Two down, pray for snow.

After two weeks of dry-land, and still no snow, our first race is only 10 days away.
We have been doing a lot of technique work on roller-skis, with the occasional fall (but don't worry, only 1 person ended up bleeding), as well as some endurance in the form of a time trial on Tuesday.

The trial wasn't bad, with the team averaging a 5:00-ish lap on the .86 kilometer course. The top 2 times were 20:38 and 21:08 for 5 laps (myself and Hannah Benson respectively).

4.3 km of wet dirt hill.

Then, we finished off the week with some roller-skiing, which made me realize how much fun it is watching helping people who are struggling. Of the 12 kids on the team, about half of them have been on rollers before. We spent some time working on basics (poling, striding, etc.), then moved up into some competitions (relays).

And now, as we come up onto week 3 of training, our official on-snow total is a whopping 1 day... with some of us, such as myself, venturing out on weekends to find whatever snow is left. Today it was at Bretton Woods. The snow/gravel mix was a little rough on the skis, but it was worth the drive (and the $5). We plan on being there again tomorrow, hopefully with more of the team.

It's been...

One week since you looked at me, cocked your head to the side and said... I'm ready. Dryland training is now a week old and everybody on the Kennett Ski Team is feeling it. On Monday, the 72 members of the Ski Team (Alpine, Jumping, and Cross Country) began our training as we would any other dryland day... with a run. The run wasnt too bad, just to the end of the road and back, but times varied between 13 minutes (myself and about 3 other XC skiers) and over 20.

Total Distance (A to B and back): 2 miles

Next we stretch, and do some a LOT of core, courtesy of Eddie Bradley. Usually around 15 minutes of rigorous workouts before we branch of into our respective disciplines.

This season marks the first time since 2009 where the Kennett High Nordic Team has had a full, score-able, girls team. We have at least 7 girls participating this year, up from 3 last year. (You need 4 on a team to officially score). And we also have one of the larger boys team since I joined in 2009 (10 boys from seven last year). As the Nordic Team, we've spent most of our time doing poling and bounding exercises, but on Tuesday  the first day we split into disciplines, we were on snow. Albeit only three inches (in places it was grass after one loop), it was still snow.

We then spend some time playing an agility game as a whole team, and practice ends, only to return in 22 hours to do it all again.

First day on Snow... And Double Poling

After getting a foot of snow on Wednesday, Jackson Ski touring opened for the day free of charge. They had about 10 km groomed with tracks. And that's almost all that they had: tracks. With about 4 km skate groomed (tracked on the left side clockwise), the majority of my day, which was entirely on skate skis, was spent double poling. It was a good 12 km pole though, heading down the Ellis River Trail to the base of the Hall Trail and back. It was a little awkward making the transition from the "perfect glide" of roller skiing to the choppiness of the midday soft conditions that met me in skating today. I eventually worked it out, remembering to take it easy (and double poling the 2k loop). I am planning to get back up there tomorrow for some classic skiing, free or not.