Clarkson Nordic Ski Team

the season

2011-03-15T09:48:00.001-04:00

highlights of the season:

we done good!

Underclassman Slacking

2011-01-01T11:10:00.002-05:00

Ok, so nobody has posted ANY UPDATES as to what the hell is going on with Clarkson Nordic. I am now forced to make the upades myself. Let's get things going!

When the 2010 Fall semester started, the team was highly motivated and was doing 3hr overdistance workouts twice a week. This quickly degraded and everyone became fat because someone told everyone that cheese poofs were good athlete food.

At ski camp, Bruce impregnated the entire girl's team while the men were distracted dancing to "All the Single Ladies".

The next day, they were all eaten by bears.

Way to go guys.

Startin' it up!

2010-10-31T19:41:00.002-04:00

Hey all!

Only a couple more days until the season officially begins! Today was our first practice with most of the non-regionals cross country kids, and the conditions couldn't have been more kick-ass. South Colton is well on its way to becoming a winter-wonderland.

The practice was a relatively low level workout on River Road (the Dam[n] Road!!) It was good to have so many of us rearin' to go, as well as one of the newbies: Ryan. He's only been on roller skis a couple times, and he braved conditions that were as close to skiing as you can get without the skis. Kudos.

We didn't go all the way to the end of the road; some hadn't been on skis yet. Overall, I'd say it was a very good kick-off to the Nordic season, and only a couple more weeks before the whole crew is assembled. Can't wait!

Go Pats,

Zach Russo

two words

2010-06-25T13:29:00.001-04:00

WOODEN ROLLERSKIS

http://www.woodrollerski.com/

Yes We Are

2010-04-27T10:47:00.003-04:00

In the middle of finals week, one test today, one paper due today and another final on Thursday. It's wrapping up quick. This will most likely be my last post as a current student at Clarkson University. However the Clarkson blogosphere will go on with the new addition of Zach Russo to the blog staff, and potentially other secret guest bloggers on occasion. For now check out Petter Northug winning a car http://www.hallingdolen.no/hdspelar/video/article162065.ece

We are good bloggers.

2010-03-15T19:59:00.002-04:00

... no we're not!!!

We were weak sauce on blog... blogging... blogoogling this year. That's okay though. I don't have to do any more posts because I'm retired from Clarkson Nordic. Maybe I'll make some of the fresh(wo)men get accounts. They have cameras, and can put up pictures.

-LaMonster

Season Underway

2010-01-17T21:56:00.004-05:00

The Time trial is behind us and we are now recovering from the SLU Carnival this past weekend. The time trial was a good start to get everyone in racing mood and see where we all ended up. Justin, e-mail me and I will send you the results. Everyone did great and Justin's predictions were sort of close haha.

For the SLU Carnival, the first day was full of tough waxing conditions. With icy snow, rain, sleet and snow coming down, changing every ten minutes, waxing was difficult. We still pushed out a gutsy race, however not the performance we were hoping for. Two loops of the Ladies 5k is not ideal for these conditions. People were running up and down hills, or they had no kick!

The picture below shows us lined up for the 20k mass start. Clarkson did better in this race with some top finishes from Alex Benway and Matt Delaney. We fared off well and were able to compete with some of the D-I schools. It was a great way to really kick off the season and get us going.

We are now all ready to hit the road and go after USCSA. Next weekend we are off to Ethan Allen in Jericho, VT. We all are looking forward to these races and hope for continued success.

I will update the blog soon!

D Day

Back at school

2010-01-06T10:38:00.003-05:00

Matt and I have already arrived at campus to start our grad classes and boy did we find snow! To start with, I had to wait to pull out of my driveway at home because people were skiing by! Once I safely made it up here, the snow was amazing. Hopefully the weather holds and we will have great skiing all season.

Matt and I have a lighter work load this week so we have been able to get skiing everyday. Higley is a little soft, but it is coming around for sure. Below is a picture that is a blast from the past. My sophomore year at the Higley Hustle.

I am looking forward to everyone getting back to campus. While we are here with snow, one thing we expressed at camp was the forward lean. Delaney found that most people struggled with this a bit. below is a picture to show what he meant and what we are looking for!

D Day

Ski Camp and Break

2010-01-06T10:30:00.002-05:00

Well we did it again. We just got back from ski camp for my fifth time. Mont Sainte Anne was good to use even though they did not have their normal snow. The two feet they did have though was enough to have half the trails open and allow us to enjoy being on snow. We were able to have some great worksout and just enjoy the eat, sleep, ski schedule.

The trip as a whole was a success. Delaney and I agree that it is one of the best years we have had at ski camp. We had a great groups of people and really were able to hang out and enjoy eachothers company.

Once we all made it home, I hope we all found snow. I know in the rochester area, Harriet was pretty nice most of break and even Mendon Ponds was skiable for a few days. I know I took advantage of finally not having work to do 24/7. I saw Brian McPherson out there skiing. He was asking a lot of questions about our team, so we will have to back up what I told him come race season.

I hope everyone is enjoying good snow and was able to continue the great training we had at camp. I was able to do one race were the biggest highlight was seeing Coach and Alumni Justin Tetlow. This does not speak as highly to them, as it does poorly to my race haha. Waiting comment from Justin on that one!

Looking forward to seeing everyone back at school

D Day

Mid-Break blues

2009-12-26T21:45:00.001-05:00

I don't know about you guys, but there is hardly any skiable snow within 40 minutes from my house. I've skied twice since ski camp mid-December, and run all the other times. However, based on how I felt from the one race I have done, I'm still a bit weak on the leg strength. Arms and core felt fine the whole race. What I'm trying to say is, while skiing is not running, just making fitness any way you can will help you. One and a half more weeks, then school starts again. I don't know if we'll be skiing or rolling. Whatever happens, it will be nice to be putting myself through all this with the other pain freaks again!

-Lamothe

Snow is on it's way!

2009-11-28T11:08:00.004-05:00

Lake Placid is starting to be hit with snow! We soon will be out skiing on the white stuff after this long warm spell. Hopefully ski camp will not be our first time on snow, and we can jump right into some quality workouts.

As we are now currently all on Thanksgiving break, we have some time to get at it. I have been able to train with some members from Rochester Nordic Racing (RNR). As I have accepted a job in the Rochester area, this will hopefully be my future team. Look out Justin! Next year I will be gunning for you haha. I mention Justin because he is the only one who leaves comments on our blog.

As far as Clarkson skiing goes, we are getting excited for the ski season to start. Chris L. has been doing a great job organizing some quality workouts and Coach now has his full attention on us. We have a great team with people giving great commitment to the sport, which is nice to see. Soon enough the waxroom will be packed with everyone trying to prep their skis.

The picture above is of Mount Van Ho in Lake Placid. Looks so nice in November. Also, the link in the title is a sweet workout video for Nordic. Talk about abs.

Before we all head back to school from break we are all trying to get in that last solid workout on our home turf. When Delaney and I head back we have a rough week ahead of us, and I am loving having this time to workout. Hopefully everyone reading has or is about to g out and get at it!

D Day

Potsdam Weather

2009-10-22T21:23:00.003-04:00

Hey all, as many of you who are in an around the Potsdam area, you know how the weather has been. Then we go on Facebook and see teams out west skiing. Well it sucks, but it makes us stronger. This to me is what training really is.

I believe that Tim Sick said it best about finding his Ball Sack when he took a warm shower. Again this is October, but we are out there. When the leaves are falling, the rain constant, and the bone chill is cutting through you, that is what Clarkson Nordic is all about.

Keep pushing and getting out there. Delaney and I are trying to make all the practices we can. This Sunday we have a Run-Ski Rely which should provide some entertainment as well as a nice workout and change of pace. Justin I will have to fill you in on this!

Above is a picture that sums up the weather, but this just makes the perfect groom trails even better!

D Day

Alumni Update

2009-10-18T21:10:00.003-04:00

http://www.eabiathlon.org/index.html

I don't know how much longer this will be up, but there is a little blurb about Clarkson Nordic Alumni Sam Morse and his races. Neato!

-update made possible by Andre Bolduc.

The leaves are falling!

2009-10-14T12:54:00.002-04:00

Alright, I've got some time to burn, and just set up a Blog for my COMM 310 class.

We've actually been doing quite a bit for skiing this year so far compared to previous years. We've had organized rollersking/ pole running sessions for the past month. We even had a small contingent of our team go down to Lake Placid (the town) these past two weekends to attend US Ski Team member Garrot Kuzzy's technique and strength clinics. We learned a few things we do now is good, and we also learned a few new tricks to implement into our 'strength' program. It was crazy motivational to spend time with a potential Olympian for a few hours. We also attended these same clinics last year... Garrott has gotten much more comfortable talking to groups about technique and such. Thanks dude!

I've really got to get a camera some time...

XC running has three meets left, spread out over the next month. The ski-only athletes are starting to move into their interval phase, and the runners are starting to phase out.

