- Move of the Month: Slider Hamstring Curlsby Will Ruth on March 15, 2024 at 9:08 pm
Slider hamstring curls train the hamstrings through knee flexion in a way that we don’t get from most of our endurance sport training. The hamstrings are a two-joint muscle acting both to extend the hip and flex the knee, with help from the semitendinosus and semimembranosus muscles doing the same. Rowing, skiing, and running are all more focused on hip extension than knee flexion. With the high workload of endurance sport training, the missing knee flexion elements […]
- Tech Tip: Returning to Waterby Luke Brown on March 15, 2024 at 9:06 pm
by COC Sculling Camp Coach Kevin McDermott […]
- Masters Carpe Diem!by Rosemary Shea-Cobb on March 15, 2024 at 4:01 pm
MNC Masters “seized the day” and got out to Sleepy Hollow for one last ski on Tuesday. Mother Nature delivered about 10 inches of snow on Sunday and Monday and
- Th Pig Race is this Saturday 3/16!!by Rosemary Shea-Cobb on March 15, 2024 at 3:42 pm
The Pig Race is the infamous end of season race at Blueberry Hill in Goshen, VT. It is a very fun event! Here are some details about the event. We
- End-Of-Season Party Cancelled 🙁by Adam Terko on March 15, 2024 at 10:10 am
Due to the unfortunate weather, Craftsbury has closed-up for the season. We’re sorry to announce that our end-of-season party has also been called-off. Any attendees who have already paid via
- U16 Championships wrapby Adam Terko on March 11, 2024 at 11:08 am
MNC and Team Vermont had a great time at the NENSA U16 Championships! Hosted by Gore Mountain, a challenging venue in North Creek, NY, this event is held every year
- Junior Nationals Week Schedule/Viewingby Adam Terko on March 11, 2024 at 2:09 am
Junior Nationals week is here! Racing kicks off tomorrow (Monday) with individual start skate races. You can find a schedule of events, link to livestreams, and more below. MNC is
- BKL Fest and Graduatesby Adam Terko on March 5, 2024 at 1:03 pm
While our Juniors are preparing for the post-season events like JNs, U16s, and EHS, it’s time to recognize our latest class of BKL graduates who are now officially Juniors themselves!
- BKL Info March 4-10by Liz Hollenbach on March 4, 2024 at 7:37 pm
The weather has turned very spring like in the last week and it seems the season is wrapping up pretty quick. The Range still has a little snow on the
- Season Lease Ski and Race Suit Returnby Liz Hollenbach on March 4, 2024 at 3:56 pm
Thanks to everyone that rented equipment from MNC this season. Race Suit Rental Return: If you are done racing for the season, please return your washed suit to Coach Liz
- Work Hard, Run Hardby Luke Brown on March 1, 2024 at 8:06 pm
by GRP Runner Jackie Gaughan […]
- Favorite Workout: Pain Thresholdby Luke Brown on March 1, 2024 at 5:12 pm
by GRP runner Stephen Kerr“In pain science, the term ‘pain self-efficacy’ is used to refer to the belief in one’s ability to function normally despite pain. A slightly different kind of pain self-efficacy comes as a secondary benefit of practicing suffering in workouts.” - Matt FitzgeraldIn training, we often discuss functional/lactate/anaerobic threshold, as well as aerobic/ventilatory threshold. But how often do we discuss pain threshold?Pain threshold […]
- A Letter to His Younger Self: Jake Brown's Reflections on Nutritionby Jake Brown on March 1, 2024 at 4:30 pm
Credit: Nordic Focus Dear 20-year old Jake,I know you, because I am you. All of a sudden, I’m the oldest athlete on a club team I won’t tell you about, because I want you to remain ignorant of that future, keep dreaming, and stay hungry. What I will tell you is that I’ve journeyed through running, skiing, and biathlon careers and am still standing, still racing hard multiple times a week as I near […]
- Holderness Team Dinner (payment link)by Adam Terko on February 28, 2024 at 4:56 pm
We had a really nice team dinner at the Lucky Dog Tavern on Saturday night! It was fun to have a catered event with some good company, billiards, and food
- 10 MNC athletes qualify for Junior Nationalsby Adam Terko on February 27, 2024 at 1:12 pm
This past weekend marked the final Eastern Cup races of the ’23/’24 season. As Sara and I dug into some piping-hot Thai food takeout boxes in the cab of the
- Tech Tip: Using RowerUp to Analyze Your Strokeby Stephen Hap Whelpley on February 12, 2024 at 9:14 pm
by GRP Row Coach Steve Whelpley […]
- Move of the Month: Plyometric Exercisesby Will Ruth on February 9, 2024 at 5:12 pm
