Race season is here. Its that time of year when all the anxiousness and anxiety of waiting to see how 7 months of training will pay off finally dissipates in 3...2...1.. and you're off! The first couple races essentially remind an athlete how to race, but in many ways they set the stage for the entire season. This weekend we raced at Bolton on Saturday and Craftsbury on Sunday to simulate an Eastern Cup weekend of back-to-back races. Corinne had this to say about Saturday's race:
On Saturdays, 6:30AM departure times suck. But hey, that's winter and we're starting to get used to it. For some of us, the Bolton Opener was the first race of the season. Despite the bitterly cold temperature, the sunshine and fully covered trails were a blessing after this past week of flighty weather (New England's infamous 'Wintery Mix'). The course was great - a 20 minute 5k made up of two laps of an all up-then down 2k loop, and a 1k lollipop to the finish. After catching up with some Mainers (Bates, Colby, Bowdoin, Gould, etc.) at Great Glen last weekend, it was fun to race with some fellow Vermont skiers (UVM, Middlebury, and other Vermont High Schools). We look forward to racing tomorrow at the Craftsbury Opener!
A 7:15 departure on Sunday gave everyone a little extra rest after Bolton, but it was still a pretty quiet ride over to Craftsbury. When we arrived at the trails we found a well groomed race course with hard tracks despite the warm weather and lack of snow we have been experiencing lately. The snow was pretty abrasive so the kids put plenty of kickwax on their skis in hopes that it wouldn't strip before they were done with the 10k course. Because the loop had multiple long steep climbs, proper technique and skiing in control was essential for success on that course. I was watching on one of the more brutal climbs during the second lap, and it was clear that our athletes were all focused on staying light on the skis and kicking efficiently. By the second lap people were starting to get tired, but as their technique suffered and they started slipping, they would remember to get back on top of the skis and kick up the rest of the hill. It was definitely a promising start to the season for everyone- especially Yannick, who showed us once again that hes a tenacious kid with a big motor when he needs to be, coming in fourth place 
overall! Now the hours start to drop off as we recover from the weekend and gear up for the next- the first Eastern Cup at Trapps.Thank you to the Bolton and Craftsbury race crews for putting on such high quality and fun races this weekend!!!
For results from the Bolton Season Opener click here and for results from the Craftsbury Opener click here
The first real race of the year is always an interesting experience. Even though the Great Glen Sprint is less formal than most of the races we will be competing in this season, there is a certain feeling that comes with putting on a bib- for some its manifests itself in subtle anxiety, for others its increased concentration and focus, for others still its increased bowel movements...No matter the race or the athlete, everyone feels the excitement that comes with stepping up to the start line (made of blue powerade?) for the first time in the season. 
Pete and I have been talking to the athletes about pre-race warm up routines recently and their physical and mental importance. We arrived at the course with plenty of time to get bibs and socialize with friends we haven't seen since last season before getting out on course. There were definitely possible distractions (OMG Sylvan!!) but everyone was super focused and made sure they got out for solid sprint warm ups. Maybe some were even a little too eager and if anything started the warm up before they really needed to! By the 12:00 start time everyone was warm and feeling pumped up to sprint, so at 12:10 when the prelim heats were posted, and most of the kids weren't scheduled to race for another 45 minutes, we all got that friendly beginning of the season reminder that flexibility is another important aspect of nordic ski racing! Mitch was looking good in the pink suit today, but after getting a little excited in his first start and forgetting to use the beautiful technique he's been developing all year, Pete decided 
this might have to be the last showing of the pink suit tradition, as seen in the picture above (behind Mitch in the black coat).The level of the races was actually pretty high- the whole UNH and Bates teams came out to play, along with some other good high school teams, so the Burkies certainly had some competition. Today's sprint was formatted to give everyone their moneys worth of race... There was first a round of randomly seeded heats of 5, from there the winner advanced to round three, while the other 4 advanced to the second round. The winner of round two advanced to round four, while the 2nd and 3rd placed finishers in round two advanced to round three. The top 2 from round four went on to the semifinals, and the top 2 from each semifinal went on to the final. Whew! did you get all that? All the Burkies were racing really well, Lucas usually had pretty tough heats full of UNH guys to contend with, but skied like he was the real Wildcat, advancing to the Semi-finals where he met up with Sam to race still more of the UNH guys (see top picture). 