One last thing. Have you seen those ads for the Ski-erg around? We got to use one at the strength clinic, it's bad-ass! It is definitely a luxury item, but I can see how this can help people with their technique and power. The word 'supplement' comes to mind. If you have money and want to buy Clarkson Skiing one of them, feel free!

I feel bad leaving you without any pics, so I drew this for you in paint. See you later!

Summer's End

2009-07-29T11:55:00.005-04:00

As the summer is winding down, the anticipation for the season is increasing. Soon we will be showing eachother what shape we are in and we will be able to say goodbye to the lonely workouts and hello to the overly talkative OD's.

Before the summer closes, it does allow for one more training block of solid workouts. One more last string of quality workouts before our lifting comes with a loaded backpack. This is the time where you have to stay focused on the snowy days ahead. If this summer is any indication, we may be in for a snowy winter!

On another note, For myself, I just finished off a tough workout session in canada. It was an upper body workout full of kayaking, tubing, water skiing, etc. Rough I know! In the picture above is an Alumni from the Clarkson Nordic Team and former Captain, my brother, Chad Day. This was taken during a RNR Benchmark test. Another one is scheduled next week to see our improvement.

I hope everyone has been happy with their summer training so far, and I am looking forward to seeing everyone getting at it in the fall. When you have the sunshine, take advantage of it!

D Day

If this won't motivate you nothing will.

2009-07-03T22:29:00.005-04:00

I just got some Splash Guards for my Sharks. Sharks hate getting splashed, with water. All I had to do to 'install' them was hack off the trailing end of my bindings, drill a hole in the aluminum shaft, then man-handle the screw into the metal. BAM! Now I can stay dry and look even cooler than ever before. I just noticed that my rollerski gear has a Lance Armstrong color scheme.

I took them out for a test drive, and am pleased with the results. I stayed 95% dry during my post-storm roller ski. All the dirt and grime that usually gets flung up on my boots and legs was noticeably absent.

My life once again has purpose.

On track?

2009-07-03T21:03:00.002-04:00

It's July 3rd already, I can't believe it. Summer is going by too quick.

Hope the running, biking, swimming, roller skiing, soccer playing or whatever other activity you may be doing this summer is going well. Remember, the work you put in now will pay big dividends this fall and winter.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer and not working too much (unlike me, I'm a slave to the bike shop. Use that as motivation to get out there and train so you can beat me next winter).

--
MD

I don't know, what are you doing?

2009-06-11T23:54:00.002-04:00

1. When biking with the local biking gang last week in Colton, we saw a big black bear. Holy crap!

2. Yesterday, with that same group, we raced an Amish buggy. The old woman riding shotgun was loving it. We clocked the buggy at 30mph. Let's just call this race a draw.

3. While doing some light plyos on the Science Center hill, my friend drove by. He thought it would be fun to chase me up and down the hill in his car. He was right. Unfortunately, the geese scared him away.

Training is fun!

Hmmm...

2009-04-03T18:58:00.005-04:00

I was in Colorado one month ago enjoying beautiful blue skies, a refreshing dose of sun, and some wicked tough competition/ racing conditions. Since then I've gotten my bike up and running (finally) and started running again. It's been nice, even if that running thing is really painful. Sadly it's supposed to be miserable and rainy for the next 10 days says weather.com. That along with school, it's been hard to get out and enjoy myself recently.

I was doing my nightly routine of surfing the net' last night. Somehow, I ended up on youtube watching skiing videos. I miss it already. I like the push-off, the glide, the non-impact on my joints. Biking's great, but I think its time to get the rollerskis out soon. I don't want to do anything fancy. I just want to get into that rhythem again. The clicking of carbide tips on the road... so goooooood. Oh man, I need to go to my happy place.

Phew, that's better. So yea, people say May is the time to get back into it. But you know what? I actually do enjoy rollerskiing. Maybe I'll just show up to Sarah Gardner's Wonderful Workout Wednesday all geared up!

Later.

P.S. Motorless Monday and Workout Wednesday. That's all I've got for the team update.

Goodbye Ski Season!

2009-03-09T15:41:00.010-04:00

Nationals came and whooped us. Whaterver. We had a blast. Goodbye ski season! Good luck graduates! Now go to Youtube and play yourself some Vitamin C.

Edit: A month later, I feel this photo (above) is more appropriate.

Colorado

2009-03-02T21:32:00.003-05:00

We've been at Devil's Thumb Ranch for 2 days now, and races start tomorrow. We've been busy acclimating to the altitude and trying to figure out how to do kick-wax for a wet corn/ dry powder mix of snow. Its weird having the temperature be 15 F in the morning and... 60 F in the afternoon.

Matt and Coach have shared several intimate moments together. I think that their relationship is progressing smoothly.

Even though we are in Colorado for a week, we still have to get our work done. The girls have been doing their calculus, and I think Alex has been hard at work... Our first race is tomorrow at 6pm: sprints at the alpine slope. After that night-time endeavor, we can look forward to this for racing.

People are hassling me to play Pictionary now. Later.

That time of year

2009-02-19T10:34:00.003-05:00

It is that time of year again, when all the hard work has been done and now is the time to sit back, relax, and race faster than you ever have before.

Well, maybe it's not quite that easy, but it is important to remember that anything you do now is in place to help with the peaking process, and allow your body to be prepared and well rested when race time comes around. Don't stress about missing a training session if you are feeling worn out, staying healthy is the most important thing you can do. Pop the air-born tablets like candy and lock your sick roommates out of the dorm if needed.

This weekend is the USCSA Regional Championships in Waterville Valley, NH and coming up quickly in less than 2 weeks are the USCSA National Championships in Winter Park, CO!

So rest up, keep yourself hydrated, take your vitamins, stay healthy, and most importantly, when it comes time to race, remember that it is that time of the year, the time when you must drop the hammer!!

I might write something more later.

2009-02-15T19:11:00.001-05:00

Perfect weekend of skiing.

DATA!!!!!!!!

2009-01-31T17:18:00.008-05:00

For fun I collect data on my heart rate. I don't have any means to analyze it, but it sure is fun to look at! The little info box says 181 bpm, and the zones aren't set right yet.

Cornell Invitational: 10k Classic.

The Eye of the Tiger

2009-01-28T11:20:00.005-05:00

This weekend at the chateau Delaney, there was an inspirational viewing of Rocky III, followed by Rocky IV and obviously Rocky V as well to complete the series (the men were controlling the tv if you are having trouble guessing). Naturally, this led to domination of the races by all people involved in such viewing, but more about that later.

The Eye of the Tiger is now my official song of the season and will be played before every training session and race, no exceptions. Bonus points if it is played by an old guy in sweats holding a boom box.

The rocky Marathon was followed by a delicious Italian dinner cooked by the top chef's Chad Day, Matt Delaney, and Jason Hettenbaugh, which was consumed by all, including Derrick, the infamous Sam Morse, Alex, Maddie, and her friends Carly and Jess.

Anyways, on to the racing. The NYSEF Harry Eldridge memorial races consisted of 7.5k classic on Saturday followed by a 15k mass start on Sunday for the guys and 10k for the girls. Result wise, I was pleased with my races, placing about as expected, but more importantly I felt much better in the races than I have been lately. Results can be found at www.nyseg.org for those interested.

This weekend the whole team will head back to Lake Placid for the Cornell Invitational and all the fun and excitement that it will bring with it. Watch out for an update on some intense 10k pursuit style racing next week.

Until next time,
The Stallion

I'm gonna blog SO HARD about this...

2009-01-24T15:46:00.002-05:00

2nd ANNUAL CLARKSON CUP!!!!!

We pulled into the parking lot at Higley Flow State Park mid-morning. The air was cold, dry crisp; the sky was the majestic blue that saves itself for those special days. The snow was pure from the recent dusting of the night before, and crinched and crunched under our feet as we got our skate skis ready for the race. The girls then promptly complained about the cold and ruined the whole experience. Great, thanks guys...

Nah, j/k, lol, it was a perfect day that was just a bit on the cold side. We started off with Jim "Killer" Allott's Nordic Jacks to try and get blood into our fingers and toes. Then we ventured down into lower Higley to where we would be racing (The "F" loop, officially. Pretty F'd up, huh? LOL J/K). The sprint course was about 1.5K with slightly undulating terrain, and it was a bit icy. See, the temperature was slightly above freezing around 6pm last night, with a little drizzle mixed in. Then it dropped to nearly 0 F at night, and rose to 12 F this morning. Also, because of the cold, the new snow was dry and slow. It was going to be a pretty technical race because of the track switching from slow to fast seemingly every other stride.

After a qualifying run (I think Andy won that one), the men's races were organized into 3 qualifying heats, where the winner from each would move onto the final heat. Andrew Nadeau, Dan Smith, and I (Chris L) were the finalists. I would love to give a detailed commentary, but I was a bit busy at the moment and didn't quite take in as many details as I would have liked. Pretty much we pounded the double pole zone, pounded the first uphill, then pounded the downhill, pounded the flats, pounded the next set of hills, then pounded the finishing stretch. And... I won! Yeay! (Note, Matt D, D Day, and Benway were away at Lake Placid for the weekend.)