by GRP Strength Coach Will RuthPlyometric exercises, or “plyos” for short, can improve athletic coordination and train for rate of force development. Plyos are typically jumping and throwing exercises, with many available variations to challenge and engage the athlete. While most strength training aims to improve total force production, sport movements (including rowing, skiing, and running) happen quickly. Rate of force development, or how quickly the athlete can […]
- A Reflection: January as a Sunday Afternoonby Luke Brown on February 1, 2024 at 12:05 am
by GRP Runner William McGovern […]
- Favorite Workout: Single-Leg Step Upsby Luke Brown on January 31, 2024 at 11:58 pm
by GRP Runner Canyon Woodward […]
- Race Hydrationby Luke Brown on January 31, 2024 at 11:49 pm
by GRP Skier Luke Brown […]
- Tech Tip: From Snow to Rowby Troy on January 11, 2024 at 11:14 pm
by COC Sculling Coach and former Camp Director, Troy Howell […]
- Move of the Month: Glute Bridge Marchingby Will Ruth on January 10, 2024 at 10:49 pm
by GRP Strength Coach Will RuthGlute bridge marching is a simple movement that any athlete can do to improve strength and coordination of the supporting hip muscles. This exercise is a good progression from the bodyweight hip thrust or regular glute bridge, which usually loses challenge quickly. I prefer glute bridge marching to standard hip thrusts done for very high reps or loading a bunch of weight directly (often painfully) across the pelvis. Glute bridge marching […]
- Soul in Sport: A Primer for Endurance Athletesby Luke Brown on December 21, 2023 at 7:11 pm
by GRP Runner, Stephen KerrFor some, the word 'soul' brings to mind an emphatic, feeling-infused approach to life. It can be seen in various characteristics; impassioned involvement, an active sense of play and humor, or simply a little twinkle in one’s eye. In the words of modern philosopher Thomas Moore, soul is “not a thing but a quality or dimension of experiencing life and ourselves. It has to do with depth, value, relatedness, heart and personal substance.” […]
- Move of the Month: Core Exercises with TRX or Gymnastics Ringsby Will Ruth on December 20, 2023 at 9:52 pm
by GRP strength coach Will RuthCommonly referred to together as “suspension trainers,” a TRX or gymnastics ring setup is one of my top recommended equipment items for those strength training from a home gym or with the ability to request equipment for a gym or weight-room. You can do all sorts of exercises with suspension trainers. One of the best uses is for core exercises. […]
- Sustainable Delights: A Holiday Gift Guide for Eco-Conscious Runnersby Luke Brown on December 20, 2023 at 9:44 pm
by GRP runner Jess Scheriff […]
- Recipe of the Month: Baked Feta Pasta (TikTok Pasta)by Margie Freed on December 20, 2023 at 9:41 pm
by GRP Skier Margie Freed […]
- Tech Tip: Live in the Handleby Stephen Hap Whelpley on December 20, 2023 at 9:09 pm
by GRP Row coach Steve Whelpley […]
- RED-Sby Luke Brown on November 10, 2023 at 10:47 pm
by GRP dietician Megan ChacoskyWith the latest update to the International Olympic Committee’s Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) Consensus released last month, it feels pertinent that sport communities of all kinds take time to better understand RED-S, how it occurs, who it might affect, and how we can continue to learn to take better care of ourselves and our teams while we chase athletic pursuits.What is RED-S?Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport, or RED-S, […]
- Favorite Workout: Half-marathon/Marathon Fartlekby Luke Brown on November 10, 2023 at 10:15 pm
by GRP runner Andrew Tario […]
- How to Bounce Back After a Bad Raceby Luke Brown on November 10, 2023 at 10:13 pm
by GRP runner Kat Morrissey […]
- West River Trail Runby smsxc.blogspot.com on June 1, 2019 at 4:58 pm
Today a bunch of our skiers jumped in the West River Trail Run, an 11 mile race from South Londonderry to Jamaica. About 2/3'rds of the trail is on the old railroad bed (flat and soft) while 3 miles is on a more challenging single track. This is the 7th annual race and it was exciting to see 190 racers at the event. Sierra (head cheerer) They're off 5 km mark Zander gets a feed Gavin, Will and Anna Chip Crossing BMD at 8 miles Down […]
- Excellent Day for Our 100!by smsxc.blogspot.com on May 25, 2019 at 9:43 pm
We view the spring as a time to prep the body for good summer training. We work on general strength, running technique and base endurance training. We try to get in 2-3 bike rides/week because biking tends to be an easy way to build a base without too much pounding. Towards the end of our spring quarter, we do a 100 mile bike ride. Today was the day and after the cold rainy spring, we were lucky to have a sunny day with temps in the 60's. We split into 2 groups, […]
- Quebec Weekend and Moreby smsxc.blogspot.com on March 24, 2019 at 9:12 pm
