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Climb to the Castle Junior Report

By on 16 September, 2019 in Junior Blog

The Juniors raced fast this weekend. Not just kinda fast…collectively our group brought the HEAT to Lake Placid! But given a split-second to think about it, those

#Vanlife and the best ski race tailgate around!

races themselves weren’t the heart of the weekend: they were just a component of it.

For everything we do, the larger element tying everything together is the hype, the fun, the atmosphere, the mood, the VIBE. If you’re sick of me referencing the vibe yet, year after year, well…I’m not going to stop, especially when it is right there to get absorbed in!

Not everyone would consider it “fun” to spend their weekend waking up at 5:30AM on Saturday, driving and ferrying across a lake to race in two rollerski races, crashing on beds, cots, couches, and air mattresses early enough to wake up at 6:00AM Sunday to ski up a mountain. It takes a certain type of person to put this on their schedule. And it takes a certain group of people to turn it into a fun and hilarious adventure.

The coincidentally-titled “Vybe” which is a high-powered massage device from hell

Whether it was attacking each other with a pulsating cordless-drill-lookin’ recovery massage tool, Google translating savage Swedish put-downs, recording dance moves on pop culture’s definitive teen app of September 2019, or snapping our jaws apart trying to chew on overcooked lasagna noodles…this group was in it 100% this past weekend. There’s something about being tossed in a van and hauled around the ski world that brings out the vibe in a group. By the time 8:00PM rolled around on Saturday we were all all gathered in the living room, brought together not by some forced team activity but by the collective experience of “are you as tired as I am?” Instead of screens in our faces, the team was joking around and laughing, first at various antics and then just the hilarious state of our tiredness.

When the vibe is rolling along like that, there doesn’t need to be some taskmaster or drill sergeant running the show. Instead of feeling like students on a field trip, we all feel like we’re in the moment together: dishes get cleaned and put away, beds get made-up, lunches for the following day get packed, and these things all happen with a shared understanding of a group effort.

This is the same team who within the weekend raced to podiums left-and-right, cut MINUTES off their race times from previous years, and most definitely had the best tailgate going in the Olympic Ski Jumping Complex parking lot. The vibe and the results are tied together like you wouldn’t believe. It’s a reference I’ve made before: but it’s a bit of a chicken-or-the-egg scenario. Do strong results fuel the vibe? Or does the strong vibe fuel results? Safe to say a little bit of both, with a snowball effect being the ultimate goal, picking up speed and size and hurtling uncontrollably toward the race season!

Results from the weekend

Photo album from the weekend

Although it probably does not do justice in sharing the true experience, here are some clips from the weekend compiled into a vlog:

Bringing home the BACON..or the soy bacon, in Rose’s case 😉 

Warmup time at the Jump Loops

Masters Climb to the Castle Report from Steve!

By on 16 September, 2019 in Masters Blog

Steve Crafts gives his take on the awesome Climb to the Castle race!

MASTERS BATTLE THE EYE OF SAURON!
There’s a joke among Masters that all through the Summer the “Eye of Sauron” (aka Whiteface Mountain) keeps a watchful eye on our progress.

The one and only Whiteface Toll Rd

The peak juts out from the Adirondack mountain range, peers across Lake Champlain and wrathfully observes our training. Even on the loveliest of summer days seeing the diamond peak can elicit a palpable sense of dread. I know I’ve seen it’s formidable form and thought to myself “we’re actually going to ski up that?” But like brave Hobbits that’s just what our Masters did this past weekend.

Each one of us dug deep and conquered our fears knowing that we’d prepared.

All Summer a dedicated crew has been putting in the training and it showed. Multiple treks up Bolton, hill workouts, long distance skis and even “better than nothing” days where we managed to scrap together a little time paid off. There were tons of PR’s, impressive times and moments of pure grit.
On the Women’s side Rosemary showed the mountain who was boss. No small feat in pain management. I remember her getting to the top of Bolton once and exclaiming that the climb was harder than child birth. I wouldn’t know, but luckily she must have “hill climb amnesia” because she’s no stranger to elevation gain and on Sunday she cranked up Whiteface in about one hour. Fast!
On the Mens side 4 of the top 10 Masters were Mansfield with 3 in the top 5! This made me wish there was team scoring!
“Rookie” Master Adam Terko lead the way nabbing a 2nd place Masters podium. I believe this was Adam’s first podium and race as a Master. Welcome to the club Adam! A complimentary tube of Bio-Freeze and a foam roller await you!
Not all that far behind were Michael Gaughan and Mike Millar. Like many of our Masters these guys are inspirational examples of new comers who’ve grown tremendously while having fun.
Last year was their first C2C and together we spent a lot of time training and thinking about the race.
Like anyone tackling this for the first time fear of the unknown was a factor. The idea of skiing up that big seemed impossible but with each hour of skiing that passed their skill and ability grew. This year they powered up Whiteface and demolished their previous times by minutes. They even V2ed long expanses–a concept that seems impossible to my V1 loving brain! Seeing them power into the finish was pretty amazing. They looked like college kids (and even managed to beat some).

The mountain climbers Mike and Michael!

On the seasoned racer side Rick Constanza also had a great day. Rick is one of my personal ski heroes and whenever he blows past me in a race I think to myself “well he’s just had more years to practice” and I feel better about myself.