The girls side was a bit of a different story. There were so few of them that there was a qualifying run to determine starting positions, and then a single mass start to determine the winner. Senior Chelsea Reynolds won 1st place with a commanding lead, followed by freshman Andrea Walsh (from Vermont) with a commanding 2nd place, followed by sophomore Alicia Perras with a commanding 3rd place, followed by Alyssa Dausman (I had to check Facebook to find her last name...) with a commanding 4th place, followed by freshman Kallie Desmond with a commanding finish. I guess you could say the girls were very commanding today...

Yeay! We had our victory celebration and then EVERYONE DISPEARED. Vanished! Coach and I stayed behind to ski around for a bit and enjoy the perfect day that nature had bestowed upon us. As soon as we got to the main road, we found freshly groomed corduroy for us to skate on! It was pure bliss! On top of that, when we got back to the top of the hill after our ski, there was free hot dogs and hot coaco waiting for us. Oh man, you suckers missed out!

And so ends the 2nd annual Clarkson Cup. Tomorrow we go back for the Higley Hustle, which is a part of the Empire State Games. As Porky Pig would say, "That's all, folks!"

Figure 1. Clarkson Cup victors with crazy old man crashing photo. Photo Credit: Sayuri Yapa.

-Lamothe

P.S. I still can't get the font to change sizes. Oh well...

Scandelous!

2009-01-23T20:22:00.003-05:00

I recognized the pic Derrick put up, and something didn't seem right. After an exhaustive search of the entire internet, I found the original photo.

That's right, the Day brothers are in league with the Black Bears. Watch out Bruce!

-Lamothe

Week of training for a weekend of racing

2009-01-23T11:59:00.004-05:00

After a great weekend of racing, it was time for all of us to get back out training. Monday and Tuesday were full of an OD and an off day. Delaney and I went out to the Hig on Monday and had a nice easy skate OD which had its most exciting moment when a classic skier got tangled up in his skis when we tried to avoid Matt and I coming around a turn.

Wednesday was a great interval workout. Again Delaney and I made it out to the hig and did a nice warm up. We did the workout classic and really had the hammer down by the end. Thursday was all about the speed in the fresh powder, which always adds some fun.

As the week comes to an end, Clarkson Nordic separates to go its different ways this weekend for races. The infamous Clarkson Sprint Cup will be held on Sat. and the Higley Hustle will always add some excitement for the ones who stay local. Other of us are going to try and see what they can do at Lake Placid. Benway, Delaney, and Myself will try to go at it against a good field. I will try and see what I can do against my brother and alumni, Chad Day. This weekend should be full of exciting races and I can't wait to give you an update when we return.

Quote of the week "Double pole is like trying to kill a bear with one arrow; Kick-double pole is like trying to kill a bear with a whole quiver of arrows."

I thought of you Bruce.

Clarkson Wax Bus

2009-01-21T21:36:00.002-05:00

Now, before you all get too excited about the thought of having a sweet bus that travels around with us, houses all of our skis, is filled with every wax imaginable, and comes with the top Swedish wax techs in the world, I would like to inform you all that we don't have one...yet.

If anyone is reading this that has a few extra bucks they want to throw our way and give us a nice little surprise, here is a pic of what the inside of our bus should look like. Feel free to throw in a few more skis, and maybe a few Swedish ladies as well.

Jericho

2009-01-19T18:37:00.003-05:00

We had our first USCSA race of the year this weekend at the Ethan Allen Nordic Center of Excellence in Jericho, VT hosted by Army in the freezing cold weather that we have been experiencing lately. The team started their travels at the crack of dawn on Saturday at 5 am, loading the bus and heading off to the races.
The weekend included an entertaining and close knit stay in the barracks where the team got to know each other even better, an excellent pasta dinner cooked by army, a biathlon relay where we got to see who the true sharp shooters were, and two tough races.

The weekends races were changed to a 10k classic on Saturday and 10k Skate mass start on Sunday. The team ended up victorious both days in team scoring, and it was an excellent start to the season. Results can be found at the link on the right of the page.

Lamothe from Vermont

2009-01-18T17:46:00.004-05:00

This is more a personal post than a team post. I'm going to lightly analyze my races we had this weekend out loud and find some things to fix/ work on.

First off, all the heart rate data I collected over these past two days is garbage. For some reason while they existed on my watch my computer couldn't detect those workouts. It worked for the team time trail, but not these races. I don't have any scientific system to put these numbers through or any other data to compare it with yet, but I was hoping to create a database as to see what a good race's data looks like compared to a bad race. This way instead of saying "Oh I felt bad at this part", I can see if I really did overstress my body at any time before the infamous 'bonk'. Also, I seem to have a low 'high end' heart rate. I was hoping to get data this weekend to find out what's up with that. If it was low, I would put in more high intensity workouts to get my body used to a higher work load. If it was higher, like in the 180's on average, I wouldn't worry at all about it. In one sense, your HR is what it is, just go with it. On the other hand, I love looking at data!

Surprisingly, my 10k classic race felt better than my skate race. I was ~2 min behind #1, which is a bit like where I was last year placement wise. I can't say much except that I paced myself well and felt strong most of the race. The thing for me to work on these next two weeks are my classic double pole strength. There's not much more to say there, its just one spot I feel that I can make improvements.

The 10k skate race started out fine. I felt like I cruised the first lap; essentially drafting off Derrick for 5k. I would gain ground on flatter ground, but would lost a little of it on uphills. I don't think I went out too hard, but I did bonk around the 7k mark. Talbs had the same problem too, so I'm not alone there! I think was in sight of 3rd place (USCSA racers) for a bit too! Oh well. Next time I'll try to eat more for breakfast, and maybe have a guu or Banana before the race starts. In the meantime, I'll do an over-distance tomorrow, rest the next day, and get in strength/ intervals in. No more messing around!

In other news, the team did good. Good job team!

I hope results come up soon.

Oh god, its so awkward trying to end these things...

-Lamothe

Off to the Races!

2009-01-15T22:20:00.002-05:00

This weekend marks the first USCSA race of the year at Jericho, VT.

Friday: 15km individual start classic for the men
10km individual start classic for the women

Saturday: 10km mass start skate for both genders

Weather Forecast:
Friday- high of 9, low of -1
Saturday- high of 14, low of 9

Not to bad considering the weather we have been having lately.

Let's go get 'er done!

--Matt

The post post TT post (sorry for the lame name)

2009-01-12T22:06:00.003-05:00

I have decided to overrule Chris' decision of the last post to not post the results, so I will add them at the bottom here for your perusal.

But first... This Saturday marked the most recent installment of the annual Clarkson Team Time Trial to decide who gets first dibs on the team uniforms and the seed order for next weekend, and it was a fierce day of competition.

We woke up to -15 degree weather in the morning, with a few inches of fresh snow on the ground and the prospect of not knowing what the conditions would be like at Higley for the day. The game plan was to do a ~7km classic race take a short 45 min break and then get into a ~7km skate race and call it a day. However the groomers did not seem to get the memo and left us to alter the plans a little bit.

The classic race got off as planned with nice tracks and blue hardwax conditions. The course was in good enough shape and the occasional tourist was the only real battle of the day, and trying to avoid losing your stride/falling into the snow on the side of the trail while they seemed oblivious to the fact that a race was going on.

However, by saying that the tracks were nice, it also meant that the skate lanes were non-existent, so we were forced to result to plan B. Go back to campus and ski on the ROTC trails, a 1.5 mile loop littered with people, dogs, footprints, the occasional rock and ice patch, and a hill not quite wide enough to skate up efficiently. It was destined to be an eventful race. While we sadly had no casualties or wounds to account for, everyone was a trooper for the day, braving the cold conditions and adverse schedule.

Up next we head to Jericho, VT for the Army invitational this weekend for a 15km classic on Saturday and a 10km skate mass start on Sunday.

Sorry for the lack of pictures and creativity, but my camera is in a sad state and keeps telling me to see the user's guide for error # E45. If anyone knows what that is please let me know. In the mean time here is a video of Gregor Schlierenzauer setting the hill record on Kulm's ski flying hill this past weekend.

