Slowing Down and Focusing On Technique

This advice about technique is not from a nordic skier, but from one of the best American male swimmers. Swimming like skiing is a very technical sport and better technique equates with greater efficiency and faster times.

As a contender for a medal in the upcoming Olympics in Beijing, Ryan Lochte said “I spend more time on stroke mechanics now than I ever have,” and he does this by mindfully slowing way down a part of his practice every day.

“The only way to really work on technique is to swim very slowly and really think about every little thing that you’re doing,” he said. “How your body is positioned, what your hips are doing, the positioning of your shoulders and hands and feet.”

The next time you head out skiing, whether you are a recreational skier or racer, take a little time to slow down and think about how you are gliding, are you relaxed through the knees, hips and shoulders, how are you using your arms and what is your body position. What will you discover if you do this a little bit every day? The quotes above of Ryan Lochte's are from an article entitled, "A Swimmer’s Different Strokes for Success", which appeared in the March 20th edition of the New York Times. To read more...

Gretchen at the Eastern H.S. Championships

March 14-16

Two hundred and forty kids and five teams from Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont descended upon Trapps in Stowe, Vermont to race three days for the Eastern H.S. Championships. Gretchen Powers, a junior at Middlebury Union High School, writes of her experiences as a member of the Vermont Team. The squad consisted of twenty four racers and Gretchen was the only representative from this area.

"The weekend went reasonably well for the state of Vermont despite not winning the championship. Friday afternoon showed warm and wet snow, and a difficult course for the 5k freestyle race. Thanks to great connections through our head coach Noah Noyes, we ate at a very respectable restaurant for dinner (whose name i now forget) For much of the team, sleep was hard to come by and many of us lay awake staring at the ceiling, or tossing and turning on the small, hard beds we slept on.

Saturday morning was the classic sprint, a very short 1k. The afternoon led way to a very exciting classic/freestyle mixed relay with a guy and girl to each disipline on each team (4x2.5k). The banquet Saturday night was at Stowe high school and Vermont skiers gobbled up some great raffle prizes (I am not included in this as I have the worst raffle luck on the planet). Everyone fell into bed and slept soundly Saturday night from sheer exhaustion. Sunday morning, early rising for tough wax conditions for the 7.5k mass start classic race.

Maine pulled through in first place, with Vermont in second and New Hampshire in third. It was a rough weekend for Vermont, and for myself, with many racers lost to JO's, Canadian Nationals, and sickness, I was bumped from 20th seed to 13th, and had a rather rough weekend of racing."

Results

Trina at the Masters World Championships

Many of us from Frost Mountain Nordic participated in a clinic with Trina Hosmer in February at Breadloaf. Recently, Trina competed in the World's Masters Cross Country Ski Championships in McCall, Idaho. Below are some excerpts from an email she wrote:

"I just returned from World Master's, exhausted but a good week. I once again was very fortunate to have my body perform when necessary (I never take this for granted) and won all 3 of my individual races (15K skate, 10K classic and 30K skate) plus our US relay team won gold. So it was a very successful and rewarding week for me.... My overall impression from watching the younger women ski (this year there were several ex-Olympians in younger age classes) versus the older women is the use of the arms. I know I already harp about this all the time ... and now I can assure you, you will hear even more." 

Congratulations, Trina!  Also, some of our Frost Mountain Nordic members were spectators at the event.  They reported that the races were inspirational and the racers--from all over the world-- to be very fit and interesting people.   There was even a 91 year old man racing.  This, also, was the largest group of US master racers ever competing in the same races.

Lots of Snow and Fun For FMN Skiers Competing at the Bill Koch Festival

The 30th Annual Bill Koch League Ski Festival took place during the weekend of March 1-2 in Gunstock, NH. BKL skiers from all over New England gathered to participate in the races. Snow was plentiful to say the least with 6' snowbanks and steady snowfall during the races on Saturday. The Gunstock trails are hilly and curvy and had so much snow that it was impossible to keep up with the grooming. On Saturday, racers aged 8 - 13 competed in the freestyle races. Most age divisions had well over 60 racers competing. Frost Mountain Nordic skiers: Britta Clark, Oliver Clark, Lydia Allen, Sophie Hodges, Sam Hodges, Malia Hodges and Thomas Hussey all competed and did very well. Results and photos can be found by going to the NENSA website. Sophie McKibben came along to cheer everyone on. Sophie competed in High school varsity races this year so we couldn't pass her off as a BKLer!

Saturday afternoon, racers and families participated in a 4 km. or 7 km. mini marathon with food stops along the way. Saturday night all racers gathered at the Margate Hotel for a banquet, awards, bonfire, s'mores and fireworks. Sunday morning got off to a chilly start with clear skies and wind. The first event was the Lollipop race in which Malia Hodges competed. Our other F.M racers met their assigned teammates (other racers from our N.W Vt. division) and competed in the 2-person sprint relays. The course was perfectly set for spectators - a .6 km loop that started in the stadium area and snaked through the woods back to the stadium where racers tagged their teammate. It was a very exciting event. The weekend was lots of fun with great skiing and friendly competition.

Congratulations to all of our Frost Mountain Nordic skiers!

To view results and photos go to the NENSA (New England Nordic Ski Association) website by clicking here and then scrolling down to the Bill Koch Festival, March 1-2.

John Caldwell's Thoughts on the US Cross Country Team and the Importance of Strong Regional Programs

In the March 2008 issue of Skiing Heritage magazine, John Caldwell wrote an article entitled "U.S. Cross-Country Should Return to its Roots:  America's nordic program saw its greatest success when racers trained regionally.  It's time to return to history--and a system that worked."  This article reminds us of the importance of local clubs, such as Frost Mountain Nordic. Below is an excerpt:

"There are many hurdles for aspiring cross-country skiers.  It takes at least 10 years of training to have any chance of reaching the top levels in international competition.  The U.S. is a big country and skiers go at it from Alaska to the tip of northern Maine.  For all these competitors, travel to important qualifying meets or making the U.S. Team is not only exhausting, but expensive.  And skiers from cross-country families are not among the wealthiest in the U.S.  So the deck is already stacked.  

Pressure to live and train in Park City has been exerted on the better skiers, but there is the controversial aspect of altitude.  No countries house and train their athletes at altitude year-round. Our milieu is wrong.  And how can an aspiring athlete lead a normal life while living and training for years in Park City? Home contacts and family are missing in Park City, as well as most future job possibilities.  Absent all these, most skiers living for long periods in Park City lose inspiration.

 This country needs a program that works better for U.S. skiers, not necessarily one that apes another country, like Russia.  The U.S. Ski Team should set up regional locations around the country and support them financially with coaching, thus allowing skiers to stay in their own communities and pursue a more normal life. This would also help to promote the localities' own skiers since their contact with U.S. Team members would act as inspiration for them.  It would get regions more involved, and--in the best of all worlds--the system would have regions competing with each other for funding based on their results.  All these aspects would promote more motivation for the athletes.  It would also mean several programs standing by to take responsibility-and any heat--for the Team's record instead of only one program in Park City.

John Caldwell was a member of the '52 U.S. Olympic Nordic Combined Team and former U.S. Olympic and FIS cross-country coach (1966-1989)."