First Week of Class Endeavors

We have a Facebook page! This is going to be short and sweet because it is late and we leave for Rumford tomorrow, but I wanted to make sure it got on the blog before the weekend. This is a new thing for the team and I'm going to see if maybe when I have service/wifi at carnivals I can post results and whatnot to the page before they're online (although the EISA is usually pretty speedy.)

The boys (and Gabby) give the van a little push

An exciting adventure the team had this week was when we attempted to get in some intervals on Tuesday. We went up the the Range in Jericho only to find that the road leading up to the biathlon range was a little icy. And by a little icy I mean a complete ice rink that was impossible to even try to walk on. We got part way up the hill in the van only to have my dad maneuver us carefully into a driveway. After getting slightly stuck for just a minute we unpacked our skis and began to walk up the ice covered hill. On the walk up we encountered a school bus in a snowbank, a woman in a Subaru that gave my dad the keys and let him do the driving, a fishtailing, skidding van, and, finally, a dirt truck that came to everyone's rescue.

High fives for getting the van out of the snowbank

Pumped for the arrival of the dirt truck

We made it to the top and the skiing was still good, but unfortunately just before we really got rolling the National Guard decided to call it quits and shut down the operation. While our workout was less than desirable we got to ski the Range and test out potential interval loops for the following weeks.

Big Purple leaves tomorrow at noon for the Bates Carnival at Black Mountain! I made the girls purple and yellow hair ribbons earlier in the evening so we're officially ready for the race season to begin!

Make sure to check out and like our Facebook page and wish us luck!

- Sam M.

Let the Games Begin (Fall '11 Recap)

Things seemed to get off to a slow start back in September as I headed out to Sun Valley with Evan.  As I returned for the first of October the team was somewhat splintered. Joe and Molly were keeping a large part of the troops on their game with the cross country team.  Sam M., Emily, Silke, and Brian (BFV) were all ready to roll, and so we did. 

Night time bounding at Cochran's in November

Halloween seemed to come out of nowhere and we were hitting the road for long rollerski days, intervals, and technique.  Cochran’s became a staple as we bounded right into the dark, but even the dark could not derail the pain. “Just pull this switch,” said the incredible friendly folks at Cochran’s.  Let there be light, and the team was as one.  3 hour roller skis, bounding and Joe’s team core were all part of a great fall of training.  But… the fall would not be complete with out Joe’s fun…. “It’s time for SMC to TT up the Bolton access road.”

Gabby and Sam-Dan were treated to a Thanksgiving with the Martell’s and a great week of on snow training.  Hard’Ack, Mike B’s gym, and incredible skiing at Craftsbury all came together to provide a great week of training.  By Friday the numbers began to grow as the on snow skiing was extended right though Saturday.  Sunday found everyone back on campus and a long roller ski.

Isaiah in the EC sprint

The Craftsbury gang worked their buts off and pulled things together for a fun weekend of racing as the first Eastern Cup went off with out a hitch.  Sam M., Gabby, Colin, Isaiah, and Sam-Dan jump-started their season against some of the toughest competition in the country.

Winter camp found the gang putting in long hours of skiing at Trapp’s.  The team put together 10 days of long skis, countless intervals, and a TT with the UVM and Dartmouth ski teams. But wait…we could not stop there, so we headed northeast to the long rolling trails at Craftsbury for a 3 hour ski and the 11^th day of skiing followed by pizza all around.

The girls putting in a solid 3 hours at Craftsbury 

Three more training days and the games will in fact begin. The college season kicks off as we roll into Rumford, Maine for a 5 & 10K interval start skate on Friday and a 10K mass start classic on Saturday.  This weekend is the first of six weeks of Carnivals and the team is ready, so… “Let the Games Begin”.

