Friday, March 26, 2010
TGFS!!! The race of the year
The Thank God For Snow-making race is also a one of a kind event, since its debut last year after a huge grass roots effort finally brought snow-making to the family resort and Cochran's Ski Club. No other race I've attended recently included 4 Olympians as forerunners and several US ski team members, right back from Vancouver and Nationals in Lake Placid, on the start list.
Despite a cloudy and snowy day, and a limited number of photographs, it was a wonderful event and a very fun time.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
US National Championships, the Downhill
The summit
Downhill discipline requires both rigorous mental and technical discipline. It involves the highest speeds in ski racing, thus representing a higher risk of serious injury in the event of an accidental fall.
In speed events like the DH, most coaches pay as much (if not more) attention to the mental preparation of the athlete as they do to technical development. In other words, extreme focus on precision of execution is needed, at speeds reaching 75-79 mph, for time-periods over one minute, with no room for error.
Results had apparently already been printed after the first 60 competitors of the Championship Downhill, only to be re-figured when Thomas & Miles, wearing bibs 70 & 71 respectively sped down to finish 9th and 10th.
At the speed trap they recorded a blistering 77 and 78 mph (not an easy event for spectators to watch... since anything over a minute is too long to hold one's breath)
w/Marty
The combination of results meant the silver for the Overall Title, an important accomplishment at J2 Junior Olympics
Finally, a sincere thanks to Sugarloaf for placing safety as such a high priority and to the Kelly Brush Foundation for the incredible support and leadership it continues to provide in guaranteeing the attention to safety of all athletes taking on this exciting, challenging sport.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
US National Championships, GS
Sugarloaf, ME
The Giant Slalom
The GS is the other technical event.
This discipline typically involves a vertical drop of 250 to 450 m, a width of approx 40 m, a course-line signaled by alternating blue and red gate pairs (each pair having an inside and an outside gate) and impacted by terrain features and combinations (changes in line direction).
The resulting pattern thus involves a variety of short and longer radius turns, with the number of gates varying between 56-70 and direction changes that depend on the VD (vertical drop) of the course.
The course
First run
Second run
The finish
W/Sandy
Monday, March 8, 2010
US National Championships, days 1-3
The upper fields maintain a consistent steep pitch (Eastern US standards) for a good portion of the 2820 feet of vertical. The summit (where I stand on photo below) sits at 4237 ft (a more impressive number than the equivalent 1291 m, a low elevation by many standards).
In fact, the pitch, the low traffic and the new snow manicured by two days of wind, provided excellent skiing, Western style. Add three consecutive days of delightful sunshine and the perfect skier-days unraveled.
(a view of the back snowfields from the top of Sugarloaf)
But in reality, I did not drive to Maine for a weekend getaway. I was attending the Junior Olympics or J2 National Championships, an event gathering top skiers representing the three US ski regions: West, East and Rocky Central (well a few foreigners raced too).
Managed with excellence from the very first race (a soft snow SL on a warm day), this event showed the perfect balance of camaraderie, professionalism and dedication.
The SuperG
phenomenal snow surface, revealing careful care and preparation of slope for some time, topped with superior grooming.
Good combination A and B netting providing a very safe triple fence at key points of the course (picture of lower section taken below headwall)
Approaching the speed trap @ 70 mph
Skiing the flats, carrying speed from the head wall
After finishing two events...
An award in Slalom
And a happy Thomas and Miles
After the race was over... I managed to sneak into the perfectly groomed hill and feel the speed, once again (it had been a few years). It was the best experience of the winter thanks to great gear, properly tuned edges and I must admit, fairly good conditioning (for which I can take credit)
Saturday, December 19, 2009
How I got to Tucson, a first marathon
I planned to run a half marathon in Montreal and to follow a rigorous training schedule this fall, but cycling alongside my son's College ski team sounded like too much fun. So instead, I said yes to joining a team of friends and colleagues for the Kelly Brush Century ride. The cause is worth every effort and every mile. Kelly is an amazing, courageous young lady, whose love of life and sports inspired close to 500 skiers, cyclists and other athletes to gather for the event.
