Great Glen Sprints

A few days ago we drove up to Great Glen for some skiing and many athletes competed in the Great Glen Sprint Races. It was cold up there, and the wind chill made us realize that Winter is finally here. The sprints got going at noon and, with no preliminary rounds, got right into the heats. Everybody raced well, with Lucas, Abby, Beth, and Sophie all advancing to the finals. Catherine narrowly missed the final, racing against Sophie in the semis. In the men's final, Lucas was able to hold off some hard-charging junior skiers from Burke and Gould to take the victory. On the women's side, the Bobcats went 1-2-3. Abby took the win ahead of Beth, and Sophie was able to battle back from a early fall to take third. It was great for people to get a race start. Even though we hadn't been on snow that much leading up to the race, everyone's technique is really coming together. This weekend, a small group will be heading up to race at the Eastern Cup openers in Presque Isle.

Nate, early on.

Chill in the heats.

Abby on her way to victory. (Great Glen photo)

Lucas skiing to 1st. (Great Glen photo)

Women's and Men's podium. (Great Glen Photo)

Snow and Skiing!

After yesterday's time trial against Bowdoin, we woke up this morning to a blanket of fresh snow. We headed down to Twinbrook in Cumberland and got on snow for a couple of hours. The conditions weren't ideal (they rarely are at this time of year), but once we had skied in a loop it was pretty good skiing.
Overall it was a great weekend of training here. Yesterday's rollerski time trial with Bowdoin was a great hard effort, followed by a productive weight room session. The course was a little over 10 km out on Ridge Road in Bowdoinham. It was a great spot with nice terrain and little traffic. Thanks to Coach Alsobrook for inviting us out there! Harry and Dayna had the fastest times for the men and women, respectively. As we move towards the race season it was a good opportunity to go head-to-head against some different people in a new environment.

Skiing Alums

This past week the domestic racing season got underway out in West Yellowstone with a classic sprint as well as classic and skate distance races. Bates was well represented with Dave Chamberlain '98 and Sylvan Ellefson '09 both posting solid results through the week. In the point-to-point classic sprint race, Sylvan and Dave finished 8th and 21st, respectively. In the skate race, Sylvan was 12th and Dave 53rd, while in the classic Dave was 19th and Sylvan 36th. Justin Easter '03 was also out in West, as the head coach for the Summit County (Colorado) Nordic Team. The SuperTour season continues this weekend with races in Bozeman, MT. You can follow Sylvan and Dave through this race season on their respective blogs:

Dave at http://blogs.fasterskier.com/davidchamberlain/

Sylvan at http://www.powerbar.com/user/sylvanellefson.aspx
Also, check out his YouTube account with some great video of Team HomeGrown out of Vail at http://www.youtube.com/user/sylvanellefson

Justin Freeman '98 is another Bates Alum who will be represented on the circuit this year. He also has a blog at FasterSkier, http://blogs.fasterskier.com/justinfreeman/

Also, Lauren Jacobs '07 will be racing for the newly formed Craftsbury Green Racing Project

Meanwhile, Haley Johnson will be representing the US in biathlon at World Cups this season and most likely at the Vancouver games in 2010. She is currently in Sweden and keeps a blog as well, http://comeskiwithme.blogspot.com/

Elsewhere, Reid Lutter '93 still acts as the executive director of NCCSEF, runs his company Podiumwear, and coaches the Minnesota Valley Ski Club.

There are plenty of Bates Skiing alums involved in the coaching world. Steve Monsulick '07 is the assistant at New Hampshire. Scott Jerome '93 and Matt Dunlap '08 act as the head and assistant coaches at Alaska-Fairbanks. Nancy Fiddler (nee Ingersoll) '79, former Olympian, and current coach for Mammoth Lakes, CA and the Far West division. Tim Whiton '09 is the assistant over at Bowdoin. Also, Andrew Gardner '00 is the Head Coach over at Middlebury. Its great to see so many former Bobcats still involved in the nordic skiing world.

Check out the links, and stay posted for more!

Thanksgiving Camp

In the end, we stayed on campus for our Thanksgiving camp and got some great training in. We had the Amazing Race on Saturday, a beautiful OD on Sunday, and great rollerski sessions Monday through Wednesday. Ingrid also rejoined us after her semester in N. Zed. The weather held for us, though its starting to get pretty chilly out here. Everybody seemed ultimately glad with our decision not to go to Canada to try and get on the approximately 400 meters of snow that is there. Staying local not only allowed us to get some quality workouts in, but it also lessened our Carbon footprint. And now for some pictures...

The start of Amazing-ness

Waiting for the tag

Never have jigsaw puzzles been so stressful...even for the self-proclaimed "puzzle-king"

Start of the OD

Hiking up Old Speck

OD shoes

Keys?

