click to enlarge Patty J. storming the end of the race. (Lincoln Benedict photo.)

You can’t have more fun coaching than when your team is self-possessed and driven. Every workout this year, every race so far, a small group of people started with that focus and drive have spread it out to nearly the whole Panther crew. You can see it when they show up at the back of the trailer- they change clothes, adjust wax, get focused. Commenting on our focus, one of the other coaches said he could see it in their eyes last week at the Trapps time trial- there’s some fire going on. Corinne Prevot described it well of her two races (both bests for her for the year), “I felt like I knew what to do.” When racing clicks over to autopilot, there’s a certainty that is hard to beat. Patrick Johnson tapped into that certainty over the last three kilometers of the 10k yesterday – the first time he’s been able to do that this year and a huge result for our crew. Our men have won the last three days of racing in carnivals and they’ve done that following Patrick’s lead in training. They’ve been consistent and measured, picking up the details where they need to and being competitive with each other at the right time. Five of our skiers have finished in the top five this season. Dylan and Patrick have represented on the podium. Chase, Doug & Noah have been consistent. On both teams, we’ve had significant personal bests on the results page, but more importantly in the approach to the season. Lauren Fritz has stepped up as a senior and a leader. Hilary Rich has adjusted to her injury and brought her absolute best every day in training and racing. We’re marking progress every day. Yesterday, after the men’s race, with some very strong skiing from Dartmouth and St. Lawrence, Graham Egan camped in front of the results sheet doing the math. He came back smiling after piecing together the men had won, “We got it.” He said. To my mind, he wasn’t just talking about the day’s effort. We train year round for these intense weeks of racing. With half the season behind us, the focus will get more and more necessary, the races tougher and more demanding and the withdrawals from the bank of off-season effort more frequent. Congrats to the crew for the effort so far and the effort to come.

Courtney Corrine Miley Prevot. In it.

D.Grald

Hilary warming up.

Graham.

click to enlarge Dylan Grald slayed it today. 3rd in the college race.

I'm going to keep this short because mid-carnival posts are like counting your cards at the table. You don't do it. I'm fired up with how the team is skiing. We're on the rise on both sides of the team and we'll have more to come. So fun. Perfect conditions at Trapps today. Flawless tracks. Skating tomorrow.

Congrats also to Sim on his first WC:

CLICK HERE FOR UVM CARNIVAL RESULTS

Fritz modeling the bibs used for the women.

This is our women's team. (Plus Courtney, who was celebrating a season high 10th place!!!)

Chase. Getting it.

Patty J is back from Europe. 5th today.

D.Grald on the podium. (fasterskier photo)

click to enlarge

Two training days into Feb break and I could get used to this: lots of time to work with folks at practice, no excuses for being tired or stressed, opportunities to eat waffles and bacon. Yep.

With conditions decent, but not perfect at Bread Loaf, we snuck up to Trapps for a classic ski on Tuesday. Anyone racing the Eastern Cup / UVM carnival this weekend, fear not, conditions are perfect (see photos below.) After banging out some double pole work and technique transition practice, we just scattered and enjoyed some damn fine tracks. These are the type of tracks that haunt my sleep in July. A great day. Last night we worked through some core and a yoga session. Yoga for nordic skiers can be broken into three main categories, as far as I'm concerned: 1. lower back & hamstring flexibility. 2. hip flexors 3. Shavasana (corpse pose- yeah, we're good at that one.)

Reports from the men's team describe Nick Cage's film, "Next" as a clearly, one of the worst movies ever made.

This morning was the annual waffle breakfast. Patty arrived early to help knock down some of the waffle prep which was good because every year I forget how many waffles a ski team on break eat. (Note-to-self: around 50) The crew slipped into a syrup-induced coma before rolling up to the loaf. Hard- hard intervals were the story of the day. We're tough on snow at Bread Loaf but the skating is better than expected thanks to some shoveling efforts of the staff. (Thank you!)

Reports from the women's team suggest the afternoon today was spent prepping for the Carni crush weekend just a scant 10 days away.

Fired up for the weekend ---

Conditions at Trapps: spot on.

Waffles.

Syrup coma.

click to enlarge Ski racer: 32 years old. Racing suit: 26 years old. Hat: 30 years old. Oakleys 28 years old.