The course starts at Middlebury College campus, with beautiful views of the Green Mountains (below).
Then continues to Button Bay State Park, Lake Champlain, follows country roads North to Shelburne, and after a hilly sections to the North rides back South to Addison. Close to Shelburne Farms is perhaps the most scenic cycling road in the State of Vermont.
A memorable ride on a beautiful autumn day, though no endurance was tested for a marathon.
Then a 10 K race ... Mad River Mad Dash
a race that coincided with my proposed training plan, where I could run with Ian (#191) and other friends.
The Mad Dash is a cross-country race on packed dirt recreation paths, crossing corn fields, over rocks and 800 yards of a gravel road (hardly what my legs were used to)
But the reality is that most of my day and time in autumn is devoted to work and home. So despite a great plan and the encouragement of a friend who believed with proper "homework" I could run a fine marathon, the last month I lacked preparation and training.
(Sheila! As promised, below is the training plan I followed!)
So I traveled to beautiful Tucson AZ.
The marathon course is a wonderful descent along the Catalina mountain range with refreshing views of the surrounding nature.
The weather was warm, the sunrise breathtaking (a poor i-phone photo below) and the group I ran the first 20 miles with, was fun and good company.
Unfortunately the experience overall was bittersweet, though it taught me to be smarter next time. But I finished.
1 | 9/7 15m bike | 9/8 x-train 15 m bike | 9/9 x-train 10 mile bike | 9/10 x-train 1.5 m swim | | 9/11 bike A Century! | |
2 | 9/14 | 9/15 6K (3.7) w/hill | 9/16 swim 800m+ 3x200 | 9/17 10K (6.2) w/hill - Easy:8.32 | | | 9/20 10K Race: Mad Dash |
3 | 9/21 x-train swim (long) | 9/22 easy: 8:43 7k w/hills | | 9/24 8K tempo w/hill - 2.5K@8.5/ 3K@7.4/3K@ 8.30 | 9/25 x-train swim (long) | 9/26 x-train bike ride 16 miles | 9/27 5 k with hill pace: 7.39 |
4 | | 9/29 12K@8.7 Mid pt = 7.33 | | 10/1 8K tempo 2.5k+3KT+2.5K | | | 10/4 16K (10m) |
5 | 10/5 5K | 10/6 8K | | 10/8 8K | | 10/10 5K | 10/11 long 20K (12.5) |
6 | 10/12 5K | 10/13 10K | | 10/15 5K | 10/16 7K | | 10/18 long 25 K (15.5m) |
7 | | 10/20 8Ktempo 2.5k+3KT+2.5K | | 10/22 10K | | 10/24 long 20K (12.5) | 10/25 x-train swim |
8 | 10/26 5K | 10/27 8Ktempo 2.5k+3KT+2.5K | | 10/29 7K | 10/30 x-train swim | | 11/1 long 16K (10m) |
9 | | 11/3 incomplete run | 11/4 6 miles (heat) | | | 11/7 5K | 11/8 long 22K (13.7) |
10 | | 11/10 8K | | 11/12 10K | | | 11/15 long 30K (18.6) |
11 | | 11/17 5K | | 11/19 5K hills of 2K+20x100+1K | 11/20 swim | | 11/22 long 22 K (13.7) |
12 | | | 11/25 10 K Marath. pace | | 11/27 3 miles speed | | 11/29 10 miles Marathon pace |
13 | | 12/1 | 12/2 5K easy | 12/3 5 m Tempo (1+3+1 treadmill) | 12/4 1 K swim | | 10 K |
14 | 12/7 1K + 5x200 + 1K | 12/8 4 m tread 800 mts swim | 12/9 Travel gym climbing | 12/10 Light 4 miles | 12/11 Light 20 min jog | Light jog | Marathon |