After almost two decades on the same pair of ancient Marwes, Rick finally broke down and bought a “gently used” pair of roller skis with substantially less miles. 57 minutes was all it took for him to slay the mountain.
And slaying the mountain and our fears is just what we did.
For me this race was a turning stone. Going in I was lacking confidence despite putting in the prep time. When I finished I realized I was actually prepared and ready. Go figure. It reminded me that sometimes the hardest part about a big challenge is believing in yourself and stepping outside of your comfort zone.
Driving to the race we were talking about strategy and Michael Gaughan said something that struck me…”The race will find you”.
When it comes to racing that’s so true. It’s a personal journey and struggle but if you put in the time and effort and just make it to the start the race sort itself out.
The Eye of Sauron certainly found us this weekend and it wasn’t as scary as we thought.

Masters at Road 101

By on 9 September, 2019 in Masters Blog, Uncategorized

The Climb to the Castle is right around the corner, and the fall of hard training is upon us. The Masters squad made a return-trip to Road 101, our uphill training proving ground, to test their hard work on Sunday! With a cloudy and ominous sky, chilly temps and a brisk wind, it certainly felt like one of the first true “fall” workouts of the year. Up at the higher elevations in Smuggler’s Notch the leaves were even beginning to change their color.

Let the warmup begin! Scenic farms and mountain views abound

The MNC van was put into service, both as a transport vehicle from the Park and Ride in Richmond and as a shuttle vehicle for trips back down the hill…this is a steep climb that you do not want to ski down! Everyone got in 3 trips up the hill, with each interval measured out to about 2.3 miles of climbing. Amid that climbing was a mid of flatter and gradual terrain, followed by two steep switchbacks at the very end. Perfect for getting in a mix of different techniques. We of course brought along the camera to capture some video!

There is also a collection of photos to be found under our Flickr page within the MNC Masters Summer album!

 

Quick on the skis / Quick on the feet

By on 8 September, 2019 in Junior Blog

Fall is cranking up the intensity as speed and power get added to each workout. Whether it’s a set of 30/30 intervals to practice maintaining strong form, towing your partners along the trail to strengthen your muscles, or jumping into local races to practice the thrill of competition, the Juniors are ramping it up. The ingredients are a really productive summer of technique work, strength training with improvements in balance and coordination, and a consistent group to hammer with. When blended together the end result is a smoothie of fast winter racers!

Evidence of the above recipe:

We’re happy to again be partnering with many of the skiers from the Saint Mike’s team this fall. Some we know from last year, and others are getting their first taste of MNC. It’s great that we can collaborate because there’s a lot to learn from one another, and as the video above shows it’s easier to do hard work in a big group. Leading the charge in many of these video clips is Mikey Halligan who also spent the whole summer with the MNC crew and is looking to be prime shape for the season ahead.

What’s cool about this collaboration this fall is we’ll be joined by Pennie and Molly more frequently, the coaches with the SMC team. More hands-on-deck for helping everyone improve and put their best effort forward.

Virginia heading to the finish

On Saturday, we put a different kind of effort forward…the annual Burlington Invite! Before the high school racers take to the line, there is an open citizen’s race on the same course. We started doing this race a few years ago just for a chance to get a race in without much pressure…last year there were 30 finishes and I think this year may have been about 25. Just some light warmups and casual conversation on the starting line…they were literally still laying the cones for the course as they were getting the gun ready to send us off.

We had some great individual races, highlighted by the women’s team going 1-4 (Rose, Julia, Hanna, Sammie) and Virginia completing her first-ever 5km. She’s only an 8th-grader but she’s had an awesome summer of skiing and biathlon training so watch out for her in the U16 competitions this winter! With some big improvements over only one year ago, Julia and Hanna were :45 and 1:15 faster, respectively!

Adam and Mikey battled it out the whole race to take 3rd and 4th place, not quite matching the fearsome performance of the women but solid nonetheless.

Special shoutouts to MNC Masters representative Katie, and Ava Thurston who won the women’s varsity race, and many other MNC skiers out there laying it all on the line for their respective HS and MS teams…Quincy, Greta, Julia, Maisie, Silas, and more!

post-race vibe

After the race the MNC gang deemed it necessary to refuel with a group brunch session at Skinny Pancake before returning to watch and cheer on the Varsity racers…crepes were had and the systems were replenished for a strong bout of…sitting in the grass and yelling at people as they ran by in agony! It was a really nice day and perfect for both racing and spectating.

Julia congratulating her non-biological daughter Ava at the team tents

In the afternoon we took a short 1-mile drive to the infamous “127 Bike Path”, frequently haunted by the MNC Masters groups who train in the Burlington area. On this day we were the only skiers, and in fact the only users of the path aside from a group of tourists who were not eager to move out of the way too quickly…or were just unaware that we did not have brakes on our rollerskis. Either way collisions were avoided! No photos from that adventure as, well, it’s hardly the most photogenic spot as we literally skied parallel to the highway for an hour.

What’s next for the gang? A week with some bounding intensity on Wednesday and the CLIMB TO THE CASTLE weekend! A highlight of the fall for sure. We’ll travel over for the “Double Day” 3km and 1km races on Saturday, spend the night in Saranac Lake, and compete in the Climb to the Castle race on Sunday. It looks like MNC will be fielding a huge roster of Juniors and Masters alike. Be sure to check it out!

Registration for MNC Climb to the Castle Trip

Flickr Album of Junior Fall (updated regularly)

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