Mitch won his second round heat, advancing him to the fourth round, and Corinne won her first round, advancing her to the third. Now the race format is admittingly a little tough to follow, and if you look at it carefully, its actually somewhat flawed. For example: if you win your first round, you automatically advance to the third round, but if you lose the first round and win your second round, you advance to the fourth round ahead of the people you lost to in the first round. Corinne found herself up against some stiff competition in her third round heat, specifically the eventual race winner, Marlijne Cook. She still skied well and came in right on her tail, which should have qualified her for the fourth round. However, when she looked at the board to see her next position, she wasn't on it because some girls she beat in the first round had advanced ahead of her in their second round to the fourth round, displacing her from the race. 
As we were looking skeptically at the board figuring out that she was being cheated out of advancing, one of the officials standing next to Corinne patted her on the shoulder and said "Just don't think about it too hard, life isn't always fair." Bad move. Anyone who knows the competitive spirit (to put it lightly) of nordic ski racers knows to never tell them to lighten up about not being able to ski in a race they want to win.As long as that tirade might have been, its still a bit of a sensitive subject, so I thought I would explain it on Corinne's behalf so you know how we feel about the results sheet.I think it goes with out saying that the small quirks of the day in no way put a cloud over what turned out to be an excellent day of racing and much better than expected snow conditions! Congrats to Sam for his 3rd place finish overall!!!
Sam with Mt. Washington in the background
heats in the late afternoon sun
Lucas lines up
Welcome to the Burke Mountain Academy Nordic blog! Now that we are up and running we hope that you will check back in often, as we plan on updating the parents, friends, supporters, and Superfans of the BMA Nordic team at least a couple times a week!!! We are driving down to the Great Glen Sprints tomorrow morning for our first real race of the season, but we've been working hard all fall to get to this point- below is a quick overview of the season so far.. Enjoy!
The fall started off with beautiful weather- lots of sun, perfect training temperatures, and cold water for after-workout dips. A normal day consisted of a 6:15am wake up followed by a good warm up before hitting the gym for strength (Strength was a big focus this fall and everyone is seeing and feeling the results as we begin the transition to snow). After the gym it was straight to breakfast and a full day of classes. In the afternoon after class the crew would hop on their mountain bikes and warm up over to Darling Hill Road for a rollerski workout. The road is around 2km of out and back, but good terrain and low traffic made it an optimal site for training, especially after daylight savings started and the sun started creeping down before we were ready for it!
When we talk training with the kids we usually talk in terms of training levels (1-5) based on their heart rates. To train accurately its important to know what your levels are, as they vary widely between individuals. This fall we took a trip down to the University of New Hampshire to test the VO2 Max readings and Lactate Thresholds of the athletes. Some of them had done the test or something similar before, and for some it was their first experience getting hooked up to a treadmill and told to run until you drop. Literally. Some of the younger ones were a little daunted going in, but once it st
arts there's no stopping! The readings from the test came out instantly and within minutes Dane, our lab technician, was able to pull up the data and graph the curve to show where the athlete's lactate threshold is, as well as show what kind of training the athlete can do to improve the trajectory of their curve. Its complicated stuff, but also really crucial to the development of elite athletes.
Next it was off to Keene Valley, NY for our fall training camp. Everyone was ready for the break from classes and the opportunity to get some solid hours in. Right from the start the whole crew jumped in the Climb to the Castle rollerski race up Whiteface... due to the newly fallen snow at the top the race didn't actually end at the castle, but you wouldn't find many people complaining that the race wasn't hard enough. The U.S. Ski Team was staying at the O.T.C. in Lake Placid at the same time for their fall camp, and they invited us to do a couple workouts with them, including a rollerski speed session, a killer hillbounding workout, and their sprint TT (which Lucas and Sam raced in). Training with the big guys was an exciting experience for everyone, but was also very useful- watching A
ndy Newell sprint is in itself a lesson in technique and power. After some of the workouts with the Ski Team the Burkies were feeling the burn and took some ice baths in the river across the road from our cabin... and then sunned themselves dry. 
At the end of the camp we challenged the U.S. Ski Teamers to a round of mini-golf, one of the few social activities of the week that didn't involve heart rate monitors. Everyone seemed to like hanging out with fast skiiers in a less competitive environment, as well as catching up with Burke alum Liz Stephen!
The last few weeks of fall we were back in the classroom during the day and rushing out to Darling Ridge Road in the late afternoons hoping to beat the sun. It generally beat us. We also spent some more time on the weekends driving up to Lake Willoughby to find some new rollerskiing terrain for our ODs.
