Snow status

The ski club's snowmaking efforts seem to have taken one step forward and two steps back. The "fan gun" was retired this year and they've adopted safer equipment (something with neither fan blades nor "gun" in its title). That said, it's been slower going.

However, there is a pad of snow at riverside park where skiers will be able to try things out. Unfortunately, I will be out of town all the way through Thanksgiving. I'm confident that my captains and other veterans will step up to bring everyone on our team up to speed.

I tentatively suggested meeting Wednesday at 11a. I also encourage going Monday at the same time. I know people have busy schedules, so I set up a site where people can show their preferences for meeting times if these don't work. Please fill this out and coordinate so everyone can get a little time on snow, especially with the help of experienced skiers.

Contact me and I can get you in touch with some of your captains and teammates:
sirskow@gmail.com

The Dawn of Snow

Snowmaking journal, day one:

We woke before dawn. The morning was the coldest of the year. Gathering our supplies, the expedition prepared for the trek into town.

We took over for Troy, who seemed in good spirits, but surely welcomed being relieved.

Today has been fraught with hardship. Our donut supply has dwindled rapidly. I find solace in knowing that if I perish someone may find this record on the internet.

Hey team,
We probably won't have groomed, skiable snow for a couple days still. I'll tentatively plan to be here at Riverside Wednesday at 11a, and I invite all of you to join me, but keeping watching out for updates.

Meanwhile, most of you probably need a well-earned rest day. Tomorrow if really like you to get in an easy 30-60 minute run/bike/roller-ski (your choice), followed by 3 circuits of push-ups, v-ups, and lunges. Do as many as you can do well (probably 5-30 depending on your fitness). And if you're sitting around watching TV, try holding a plank for an entire set of commercials (suddenly you're even more grateful for Netflix, huh?).

Keep working hard!

One day more

One day more of regular practice until you'll get some time to get in shape without your team. I know everyone is really disappointed about this long Thanksgiving break, so we might arrange some meetings at Riverside to get on freshly manufactured snow.

For tomorrow (Friday), we'll start out at Lake George again before heading into the weight room. If you wear shorts and a t-shirt as your base layer, you could shed some extra layers and not melt when we head inside.

Also, we still need regular Progress Reports- get your teachers to fill these out please. They might be in a good mood tomorrow with the break coming up!

Keep checking the blog during the break!

I hope everyone is starting to feel improvement. I know for certain that I have been seeing it, even after less than two weeks.

Thanks!

sirskow@gmail.com

Wednesday 11/20

Tomorrow looks like the last warm dryland training day! Temps are supposed to be on the slide through the weekend and snow making operations up and running. With any luck you should have a chance to ski over Thanksgiving break. Which reminds me, let me know if you want to volunteer this upcoming weekend to help with the snow making. If you weren't in a fall sport you can get an activities shirt that gets you into athletic events for free. You just need to let me know what size shirt you want. Lastly if  you didn't grab a progress report form please get one from me tomorrow or in the activities office.

I was impressed with the effort hill bounding today! It also always feels great to get the ski poles back in hand during some of the bounding drills, Reminds you a bit what we're training for again.

Tomorrow will be a little bit more on the chill side after today. Bring roller blades if you don't want to run. More technique and balance work for tomorrow as well. I spoke with those roller skiing, you know what you're doing!

Long range forecasts are showing a slight chance for snow Thursday night! With any luck maybe a rock ski on Friday if the winter winds bring some of the all natural snow!

Monday 11/18

Hope everyone had a restful weekend.

Those of you who have roller skis bring them Monday.
If you'd like to rollerblade rather than run bring them.
As always bring a helmet and dress for cooler weather.

For those of you who need skis we will be fitting you with a pair tomorrow.

Let me know if you have an interest in a Team Jacket. They are $140 and take three weeks to run through production and get to us.

Week one was great general fitness. This week we will get more Nordic specific.

.

Stay off the Highway to the Danger Zone

First week: over. Literally everyone exceeded my expectations. It was amazing. And I'm pretty sure almost all of you can handle it.

