Maine Boy Scores Big

Lauren has certainly come a long way in the past month. Before the Hanover Eastern Cup, he was riding in the fourties on the points list, a far cry from even qualifying for JO's. Today, he and the other members of the FIRST New England JI relay team skied into a medal-winning fifth place. Despite coming into this event in New England's last spot, he never skied lower than 26th in the entire field, and his blistering 12th in the skate earned him a coveted spot on the top relay team. He came through big today, holding his team a mere 15 seconds off the lead going into the anchor leg. With strong skiing from teammates Sam Tarling (another Maine boy) and Chase Marsten, they secured the final medal spot for New England. A great end to a great week. Congratulations Lauren, and all the athletes of Team New England; its been an unbelievable trip.

Junior Olympics

Here we are in the awesome state of Alaska, throwing down for the Junior National championships. This is Lauren's first trip to event, and my first since going as an athlete ten years ago in McCall Idaho. The trip has certainly been up and down for me; I'm currently laid up in the hotel with a nasty flu while everyone else is out at Kincaid park racing the 15k classic. But its been a great time and this is an awesome bunch of kids. For Lauren, the news is all positive, to put it mildly. He threw down big in the sprint, racing to a mean 26th place, just 2 spots out of the heats. Even that didn't prepare me for his unbelievable skate race on wednesday. With his 15th qualifying position, he was seeded pretty close to last on the start list, so we stood there in the stadium watching pretty much the whole race before he was sent out on course. I timed his race on my watch to compare to the live-scoring being put up on the giant scoreboard, and the splits were strong the entire race. Each time he came through the stadium he was tight on the leaders, and he never flagged or lost his rhythm. When he finished, I literally grabbed him out of the corral and pointed him at the scoreboard, saying "watch". When the scores flashed up, I compared his time to the leaderboard, and informed him that he had just skied himself in twelfth place. Twelfth! He got his warm-ups on and came back, and sure enough, within five minutes he was on the board in twelfth, where he stayed for the final results. Only one JI from New England got in front of him, Sam Tarling from Burke Mt. Academy. Did I mention it was a good day?

Today he's going into the 15k classic mass start, while I am stuck in my hotel room trying to keep the fever down enough to tolerate life at the moment. A major bummer for me, but Lauren is skiing like mad and I couldn't be happier. Here are some pics from the event, I'll post again after the relay tomorrow, which I'll be present for if I need a stretcher to take me out there.

Skating Clinic- part 4

part 4 of the skate clinic

Skating Clinic- part 3

part 3 of the skating clinic:

Skating Clinic- part 2

part 2 of the skating clinic

Skating Clinic- part 1

About 2 weeks ago, I went down to pineland to do a clinic for the Freeport and Falmouth high school teams on skating technique. It was an excellent day; the athletes were very enthusiatic and inquisitive and I had a ton of fun. We videotaped the entire session, but I've had to edit it down a bit for the blog. I'm posting the instructions that I gave in four different chunks of about 10 minutes each. I tried to include questions as well, since there were a lot of great ones, but the videos of kids actually doing the drills was edited out for time. In places the wind makes it hard to hear, but this should give a good gist of what we worked on. I'll be sending the full video on DVD to the two teams to watch, but in the meantime everyone who visits here is welcome to watch and comment.

Last Eastern Cups

So the race for the Junior Olympic team has concluded, with bittersweet results for CVA nordic. Justin and Lauren were our two skiers chasing spots on this team, and both were skiing fast enough to qualify this year. Unfortunately, neither was able to attend the Vermont Eastern Cups due to conflicts with high school racing. So we had to sit by and grit our teeth as they proved to be excellent points races. Both Justin and Lauren had to watch themselves drop more than 10 places on the rankings list simply by not having attended, an unbelievably frustrating situation when you are trying to juggle team commitments with Junior Olympic aspirations. Undeterred, they both entered this final weekend determined to throw down and give all they had in pursuit of their goal. After two high school state meets (which they each won in turn), their batteries were a little low, but young as they are, they have figured out that drive and heart matter more than physiology, and they chose to prove it in dramatic fashion. Lauren set the stage on Saturday, ripping out a blistering 8th place in the skate and perching several college coaches on my shoulder for a buzz of inquiries (yes, he's only a junior). Justin had a disappointing day, failing to garner the points needed to move up the list. At this point, both boys had their backs up against the wall. Justin NEEDED a strong finish to make up the gap he lost by missing Vermont, and Lauren still had some very high points from the early season that were holding him back. Sunday had suddenly become a do or die race.

