Skate Intervals in the Rain

As a whitewater kayaker it is hard to imagine that I would be one to complain about rain–but this has been an insanely wet beginning to summer. Rainfall totals for the last few days at my house are close to three inches. So it was no major surprise to be looking out at raindrops during pre-training coffee this morning. Layer up, pull out the vinyl raincoat and get to it!

This week we are doing lower volume with two quality sessions of Level 4 intervals. Today we did skate intervals on German Flats (great varied, but uphill terrain) and Thursday we will visit the infamous Number Nine Hill for our first bounding session. The goal of the intervals, is to maintain, or even increase the pace during the workout. We had a good little group of skiers: Dylan Grald gmvs/UVM, David Sinclair gmvs/Dartmouth and two recent high school graduates, MK Cirelli (Rutland/gmvs PG ’12) and Holly Bushman (Burke).

I think most skiers would agree with me that rollerski intervals on a cool day with a little dampness (ie. spray from the fenders) actually is an ideal condition for going hard. It’s kinda like running out of the woods in failing light–it has a little air of bad-assness. Which is good for skiing fast!

As always, if you’re in the area feel free to join us. Our next group session is Thursday at 1pm. Meet at GMVS for bounding! A few pics and we’ll ski ya later.