Results:

	SKIER	CLASSIC	PLACE	SKATE	PLACE	TOTAL

1	MATT D	0:21:36	1	0:20:03	1	41:39
2	ALEX	0:21:56	2	0:21:00	2	42:56
3	ANDY	0:22:37	3	0:22:16	3	44:53
4	DERRICK	0:22:48	4	0:22:28	4	45:16
5	LAMOTHE	0:23:43	5	0:21:50	5	45:33
6	TALBS	0:24:35	6	0:24:22	7	48:57
7	JOSH	0:25:30	7	0:24:07	6	49:37
8	DAN	0:25:53	8	0:24:46	9	50:39
9	MATT G	0:25:55	9	0:25:03	10	50:58
10	NED	0:26:00	10	0:25:22	11	51:22
11	BRIAN RE	0:27:22	12	0:24:40	8	52:02
12	DREW	0:27:10	11	0:25:53	12	53:03
13	BOB	0:28:10	14	0:26:00	13	54:10
14	NEAL	0:28:00	13	0:26:26	15	54:26
15	BRYAN RO	0:29:23	16	0:26:02	14	55:25
16	TIM	0:30:20	18	0:26:52	16	57:12
17	ERIC	0:29:13	15	0:28:30	17	57:43
18	DAVE	0:35:58	19	0:31:30	18	67:28

1	CHELS	0:22:04	1	0:18:58	1	41:02
2	ANDREA	0:24:30	2	0:21:09	2	45:39
3	ALICIA	0:25:22	3	0:21:40	3	47:02
4	ALYSSA	0:28:26	5	0:23:23	4	51:49
5	KATHLEEN	32:20:00	9	0:32:50	9	52:50
6	AUDREY	0:29:20	7	0:24:10	6	53:30
7	HOLLY	0:28:40	6	0:26:09	7	54:49
8	SUZIE	0:32:50	10	0:23:55	5	56:45
9	KALLIE	0:30:25	8	0:28:22	8	58:47

	EMILY	0:28:25	4	TBA
	BRUCE	0:29:53	17	DNS

A post TT post!

2009-01-12T14:32:00.003-05:00

The results are in. For fear of giving up VITAL STRATEGIC INFORMATION I will not reveal the exact times the racers came in. I will say that the results are promising and that we will once again be a force to be reckoned with. If we don't get 1st this year, just remember, ALL of us are coming back next year... again...

In other news, the first race is next weekend. It's about time we had a good ol' VT race. In the meantime, we will be doing the usual. You know, training.

Don't forget the maple syrup!

-Blue Whale

P.S. I thought I was going to put something of value into this post. Maybe next time...

The death of the blue whale...

2009-01-07T20:18:00.002-05:00

Will never happen. I will make sure that it stays alive.

In other news, it is Wednesday, the 7th day of January 2009 and tomorrow marks the start of classes here at Clarkson University. This is much too early if you ask me, but what can you do. Word on the street is that Higley Flow is not the best skiing and not groomed very well, but atleast there is plenty of snow on the ground with the 6+ inches we received today and at last look snow was still falling.

This weekend are the notoriously fierce Clarkson nordic team time trials to decide the preliminary travel team for the year, and there may be a guest appearance by the infamous Justin "JT$" Tetlow at some point as well.

Tomorrow morning marks my first adventure to Higley of the new year.

Take care and rest up for the busy racing weekends to come.

Winter is Here!

Matt

Shenanigans and fiascos in the Green Mountain State

2009-01-04T15:35:00.004-05:00

Time for one last personal race story/ adventure before the team gets back together later this week. The ridiculousness will ease down, and the Blue Whale will go into hibernation.

Last night, my friend Andre informed me of another race: The Craftsbury Classic! I've done a 10k skate race and haven't been able to ski much since then, so it was an obvious choice to go. The Blue Whale got loaded up agian, and we headed out. This is when everything went to hell.

I used Google maps to plan a route to Craftsbury. The original plan was to take I-89 north to exit 18, use Vermont Route 104 to get to Route 15, take a right onto North Wilcott road, then follow the signs to Craftsbury Outdoor Center. Google told me it would take 1 hour 40 minutes if the speed limit was followed. We got a late start, but I was determined to prove Google wrong. Immediately, I missed the turn after getting off the interstate and almost ended back up when we started. All the time made up taking the interstate was lost. We get onto 104 and then 15 , North Wolcott road. Things started getting sketchy again. I didn't remember any of the other directions. We ended pulling a map out of the glove compartment and discovered that we had missed a turn. While trying to pull a u-ey, the Blue Whale got beached. It only took about 5 minutes to dig and push her out, but that's still 5 minutes. Lesson #1, Whales can't handle snow.

More missed turns led to us getting to the race about 15 minutes before the start. Lesson #2, you can't prove Google wrong. This was enough time to get registered and throw on some extra blue kick wax. Both Andre and I got to the start line and had to line up at the back of the pack. That meant that a pluthera of citizen racers, high schoolers, and other youngings were in front of us. This led to an interesting start.

The first 3k of this course were FAST. Its pretty much a double pole course for that time. 8 lanes holding ~120 skiers quickly funneled down into two lanes. People were tripping over eachother's skis, passing by tracking their own paths in the woods, wacking eachother with poles... I amlost got tangled up in someone's skis when they crashed! Then we come to an open field that turned into a fairly steep and fast section with several switchbacks. The snow was fast, and we were still all packed together. We were weaving in and out from eachother, going 4 wide on several of the corners. I got pushed to the outside on the last one, focing me to bail so I wouldn't go off into the woods. The chaos started to settle out after that, and the racing began.

Overall, it wasn't a good race. It was fun, but not a good race. My skis were fast and my double pole was strong. However, my kick was nil and my uphills were disasterous. Lesson #3, find your kick zone and wax it. I was struggling to keep climbing with a few of the D1 college women racers. After the race we discoverd that green would have been the ideal wax. Oh well, I knew this wouldn't be good from the start. I learned a few things over vacation, and am ready for the team time trials Jan 10/11th!

I guess that's it for now.

Wait it's not. Andre and I saw a sign on the drive up. It said, "Watch Children". It wasn't a "Watch out, Children Playing" or whatever sign. It just said "Watch Children". We also saw a road call "Four Wheel Dr." Yea Vermont!

-Lamothe

Have you seen this wax?

2008-12-31T17:05:00.003-05:00

I am all growed up now, and every grown man needs his own tool box. While I was going through my old things looking for tools, I found this ski wax. I was given as a gag gift to my my freshman year of high school. This Speed Powder has text on the back: "Glidewax for black bases. Apply a thin coating on each side of the groove. Iron the full length of the ski. Let cool to room Temperature. Scrape off excess wax with a plastic scraper." Then on the top right it says GP4.

To apply you shake the wax out like a pepper shaker. To me it looks like graphite, but feels very soft. Do you have any ideas? Will this propell me to new heights of athleticism? Leave a comment!

I also found this in my house....

It's a Blue Whale!

-Lamothe

USCSA Tentative Race Schedule

2008-12-30T17:24:00.002-05:00

1/17-18 | Army Invitational, Ethan Allen Biathlon Ctr., Jericho, VT
Saturday: 7.5k freestyle
Sunday: 10k classical

1/31 -2/1 | Cornell Invitational, Olympic sports Complex, Lake Placid, NY
Saturday 9k freestyle
Sunday 10k classical (pursuit)

2/7-8 | Clarkson Invitational, Lapland Lake Nordic Ctr. (near Johnstown, NY)
Saturday: Skate Sprints 2 PM
Sunday: 10k Classic 9 AM

2/14 – 15 | Divisional Champs, W.P.I., Prospect Mt. Ski Ctr. (Near Bennington, VT)
Saturday: 5k Classic & sprints
Sunday: 10k freestyle

2/21-22 | USCSAEastern Regionals, Waterville Valley, NH
Saturday: 15k freestyle & 1.5k freestyle sprints
Sunday: 8.5k Classical

3/3-7 | USCSA Nationals Devil’s Thumb, Winter Park, CO
For more information: www.uscsa.com

For more up to date information regarding USCSA races, check:
http://users.wpi.edu/~skiteam/WPIWebPage/WebPages/XCSchedule.htm

Anyone see those boots?

2008-12-27T21:40:00.003-05:00

Has anyone else noticed the new salomon and atomic boots that some of the world cup skiers have been using lately? If not look at this tour de ski vid at about 9 min and 30 secs to see them on George Grey. I can't get a screen shot of them for some reason so you have to check them out online. They seem pretty intense, definitely a new concept. I'll have to ask Billy Demong about them when he returns back to the states as he has been using them with some pretty good success this season.

Hopefully this weather will turn snow soon and bring back the beautiful skiing.

Song of the Day: "Come Clean" by Hilary Duff - the let the rain fall down song...
Song Shoutouts: Derrick, Emily, Alyssa, and Sherman- from mt ste anne road trip

--Matt

The Blue Whale

2008-12-27T00:09:00.004-05:00

Happy Holidays to everyone and I hope you all had a wonderful christmas.
The title of this post has absolutely nothing to do with the vehicle that Lamonster rode in to the eastern cups, but I thought it needed to be brought up again as it was not mentioned nearly enough in his recent blog post.

The skiing in Lake Placid has been epic so far this break, and hopefully that doesn't change too much after the abismal weather that is forecasted for this weekend.

Keep training hard and staying motivated over break. These are some of the most of the important weeks of the winter to set you up for the quickly upcoming races.

As a final not I would like to give a quick shout out to the best group of 29 people that i know along with 'D Mac' David McCahill, Anna Schulz, and Ollie Burruss, my skiing and new years celabrating contingent from harvard.

Take care and see everyone in a couple of weeks.

Ski Hard and Train Smart,
Matt
Big Daddy
Mufasa

p.s. I will leave you all with this random video of ski jumping on the K-18 in LP. enjoy.

