For up-to-the-minute changes and notifications, MNC will be starting to implement a tool called “Remind” this season.
This service allows teachers (or in this case coaches!) to send group messages to a class (or in this case a team!). Within our club framework, the “Remind” service will often be used for last-minute changes or updates to practice…think icy roads or changes in technique due to grooming difficulties.
Signing up is simple: you can visit THIS PAGE to see how to sign up for MNC “Remind” notifications.
If you have already signed up for one of our BKL programs, you should have just received an email detailing how to sign up directly.
We hope this allows smoother, more direct and more hassle-free communication about practices!
The MNC Juniors just finished up a great on-snow training camp at Craftsbury. We were relegated to a .5k loop of manmade snow but we kept it interesting. We took a lot of video and I thought I’d begin to share some of that here. I say “begin” because there are about 250 individual video clips I am slowly piecing together…our library of videos on the MNC Youtube Channel is growing! Here are a few from this week:
Bounding
Henry bounding in one video clip and striding again 5 minutes later! Notice the similarities and differences…how does snow change things?
For this session we waxed out skis, got our ski gear on, got our poles and boots ready…and then put shoes on to run to a field! We did 30 minutes of bounding and classical ski motions, and then went straight to the snow to translate the feelings of that power and glide onto the snow. We saw some interesting changes…some were more comfortable driving forward on skis since they could glide out, and some loved the instant kick of the dry ground…hmm…
2. Skating
In another session we did a long skate ski, with plenty of time spent using either no poles or one pole at a time. Great for lower body strength but also coordination and stabilization muscle work!
3. Double Poling
We have been double poling a ton this fall, and the results have been impressive. For this workout, we did a set of 1k double pole intervals. Most of the group was on what the Europeans call “shiny skis”, which are classic skis WITHOUT any kickwax applied! This means maximum speed. The added bonus was maneuvering long classic skis on icy twisty corners! Some of the athletes who hadn’t been through the rigors of our fall DP sessions had some kick to alternate each interval in order to make sure the double pole did not get tired and sloppy.
Attention MNC Masters…please take a minute or two to fill out this short survey in preparation for the season ahead. We would appreciate all Masters enrolled in training to complete this survey in order to better identify coaching groups and objectives. Thanks!
The snow has not yet arrived but we are in business for the first official Masters training sessions of the winter season!
12/1, Tuesday
Location: The Range
Time:
3:45-5:15pm (early session)
6:00-7:30pm (main session)
Session: We will go on a run with some agility drills to warm up and then tackle some uphill ski bounding to channel our inner classic skiing and maybe bring about some snow. For the last portion we will head inside to briefly share some goals and plans for the season ahead!
If you have them, please bring classic poles or (even better) shorter bounding poles: roughly elbow height or slightly above!
12/3, Thursday
Location: The Range
3:45-5:15pm (early session)
6:00-7:30pm (main session)
Session: Run on the paved trails, followed by strength exercises both indoors and out. We will work on upper body and poling power most prominently!
In search of snow the Junior team took a journey to Stowe this morning. The webcams hadn’t looked great the day before, but it turned out they were just pointed in the wrong direction! We found lots of snow on one of the main trails right from the base lodge leading way up the hill…no hiking required, just put on your ski boots in the parking lot and hit it! We didn’t stay too long on the flats before skiing straight uphill (much to the enjoyment of the alpine skiers and boarders trudging uphill).
We hit some jumps and managed to challenge our nerves a bit on the icy descent back down. Nothing builds up your confidence on downhills than taking your nord-boards to a black diamond alpine run! We may not have done drills or intervals, but we took a step toward getting our “snow legs” under us and hopefully when we hit the real nordic trails at camp next week the skinny skis won’t feel quite so weird and long!
Scroll down for a few photos and a video recap:
Getting the gear on. Excitement is high!
Only one way to go…up!
Everyone knows Kai loves to climb! This is just the first pitch: far from the top of the trail!
What’s wrong with this picture (hint: it was taken after hitting a few jumps)
Check out the Fantasy Cross Country site that Noah Hoffman is promoting for this upcoming World Cup season! Pick your team and challenge the rest of the ski world in a competition for great prizes and bragging rights…
If you want to join our league, the Mansfield Nordic Pugs, click the link below:
