Lots of awesome weather and sunny skies for training this week! We had some great skiing through the rolling countryside and some hot weather that felt like the first real days of “summer” training. The leaves are just starting to emerge and soon we’ll have a variety of greens to add to the bright blue skies.
Weven lucked out on Saturday which was at risk of being rainy and cloudy. Instead it was bright but cool for the first Bolton uphill run of the year. This was some of the first L4 intensity we’ve done and the first “race” for many since Easterns/U16 or States. We weren’t looking to blow the doors off but we certainly had some good performances, especially from first-timers Eliza, Tim, and “Summer Pug” Adam Glueck of Ford Sayre, who will be joining our crew for the next few months. The link below shows the ever-growing historical record. Individual days can also be viewed with the tabs at the bottom:
I am excited to announce that Saturday, July 9th will mark the first annual MNC Summer 5k Run! That’s right, we are teaming up with our partners at Skirack to host a 5k running race on some awesome trails behind Palmer’s Sugarhouse in Shelburne!
Event details like day-of-race schedule, parking, and registration will be forthcoming. This race will be a project of the MNC Junior team who will help with trail work on the course, marking the race loop, designing posters, and helping to set-up and run the event itself.
Our first order of business, however, is to decide on a proper title for this event! I’d like to welcome any and all MNC members and fans to use the form below to submit suggestions…some concepts to keep in mind when thinking of a name:
this race is low-key, low-cost, and geared toward every level: first-time 5k runner to year-round competitor
the title would ideally include a reference to “Mansfield Nordic Club” or “MNC”
racing will occur on a beautiful network of trails adjacent to Palmer’s Sugarhouse on the Shelburne/Hinesburg town line
small prizes will be donated by Skirack to be awarded by raffle after the conclusion of the event
if parents and athletes are willing to pitch-in there is potential for a bake sale or BBQ element at the race
Thanks to our awesome supporter Skirack for helping to organize and run this event!
Somewhere around the time I graduated from college, I started listening to public radio. I’m not sure if it’s because I wanted to feel “more like an adult”, or just because it’s some strange and unstoppable transition that happens when individuals adopt a lifestyle of more responsibility and maturity. There’s always the outlying college student, or the even more rare high school kid (looking at you Chlolo Jones) who tunes in to All Things Considered or Morning Edition, but more than likely that if the ski coach turns the van radio to NPR you’re in for a world of groans and protest.
I distinctly remember a van ride to US Nationals in Rumford in 2010 where my teammates and I accosted our coach for playing nothing but NPR and Tom Petty. As a Sophomore on the team put it, “people usually enjoy Tom Petty a little bit…or are like ‘hey, Tom Petty is on the radio!’…but nobody is, like, a diehard Tom Petty fan”. Well said.
For all the diehard Tom Petty fans out there
But now the radio in my old Subaru is broken, and I’ve been at a loss. “Only A Game” almost always plays en route to Saturday morning training. “Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me” is on when I’m driving home from Sunday’s workout. Snarky Kai Risdal is always on “Marketplace” when I’m driving home from the Range on a hot summer evening.
Luckily I’ve found podcasts, which take the place of the broken radio. Some are NPR programs themselves, and some are independent.
The entry-level podcast for anyone is probably “This American Life“. Of course it plays on NPR too, so it’s kind of like the gateway audio drug. But TAL is an immense program with an hour-long runtime, and the connected threads don’t always stand up on their own. There might be a part I’ll skip over, or a part that is more forgettable than the rest.
Another podcast, and my first true commitment (the first one I subscribed to) is “Stuff You Should Know“. This is great background banter with some knowledge thrown in, and I’ve listened long enough for it to really evolve and grow in production value and fame. But conversations can be droning, episodes get off track, and consistency in themes is tough to come by. Typical episodes are 30-40 minutes.
And then there’s “99 Percent Invisible”, the title of this post and the skiing connection you’ve probably been waiting for.
99 Percent Invisible has a theme that is somehow broad and nuanced all at once. It encompasses “design”, in a word, but stretches that term and applies it to absolutely everything. It makes you think about the world, yourself, your relationships, and your actions in new ways.
“99PI” is incredibly well-produced, something I’ve only become aware of by listening to a plethora of other podcasts in comparison. The writing is smooth, the delivery is succinct, the editing and cuts are unique and clever, and even the background music and effects are subtle-yet-pleasing and fit the mood. It’s like a less schizophrenic version of Radiolab, which I think takes all of those editing elements one step too far and is borderline unlistenable for me.
“This American Life” is a ski tour. It’s a vast world of new ideas that can be explored leisurely and at your own pace, as you pick and choose memorable moments. Occasionally something will really pique your interest and you’ll definitely search further, while sometimes you’ll just feel kind of cold and ready to head inside for cocoa.
“Stuff You Should Know” is like a long-distance workout. You get better at handling it the more time you spend with it, and it rewards good investment. But you can go overboard with it and definitely get burnt out.
“RadioLab” is like a sprint race. A very serious goal and multiple heats en route to the endpoint, but edited and sharply cut together with all the chaos, broken poles, trips and pileups of a narrow turn in a heat of 6 racers.
“99 Percent Invisible” is the perfect ski race in the purest sense. It’s incredibly focused, but relies on a ton of research, preparation and skill to pull off. The transitions are flawless, with no wasted energy or effort.
