Check out this video from some Masters on the SkiErg this past Thursday. Lots of small adjustments to body position and poling power can be found by using “partner-bands”, also known as some old bike tubes. These are sometimes also referred to as “Putney Armbands” since their genesis comes from the legendary John Caldwell or Putney, VT.
The bands help skiers feel more comfortable in the forward and high hip position we strive for on snow. The side-view camera angle can really show the differences! It is also important to look at how power is applied, and how the hips move throughout the whole cycle. Enjoy!
As the snow has started falling on Vermont’s highest peaks, the Juniors have started to transition to some more specific workouts. Intervals get shorter and harder (as well as faster), and the focus on specific movements increases as we look to work on technique before the transition to snow. We even got a first-hand look at that transition today as we hiked a muddy Camel’s Hump that eventually turned into a very snowy summit. Here are a few pictures and videos from the past few days!
Running some of my favorite trails on Friday. If you haven’t checked out the loops at the Preston Forest Preserve (more colloquially known as “the trails behind Cochran’s”) you are missing out! The prayer flags at the top gave us a chance to reach out to the Snow Gods for some real winter these coming months.
Our prayers were answered, at least partially, with some snow on Camel’s Hump on Sunday. We’ve also been fortunate to receive some new flavors from Bobo’s Oat Bars, including the delicious and now-coveted gingerbread!
In between Friday and Sunday’s trail adventures, we headed over to the Smuggs area for striding intervals on the beautiful Road 101, our top-secret rollerski road with fresh pavement and steep switchbacks. Since both a small network of trails and an uphill dirt road lead directly from the paved road, we combined some training modes to keep working on our striding technique.
First, we got in some technical trail running as a warmup, followed by some dynamic and mobility-oriented drills. Then we did some bounding interval up the dirt road. The team then made a quick swap to rollerskiing (we left gear right at the intersection of the dirt and paved road) for striding intervals of the exact same length up the switchbacks. Great way to see and feel the difference between being on foot and on skis.
Ski gear waiting for the conclusion of bounding intervals. Notice all the great Toko belts for our water and snacks!
Video edit from the intervals. As you can probably tell I tried to splice together everyone’s bounding with their striding. Some interesting things to see when this happens! I will also post up footage of all of the bounding clips, since we had some folks just on foot (not skiing).
Finally, a quick note on yesterday’s XC running State Meet. Great to see strong performances from MNC athletes all over the place! Baxter Bishop 8th, Sammie Nolan 21st, Conor Munns 30th in the D1 men’s and women’s races. Alex Warner 29th and Eli Grossman 33rd in the Challenge Race (out of 310 runners!). It doesn’t take much scrolling to find lots of other familiar names from winter races…here’s a picture borrowed from the SMS blog of Baxter running alongside fellow Eastern Cup competitor Ben Ogden!
Ben Ogden (in yellow) and Baxter Bishop (in red): two endurance machines who go faster the tougher the course is (in both skiing and running)!
The NENSA ski lease program has ended, and the equipment is now available for purchase! More info is below and a link to purchase can be found by clicking HERE
PLEASE NOTE:
There are two types of equipment:
“Touring” =boots are tied, and that there is no cuff, poles have rounded rubber tips
“Competition” =the boots have stiff cuffs, poles have metal tips, some have advanced straps
There are 4 levels of wear:
“Excellent” = never been used
“Good” = used for a few years
“Fair”= have 1-2 years left in them, but they are the last ones leased out later in the season last year.
“Poor”= skis have lots of scratches, great as rock skis
MNC Masters: if you did not catch it on the Masters Training Doc, this week’s strength training at Dee PT will take place tonight (Monday) and not tomorrow. This applies to this week (10/31) only!
The Junior team was seeking out some alternative adventures this week, as a way to recover and refresh the mind and body after the grueling Tour De Pug. On Friday we took a trip to Get Air in Williston, an indoor park featuring wall-to-wall trampolines! There was a dodgeball court, slamball court and Ninja Warrior course, but everyone was most eager to hone their flips and spins at the foam pits. Magda and Evan certainly immpressed with their gymnastics backgrounds, but everyone attempted a few flips which was great for getting out of the comfort zone!
The following day, it was off to Stowe for some more unorthodox training: a trek up the alpine slopes and quite a fun ride back down in the thick mashed potato snow. Last year’s weather was a bit more springlike for a similar adventure, but to be fair last winter in general was a bit more springlike, so hopefully the massive amounts of snow and precipitation this day were a good omen. Here is a little video edit I put together of our trip:
