Another Sappy(ish) Senior Post

Halie has taught us well: blogging is the best procrastination tool when you really just don't want to write that paper. I'm sitting in the Detroit airport, on my way to Sun Valley for Spring Series, but though I should share about my last great adventure: NCAAs at Lake Placid last week.  I didn't have quite the week I had been looking forward to all season, but it was still a blast! 

Here are a few pictures from the week, and even though I am in each of them, the whole team was there in spirit. Without the whole team by my side all year (for four years), it would have all been very different. So first, a shout out to the whole Bates nordic family (I know there are some key players missing in this photo, but it's the best I can do!). You are all a wonderful crew and your spirit, optimism, and support accompanied me to Lake Placid week.

Steve Fuller photo

Corky made the trek over- it was AWESOME to hear him cheering and see his smily face at the end of the race

Becky. No words needed.

This guy, James- waxing and smiling guru. 

Congrats to Alpiner Kelsey on crushing her first NCAAs of many. It was super to have her right upstairs and giving us someone to cheer for at the Alpine races! 

My cousin Sarah surprised me by coming to watch the classic race! The rest of my family was there too, but managed to avoid all photos...

Kelsey took this picture-  not letting me take myself to seriously!

Something we Eastern girls talked all about is how close we are as a region- we are all friends and rooting for each other. Here is Rachel from Harvard, me, and Olivia from Colby, enjoying a nice cool down after the skate race. 

More Eastern friends! Kat and Annika from UNH!

Heather and I shared a special sort of podium on Wednesday, but still smiles!

Plane is boarding, gotta go fill up that water bottle one last time!

xo, Hallie

Championship Season

Just a quick re-cap on what was a chaotic week of championship series' in our ski world.

Hallie raced the 5k skate and 15k classic at NCAA's in Lake Placid, skiing to her NCAA PR (24th) in her last collegiate race. Yahoo! She will compete in spring series this coming week in Sun Valley, Idaho.

The crew out at JN's in Truckee had quite a week. Very interesting conditions, extremely warm weather and chemical covered snow. Parker hopped up onto the podium in the skate distance race which was very exciting, and Halie and Bria battled it out all week.

We are glad to have everyone back at school !! Gearing up for the Sugarloaf Marathon this weekend!

West to East: JN's Recap

I am sitting in the Reno airport waiting to get on my first of three flights that will hopefully get me back to Maine today (tight connections!!!). If you are an avid follower of the blog, you will know that last time I wrote a blog post (a week ago) it was because I was avoiding writing a paper... well I hate to admit, that is still the case.


Junior Nationals came to a close yesterday- four races in six days! Parker, Bria, and I all had moments to celebrate, and moments we will try to forget. Overall, it was a great week in Cali, with some summer weather, and spring skiing conditions.


MONDAY: Skate sprint-


The most exciting day of Junior Nationals, all three bobcats qualified for the heats, but Bria was sick and decided to skip out on the heats in hopes of coming back stronger later in the week. The first hard effort at altitude was HARD. P-money skied a great qualifier and was sitting in the second lucky loser spot for the semi's until the last quarter where he got knocked out by .09 of a second. He ended up 13^th, a good result against some fast OJ boys. I skied a conservative prelim in hopes of saving some energy for the heats. I had a great quarter, and ended up winning my quarter and moving on into semi #1. My semifinal was fast&furious out of the start, but then came to a standstill at the top of the first downhill as no one wanted to lead down the hill. I ended up fourth in the heat and moved onto the B- Final. I was ripped about how my semi shook-out and went into the B-final with a little bit vengeance... and it worked, I won the B-Final for an overall place of sixth (one guest skier in the A-Final).

Bria in the Prelim

Parker in the Prelim

Halie in the her quarter

WEDNESDAY: 5k/10k skate-
P-money led the charge with a 3^rd place finish in the 10k skate race. This was four laps of a brutal 2.5k course. Parker skied a great race, and gained on his competitors through the race. Racing at 7,000 ft is a completely different game, if you redline too soon there is no coming back. Those of us from sea level had to adjust our race plans to accommodate for the fact that you can't race like you race at sea level. I skied the first lap conservatively and came through the lap in about 6^th place, right where I wanted to be. I tried to turn it on for the second lap but simply came up short, altitude, and racing all the heats from Monday caught up to me. I ended up 14^th.

Racing in the rain

P$$ ON THE PODIUM!!!

FRIDAY: 10k/15k Mass Start Classic-
Today was a tough day to be a Bobcat. All three of us struggled to find our groove. I can't speak for the other two, but I hope to forget this race ASAP. Deep in the pain cave for most of the race, and a collapse at the finish leaves me only remembering bits and pieces of the race. All three of us finished, and with the number of people who passed-out each race it actually turned into a goal just to finish the races for those of us from sea level. The temperature reached 60 degrees for the OJ girl's race, and the tracks turned into 6 inches of slush for us to plow through for 10k.

SATURDAY: 3x 2.5k Classic Relay-
The last event of JN's was fast and furious, as cooler temps hardened the tracks, and made for some ripping relays. Parker and I both skied the 1^st legs for our teams, while Bria anchored the Far West team. Relay's are always exciting and it was a good last hard effort for the season. It was all smiles at the finish.


New England reclaimed the Alaska Cup, proving once again we are the best division in the country even at 7,000 ft. I'm going to credit the new uniforms for this success... Parker and I were a little hesitant about the new design, but learned to embrace it.

We had a big group of past, present, and future Bobcats in Truckee this past week. It was great to reconnect with a lot of them and have their support so far from Bates. A huge Thank You to Auburn Ski Club for hosting and making this event possible with such little snow. Time to go back to reality and grind out the last month of school.


We return to the East Coast with more racing experience, another championship in the books, a little tougher, and a lot tanner.


Until next time I have to write a paper,

Halie Lange

East to West

Apparently Snorel and I both decided today would be a good day for some reflection.

I am sitting in the Detroit Airport on my layover to Truckee, CA. Shoutout to A-Katz and Maddy for getting up at 4:45am to drive me to the airport, those two are pretty awesome teammates! I don't write blog posts, I never have, this will be my first because I promised some of my teammates that I would, and because I am avoiding writing an actual paper due next week. What better time to reflect than on a long layover, pre-championship week, with Starbucks in hand. That's why I chose now to grace the Bates Nordic Blog with my thoughts.

Inspiration is a funny thing, we look to other people to find it, yet when we need to draw upon it, we must find it within ourselves. This seems most relevant now in the post-season when we are tired, school work is piling up, skiing is winding down for teammates, and suddenly a definitive end is in sight. Now is the time to quickly look back over the season, find your mistakes- correct them, find what you have done well- and do it even better. But there is a bigger piece to post-season success, a piece of the puzzle that will allow you to push a little harder over the top of hills, find that extra gear into the finish, and go to that “bad place” one final time. I've been thinking a lot about where I find my inspiration, hoping to somehow pin it down so that when I need it next week it is easily accessible. I found that my inspiration stems from just about everybody I surround myself with. But I will share a few examples that I keep coming back to, and what will hopefully give me that extra push when I need it.

1. Teammates:
   

The only people in the world who know what you put yourself through everyday to be the best that you can. We push each other everyday whether it's bounding up Lost Valley, running up Saddleback, double poling the roads of Lewiston, or skating the hills of Pineland. I find inspiration in every single one of my teammates, we each bring unqiue strengths to the team, and push each other to improve upon our weaknesses.

T-Hump, Snorel, Halie, Emma, and A-Katz

2. Role Models:
   

This is an easy one for me. My greatest role model in life, my biggest supporter, and largest source of inspiration is my grandmother. Someone who always provides perspective, and never fails to make me smile.

91 years old and still skiing! If that's not inspiring then I don't know what is...

3. Coaches, family, and friends.
   

It becomes easier to believe in yourself when others show they believe in you. They provide extra motivation, and support when we need it most. What this group of people gives so that we can do well on race day is truly amazing.


Like I said, inspiration seems funny to me. I just identified three categories where I find my inspiration, but ultimately, it has to come from within. I have recently found that when it's not so easy to do yourself, there are those people who fall in the categories above to be my inspiration, and remind me how to find it within myself. So really, inspiration is always inside us, sometimes it just takes others to remind us what it looks like, or how to find it.


Yesterday, I asked James for some sprinting advice, he said “Stay on your feet.” I laughed- it seemed so obvious. But really all you can control is staying on your feet, you don't have much control beyond that. So my plan for next week: have those sources of inspiration ready if I need help finding it, and stay on my feet.


I hope Hallie finds her inspiration for NCAA's. Tara, Amy, and Laurel are finding their inspiration for #marathonseason. Everybody else is remaining active, and #crushing at the gym, wall, Lost Valley, and generally just enjoying great snow! Enjoy some pics from our beautiful ski this past weekend at Pineland.

D-Thombs soaking up the sun

Add caption

Time to get my tan on,

Halie Lange

The Power of Smiling, Laughter, and an Occasional Russian Accent

Today the inevitable fact hit me that we are entering spring. Granted, it was still -2 outside when I got up this morning, but the sun is out and the temperatures are finally out of the single digits. I've been riding the high feeling of the last week of practice, but am suddenly realizing that it's coming to a close. This year, I reminded myself that carnival season goes by fast, but I still came out not realizing just how fast.

The ski team is beginning the branching out process that begins in March, otherwise known as the worst month at Bates College. We had a crew board flights to Truckee for Junior Nationals this morning, Hallie leaves for NCAAs on Sunday, some of us are still doing intervals in hopes of winning a sick backpack at the Sugarloaf marathon, and others are taking a break. Regardless of what direction each of us are taking, I find this time of year important for reflection (yes, I know I seem to only write blog posts about this).

I was talking to my Mom the other day about the process of processing my season. I said, "Well, I didn't make my goal, and I've cried a lot, but I've also smiled more than I ever have in a ski season." That about sums it up for me. There have been ups, downs, disappointments, and triumphs over the past few weeks for everyone. There has been something resoundingly different for me, though, and  it's my attitude. I've told several people that my main goal this season was to remind myself of why I love skiing so much, and this is a goal I am happy to say I've achieved.

The power of optimism is real, and I'm not saying that means being happy all the time because I'm certainly not. I can safely say that optimism is what has kept me going this season. It has allowed me to recognize the development I've made over last year, despite not making my goal and it has reminded me that I do this sport because I love it, not because I have to. It isn't only my optimism that has made this season so special, however, because everyone on the team has been just as optimistic.

When we were in Lake Placid last weekend, Tara was sick, very sick. She arrived in full, maybe I'll say fuller, form on Friday morning saying, "I speak in Russian accent to be optimistic". Yes, she continued to speak in a Russian accent all Friday, then all Saturday. I caught on eventually, and we are still trying to speak to each other in normal voices a week later. Regardless, that kind of optimism, when things were looking grim, brought her two solid races and kept everyone laughing in a high-pressure weekend.

It's moments like these that have been happening all season. We've picked each other up. We've laughed a lot. We've celebrated. When it was over, I cried. I was sad that it was over because it really had been the most fun six weeks of the year. This feeling is one that only we can jump off of to develop, to believe in ourselves, and to achieve our goals.

A few weeks ago, my old coach, Rick Kapala, sent these wise words, "Racing and competition can be a tough road. You work really hard and sometimes the results come and sometimes they don’t and sometimes the why is not immediately obvious. But this much we know. We can only make progress if we keep trying. EVERY and we mean EVERY skier who has reached their goals has had setbacks. Every one of them. That is why we continually stress how important it is to love the sport of xc skiing and to love the experience of being a skier.. the ski life continues --- ready to offer its rewards to those who love the life."