-Lary

                  

Early Season Racing

Perfect tracks on Saturday 

Isaiah racing the 1.4k sprint

I'll be darned, nordic racing on man made snow, who'd of thunk it!! That's just what happened over the past weekend. The SMC gang loaded up the ski gear and headed northeast to Craftsbury for a great weekend of ski racing. The Craftsbury folks put on a first class event on an 1.5 K loop that was a spectator's dream.  Well over 400 of the northeast's top nordic skiers showed up for the first Eastern Cup of the 2011/12 season.  The competion was non-stop with a 1.5 K sprint and 3K prologue on Saturday and a 4.6K and 9K skate race on Sunday.

Colin heading up the hill in the 9k

Gabby, Sam and Isaiah jump-started their seasons by racing all three events. Colin tested the waters on Sunday after missing most of the 2010/11 season. At one point as Colin ripped past several skiers through the stadium the announcer declared "St. Mikes, has a real gun this Colin Delaney kid!!"  Sam-Dan, a mid-western freshman wastreated to the fast, hard, ice typical of eastern-type skiing in the 9K skate on Sunday. Sam-Dan looked good in the climb and had a great time througout the race. Mostly he seemed happy just to see klister being applied...freshman.

Sam-Dan in his first race in Big Purple uniform

Sam and Gabby while cheering the boys on

Lary looking quite stoic.
(This post was actually published by Sam and I couldn't
let this incredible picture go unseen...)

I hung out for the weekend visiting with old freinds and watching some of the most exciting nordic ski racing I have ever seen. Cold sunny days filled with fast ski racing and no cell service. What more could I ask for?

-Lary Martell

Thanksgiving Pictures

Gabby has promised a post about Thanksgiving break and the activities that occurred. For now, check out my blog for my take on the weekend and enjoy the vague summary via pictures below.

Awkward picture of no pole work on Thursday.

Thanksgiving afternoon at Craftsbury

Lunch time.

Nap time.

Hanging with Lary

Gabby loves pictures. 

It got a little iffy Saturday morning.

By Sunday afternoon it was clear we would
be on rollerskis the next day.

High School vs. Collegiate Running

I know I sound like a broken record when I say “back in Minnesota”, but truly the difference between Minnesota and Vermont is astounding to someone who has only lived in one place all their life. So, back in Minnesota, My high school program was considered something of a joke within my conference. Our “long runs” were 40 minutes long and they were not fast by any means. We did brutal intervals starting in June and ending in November. Tapering? What’s that? We always were fast as lightning bolts in August but in October we were struggling to not place in the back half at any given meet. Our recovery days after races (Which we often had two a week) consisted of 20 min with a short “flush out” sprint afterwards. That is but a quick glimpse at a program that reduced runners to jelly by September. I arrived out here for preseason, nervous because I knew that this would push my body beyond its physical limits, ready and rarin’ to go. I was not disappointed. Day one we tackled 4 miles running at 7:30 pace (a previously unheard of practice pace for me), it was a refreshing experience for me to know that I was surrounded by people who actually cared about running for more than the six-pack it gave them. As for recovery days, it turns out those are our longest runs of the week, averaging 10-12 miles at a crack. As we say back in the North Country, “UFF DAA!!!”, this program was intense and rewarding. after getting a personal best in the 5k in an 8k my times have continued to improve. Good Work Coaches for having a killer program!!!

           

Ok, so I primarily view myself as a skier. With that thought in mind I was a bit hesitant to join the cross country team, thinking of horror stories in which runners overtrained and fried their bodies out by the time ski season rolled around. But with the cc coach being the nordic coach, I knew I was in good hands. Seeing as how Nordic Skiing is the most cardiovasculary demanding sport, any sport that worked the heart would be a good form of cross-training for skiing. However, you can’t limit yourself to just cardiovascular strength. Strength is also very important. If I had to bet on who could do more reps 225 lbs, between elite skier Petter Northug and Viking’s Running Back Adrian Peterson, all my money would be on Peter. 

-Sam H.

Sam super pumped for a roller ski a few Saturdays ago.