Most importantly, everything happens within a 15-25 minute window. That’s the time frame of a 5 or 10 kilometer race, with a similar level of preparation, skills, transitions, and effort are required.
Artfully well-produced skate skiing from Rogan Brown and Ida Sargent, video I took at Spring Series a few weeks ago
Finally, the title of the program references how so much of design and creation goes unseen. This has a double relation to skiing, when you think about both how much time is training (99% or so) versus racing (1% or so) and also the relative invisibility of our sport in America. It’s all about putting everything together seamlessly…you spend all year training for a short race season, and when it goes right all the pieces fit together with a gracefulness that will keep you engaged (or maybe subscribed) for the long haul.
Also 99% invisible… if you can’t see us through the fog, that doesn’t mean we aren’t training
It’s May first, the “beginning” of the training year. There is no real end to the training year, however, since a group of motivated and fit athletes will always find joy in being outside and active. This year, the spring training group has shown up each day ready to commit to a focused and productive session…there is a new-found sense of maturity in this group, I feel, and seriousness of purpose.
Rolling on a familiar road in Richmond
We’ve started rollerskiing one day per week, with a focus on making technique gains when the sensations of the winter’s skiing are still fresh. The other day we did some low-intensity double pole intervals, and there was some great skiing happening. As he rolled right by me during filming I think I even shouted to Ben “that’s the best it’s ever looked!” which is a great spot to be in when it’s April. That is something I mentioned to the group…it feels like we are picking up where we left off at the end of the last dryland season; progress is continuing, and regression has been minimal. We’re starting from higher up on a curve that extends off the charts and into the unknown!
Video from rollerski intervals this past Tuesday
When it comes to new challenges and goals, we’ve set the bar high. Last year there would be a chorus of groans and complaints when we got halfway through a run. Yesterday, we ran for 2 straight hours on the amazing singletrack at Sleepy Hollow, and we chatted and embraced the spirit the whole time. No complaints, no whining. Even more impressive considering I instigated “Dartmouth Rules”, which meant no stopping at all: if you wanted a snack or a drink of water, you had to take your drink belt off and gulp/chew while you kept running. We stuck to the plan, hence why there are no photos from the session (because that would have involved me stopping, and even coach has to play be the rules). This was particularly tough when we got to a new section of trail that MNC athlete Charlie Maitland helped construct for his Grad Challenge last year. As this sign says, this new trail, called Darth Vader, is both “most difficult” and “most awesome”!
Darth Vader: most difficult and most awesome
At the end of the run, I did have Will and Tim set up a staged photo shoot so that we could at least capture one image of the fun trails and sunny weather. Pay no attention to the fact that Will has already changed into sandals…
Flying around the berms, and still waiting for the trees to get some green!
We’re picking up where we left off, and it feels good (and it feels fit, too). If you have been meaning to sign up for Spring Training, contact Coach Adam about how to get involved! Before we know it Summer Training will be here as well, so keep spreading the word about the best training group in the state!
Spring training has begun for the MNC Juniors, and while the “Winter of Purple Klister” didn’t provide much variety to our ski terrain in the cold months, we’ve taken advantage of the manmade alpine terrain at nearby mountains to extend the season a bit.
The training we do in the spring is on a 3-day/week basis, and right now we are transitioning into a pretty regular mix that will include running, strength training, mountain adventuring and, yes, rollerskiing (just once per week). Here are some photos of our training these past few weeks!
Here is Will skinning up Bolton. We had a unique group this day: Charlie and Tim on nordic skis, Adam on 3-pin metal-edged, fishscale tele skis, and Will on full-blown Tele gear with skins
Clockwise from top: Will, Charlie, Adam, Tim
Tim stands below the wind turbine, for good scale
Charlie getting some air
Coach practicing his turns
A day later and a few mountains south down route 100, Greg and I took a little journey to Pittsfield to ride the Green Mountain Trails (ranked #3 in VT on Singletracks!, which had just opened after a streak of dry, warm weather. For the first “real” mountain bike ride of the year it was pretty intense, with 1000ft of climbing right off the bat! We will definitely be back though, since these trails (and the atmosphere of quirky Pittsfield itself) is pretty memorable.
The rewards of the climb: a long downhill with sweeping mountainside ravines
Other rewards of the downhill: some airtime
Proof we made it to the top: our bikes at the stone summit cabin
When we aren’t in the mountains, we are working on the basics like strength and endurance. A lot of our team has suggested we take a more “ninja-centric” approach to training. We got started with the introduction of a new training tool affectionately referred to as the “double pole-up”. Wooden dowels, hooks, and ski pole straps converts any pullup bar or monkey bar into a double pole-up workout! Ben demonstrates:
Try to tell me this doesn’t look like some ninja training…
Double pole-up in action
Back home in the woods on the Essex/Westford border, another training tool is taking shape…the peg-board, which will be installed at the Range this summer!
Now we have caught up to last weekend, where Tim, Charlie and I braved ice, wind and fog for another ski adventure. This time the target was Smuggs, and it was the polar opposite of Bolton’s sun and corn…definitely a memorable experience though.
Marching up the side of the trail…more like mountaineering than norpining this day
Tim got the skis on here and there, but mostly it was hiking, sliding, and avoiding catastrophic falls on icy black diamonds. Of course the sun came out at the bottom!