With a carnival-less weekend, we had a fine week of recovery. We’ve been hitting it hard the last few weeks, pushing both intensity and volume and taking advantage of the ease of J-term. With as much time as we’ve had for training, there’s been a ton of improvement coming together in terms of technical skiing, confidence and focus. I’m pretty psyched by what we have going on. Psyched enough to try it, myself. Patty covered our easy ski on Saturday while I head up to Craftsbury. My parents were in town for the marathon and this was a fine excuse to see skiing through another lens for a day. Here’s what I learned “racing” the 25k event at the marathon:

You can take the coach from the team but you can’t take the team from the coach. I was haunted in my mediocrity by the particular talents of the team. I tried to channel each of them in appropriate places. As the gun went off, I shot off as fast as I could (Graham, Sophie, MJ) Resplendid in my 1984 Olympic Team Training Suit, on loan from the Patty Ross collection, a roughly four inch thick swath of lycra, cotton and history, I knew that regardless of my final results I would be the best dressed. (Mommsen, Corinne) I settled in and tried to do my best down the hills getting extra low (Kate Barton, Hamiltons, Simi, Jenny, Dana Tower). I settled in and kept things relaxed (T. Reynolds, D.Grald, Patty J.) for the first few kilometers. Then things started flowing by. I skied quietly and efficiently up the hills (Fritz, Prevot), skated hard on the corners (Luby, Keely) and tried not to fall on some particularly icy patches (Robyn, Cate). Then it came time to pass the stragglers from the 50k and there were many. I cut through them briskly, occasionally making contact, like I was driving to the lane (Noah, Chase). I offered up a fairly vocal track on occasion. (Hilary, Graham, Sophie). I was on a roll and feeling good, you could say I was making it rain. (Levins, J.) But I didn’t get too cocky (MJ), there was a lot of race left and despite the nobility of such an act, I didn’t want to push as deep as I possibly could with no regard for permanent physical damage. (Levins, K) I passed Bill McKibben and shouted some encouragement. My lack of fitness became a reality for me. I wanted to throw up but couldn’t. (Taylor). So I relaxed again and tried to think of the best parts of skiing. (Joy Erdman) Toughening up (Sophie, Patty J.) I sprinted with my best game face on (Doug E. Fresh, Martin Breu). I finished and began taking apart every part of my race. (Doug) I started to make plans about the future. (Doug) A few hours later, out of ski clothes, I collected my winnings pleased that the maple syrup I’d won was from Vermont (Patty, Tim R., Robyn, Noah, Chase, Jimmy, Keely,Joy, Jimmy Ades) and enjoyed socializing with skiers I knew from all over the place. (Corinne, Jenny Hamilton). Many thanks to you all for the support, unknowingly, through 25kilometers of classic skiing. Now I can’t move my legs.


Back with the team on Sunday, we cruised over for a time trial at Trapps. 5k classic awaited the women, 10 the men. It’s safe to say that no one had the hammer fully dropped for the low key event, but I was psyched to see all of the efforts that had played out in my head on Saturday, in real life on Sunday. Our young women’s team looked snappy and strong with Keely, Corinne and a more-balanced Cate Brown driving through. The men looked tough and self-possessed. I’m happy to see the technique improvements in double pole playing out on the course. I’ll post some video this afternoon. We’re into February break this week, which couldn’t come at a better time, just as the last four carnivals, the traditional carnivals come to be. We’re heading back to Trapps on Tuesday and we’ll have the annual Feb break waffle feed on Wednesday. The largest collection of strong skiing in the east happens with the combined carnival / Eastern Cup on Saturday and Sunday. More soon.

Untitled from Andrew Gardner on Vimeo.

click to enlarge Simi Hamilton at the Middlebury Carnival in 2009.

With only two weeks before the Olympic Games, Simi Hamilton, recent graduate and captain of the Middlebury Ski Team, was given the final spot allotted to the US Team in Vancouver. We couldn't be more proud of Simi or the fact that we have a pair of Middlebury Alums representing the US at the games. (Click the Fasterskier article below for more) Congratulations!!

Fasterskier Article

Links and Resources

Head Nordic Coach

Andrew Gardner

Gardner enters his fourth season at the helm of the men's and women's nordic ski teams. He came to Middlebury from Colorado Rocky Mountain School (CRMS) in Carbondale, Colo where he was Nordic Program Director. Since coming to New England, he acted as the wax tech for the 2008 Junior National Team, a coach at regional development camps and serves on the U23 NENSA board. Gardner is the coordinator for sustainability in athletics, serving on the college's environmental council. In the summer he enjoys road racing for the MetLife cycling team.

agardner@middlebury.edu

o: 802.443.5963

Assistant Nordic Coach

Patty Ross

Now entering her 23rd year as a full-time coach of Middlebury nordic skiing, Patty came to the College after four years of world-class competition. She was one of five American women nordic skiers to compete in the Sarajevo Olympics in 1984; she also competed internationally with the U.S. national team from 1983 to 1986. Patty graduated from the University of New Hampshire, where she was an All-East collegiate skier and captain of the Wildcat team. While at UNH, Patty competed in the World University Games in Sofia, Bulgaria. As a coach for the International Special Olympic Games, Patty received a Distinguished Service Award in 1984. She acted as a coach for the U23/ World Junior Championships in Italy in 2008.

o: 802.443.5006

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