Keep the love going Bobcats!

Laurel

Sun came out for the last carnival !!!

Yes, the sun came out for the last carnival weekend at Lake Placid!
It was beautiful. Everyone was fired up, and we battled it out on the Olympic course.
On Friday in the skate distance, Laurel and Parker had PR's, both 16th place.
Awesome!
Saturday was maybe one of the most difficult 15/20k courses many of us had ever done, and the bobcats left it all out there and got some great results. It was also fun to see so many bobcats out there working together.
"The strength of the wolf is the pack, the strength of the pack is the wolf."
Below are a few photos highlighting the weekend.

spectacular weather and great skiing

Britta and Gracie after the final race

a little team love at our last carnival meeting of the season

Laurel and Tara enjoying hot dogs at the BBQ

Corky getting after it

Max heading into the feed zone

Nate looking strong

Parker had a great weekend

Now some are in championship season, some are in marathon season, and others off to a different sport.

Hallie will be competing next week back in Lake Placid at NCAA's.
Halie and Parker will be representing New England at USSA JN's in Truckee.
Bria will be racing in Truckee for her home region of Far West.
A handful of us are rolling over the the final Zak Cup Club race of the season, a 10k skate, this weekend at Bretton Woods.
And we've got Cochran's Nordic-X coming, Sugarloaf Marathon... spring series in Sun Valley for Hallie.... Great skiing, sunshine in the forecast, and plenty of fun still to be had!

From a Senior's Mind

I'm writing this blog post as the internal alarm went of a little too early this morning. Practice isn't till 10 but I'm wide awake at 7:30- what am I to do other than think about the weekend that just unfolded? The SLU carnival was my last carnival as a Bobcat, wrapping up an awesome four years of racing. And it was a pretty special weekend. Some of our race results left us itching for more, but the crew was still so full of smiles, laughter, and hugs. I wouldn't call myself the sentimental type, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I got teary a time or two. I don't know if it was the touching little speeches, the double amounts of hugs, the plethora of social media posts or maybe a combination of all. Because I can't recount other people's words very well (they'd be wordy with a  lot of mumbling) and I can't hug anyone through the computer screen, I thought I'd share some of the pictures that the team posted on Facebook and Instragram over the last few days. Though they are only pictures and words on a screen, it's a way to give all of you just a glimpse into how loving and supportive our team is.

Sunny Smiley Sadie

Laurel. This picture was more of a struggle to take than you'd hope it would be. 

Gracie bringing us back to Thanksgiving!

Apparently Britta had been planing this one a while.

Thanks to Tara for this gem- nothing is better than your team mate finding you in the finish pen and giving you gummy candy. 

I had to throw my own in there- my four years at Bates wouldn't have been the same (or as great) without Nick and Connor. 

Thanks to EVERYONE who has made my four years at Bates awesome (I realize it's not done yet!). Awesome teammates, past and present.  I have to acknowledge Jordan, Lucas, Sean, Filly, Beth, and Caroline for checking in every weekend and urging me to do better. Thank you!! Thank you teammates at home who remaining positive and supportive all the time. Thanks to awesome coaches, also past and present. Becky, James, and Coach- you all fostered a team of smiles and love and kept the skis ripping on the heads screwed on straight. Dylan, Wilson, and Matt have also all been some critical components of this adventure. Thanks to all parents for giving us excellent food and love (that word seems to keep coming up a lot) every weekend. And to my family for tirelessly (well, I think Caroline and Eli would say tiredly) coming to every carnival for four years. And also a thank you to everyone I have competed against over the last four years, so many have become close friends, friends, or acquaintances to share and hug and a smile with at the start and finish lines. Thank you all!

Love,

Hallie