This is the point where athletes have to prove themselves capable of achieving, when the stakes are high and second chances all used up. I had a very pointed conversation with Justin about what this race meant and the view I wanted him to take to the starting line. My confidence is his abilities was complete, but I asked him to accept the possibility that he may not qualify this year. Instead of competing from a position of fear over not winning a spot on the team, I wanted him to forget about outcomes and simply compete, without reservation, whole-heartedly. With nothing to lose, I thought he would be free to reach for something great, and satisfy that most basic of motivations; simply to be excellent for its own sake.

However he processed the jumble of mine and other's expectations, his own motivations and anxieties, and the pressures that come every time we pull on a bib, Justin affirmed all of my faith in him in dramatic fashion. Starting in the mid 20s in a tightly packed mass start, he skied with poise and confidence, gradually picking off skiers and moving towards the front of the field. Each pass showed him a little higher, skiing stronger and truer and closer to his now very distant goal. When the dust settled, he crossed the line in 11th place, a season and career best at a time when it was desperately needed. Unbelievable.

Not to be outdone, Lauren skied a masterful race from much further back in the pack. He managed to pick off more than 20 skiers to finish a strong 20th, with a fast enough time to snag some excellent points as well. I can't imagine a better day, and the boys were justifiably proud of such a fine example of grace under pressure. To say that I was as well is a massive understatement.

The final points tally put Lauren onto the last spot on the team, with Justin just behind as the second alternate. I'm very happy to be taking Lauren to Alaska next week, and just as frustrated by Justin's near miss, especially considering the circumstances. But mostly I'm just awed by the display of sportsmanship, determination, and, most of all, warrior's spirit that these two young men so magnificently displayed. Achievements are great, and an important part of the process, but at the end of the day, its really just about suiting up and reaching for something great. When that reach yields fruit, nothing is more gratifying. Congratulations to Justin and Lauren for their brilliant runs.

Next weekend Lindsey will chase the Maine Eastern High School Team. Also, stay tuned for video from a recent clinic with the Freeport and Falmouth High School teams.

More trainin' goodness

Here's some footage from our weekly sunday practice; this week we tackled skating.

Sassi

Snuck over to the Sassi memorial race on Saturday to check-up on my skiers in one of their big high school races. Some masterful skiing on a very trick course, with very good results. Lauren snagged a podium finish, Justin in the top ten and Lindsey in the top twenty. Jake skied his way onto the Maine JII team, a big season goal for him, which is great. Here's some video I took, with commentary courtesy of Strangefolk:

Tour de Rumford

What a sweet weekend! Too many highlights to count:

Lindsay busting out an awesome skate race

Jake's technique getting tighter and more effective every race

Justin laying down a FIFTEENTH PLACE (!) in the the sprint qualifier

Lauren's unbelievable 15k skate race

College friend and Turino Olympian Justin Freeman showing up to put the field in its place

Catching up with friends I only see during the winter (shout out to Deven, Roger, Pete, Alexei, Eileen, Flynny and Becky, and many others)

and, last but not least, me performing a crowd-pleasing cartwheeling crash in front of the entire stadium crowd. Not that it did any favors to my sprint time.

Anyway, here's some video of our troops in action, it was a good weekend to be a Big Dog and Abby and I are mighty proud coaches this Monday.