Ski Camp and More

2008-12-26T15:13:00.003-05:00

Ski Camp...... What a time. You really can't beat the grooming and trails. It was a great time. We were able to do some intervals along with some easy distance. One of the most influencial things we did I think was the video technique we did. Benway allowed us to use his camera and Delaney and Sarah took over! We spent many nights going through the video with everyone breaking down their technique. The improvement was amazing in the newbies!

Ski camp was all types of weather, we had sunshine, rain snow, cold, and beautiful. Of course one of the best days on snow was the last day, but all days were great with the grooming there. Though we did have some complaints from the newbies about skating three times in the row. I switched up the intervals to do the 4x6 mins early in the week and the 3x8 min classic later in the week.

I think the camp really help give everyone a little more excited for the up coming season. I know I am starting to get ready to race, and I can't wait till the season starts.

While I have been home for break, I have been able to ski with some of some fellow USCSA members. Cornell has been while represented. They have been doing intervals in the park and looking strong. Whitman will also have a few good guys. I have still be tired from camp but have been able to ski almost everyday and I did some 4x4 min intervals up the road hill at Harriett.

Below is a picture of a guy doing what he needs to get through. Thought you guys would enjoy it. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas, and you enjoy the rest of break!

D Day

I'm a skier.

2008-12-21T16:46:00.002-05:00

First off I would like to say that I wish I had a camera. Instead, I spent all my money on ski gear this year. Now back to business.

WOW! What a week!

First off, we had our annual post-exam training camp at Mount St. Anne. I didn't get to/ force myself to train terribly much since thanksgiving, so it was great to finally get quality training. I've had too many other things to do. I not going into many details about camp, because aside from "29 of the best people ever" (<-Delaney) crowding in together at once, nothing extraordinary happened. We'd wake up, eat, ski, eat, ski eat, eat, eat some more, and then sleep. This is the most training I've done in such a short time since summer. I'll let Derrick or Matt take up the details of the camp. I was to busy eating to notice anything.

So I get back at midnight on Thrusday, due to threat of snowstorms (and then eat some more). Thankfully, the snow did some and it was glorious! I took Friday completely off. I just sat my butt on the couch and tuned into HBO for some good old fashioned veggin' out. The next day is for gift shopping, which came to a successful conclusion. Later that night, my friend Andre and I decide to go out the next day and do the Eastern Cup race at Trapps. I read about it on FasterSkier. Not only would it be a great opening race, but I would be going up agianst the likes of people such as David Chamberlin and Andrew Johnson. Who could pass this up?

We meet at 7:30 am and load up the van, which will henceforth be referred to as the Blue Whale. Dispite the road conditions, we make it to Trapps without incident in under an hour. Being number 415 on the starting roster gives you a lot of time to play with. Essentially, we got there at 9am and our start was at 1pm. In that time me met many old Vermonter friends, and a few odd New Yorkers. Your may know them as Jusin Tetlow and Jess Snyder. Jess made an impressive 3rd place finish for her age category, while Justin complained about how we don't plow our roads in Vermont.

I went into the race knowing it was stacked with all those olympians and D1 skiers. My plan was to go out at a decent pace and try to hold it. Oh, I forgot to mention that it was bilzzard conditions up till the start of the race, then it was just plain snowing. The tracks were soft, but they had a firm base underneath. The start was downhill for a K, then pretty much the rest of the race was uphill. I remember being a pretty good climber from last year, so I attacked the first hills with gusto. As they would plateau out I would get into a nice, powerful V2, and then fly through the short switchbacks which popped up throughout the race.

Interesingly enough, I felt much more comfortable with the V2 in this race than with my climbs. The major reason for this was that my legs bonked out after the first 5k lap. I thought of two great excuses for this: camp tired me out more than I let myself believe, and my knee injury which didn't allow me to do much leg exercises till school started. I did notice that my good leg was being used in the V1 much more than my bad leg, which resulted in liqid buring agony in my right quad. Not only do I have to do more strength work on my legs, but I have to correct this imbalance that has shown up. Meanwhile, my core and arms felt ABSOLUTELY FINE. GRAAAAA!!!!

Subjectively, I felt satisfied overall. There is definately room for improvement. Oh hey, results are up.

http://www.nensa.net/results/index.php?io_view=events.show_results&event_id=263

I got 130/182. I beat a few names that I thought would beat me, and I am right behind some names of which I know are good skiers. I notice that my 10k time is only a bit faster than my 15k time of old, but this course is nothing like I've skied in college so far. I'm only ~8 minutes behind David Chamberlin. I'll say this is a good start, knowing that I've some off a relatively intense week of training.

So begins the 2009 season of Clarkson Skiing for me. I hear the scheduel of events is up, go check that out.

I just want to mention a few more things. Mad Props to Ryan White of the Colchester Nordic Ski team. Thats a good result for the place you are now. Also, the Blue Whale stopped at Cold Hollow Cider Mill to stock up on "Legendary Cider Donuts". Delicious. Then Andre and I played darts when we got back home.

Phew, that's a lot of typing. I'm done.

-Lamothe

P.S. I crushed JT.

This title is meaningless.

2008-12-04T19:59:00.002-05:00

Just a quick update. Yes we are still here.

Team training is for only those with a core made of hard (hardcore!). Doing roller-ski intervals in the dark, near-freezing temperatures, snow falling on you, wheels kicking up mud everywhere... we definitely earned some snow today. Alas, its hard to find time to get in good training now-a-days with projects being due and exams coming up.

On the bright side, we go to Lake Placid this Saturday for some shopping/ skiing at Mount Van Holvenburgh! (<-- did I spell that right?). After that is exams and then ski camp in the motherland; Quebec!.

Also, new team hats are here! Kudos to Matt Delaney!

I'm sure Derrick and Matt will have some action-packed updates in the near future. Keep an eye out.

-Lamothe

P.S. These pom-poms on the hats are totally wicked.

First Day on Snow + Ski Swap

2008-11-24T14:16:00.003-05:00

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.

2008-11-23T18:10:00.005-05:00

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!

2008-11-18T18:26:00.006-05:00

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.

2008-11-14T15:02:00.003-05:00

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

2008-11-13T20:27:00.003-05:00

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

2008-11-10T15:59:00.003-05:00

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

2008-11-06T12:45:00.002-05:00

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 :)

New Season!!

2008-09-07T22:57:00.003-04:00

Hey every body. We are all now back at school and many of us are excited about the running season at hand. We had our first race yesterday and everyone is looking strong and fast as we head into the year. There has been a strong showing from our freshman class as well.

On the Skiing front... Delaney and I have been training while focusing on skiing! Lots of rollerskiing and explore the pavement. Yesterday I made it back over to Pumpkin Hill Road and tried to time trial it by myself. I felt good and strong, but my legs were a little heavy. I used my Marwhees which always make for some slower times as well.

Today I went with the running team over to the Hig and went running at the FLOW. Always a good time and it brings back many great memories of ski season. Chris L and I were trading stories from the past years out at the Hig.

Now we continue to look forward to the coming season and we are excited to see how the new freshman can hold up! Today was a little cooler and as any skier can tell, the snow season is near and we are ready for it!!

D Day

Runner-Up at USCSA Nationals

2008-03-13T11:47:00.003-04:00

We just got back from Black Mountain of Maine and both the men and women came home with second place. Everyone did a great job skiing well and we all had a great trip. We had individual winners in races with Delaney and Whit while Whit was number one overall. Both teams won the sprint day with JT and Sargar coming up huge. Andy N gets my vote for the MVP as he saved the men's team by skiing fast even when others did not.
Some of the highlights of the trip come from seeing the tallest snow woman, having a cook out in the parking lot, and of course the relay finish with the Boot master himself, Matt Delaney. the video of the boot slide can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GW-8m6UJXHQ

I think we all enjoyed the season and it was a great one! Now we are enjoying this awesome snow that is left. I went out for a nice ski the other day and really enjoyed it, however just like everyone else, I am enjoying some of this extra time I now have. Although I am using this extra time for school work.

So to all of the Clarkson Nordic team, I want to say Thank You Seniors and Coach for all that you have done for us. Between guiding us, helping us, and showing us what NOT to do. You seniors will be missed. You were a huge part of this team! To our fearless speeding coach, You have done so much and we all are very thankful. This has been a great season.

Now to the members who will return next year, the work is not done. We reach some, but I stress some of our goals this year. That is great and it shows we have come a long ways and we can still improve. We need to continue to work harder and harder. I expect a lot from this team just like I do from myself. We are a great group of kids who love to have fun, but we also love to work hard. So set your goals now. It is a perfect time to take a look at the season and figure out what you want to do next year and how you are going to do it. So set the goals from the toilet bowl relays in the pool, not being the first roller ski fall of the season, all the way to being National Champs come this time next year. So I want to thank everyone for this great season! I really enjoyed sharing so much time with all of you. Good luck and enjoy!

