Lake Placid, NY – The New York Ski Educational Foundation XC Program hosted 17 athletes from around the state at the Olympic Training Center July 8-13 in Lake Placid. The week was to be a high volume week and a chance to continue working on technique.
Athletes had three focuses for the week:
1. preparation (for training and the upcoming winter)
2. focus while training
3. technique (improve efficiency)
All three of these areas were linked together through thinking while training — think about what you are doing and how you are using your muscles while skiing.
The first evening athletes were checked off for their first day of training on the “Are you ready?” board. Many of the kids had 1s, 2s, or 3s for day one, rather than the ideal 8 points per day. The board showed each athlete listed for each day of training and had areas such as on time for training, water bottle with a carrier, watch, snack, dry shirt and shoes, correct gear, recovery in between sessions and a coaches' surprise for the day. Each day was scored and totaled up for the week. By the end of week, all athletes were getting the max daily score on the board. Charlie Bencze (J2) was the grand champion and won a NYSEF hooded sweatshirt.
The week of training looked like this:
Tuesday PM – trail run, mobility and core circuits at Mt. Van Hoevenberg (1.5 hour)
Wednesday AM – classic easy distance with technique stations (2 hours)
Wednesday PM – skate easy distance with technique and video (2 hours)
Thursday AM – 20 mile double pole with 20 x 30 sec repeats (2 hours)
Thursday PM – soccer, agility and core (1 hour)
Friday – High Peaks hike including five 46er peaks of Lower Wolfjaw, Upper Wolfjaw, Armstrong, Gothics and Sawteeth (5 hours for the boys, 6 hours for the girls – the boys went the opposite direction of the girls and bet them back by 1 hour!)
Saturday AM – 17 mile distance ski, skate followed by classic (2 hours)
Saturday PM – off from training, trip to the summer ski jump competition and town
Sunday AM – skate time trial (1.25 hours)
Total for the week: 16.75 hours for the boys, 17.75 hours for the girls
Athletes finished up a great week of training with the famous Franklin Falls skate rollerski time trial — 7 km for the ladies and 9km for the men. It's a real tough course with the last half of the course climbing steep uphill. Everyone pushed through and finished the week off strong.
Special thanks to James Upham (USBA Development Coach), Zach Hall (USBA B Team), Sara Studebaker (USBA B Team) and Eric Carter (UVM Student-Athlete Intern) for providing group meetings on technique, nutrition and principles and adaptations of xc ski training.
Athletes attending: Dan Stevens (Scotia), Willie Bencze (Tupper Lake), Charlie Bencze (Tupper Lake), Wayne Clark (New Paltz), Judd Collier (Plattsburgh), Will Frielinghaus (Queensbury), Alex Goff (Lake Placid), Sam Phanuef (Old Forge), Sam Cowan (Lake Placid), Colin Delaney (Lake Placid), Alex Madden (Lake Placid), Elizabeth Izzo (Lake Placid), Carly Wynn (Queensbury), Amanda Moreland (Bloomfield), Kati Christoffel (Clifton Park), Mairead Fogarty (New Paltz), Heather Mooney (Keene Valley/Saxtons River, VT).
Coaches: Margaret Maher (NYSEF), Jason Hettenbaugh (Rochester Nordic Racing), Eric Carter (UVM Student-Athlete Intern)
Franklin Falls Skate Time Trial
Women 7 km Date Skis Time
Carly Wynn 7/13/08 Elpex 30:11:00
Amanda Moreland 7/13/08 Marwe 30:39:00
Elizabeth Izzo 7/13/08 Marwe 32:06:00
Audrey Mangan 7/13/08 35:10:00
Men 9 km Date Skis Time
Sylvan Ellefson 7/13/08 Marwe 29:19:00
Matt Delaney 7/13/08 V2 105S? 29:58:00
Eric Carter 7/13/08 Marwe 31:41:00
Paul Smith 7/13/08 Marwe 32:46:00
Harry Poole 7/13/08 Marwe 33:00:00
Colin Delaney 7/13/08 Marwe (pursuit wheels) 34:56:00
Alex Madden 7/13/08 Marwe 35:33:00
Charlie Bencze 7/13/08 Marwe 36:24:00
Dan Stevens 7/13/08 Marwe 37:11:00
Sam Cowan 7/13/08 Marwe 37:16:00
Willie Bencze 7/13/08 Marwe 39:54:00
Alex Goff 7/13/08 Marwe 41:30:00
Cooper Dodds 7/13/08 V2 850 41:35:00
Judd Collier 7/13/08 V2 940C 46:03:00
