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First Summer Week

By 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 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.

Bike group ready to head out (Sharon Henry photo)

Some of the Junior squad (ft. Tyke) atop Camel’s Hump (Lisa Burt photo)

Potluck! (Dave Priganc photo)

Tractor time…I think this would make an excellent album cover (Victoria Priganc photo)

Thanks to Sharon and Gary for hosting another great event! On to the next step of the year!

 

 

Masters on Strava

By on 12 June, 2018 in Masters Blog

Strava is an app and website that allows users to track training and workout data…mileage, routes, pace, and even heart rate or watts if you’ve got equipment that is conducive to it!

At it’s simplest, Strava can be used just by bringing your phone with you on a run, ride, rollerski, or other training activity. One of the coolest aspects of Strava is the social media component that lets users post sessions and share workouts. Strava even has a “clubs” feature that allows you to sort activities by groups, track a group or club’s data like total mileage or hours, and more.

The MNC Masters have a Strava club, so feel free to join in if you use the app! Just search for the club in the search bar of the app and check it out. You’ll also notice a new tracker right on the Masters training page. Great way to keep up with what fellow Masters have been up to…you may even scope out some new routes or roads!

Two great skis

By on 11 June, 2018 in Junior Blog

This past week was mostly focused on recovery in order to take in all the Spring training and prepare for the Summer Program to start…we had a short easy run on Tuesday but still kept things focused with some double pole intervals in Burlington on Thursday and our second session joined by new MNC summer coach Perry Thomas. Perry is a coach of the UVM Ski Team but we’re pumped that he’ll be working with us every Tues/Thurs this summer! Here’s a short video clip from the intervals…featuring the first appearance this year of recent grads Greg and Olivia (congrats!)

Eli mastering smooth and fast at the same time

For the first time this year, we bumped it up to skiing twice in a week with a skate roll in Milton. We met at the Lelito house on another beautiful morning and the group set off on a long ski…in fact, slightly longer than planned. The summer program can’t start soon enough, when we’ll have Sara with us on Saturdays to help facilitate logistics and shuttling in addition to her awesome coaching. Let’s just say there I burned a lot of miles driving back-and-forth between groups trying to keep tabs on everyone. The end result meant Greg, Aidan, Timmy, and Dakota got a bit of a longer ski than they bargained for but they seemed to handle it well! Only a short video for this one:

 

Guys group water break

Girls squad psyched on the first long ski of the year!

Annual Fund and Summer Kickoff

  • The MNC Annual Fund is happening NOW! Please consider a contribution to support the club for the coming season 🙂

MNC Annual Fund

  • If you plan to attend the Summer Bike/Hike/Potluck kickoff event at the Henry/Solow household please be sure to RSVP! Details below:

Summer Kickoff ’18

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Busiest week yet?

By on 3 June, 2018 in Junior Blog

We’ve definitely made it into June, as all of a sudden it seems like we’re capable of more and more every week. This was our first big volume week of the year and featured a little bit of everything.

On Tuesday we went to the Mud Pond trail network for some running intervals. On the north side of the system the mountain bike trail runs along a snowmobile trail, meaning it’s a long climb of pretty continual grade. Perfect for some smooth and fast L3 running. Things were pretty hot and humid but we only had a taste of what was in store.

On Thursday the humidity really hit and we had to sweat it out in the suburbs of Williston for a hot skate ski. The group is looking great on skis, carrying over progress from last year without a hitch. Here’s some video I shot as I rode my bike with the groups:

On Saturday we got to embark on an adventure involving a LOT of running. I’ve had my eyes on this loop for a while but I knew we’d need a good base of running fitness under us before attempting it with the group.

Since we’ve been getting after it on foot this spring, it was no problem! We started at the Round Church, ran on the trails up to the top of Cochrans, and then continued up and over the mountain eventually emerging near Huntington Gorge on Dugway Rd. From there it was about another 6 miles back on the dirt road and river trail back to the church. Nothing you can’t accomplish by running for 2 and a half hours straight!

Magda and Hanna might be over-exaggerating the fatigue a bit. These two crushed it! Super impressive.

Before the run I dropped my car on Dugway Rd and biked to the start so we could have a bail-out shuttle. It wasn’t needed, so Timmy gave me a lift back to the car where we decided to do some fishing. No fish, but we did snack on some Bobo’s

The Tour De Cochrans: up, over, and around

For Sunday, I put out the word for a bonus mountain bike ride at Saxon. It was an awesome turnout and in total (counting Steve, who took this photo) we had 10 Pugs all out tearing up the dirt.

Most of us also unintentionally decided to color-coordinate with blue I guess

It was the first real mountain bike ride ever for the #triplethreattrio (Ali, Sammie, Magda) and they crushed it! Just like the first few rollerski sessions, you just start with the basics and build up the confidence…although we split up to start by ability level, at the end we were all able to go out as a full group snaking our way through some of the lower trails. Pretty awesome feeling.

Ali rocking the turns getting ready to test out a new upgraded ride soon 🙂

Hey who is that stranger..?! Aidan has hung up his glove and bat until next spring and is ready to bust the ski poles back out

 

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