Bill Koch-apalooza

This weekend was actually my first time coaching athletes in a Bill Koch event, and I must say I was hooked. Everything was very low key and informal, the kids were all pumped up, and the courses were great. Abby and I couldn't be more proud of our little nordies, and I can't wait to bust them out at another race. Here is Caitlin recieving some "wise council" before her race:



and here she is at the Podium ceremony:



Ike also came and threw down some smack in the boys race, unfortunately we don't have any pictures. But he skied great and did us very proud.

And, perhaps most important, Mitchell skied his FIRST EVER cross country ski race. How many of you remember your very first? I'm so glad that we got this on film, so that in 15 years, when he's on the U.S. Ski Team, he can look back and see where it all began. Without further ado, here begins the career of Mighty Mitchell:

Threes and Fours

Here's a look at some of the younger members of the CVA team, our JIIIs and JIVs:

Vlogging

That's my new term for "video blogging", (blogging, of course, is a condensation of "web logging"). So from now on, I will refer to this activity as "vlogging", and then act like everyone should know what I am talking about. Anyway...

Nowadays, everyone likes to talk about "high hands". Its the fashionable technical point of the season, and everyone I talk to seems to come to this point pretty quickly. And don't get me wrong; high hands are great, and definately a part of fast skiing. The problem is, its only half of the mantra. The super-condensed explanation of great form is "high hands, high hips". The latter refers to hips that are up over the wax pocket (under the toes). In short, its the "hips forward" that my athletes will tell you I rarely shut up about. Today we tackled the problem head on, trying a couple of different strategies. See for yourself:

How to sprint

CSU put on an awesome event with the Weston sprints. Impossibly great snow, great crowd, and everyone having a thoroughly good time. Since ALL of my athletes were otherwise engaged this weekend, I was flying solo. So I have decided to use my experience to create a little primer for sprint events that I hope will be helpful to people. Pay close attention, because I will be pouring in all of my wisdom and experience.

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Step One: Dress the part
Always wear sunglasses during a sprint. Always. Even if its at night and you all have headlamps on. It looks intimidating, and you can imagine yourself as Tom Cruise in Top Gun. Also, pushing up the sleeves is a fancy touch; nordic-casual is in this season. But don't push up the legs of your suit unless you are a girl, and even then it looks a little weird.



Step Two: Make the heats
Having done this exactly once in my life, I now consider myself fully qualified in giving advice on this. First, choose the course thats right for you. If, like me, you out-weigh the rest of the field by a good 20 pounds, try to avoid courses that make you go uphill alot. Weston's ski track is very good to me. Beyond that, ski like heck and pray to the divinity of your choice



Step Three: Play to your strengths
Or maybe I should say, play away from your weaknesses. Here you see me dropping a lung to get to the turns first. Since the high school kids are all in shape and stuff, I figured it was only fair to hog the inside lane on every turn. All's fair in love and racing.



Step Four: Stick to your gameplan
Here you see my first crucial error: I forgot to put my sunglasses down for the finals. When you deviate from your strategy, anything can happen.



Step Five: Know where the camera guy is
Anyone who was at the event knows that I was smoked on the hills and cruised in to an anti-climactic last in this heat (foiled by climbing!). However, in this, the last shot of the day, I still look in contention. Therefore, saving energy for a strong finish would have been wasted. Instead, I preserved the illusion of prowess to everyone who doesn't bother to read the results list. A partial victory, but I'll take it.




(seriously now) congrats to Chris, Nick, and Topher for well fought races, and mega thanks to CSU and Weston Ski Track for a wonderful event. Next weekend CVA is back in official training, and I promise a real post instead of more evidence that I need a life instead of a laptop.

Adam

Technical session

Did some classic technique work today, very productive, here's the video of our results:

Intervals

Just as the snow started to fly, we were working hard. A good set of intervals up the warming hut trail at Sugarloaf. Jake and Lindsay both had a nice tight cluster of times, and they are working hard on shoring up the classic form. I'll let Caroline's pictures speak for themselves.