We’ve always had a few athletes into mountain biking, but the sport is definitely enjoying a big push in Vermont. But an excited crew combined with a lot of nice weather has made our rides a really popular session each week. We’re officially graduated from the mellow trails at Saxon Hill and are looking to take our shred somewhere new next week!

MNC Bikegang at Saxon!

Saturday brought us to the uphill run test at Bolton, where we had a lot of first-time participants putting their times in the record books. Rose had an awesome run and hit the 2nd fastest women’s time ever, and Hanna improved by over a minute from the spring version of the test. You can check out the full archive of times here.

We were missing a few folks on Saturday due the the start of the REG (Regional Elite Group) camp in Lake Placid. Greg, Conor, Aidan, Magda, Ali, and Quincy are all spending the next week training with the top athletes in New England and coaches like Andy Newell and the US Ski Team’s Bryan Fish. I’ll try and pass on some photos and results from that camp as we continue to head into another week of big training at home in Vermont!

Summer kicks off

By Adam Terko on 17 June, 2018 in Junior Blog

We’ve made it to summer! With a few extra-sweaty workouts under our belts we finally have reached a pivotal season to be a skier.

At the start of the summer the motivation is high as groups get back together and get fired up thinking about the past season and the training ahead. The stress of winter racing is still far in the distance, and improvements come fast as we get used to training more and more. The weather is usually bright and warm, the sock and watch tans get more pronounced, and adventures await every week!

This week started off with a big spring group for some running intervals at Cochrans. With schools continuing to get out and graduates arriving back home, our numbers are starting to swell.

That’s a big gang for warmup drills! The trails at Cochran’s are absolutely amazing for all sorts of training

On Thursday we were once again joined by our new summer coach Perry Thomas from UVM. We got our first agility work of the year done and then split up for either intervals or speeds. Here’s a bit of footage from some fast fun speeds in the neighborhoods:

Coach Perry talkin’ technique with the crew

On Saturday we had our traditional Summer Kickoff event at the Henry/Solow house. A group met for a hike up Camel’s Hump, while another group rode up to the top of App Gap and back from Hinesburg. Then, we gathered back at the house for a potluck, swimming, and some games and mingling. It was 80 degrees and sunny and felt like summer had officially started.