D Day

2008 Regional Champs!!

2008-02-26T22:09:00.003-05:00

Congrats to everyone after a great weekend of racing at the Reg. We went to New Hampshire and kicked some north east butt. The weekend started off with some 15k Classic action. The mass start always leads to some exciting times. When the race was underway, the MAN Matt Delaney took off with the Bibbster and took the ribbon. Drew Mos was the man that day and took home the 3rd spot and Andy N was not far behind. We won the 15k and then had a well deserved nap. In the afternoon, the speed kings were here. After the Qualifiers, we had three in the A final and one in the B final. We took the top 3 spots in the A final and the top spot in the B final giving us 1,2,3,& 6. The girls did great as well winning both races.

After a fast 8.5 k course, Matt Delaney proved his dominace by winning every race. Whitney won two and took home a second. Every one did well and showed that Clarkson is the team in the east. We now look on to Nationals.

Nationals will be in Maine and we all love Maine. We are all working hard these last couple of weeks to show what we can do on the top level. This is where it counts. This is where you make it hurt. So as we continue along, we are we are living by the American Flyers

"Once you got it up, Keep it up"

Regionals...

2008-02-19T19:02:00.004-05:00

As the team prepares for the upcoming weekend and the rest of the season here's a pic from last year to get everyone motivated.

The team celebrating last years win at regionals in Waterville Valley

League Champs

2008-02-19T16:06:00.004-05:00

Clarkson University Nordic Team came up big this past weekend with three wins to give both the guys and girls victories in the league. JT$ was the man this weekend winning all three races. We had a big lose of Matt Delaney this weekend, but we were able to over come it. However, trust me, we are looking forward to having him back. Only one skier form another school was able to break into the top pack of Clarkson. Brian from Cornell was 3rd in both 5 k events on the icy snow. In the Sprint, Clarkson sweep the finals heat as Clarkson took 7 of the top 8 for the semis. Talbs and Brian showed off their speed to help seal the deal.

The icy snow made for some fun.

On the women side, Whitney followed suit with JT for the sweep and Sarah "Gardna!" was able to fight through some sickness to help lead Clarkson to wins.

We now prepare to do the same work with the league this coming weekend as we head to NH for Regionals. We are there to defend our title and to prove we are and always have been the team to beat. With the season coming closer to the end, the races are getting bigger. We have two more weeks of training and then it is time to show what we got. Bring IT!

Clarkson Invite

2008-02-14T12:10:00.002-05:00

Prospect Mountain! We started the racing weekend off with a 13 k classic race. With people trying all different types of kick wax, it was a crazy start. In the end most people settled with a good kick and made it through the race. Tracks were hard to come by when it neared the second half of the race for the guys and were mostly gone when the girls came through. Andy N came up big for the men with a 3rd place finish. Matt Delaney feeling ill left the door open for other stars.

On day two, we kicked things off with a 10 k skate race. The snow was slow and soft. there were periods of blizzard snow and winds with a nice sunshiine as well. When the snow settled and the three legged race was taking shape, the Cowboy Chaday took the day by winning by over a min. I guess he still has it, haha. behind him for clarkson was myself with JT$ at my heels. Andy also had a great skate race to give him an Awesome weekend. It was fun to watch the girls race with the weather changing every five seconds. Alicia came into the finish as she appeared through the snow right before the line.

With the results in the three legged race was taking shape. Sarah teamed up with Brian Mc (Section V'er) to win the Co-ed Division. My boy John Goodwill and I took home the Male division Victory! With Delaney out for the weekend, the wins were not easy, but we took home the W in every race.

Our coach and great Leader!!!

We now are looking forward to the Division Championship at Notchview where the points count double. It will be a weekend packed full of speed with two 5 ks and the Sprints.

Some Memorable Pictures

2008-02-12T07:36:00.000-05:00

Clarkson Nordic at Mount St. Anne for Ski Camp in December

Our cars the first morning we were at ski camp.

Chris Talbot showing how much snow was at Mount St. Anne

Ladies at ski camp: Chelsea, Tanya, Sarah, Alicia

Chelsea "I LOVE SKIING" Reynolds at the Cornell invitational
Justin "the X factor" Tetlow at Lake Placid before Christmas Break

Clarkson University Nordic Team at Lake Placid

Sarah and Chelsea receiving sweet Cornell swag for winning the relay

above: Tanya, Sarah, and Chelsea = The Pain Train

Derrick Day and Matt Delaney at the Cornell Invite Chris Lamothe takin' names

Chris Talbot showing 'em how it's done ; Andy Nadeau, the new Star Sarah receiving "the Wave" during the relay; Justin at the Cornell Invitational

-SarGar

USCSA

2008-02-08T22:42:00.001-05:00

Well we made it to our first USCSA league race this year and we came through in domentant fashion. The mens team won with 8 points followed by cornell with 25. Matt Delaney took home the win with Myself and JT$ taking home 3, 4. For the relay we won with a huge leg from JT. We are now off to Vermont for the next league race. Click on the Results for more detail and I will try to keep this updated better in the future. Go KNIGHTS!!

More Pics

2008-01-29T16:46:00.001-05:00

Hey guys, here are some more sweet pics from the racin weekend at the Hig

The Show Down.... Brad and Bruce.... And some kid from another school

Pure Speed from Big Red!!

Gold and Silver!!!

Speed Shot during the A Final

Thank You Chels for the pics

D Day

Clarkson Cup and Higley Hustle

2008-01-27T21:11:00.000-05:00

Successful weekend for the Golden Knights. We started the weekend off on the far side of the Hig for the 1st annual Clarkson Sprint Cup race. We lost some of our team to a race in Maine (Matt Delaney, Justin Tetlow, Chris Talbot, Whitney Olson, and Sarah Gardner). This opened the door for some others to step up. We did it skate style and did a time trial first. Based on places we did a three wave semis. The girls had a final between Chels and Alicia. Chels came home with the Victory to Win the first Clarkson cup. Pictured below. More Pictures to come from the races thanks to her. For the guys, Andy, Brain, and myself made it to the A final. Drew "Shag" Mahoney came home as winner of the B Final. Not to exclude the strong showing by Adam.... (New Recruit maybe?) For the A Final, I tried to get out to a strong start due to narrow trails and a tight first turn. We were all right on eachother for the first lap taking it easy. When we got to the last hill I went for it. As a gap began, and I was pulling away, Brain and Andy got tangled up. I wanted to continue to push to get a hard workout in. Then the real battle began.... Andy and Brain fought to the line. As the finish line came near... Andy pulled it out. We were all looking for a boot slide.

The next day was the imfamous Higley Hustle. Last year was won by a Norwiegn..... That is how great this race is. This year there was a much bigger turn out as most of our team came with most of the SLU team as well and no Andy that was not their Club Team. For the Men the mass started went off and was full of excitment. Brain Pepper from SLU stab his ski and almost caused a crash. Andy and I jumped out and joined the SLU pack. Andy decided it would be fun to take the lead for a bit as well. As we went into the woods, Andy and I came together. As the Little kids were falling all around we managed to get through it. Everyone looked really good and strong up the last hill to the finish. Congrats to everyone.

The Maine people did well. Their results can be found at http://www.chisholmskiclub.org/chisholm_results/2007-08/07-08_results_frameset.htm

Also the results form the USCSA League Race can be found on the Results section of the page. I suggest to sheck it out. All for now... Keep skiing and get ready for Lake Placid!!!

Stand up and Be counted

2008-01-16T20:12:00.000-05:00

Hey guys I want all of you to check this out. I thought it was pretty neat. Well it has been a while since we have posted anything. I want to first say congrats to Matt and Justin on a great job out at Nationals. They really helped the Clarkson name nation wide. Next I just want to say that snow is coming!!!! I know it sucks, but try and keep the focus. The first race is coming this weekend and then the season will be under way.

We are looking good as a team this year and I am excited to see what we can do as a team. I have some high goals for us all. It is early but what we do now can make a difference in the future. That is all for now. Lets hope for more snow and as I say for the team

"There is no Substitute for VICTORY"

First Post

2008-01-16T12:37:00.000-05:00

For my first post I just want to say that ski season without snow is like Matt Delaney without shaved legs; hard to deal with and a little annoying. My words of wisdom are to not lose hope, it will snow again and Matt will shave his legs again. The season is young so keep up the motivation!
-one of your inspirational captains

Snow in Potsdam!

2007-12-27T14:41:00.000-05:00

Hey just a quick message to all of us who have been on crappy snow and I dare say.... even running. I have been looking at the web cams of Clarkson and they have been loseing the snow just like everyone else until today I looked and here is what I found.

So the parking lot was clear yesterday and now it is covered in SNOW. Hopefully this continues so we can be skiing in style at the flow when we get back.

I hope that everyone is enjoying their break and are able to relax and of course TRAIN HARD. Get your recovery in as well so when we get back we are all set to go for racing. Happy Holidays to everyone and we will be seeing you guys soon.