But okay. I love the desire to push through pain. One of the most important skills you can learn in life is being able to do things you don't really want to do. However-

I don't love aggravating (making worse) injuries. Actually, I hate aggravating injuries.

I've been lucky. I've raced six marathons, countless 5ks, and everything in between, and I've never really been injured. Some people aren't as lucky as I am. Lance and I really, really want to know if you are one of those people. Please tell us. Even if you think it's normal, it might not be.

Yes, I've had things hurt, sometimes a lot. But it takes a while to really know what things are allowed to hurt, and what pains mean, "stop right now, you're doing serious damage."

I am not a medical professional, and I can't feel your pain. This is why you need to tell us (Lance or myself), somehow. Email, in-person, however. Bottom line: I don't want an injury to end your season early. I'll be honest, I have been pretty sore this entire first week, but I (sort of) know how things are supposed to feel. As far as I can tell, Lance is a mutant super-athlete who doesn't feel muscular pain, but is still limited by tendons and ligaments.

Every Monday, Tuesday, and Friday (3:15-5:00 p.m.), a real professional visits Tech, just feet from our normal meeting place. Normally, people pay a lot of money for a consultation, but it's totally free for Tech and South students.



This is a map of the "Medium Bridges" route we ran on Friday. Those who were running Short Bridges, we cut across the bridge on Hwy 23/2nd street. Sorry my 3.7 mile estimate was off, but congratulations on running more than four miles! Long Bridges would be a pretty big deal, going all the way to Sauk Rapids. Cross-country (maybe long-distance track) runners might do Long Bridges, but we probably won't.

Hey team, thanks for the great third day; they usually say that one's the hardest.

For tomorrow, we'll be following along the same lines. However, if you have a pair of roller blades you would like to use, bring them (as well as a pair of shoes to change into). Also, bring a helmet if you want to roller blade.

A handful of vets will also be roller-skiing (you know who you are), and will also need helmets.

I received more information about Team Night at Revolution, I uploaded to our Documents tab on the sidebar>>. Again, it will occur this Saturday, November 16 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. There will be two waxing clinics starting at noon and 2:30 p.m. I highly encourage new skiers to go see how it's done and get set up.

Thanks so much, that should do it for now!

A long row to hoe

They say the second day is the hardest, so I'm glad everyone made it through alright. For some, it was the first day, and to those I say welcome! Our hardy band made it to and from Riverside Park without any casualties today, while others were "putzing around" on roller-skis.

Tomorrow's (Wednesday) itinerary:
Running (just a warm-up)
Explosive plyometrics (please, please tell Lance or myself if something hurts; we don't want your season to end on the third day, and it's really easy to get injured doing these)
Ultimate Frisbee (don't worry, nobody else knows how to play either)

It is quite likely that practice will end a little earlier tomorrow - maybe 5:15 or sooner.


Mark your calendars
This Saturday, November 16 from 10am-6pm Revolution Cycle and Ski is hosting "Team Day". This is a great resource for new team members and anyone else who is looking for equipment. It's a locally-owned small business with a knowledgeable staff. They'll be hosting a waxing demonstration, and offering a bunch of extra discounts and freebies... I'll post more details when I get a hold of them.

You can find them at this address; they're located near Tenvoorde Ford and Miller Auto.

sirskow@gmail.com

Lessons Learned and Calories Burned

Thanks so much for making it such a great day, and I hope to see some more new faces tomorrow - get those forms in with signed checks (and thank your parents for signing them).

We got off to a cold start this season, but it looks like Wednesday will be balmy by comparison. Let's take a moment to review what we learned today:

Lesson #1: Hats
Lesson #2: Gloves

I recommend bringing an extra set to leave in your locker if you have any lying around. Also, I failed to mention this before: if you have wet clothes, they will stay wet unless you hang them up or let them out to dry. This means that if you left balls of wet clothes at the bottom of your locker, you need to bring some dry stuff, or at least take a trip to the locker room tomorrow morning to hang things up.

We'll either practice again at Lake George tomorrow, or else have an expedition all the way to Riverside Park.

Roller skiers (you know who you are): bring a HELMET, or you will not be allowed to roller ski.