Jessie and Sadie in their semi final in Quebec. March is Championship month for our juniors. Everyone either raced at Junior Nationals, the Eastern High School Championships or the Craftsbury 30 km (our U14's). We had great results in all of these events and then gathered back together just in time to head to Quebec City for the World Cup finals. Sophie in her semi final. We had 9 SMST2 skiers qualify to race in the world cup finals so it was like a homecoming for […]
- Mid February Updateby smsxc.blogspot.com on February 19, 2019 at 5:39 pm
Wow. What a weekend to be an SMS supporter! We had some great results everywhere we had skiers racing! Asa charges the hill. In the World Cup races in Cogne, Italy, most of our skiers chose to race just once because of the upcoming World Championship races. The team crushed the sprint with Jessie winning!, Julia in 11th, Sophie 17th, Kelsey 33rd, Simi 4thand Andy 20th. Kyle came off of his sick bed and placed 26thin the 15 km while Julia placed 39thin the 10 […]
- A Weekend to Remember!by smsxc.blogspot.com on January 31, 2019 at 2:29 pm
Last weekend was an exciting one for our club. Our goal is International Excellence and Local Inspiration and we came through in style. On the World Cup, Jessie was our only racer, but she came through with flying colors with a 4thin the 10 km skate and an anchor leg in the relay that moved the USA team up to 5thplace. In Finland at the U23 and Junior World Championships, Julia placed 26th, 12thand 16th, Alayna placed 27thand 23rd in the two distance races and […]
- Quick Update (Busy week)by smsxc.blogspot.com on January 6, 2019 at 10:07 pm
We've had a fun and busy week without any updates..here is a quick one while we await the banquet at Senior Nationals. Things started off with a bang with Sophie and Jessie landing on a World Cup podium at the same time!!!! We then brought seven juniors and a bunch of our SMST2 team to Craftsbury for senior nationals. No pictures except for a couple from today because we started with 2 classic races in tricky waxing conditions :). The races at nationals are used […]
- Great Sprint Practiceby smsxc.blogspot.com on December 18, 2018 at 8:02 pm
This morning we had some excellent skiing on our Sun Bowl trails. The 1" of fresh snow on top of a great base made Matt's grooming job turn out perfect skiing. We started with a warm up and then 15-25 minutes of L3 skiing and then moved to a sprint prelim and 2 heats. Since our trails are not very wide, we kept the heats to 2-3 people each, but had good competition based on the prelim times. After our productive fall camps (in British Columbia or Norway), […]
- Pictures Tell The Storyby smsxc.blogspot.com on December 11, 2018 at 1:53 pm
This morning was our last day of fall camp in Norway so we drove up to Nordseter and took a 2-3 hour tour (there were a couple of variations) and ended back at our cabins. On the map above, we started at the town in the upper left, skied to the top of the map, then down to the pin, then over to the right hand side and down near the bottom before finishing in the bottom center. Sometimes pictures tell more than words...enjoy 🙂
- Sunday OD in Heavenby smsxc.blogspot.com on December 9, 2018 at 3:33 pm
After the skate race yesterday, we decided to drive up the hill 10 minutes and do a classic over distance ski. After last weeks heavy snow and then the 6-8" of fresh powder over the past two nights, conditions are excellent and the trees are coated. We skied a big loop that took us 2.5 hours at a leisurely pace :). There are maps at every intersection with pins to show your location. This is a lucky thing because there are approximately 2,000 (yup thousand) […]
- Norway Raceby smsxc.blogspot.com on December 8, 2018 at 3:08 pm
Wyatt at the start. When we heard that there was a race 800 meters down the road from our cabins, we decided to jump in. Our friend Trond sent in the names and we waited to see the start list that was due to come out last night at 5. Sure enough, at 5 pm, the start list was up. The local race that we had entered had over 850 competitors, all the way from 8 year old kids to senior racers! The races started at 11 this morning and everyone went out sorted by age groups […]
- Norway Updateby smsxc.blogspot.com on December 5, 2018 at 4:43 pm
The last several days in Sjusjoen have been wonderful. We got some fresh snow and the tracks in the picture above are 30 seconds from our cabins :). This morning we knew it would be a good day when the sun rose over the distant mountains. Oops..this is out of order...dinner the other night from master cooks Clarissa, Sophia, Anna and Nina. We have two cabins and we take turns making dinner for each other :). We started relatively early because we wanted to […]