D Day

Mt Ste Anne, a few pix

2007-12-26T22:05:00.000-05:00

Andy Nadeau and Brian in front of the Lodge for the morning ski

Justin enjoying a set of newly set tracks

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T12:54:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone is having a nice and relaxing time at home, while also getting some good on snow time as well.
May you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
And hopefully some of you got more than just coal in your stockings. haha.
MD

Camp and Pie Race

2007-12-22T21:29:00.000-05:00

Well Camp went well. There are a few good stories for us to share for a few years to come. Personally I liked the new structure we had for the workouts everyday. It was nice to have something planned out before we got there. I think we should see what we liked and what we thought we could change to improve it in the future. We will need everyones input on that. Also I think staying at a different place was not so bad. I missed being able to just jump on the trail and go when we would like, but it is always nice to have some modern day stuff too. No more bunk beds for that matter. I thought camp went well and people looked like they are ready for the season to begin. People were getting in shape and people were getting good technique or both. The season is here and so is winter. When we all return, it is time to show what we got.

I hope everyone had a safe trip home from camp as well and are now enjoying the holiday's with friends and family. From people I have talked to, ski camp didn't kill anyone and they are skiing already (for those of us with snow). For myself, I took the next day off then I headed back up north with Chad for the "World Famous Osceola Christmas Race" also known as the Pie Race. This year it was switched to a 5km race so it was less pain for me. I felt the training from camp early and often, but it felt good to get out there again. Plus I got to hang with some alumni in Sam Morse "King of Speed", Jess Snyder, and of course Chad "King of Kings".

I know you are dying for the results, well they lived up to their names. Sammy finished with a second place followed by Chad 12 secs back. I was a little way back, but top 10. Jess was second behind the Taylor Leach. The day was good, and it was good enough for all of us to win bells. Yea that is right... We got ski christmas bells. We also got some pumpkin pie. So it was a good day and fun to get out and race, but the training was being felt. I will have an easier week coming up for training but will be busy with Christmas stuff. I hope everyone is going to get some good rest but also keeping up with the training to be ready for when we get back to school. We will have a time trial when we will get back which will show who has done what for real.

So in summary, Ski camp was a blast and was very enjoyable. I felt we bonded as a team and we are ready for the season and ready to try and meet our goals for the season. So to all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year! Ski ya around!!

Finals Week Skiing

2007-12-10T08:16:00.000-05:00

As this week starts taking off, we are all going to be busy with finals. I am curretnly in a "Final" right now. I had to meet with our class for some reason. As Matt has done a good job keeping this blog current, the race this weekend was a good way to kick off the year. I think we know what we need to work on and importantly we have some time to work on it. This week the goal is to find time to get out there and ski. Skiing on ROTC is good but not really the type of workout that we are looking for (unless you want double pole)

This picture here is from the world cup. How about that forward lean? This is the time of year where we are lucky to have great snow, but we need to use it correctly. Know your body and know where you want to be. You need to know what you want to get out of each workout.

It is time for this guy to go study for some E-Sci. Maybe I will find MD doing the same thing. I encourage everyone to try and make the time for some good skis this week. Ski camp is coming soon and we should have some good skiing then too! So to everyone.... Goodluck on finals and hopefully we see you out there on the trail.

D Day

NYSEF season opener

2007-12-08T22:26:00.000-05:00

I have come to the conclusion that I am not much of a photographer. I didn't take any pictures today as the racing was all happening at the same time, so you will have to settle for this one of Bill Demong winning the gold in Trondheim today. US nordic combined means business this year and it is sweet to see. Billy is 3rd and Johnny Spillane is 4th in the overall world cup standings right now.

Now back to our race. I had a pretty good start to the season, coming in 7th against a strong field from slu and middlebury. I took a little fall on the first lap at about 3.5k tho that set me back. It took until about 7k to get back to where I was and then there was nobody left to catch.
All in all though I put forth a good effort and am excited for the season to get underway.
The rest of the team had some good results as well, with almost everybody saying they felt strong, especially for the first race of the year.
results can be found here

One race down, many more to go.
MD

Race Time

2007-12-07T22:02:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is the first race of the season for some of us. A 10k skate on the biathlon side of Mt Van hoevenberg.

I traveled to LP today to check the trails and race course, and spend a nice quiet night in my bed at home. The trails are in awesome shape, with 15+ inches of snow on the ground, and the course should be a hard one. Not hard in the sense that there are lots of hills, but tough in the sense that there are very few opportunities for rest. The course starts and ends with some long steep climbs, then is fast and rolling in the middle. If the wind is out, drafting could play a major factor out there. It sounds like there will be some intense competition coming to race as well, with the likes of slu and middlebury, and the enormous masters crowd present in the northeast.

I'll update tomorrow hopefully with some pics of the racing scene.

MD

My New Sport

2007-12-04T18:33:00.000-05:00

Well, the work week from hell finished up on Monday and I finally had a night to relax without opening a single book. It was so nice, but today is a new day and the beginning of the final push through finals.

I went skiing at Higley today and the conditions were stellar for this early in the season. Although only half the trails are open due to construction, which should be done in the next 2 weeks hopefully i'm told, the snow quality was as good as anything we saw last year.

I did 3x10 min threshold intervals, and they went very well. I felt much better than I thought I would after the training load, or lack there of, that I had last week.

Tomorrow brings some more speed work, then Saturday kicks off the racing season with the NYSEF season opener on my home trails in Lake Placid. 10k skate, the perfect race to start off with.

And, sorry to disappoint you all, but I have decided that I am going to back off on the ski training from now on and focus on a new activity known as mountain wingsuit base jumping.

I think it's my new favorite hobby.
MD

Snow is on the way

2007-12-02T17:34:00.000-05:00

Some of us went out and skiied at higley today. It was pretty good, considering the amount of snow on the ground. Rock skis were highly recommended, but that might all change tonight.

check it out

This is what I am envisioning the flow to look like on tuesday.

MD

That time of year

2007-11-24T21:46:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving break has come and gone once again. It never seems quite long enough, but it marks the beginning of winter (or what we consider winter) in the northeast. I got in my first few skis of the year in the past two days, and while the snow wasn't anything special, it still beats rollerskiing.
Now, as I pack up my skis to bring to school with me I hope that I will be able to use them soon on the trails of Higley.

I hope everyone has a safe trip back to school and returns well fed, rested, and ready to get back to training and prepare for the winter (and finals!)

Make sure your skis have wax on them and your winter clothes are packed. Winter is coming, and I think it's gonna be a long and cold one.
MD

Big News in the Nordic World

2007-11-21T12:09:00.000-05:00

Big news for us! As Matt D has described about the ski swap, Bristol Mountain came to the swap to advertise their new trails for nordic skiing. This year they are going to have 3k of trails with snow making capabilities with 1.3k of the trail light with lights. These trails will be at the summit of the mountain where Section V has hosted many of their races along with the State Relay course. These trails are expected to open Dec 7th for use with trail fees. This will be a big boost to the already growing sport of Nordic Skiing. So as long as the temperature is cold we will be skiing in Rochester. This is great resource to have when the grass is brown and the air is cold.

The best news that comes with this, is the future! I spoke to the Head Marketing guy for Bristol and he was told he was impressed seeing over 600 people at the HF-L Ski Swap. He then started telling me that they are having plans to have a team of people who build world class courses for nordic skiing come to Bristol and setting up a World Class course in hopes to bring Top Competition to our area. How great would it be to see Kris Freeman and Andy Newell skiing here at Bristol?

For some good workouts recently, nothing says home like getting your big handed to you by Chad. We have had some great wokouts recentlly. We made our way to Cobbs Hill where they close the roads after dark. We did repeats up one of the hills there. Chad and I were pushing eachother up some of the hills where we got the Heart Rate up. After six of these we then did a few drop ins for some real speed. We followed this workout with a run in Mendon Ponds park. Only in Mendon Ponds Park can I go for a run and have to worry about deer. Chad and I had to come to stop when deer where crossing. I will have to get a picture from Cobbs Hill where you can see the city of Rochester at Night. Hope everyone is enjoying their time off and the great food. Hopefully everyone is having some great workouts as well.

Deer Chaser,
D Day

Snow, Roller Skiing, The Ski Swap, Caffiene, And Food

2007-11-18T22:47:00.000-05:00

I'm finally relaxing after a crazy end of the week and weekend. Watching the Pats destroy the Bills and enjoying my hot apple crisp that I just pulled out of the oven.

Last Friday I went out to River Road in Colton for some 4x6 min skate intervals. These were at the end of my recovery week, and I felt well rested and full of energy which was nice to see. Recovery has been something that I have been able to focus on a lot more this fall without feeling guilty about taking a day or two off when I need it. I guess that is the benefit of having a well laid out training plan this year.This is a pic I have been wanting to get all fall of the dam out on River Road. As you can see, it was another beautiful day in northern New York; overcast, spitting some light snow flakes, and barely breaking 30 degrees. Great for getting in the winter mood but not the best weather to get motivated to go out on roller skis. Atleast is wasn't raining today though.

