First Day on Snow + Ski Swap

Couple of big things happening while my Thanksgiving break has already started days ago. First Delaney, Drew, and Alicia stayed at my house for the annual HF-L Ski Swap. It was a good turn out, though not like the past few years. With the economy down, some people may not buy that extra pair of skis. Even still, many skis were sold! It was good to help people pick out what exactly they are looking for. You feel good giving out some advice. The used section also was a good turn out. There were a ton a boots, though not many skis for the smaller skier. I might of had a field day.

Also like I said, I had my first day on Snow!! It was great. This is skiing, so much better than rollerskiing. Yesterday I scraped my rock skis and brushed them out a bit. Then I put on my good ski boots and went around my back yard. It went pretty well so I decided to go through the park. North Meadow was pretty good. The skiing again was not great, but it was better than most of those first days on snow. My heart rate was high on snow. I tried to go easy, but the first 20 mins was rough. I settled in soon though.

Today I went to ski, but the weather warmed up and the park did some work on trails to hurt the snow cover. So I went out for a rollerski. Once you ski on snow you really do not want to go out and rollerski any time soon. I did need a workout though. So I did 3x8 mins. I felt good, I am starting to get closer to race ready. I now only need more snow haha.

Later on this week I plan on going to Salmon Hills with my buddy from UNH. They have been getting some snow so it should be a fun time. So all for now. Think snow and eat lots. Happy Thanksgiving!!

D Day

You could say that I've seen bears do things even a bear wouldn't do.

So it was about 25 Fahrenheit on the drive out rollerskiing today. That is just a bit warmer than temperatures on the World cup circuit now, and they have plenty of snow! But, that's besides the point. I've never had to gear up for the cold for rollerskiing like I have this year. I usually go out in shorts and a few layers on top. Now I'm layering it up like when its mid January! Whatever, I can deal with it. At least it was sunny today!

Today was slated for a longer rollerski. We drove out to coache's new spot (Benson road?). There's nice pavement, and usually not many cars. The team started off with technique work, and then we split up into two groups. Newer people (commonly reffered to as newbies) stayed on the new pavement and did drills. The rest of us went out exploring, hoping to get a good hour in. It turned out that the group mentality got the best of us and we did something more like a tempo ski for around 45 minutes. Whatever, we need to do some of those too, don't we? We'll get up to 4 hours per session in no time...

After that little stint, my group joined back with everyone else. We did some more technique drills, and then had a team girl talk. Topics for discussion included: ski boots, World Cup skiing, XC running nationals (Rupp!), and fig newtons.

The freshmen are progressing nicely! I'm happy to see the true new skiers gaining confidence on the rollerskis. The more experienced freshmen know whats up in terms of technique. A few tweaks and they'll be pounding out the intervals in no time! We're all anxious to get on snow. Just a few more weeks...


-Lamothe

P.S. I just want to make a shout-out to that cow next to where we parked. You're the Bull, man!

Team Rollerski!

Today was the first day the team got together and traveled out of campus for a workout. After turning in our XC running warm-ups and filling out the end-of-season evaluation forums, we piled in our vehicles and headed out to Noyes Road. If you are a regular reader (Tetlow), you probably know all about Noyes Road. I was able to get a pic of some of the guys as we were getting ready to head out for a nice little 40 min double-pole sesison.










From left to right: Moskevitz, Nadeau, Ned from Maine, and Bryan Rose. Oh yea, it's pretty dark at this time of year. Don't forget your headlamp! Personally I felt pretty strong, and everyone else seemed to be gliding along nicely. It feels like the season is finally getting under way! The only thing we need now is snow. I hear Salmon Hills is the place to be in NY now...


ok gtg ttyl bye

New season, new faces.

Hey, my first post ever! Hopefully I will have some relevant stories/ insights to share with everyone throughout the 08-09 ski season. I can't let this whole blog be biased by Riverside 9, can I?

Side note: watch out for polar bears. Global Warming is pushing them south.

True Pre-Winter Training

So this is the time of year when the training gets tough. As it turns dark by 5, the day seems over in a hurry. We have been getting out on the rollerskis, and soon we will get the newbies out on the real roads. I have also made an effort to get in the weight room and continue my ski specific lifitng. We have been doing all the drills and all the little strength stuff, but it does hurt getting in the back room and focus more on core and double pole muscles. I have included a picture of the former Clarkson skier Sam Morse who is now with the US Army.

Today we had a interesting "tuck drill" with music. I guess that is what you would call it. Coach lead us to the porter mountain trail with a boot slide against THE MATT DELANEY. Always a good time. I expect a few people to have sore hips and hip flexers tomorrow.

Soon we will have an updated roster, well as of now I guess. Saturday is also the REG and I encourge all of you to make it there to cheer on the runners (don't let some of them fool you, they are really skiers!) Snow will be flying soon so get ready!

D Day

Trail Clean Up

We have survived another year at trail clean up. I would also like to note that with Justin gone, no equipment was broken this year, so we could take our time leaving. When we woke up early in the morning (Before 8am) to head out to Higley, we saw the affects of an all night rain. I got in my car along with Drew and Delaney and we headed over to the IRC. We packed in the cars and made our way.

We arrived and split into teams to tackle the trails and the affects from the snow storm. They got 18 Inches!!!!! A small group of us took on the camp loops with Coach providing the entertainment. The entire time of the clean up, we had rain. Everyone was wet and soaked, but it does give us a guilt free skiing season.

The next day many of us were sore, perhaps from the wet jeans. I made it out anyway late in the day for a wet ski around Bagdad-South canton loop. I have been feeling good of late. Not sure if it is from the first sign of snow or what, but I am ready to take on the season.

We will get more pictures up once we get better and bringing a camera with us. We have a big team with athletes at all different levels. I am excited for what this season may bring.

D Day

Winter is coming

I have kindly been reminded by no one in particular, *Justin*, that this blog has not been updated in a while. So, I apologize to the vast world of bloggers that religiously follows this blog everyday, and you can expect more frequent updates as we are finally transitioning into official team practices and the days are becoming shorter and the nights colder. The first official snowfall of the year has come and gone already and we are looking forward to a long and snowy winter here in Potsdam and around the east.

Check back soon, and think snow :)