- SMS camp westby Matt Boobar on December 4, 2018 at 4:10 pm
Great sprint TT with the crew from Thunder Bay Why is this picture significant? It means despite the snow storm our plane is heading to Montreal to pick us up only 20minutes late. I have LOTS of travel issues with the team. So it was nice when this trip went smoothly. It also helps that Montreal is one of the most reliable winter airports in the world! We actaully brought the factory bolt on roof rack with us, 6 bags up top no problem! When […]
- Just Another Day at the World Cupby smsxc.blogspot.com on December 2, 2018 at 2:22 pm
If you look closely, you might recognize some of these fore-runners :). We were offered the chance to help fore-run and we jumped at it! Everyone found out that these Lillehammer courses are a lot tougher than they look like on TV. The team was able to ski before the women's sandmen's races and then hang out for awhile and try to get pictures with Klæbo and Johaug :). Sadie gets cheered by head coach Chris Grover. Looks as if the bibs were just big […]
- Norway!by smsxc.blogspot.com on November 30, 2018 at 4:54 pm
For fall camp this year we decided to split up. Matt went to Silver Star with the older boys while George and Sverre ventured to Norway with the girls and younger boys. We arrived in Sjusjoen yesterday and settled into our cabins before taking an afternoon ski and then crashing for a nice 12 hour sleep. This morning we drove down the road to Lillehammer for the world cup sprint races. Our friend Trond Flagstaff has set it up so we can fore-run on Sunday and he gave […]
- Skiing!by smsxc.blogspot.com on November 15, 2018 at 5:33 pm
It has been a treat to have good skiing here for the past two days. Forecast is calling for 5-7" tonight and cold temps for the next 10 days so it looks as if it will stay for awhile :). Our U14 boys work the hill. Conor, Zander and Will. Nina, Sophia, Charlotte and Sage. Charlotte and Sophia were using old jib skis...they are fun for jumps etc, but were a bit draggy. Nina looking good. Sage and Clarissa working on getting their weight further […]
- November Roller Ski Raceby smsxc.blogspot.com on November 4, 2018 at 1:21 pm
Ben O Yesterday NENSA hosted their final roller ski race of the season in Stowe. The race started down in the Moscow valley and wound it's way to the finish at the Trapp Family Lodge. November is an iffy time for weather and if you like cold, wet and windy, it didn't disappoint! Temps were in the upper 30's, the wind was howling and a rain/snow mix was falling from above. Charlotte The race was an invitational so the field size was around 60, a small, but fast […]
- State Meetby smsxc.blogspot.com on October 28, 2018 at 3:01 pm
Every year Thetford Academy hosts the Vt. State Meet for cross country running. They have a challenging 5 km course and they host a great meet. Schools are split into 3 divisions based on size and races are run every half hour. We run in the big school division and the northern Vt schools have some good runners so competition is tough. This year the race day conflicted with the NE mountain bike championships so we only entered two runners, Anna and Gavin. They both […]
- Cool Fall Dayby smsxc.blogspot.com on October 26, 2018 at 10:13 pm
Gavin and Wyatt cruise around the soccer field. Fall has come early and cool this month. Training has been going well and everyone is looking forward to the winter! Clarissa Zander, Conor, Will and Mathias during the afternoon ski. Wyatt, Sage, Sophia and Fin Anna and Charlotte Rolling, rolling, rolling...
- Finishing the week in styleby smsxc.blogspot.com on October 20, 2018 at 9:21 pm
This was a bigger week of training for the team and we finished with our uphill run test and a distance skate yesterday, then a 3-3:30 combi OD followed by lunch and a strength workout today. In our uphill run test yesterday it was interesting to see 6 PR's, 4 close to PR's and 4 a bit off of PR's. Everyone worked hard and that is the goal. We will look at the training flow and see how people are dealing with the harder period that we are now finishing. The […]
- Fall Action and Climbing!by smsxc.blogspot.com on October 19, 2018 at 11:54 am
Fall training continues to go well with a mix of running, hiking, roller skiing, strength and a spattering of running races and mountain bike races. It is always fun to coordinate some workouts with our SMST2 team, especially when we go to Ball Mountain Dam and the road is closed to cars so we have a private 5 km loop! Patrick O'B is the master of video :). Nina Anna Yesterday, Misha Golfman treated us to a rock climbing afternoon. He set up […]