After the ski, I raced back to Potsdam, grabbed a quick shower and lunch, then threw some clothes in a bag, jumped in the car and headed 3.5 hours south to Rochester, for the infamous Rochester ski swap. High Peaks has been heading down for the sale for the past 8 or 9 years and I always enjoy helping out with the sale. I have to say that I am very impressed with the huge turnout of high school skiers that come out. There must have been over 500 people passing through the doors between 9 and 2 all looking for ski equipment. A big shout out has to be given to Ernie Day for organizing this great event.

After standing on my feet for 7 hours, it was time to relax for a little bit. We all headed back to the Day's, ate some delicious food, then went out for a nice little jog around Mendon Park before a nice night of a movie, relaxing, and coffeeeeeee. Being in quite the coffee mood lately, we headed to a quaint little coffee shop, where i got a delicious mocha latte to keep me going.

This morn we had a delicious breakfast cooked by Mrs. Day, where I ate more than I have in the past few months. The mountains of waffles, french toast, fruit, coffee and eggs kept growing and i definitely don't get this treatment at school. Full of food, Drew, Alicia and I then packed in the silver bullet and cruised back to Potsdam, where I have been finishing up work this afternoon and looking forward to having the next week off from classes.

I am now off to bed, looking forward to a nice cold roller ski tomorrow morning, and then a long 8 hour drive to michigan to visit the fam.

Think Snow
MD

Student Athlete

2007-11-14T10:46:00.000-05:00

As we start going through this week, many of us now know the true term of "Student Athlete." I know everyone is facing a hard week before break, along with a week of some great workouts. For myself, I have 3 tests, a quiz, and a 12 page paper before this week is out. This is harder than my finals week. This is where you can tell employers, "Yes, I have time management skills." So far this week, we started off with a easy pole run on the "Ski Trails" (ROTC) and followed that off with a good ab and strength work out. Yesterday a few of us braved the darkness over on the golf course hill for some 3 min Double Pole and No Pole repeats. We also were able to enjoy the stars in the sky, even at 5:30! Everyone looked strong and ready because on thursday we will be having a 1 mile Double Pole time trail followed by a one mile no pole time trail. I am really excited for this, though you still can't tell a lot from rollerskis because of different speeds, but it should be good to get up to race pace physically and mentally. Today we will be going out on a 2 x 20 mins threshold workout. This should be the first day with everyone able to make practice for the most part. So keep the strong effort to get through the school stuff and be ready to go come practice. Should be a great week.
Student-ATHLETES,

D Day

Placid

2007-11-11T20:43:00.001-05:00

I think this pic does a pretty good job at explaining why i always enjoy going home. I took this at the end of a roller ski saturday on bear cub road in Lake Placid. So as you all may have guessed, I escaped the thriving metropolis of Potsdam for the weekend, and headed over to placid for some change of scenery. I saw my first real snow of the year, icicles hanging off of roofs, and a thin layer of ice covering the lake behind my house.

I got in two solid interval workout's to finish up my interval block, and am looking forward to a few days of rest now. Although that rest will be filled with studying as i prepare for the math/engineering onslaught of tests also known as this tuesday and wednesday. I have exams in e-sci, statics, and calc III, should be a fun first half of the week.

The main reason i went home though was to go to a little celebration that some family friends were putting on.
It was a lot of fun. I got to hang out with some friends that i haven't seen in quite a while, and met a lot of new faces as well. The food was also incredible, and i think i ate more than i have in the past month combined, but it was well worth it.

During my travels thi weekend i happened to run across the honorary member of clarkson's nordic team, Ms Melinda McAleese. I just so happened to be driving by the OTC and sitting in the parking lot was a car that looked an awful lot like hers, so of course I had to investigate. and sure enough it was her. We had a nice b'fast this morning at soulshine bagels and then I had to pack up the car and head back to 'ole Potsdam, and the onslaught of paper writing and studying that was beckoning, and which i should probably get back to now.

Procrastination, the best cure for school work.
MD

Into the Sunset

2007-11-10T19:38:00.000-05:00

Well it is that time of year again. Darkness comes quick, which can leave every man for themselves. Skiing gives you many challenges, skiing in the dark gives you more. Before I go on I would like to extend a congrats to our running team after a very respectful finish in regionals. Now with the running "Training" season over, practice should start to be more of a normal turn out. Been pretty slim. Thursday, four of us went over to the Five Corners. We did 2x15min off into the sunset. Friday, Delaney and I went out to Pumpkin Hill and did some classic intervals. Delaney did 8x2 min double pole, while I did 5x4 min repeats. Good workout, Delaney looked strong and ready to go. I busted to hard on the second one leaving a tired third repeat. I really felt the core, which seems to be a strength for many this year! With the weather getting colder it is a constent reminder that winter is coming. Today, many of us many of us made it over to the High School State Meet for XC. There were some great races with Pat D setting the pace with the fastest time of the day, and my boy Alex Deir winning the Class B race. Everything looks set for a good week of training coming up with a OD tomorrow. Lets hope we can fit in some good work between all the tests. Study hard, ski harder.

D Day

29:20, He's Fit

2007-11-08T19:32:00.000-05:00

That's the result of today's 10K double-pole kickfest out on River Road. I decided to lay it down on SLU's time trial course out there. Overcast skies, stiff cold wind, plummeting temperatures, and a dusting of snow on the ground combined as a nice reminder of what it is going to be like when we get on skis this winter. The warm-up for today was finding the small red "S" spray painted on the road that indicates the start. Once Talbs and I found our mark, it was time to ditch the warm-ups, unleash some hot spandex bottoms, and put the gameface on. The first 2.5K were by far the most challenging, consisting of the three most substantial hills of the course. Unfortunately, they weren't quite steep enough to force me into my ill-used diaganol stride, so it was a power DPK test. I passed through the 2.5K mark just under 9:00, which had me worried that I had pushed it too hard in yesterday's no pole intervals. The next 2.5K were pretty uneventful, just try to pace it right and push the slight downhills and flats. I crossed the 5K mark in 15:10. From that point to the turn-around point (around 8.5K) the terrain was mostly little rollers, and lots of double pole. I missed the 7.5K mark and hit the turn around with no idea of how far I had gone. Double-pole kicked hard until I found the finish line at a time of 29:20. At first I was pretty disappointed with the time, but realized that the goal of this session wasn't to set a PR, but to get in a quality TT in the middle of an intenstiy week. Mission accomplished. Three more interval days left in this block, as long as I train smart I'm sure to see big dividends in the future.

The race season is coming, train hard, recover well

JT$

“There are only two seasons -- winter and Baseball.”

2007-11-07T19:00:00.000-05:00

I figured I'd start this post off with a quote from baseball player Bill Veeck. Since the Red Sox just won the world series (instead of the Yankees, who we all know should have won), it is now time for the snow to start falling and the intensity to start picking up in our training.

I got the first official snow report back from Lake Placid today, and tracks were spotted going up the Whiteface tollroad this morning. I'll be heading home this weekend, so i'm hoping the snow holds and i'll be able to get in my first tracks of the season soon! The snow was reported as wet and mushy, so skiing would best be done in the morning in order to avoid the always unwanted faceplant caused by your skis coming into unexpected contact with the pavement underneath.

This week is the middle of my intensity week, and today I did a nice time trial on the pumpkin hill road. The course is an out and back, basically all uphill on the way out with a steep downhill right before the turn around (always convenient), and then a fast, mostly downhill, race to the finish. I was on my own today, and of course I put my heart rate monitor strap on as I was about to head out the door, took off my normal watch, set it down on my desk, and totally forgot to grab my other watch before i left. So i started skiing, went to start my watch, and there was nothing there. I knew this was going to be a good workout when that happened. Next as I went to take off my warmups, I stepped down on my binding and broke off part of the binding plate. Sweet. but nothing a little tape can't fix.

So I finally started my race at 2:06 or about then according to my back up watch, aka my cell phone, and got into a good rhythm from the start, focusing on not starting out too hard and keeping a smooth, even tempo throughout the tt. I finished at approximately 2:29, so by my exact calculations, i figured i was somewhere in the high 22's or low 23's, which I was definitely happy with. I did this same course Sept 22nd in a time of 24:10, although I was on slightly faster wheels today, I felt that progress has definitely been made since then.

I believe the team did some skate drills and uphill double poling today, and I'm waiting to hear about the Time Trial that JT$ was talking about doing on River Road today. maybe he'll put up a post later ;)

Anyways, I'm leaving with a few pics from my roller ski yesterday at Brown's Bridge.
MD

Getting Started

2007-11-05T20:50:00.000-05:00

Soo...this is the first post of our Clarkson nordic blog.
I have been getting into this craze known as blogging over the past few weeks, checking the blogs of several rival ski teams, and decided it was about time to start a blog we can call our own. A place that we can post the intense workouts we are doing. A place where we can share random stories that have nothing to do with skiing. A place where we can post ridiculous pics of our teammates. A place where we can come together as a team.

I expect everyone to set this as their homepage and check at least 10 times a day. We will be having daily blog quizzes at practice and the punishment for getting questions wrong will be one of my choice...

...just kidding...

I attached a sweet link with some motivational pics for my first post.
Check it.
MD