Everyone was absorbing the training really well and staying positive, but at the same time we were all ready to get off the cold, damp pavement and on that fluffy white stuff in CANADA!
...And on the Fourth Day, There was Snow
When we arrived in Stoneham
there was no snow in sight... the ride up into the mountains towards Foret Montmorency wasn't too promising either- there was some old dirty snow brushed to either side of the Highway but nothing that I would put rock skis on. All in all a pretty bleak sight. When we arrived at Foret we were pleasantly surprised to find a .5km loop of man made snow waiting for us. At this point length wasn't an issue, everyone just wanted to get on skis!! As the crew put their boots on Pete went to get tickets for everyone, only to be informed that only visitors staying at the facility were allowed to ski on the loop. After some grade A schmoozing (bribing?) the guy behind the desk sold us tickets- then proceeded to turn away the teams that came in behind us... Whew!
Skiing on the loop was nothing to complain about for the first few days, as there was nothing else like it within driving distance (or in West Yellowstone, for that matter) and we were all just getting used to skiing on skis that felt like they were a mile long. On the third day we convinced the other guys training on the loop to reverse direction, keeping everyone sane for another day.
Finally the snow started really coming down on our fourth day on the gerbil loop and by the time we were ready to ski on the morning of day 5, the groomer had been out far enough to ski a solid hour and a half out-and-back. 
From there the snow only got better and the tracks set up so it looked and felt like mid-winter skiing! We generally set out for the trails around 9am, skied until lunch, came inside for food and ping-pong, then got back out for a second workout at 2. The NorAm races that we were signed up for were 
canceled before the snow even had a chance to fall, but we took hooked up with the Colby and St. Lawrence teams for a skate time trial anyway. On thanksgiving we all gathered at the condo some of the parents were staying in near us and ate a giant feast with the Milliken, Tarling, Prevot, and Martell clans. It was so good that some people literally couldn't stop eating, and in classic Thanksgiving fashion spent the rest of the night trying to move very slowly so they wouldn't see their dinner again.... Lucas. We owe a huge thanks to all the families for generously cooking for us the whole time they were there, it was really nice to come home from a full day of skiing to great food and company!
On our second to last day we drove over to Mt St. Anne for a distance skate ski. The fresh wet snow made the trails quite soft and all our legs were dragging a bit to begin with from long hours on snow the past two weeks, but the trails were beautiful all the same and everyone was happy to ski on some new terrn. There's something exciting about skiing on trails you don't know very well, you never know whats around the next turn. At Mt St. Anne, that mystery around the turn is usually another big uphill. Of course, there are always those who would rather know where they are on the trail system, if the "WE LOST" written in the snow shortly before we skied up to Janey and Mitch is any sign...
Sam and Lucas skiing at Mt St Anne
On Saturdays, 6:30AM departure times suck. But hey, that's winter and we're starting to get used to it. For some of us, the Bolton Opener was the first race of the season. Despite the bitterly cold temperature, the sunshine and fully covered trails were a blessing after this past week of flighty weather (New England's infamous 'Wintery Mix'). The course was great - a 20 minute 5k made up of two laps of an all up-then down 2k loop, and a 1k lollipop to the finish. After catching up with some Mainers (Bates, Colby, Bowdoin, Gould, etc.) at Great Glen last weekend, it was fun to race with some fellow Vermont skiers (UVM, Middlebury, and other Vermont High Schools). We look forward to racing tomorrow at the Craftsbury Opener!
A 7:15 departure on Sunday gave everyone a little extra rest after Bolton, but it was still a pretty quiet ride over to Craftsbury. When we arrived at the trails we found a well groomed race course with hard tracks despite the warm weather and lack of snow we have been experiencing lately. The snow was pretty abrasive so the kids put plenty of kickwax on their skis in hopes that it wouldn't strip before they were done with the 10k course. Because the loop had multiple long steep climbs, proper technique and skiing in control was essential for success on that course. I was watching on one of the more brutal climbs during the second lap, and it was clear that our athletes were all focused on staying light on the skis and kicking efficiently. By the second lap people were starting to get tired, but as their technique suffered and they started slipping, they would remember to get back on top of the skis and kick up the rest of the hill. It was definitely a promising start to the season for everyone- especially Yannick, who showed us once again that hes a tenacious kid with a big motor when he needs to be, coming in fourth place 
overall! Now the hours start to drop off as we recover from the weekend and gear up for the next- the first Eastern Cup at Trapps.