A Quick Update...

We just got done with a pretty good sized volume week last week. The next few days are relatively easy before we head into a 5-day pre-Thanksgiving camp. The plans are still a little unsure, as the only real snow seems to be out West. The training has been going great here though, and wherever we end up, that will continue.
As the U.S. racing looks set to start up in West Yellowstone, check out Sylvan's blog, through the PowerBar website:
http://www.powerbar.com/user/sylvanellefson.aspx
He'll be keeping it updated through the winter with posts, schedules, and photos. Sylvan has been training hard back in his hometown of Vail, Colorado. We got the chance to see some of the gains he has made fitness-wise over our October camp in Rangeley.
Until next time!

Sunday Roll

Not a bad backdrop for a workout.

Today we did an overdistance classic roll from the edge of Lewiston out to the Fuller house in Freeport. It was a beautiful day for the workout, with clear skies, and awesome temperatures. At the end of the 30+ miles of rollerskiing, the Fullers were gracious enough to provide us with a great lunch as well as some unwinding in the hot tub and on the Wii. It was a fun end to another solid week of training.

On the way

Smeltzer leading the way

Cap'n Crunch

For more pics check out Flying Point Road Photography:
http://www.flyingpointroad.com/Photos/Skiing/Summer-Training-2009/8816003_3ebrB#707153793_nbhqs

Gnarnia

Some more pictures from Rangeley Camp, courtesy of Dayna.

3rd Annual Rangeley Bowl. The Alumni/Upperclassmen emerged victorious.

"Extremery" at Saddleback.

Scenic.

Rock On.

Pie contest.

Pies Galore.

Eyes on the Pies

Yesterday the team competed at the Eyes on the Pies rollerski race down at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester. It was a beautiful Fall day down there and the course was entirely on private roads and around the Pineland campus. Bowdoin and Colby also took part in the events. Our men (and Gretchen) did the 10 km and the women did the 5 km, followed by a 5 km run against the other collegiate skiers. Everybody skied and ran really well and put out great efforts. Some of our skiers are not healthy enough to race right now, but everybody came out to workout and support their teammates. Connor '09 and Tim '09 both were able to jump in the race as well, going 1-2 in the Masters 10 km.

The Women's 5 km, about to start...

Jimbo and Danny K. finishing strong...

Nat leading out the women's field...

10 km racers getting going...

Dayna in the pack...

Chill and his game-face.

Rangeley Camp

We got back yesterday afternoon from our Fall camp in Rangeley. There was a lot of rollerskiing, some running, and the annual Rangeley Bowl football game and apple pie contest. Sylvan set a new course record on the uphill run at Saddleback, and Natalie won in her first attempt at it. Danny Kuzio was the first man on the team with a great effort. We also did the uphill double-pole test, and a classic rollerski time trial up the Saddleback road. Some initial pics...

Sylvan...

Natalie, crushing it...

Chill and Connor...

Sophie...

Danny K...

Connor and Sylvan, '09.

October Camp

We're up in Rangeley right now, for our annual Fall Break Training Camp. We got up here last night and got in a classic roll this morning. It should be a great five days up here. Alumni Sylvan Ellefson and Connor Cushman are both up here with us, Sylvan coming out from Colorado for the camp. More to come later...


Threshold Intervals last Saturday.

Remember the Name...

This is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill
Fifteen percent concentrated power of will
Five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain
And a hundred percent reason to remember the name...

Today we finished up our first round of testing as well as the first intensity block of the season together. We had 5k and 10k skate time trials today. Kudos to Nat and Lucas posting the fastest times for the women and men. Also, great work by Isaac, who had to duel a semi truck at the turnaround. Everybody did a great job pushing through the barriers this week. The whole team showed they're ready to put in the hours this Fall needed to prepare themselves for the race season. Tomorrow we're headed off-campus to do a fun OD run/hike. It should be a fun way to end the tough week.
Here are a few pictures from today's skate rollerski time trial...


Cooper...fired up might be an understatement...

C-Hill...

Roethlisberger...

Danny...

Sam and Dayna...

Double-Pole Test

Also known as Super Terrific Double Pole Time! Today we did the 5000 meter double-pole test on our two SkiErg machines. Because we have two machines everybody was spaced out through the day. Corey kicked things off this morning, and posted a solid time, and ended up as the third guy. Captain Harry led the way for the men with a strong showing in 18:34, and Dayna posted the fastest time for the women with 23:46.














Corey getting it done early.

Smeltzer and Lucas.













Sophie and Natalie.

















Dayna and Beth.

















Beck cheering on the ladies.













Isaac and Nate.



It was another good testing day for everybody. We haven't spent a lot of time on these machines as a team, so I'm confident that next time we do this test, we should see improvement for everybody.


















Who has your back?