Questions/comments/concerns:
sirskow@gmail.com

First Day Of Practice

I hope everyone is super excited for the first day of practice! I'm looking forward to seeing all the new faces and those of our returning skiers tomorrow. We're going to get a little taste of winter tomorrow. The forecast shows temps only reaching 23 degrees for a high.The lungs may get there first early sting of cold air. Yummy!

If you haven't turned in your money and your name is not on my roster you will not be allowed to practice.

Quick overview of Day 1:

South students can take PS-20 over to Tech. First bus that departs from South.

Everyone should check a locker out for the season. There will be a PE teacher or coach giving locker assignments out.

We will meet outside the boys locker room for practice each day. This is in the hall right next to where we had the parent meeting.

I'll cover some basics and then we'll get to the fun stuff.

Remember those layers and don't forget gloves, they are easily overlooked.

Most students get picked up outside of door 6 at the conclusion of practice.

See everyone tomorrow!

Snow! and what to wear in it

It's like manna from heaven, unless you're commuting in it. And it sure is cold.

Figuring out what to wear can be tough, especially if you're a normal person and you stay inside at all costs when it drops below 32. So here are some tips for starting the season out comfortably.

1. Layer. But you're (almost all) from Minnesota, so you already know this.

2. Cotton is your enemy. This is especially true if it's the base layer, because...

3. Being wet makes you colder, faster. Moisture-wicking fabrics will let you work up a sweat and not stay soaking (freezing) when you stop. Poly and ester are both very good friends of mine, along with polypropylene, smart wool, and that whole gang of synthetic fabrics.

4. Be prepared to practice outside every time we meet.

If you're not sure what to bring for the first week of practice, this should cover you (pun 100% intended):
-Athletic shoes (ones you can run in, because running is fun)
-A hat
-A pair of gloves
-Compression shorts/tights/long underwear
-Sweatpants/wind pants
-Synthetic baselayer top (long sleeve cotton shirt would be OK for now)
-Sweatshirt/light jacket
-That can-do attitude

If you forget and you're wearing jeans we'll still let you practice, but it will make hipster Lance very sad.

Happy trails,
Sean

Setting Goals

The ski season spans about three months, and you will be amazed how quickly that will pass. Make something out of this time: and to do this, set goals. And make them "SMART" goals:

Specific
"I want to get better at skiing" is not specific. "I want to finish in the top half at a race" is specific.

Measurable
"I want to finish in the top half at a race" is measurable. How can you decide if you've met your goal if you can't measure it?

Attainable"I want to ski for the U.S. Olympic team at Sochi 2014" is not attainable. What's attainable will be different for everyone, but you will surprise yourself at what you can achieve if you commit to it. You can take a lofty goal and make it happen by breaking it down into bite-sized attainable pieces.

Relevant
"I want to write the next great American novel", while admirable, isn't relevant to skiing. There are things besides skiing fast that could be relevant. "I want to cheer my teammates on for their entire race when I'm not skiing" is an example.

Time-bound
Set deadlines: "I want to finish in the top half at a race by the end of December". This is an element that's really easy to forget or procrastinate, which makes it especially important to focus on.


I'll be hoping to talk with you about your goals for this season, so spend a little time thinking about what you want to get out of it.

Introduction

Hello all,

I was excited to see a group of almost entirely new (to me) faces at the meeting last night. I share many educational roots you (the skiers, I mean, I don't know where your parents went to school). I went to South and Tech where I ran track and cross country, skied, played basketball (at South), as well as poorly playing the trombone, having fun in a couple choir groups, and going to the state knowledge bowl meet a couple times. I opted to try out something new and went to the University of Central Florida (go Knights!), where I studied economics and environmental studies. Also at UCF, I established the running club because running is fun and I sometimes like to run with people. I'm proud of what I did to build a running community there.

I'm often asked what I thought of Florida, so in short: yes, it's hot (but you get used to it); and good and interesting people exist everywhere - you just have to find them. I think I've found a group of good and interesting people in the Tech ski team (don't prove me wrong).

The "i" on my keyboard s startng to wear out now, so 'll gve t a rest.

sirskow@gmail.com