Mansfield Nordic Club

Lake Placid wouldn’t be too far of a trip if not for the daunting large lake that separates Vermont from New York. On a clear day you can see the slopes of Whiteface from Burlington, and the hilly, wooded terrain feels a lot like Jericho or Underhill.

But sometimes the place feels a world away, and this weekend was one of those times.

From the haphazard caravan journey to the wacky weather and misplaced tactics or untimely falls, things started out rough for the Pug crew. We’ve had a lot of experience with sprinting and, in particular, classic sprinting this season. But Saturday was just not our day on the whole, and there were varying reasons for sure. That’s not to take anything away from some great individual performances, but we do work hard as a team and of course strive to do well as a group.

The thing about an Eastern Cup weekend -and this can be good or bad- is that after the first day you’ve gotta just turn around and hit the race course again 24 hours later. In the best-case scenario this means an opportunity to get after it again and show what you’re made of. On the other hand, it means a lot of extra digging and mental tenacity to re-wire and re-focus. Sometimes that’s easier said than done.

On the whole, things shifted back into a more positive direction on Sunday. A mass start is a great chance to be a little bit angry and a little bit aggressive. Seeing exactly where you want to be, in real time, is empowering. Maybe that’s the approach we need to be continually reminding ourselves of: where exactly do I want to be? What stands (or strides and glides) in between where I am now and where that is? What can I do to keep closing that gap? It was also great to have a weekend where many of our younger Pugs got into the races and could see the Eastern Cup all coming together. Way to go Rachel, Carly, Lydia, and Carl!

One thing is for sure: we’re ready to throw more into each weekend as they come. It’s true we were under-staffed this past weekend. Without Sara and Dan I’m not sure what we would’ve done. It’s true we were in a different environment, with different courses and a different home to sleep in and the third weekend in a row with single-digit temps. But this is the gang that’s had some killer races fueled by “Room Pasta” cooked on a hotplate in a hotel bathroom (never again, Fort Kent). This is the gang that cuts blue shop towels in half with a hacksaw to make the roll last longer. The gang that isn’t afraid to do bounding intervals up the mountain’s grassy slope in the summer and then pull ticks off their clothes for the rest of the training camp. The gang that shows up to ski when it starts to get dark out, finishes under the lights, and THEN goes home to eat dinner and do homework.

You get the picture.

So it’s no surprise that a tough classic mass start in soft snow could be one of our better events. But the other thing is, we’re only at Eastern Cup #2. There’s half the Eastern Cup racing left, and more than half the races left considering the Saturday of the final weekend features two races in a day. We’re at a point where you’ve gotten into your tuck and started picking up speed in the tracks. Only option is to keep charging.

Charging hard through the snow. Not easy, but it’s what we’re in this for.