SMS Nationals 5/10 Classic

We finished our Nationals week simulation this morning with a 5/10 km classic time trail. Word was leaking out so we had some additional participants to bolster the competition. Bryan Cook and Maria Stuber joined us along with Megan Killigrew (SMS ’09, Dart ’13) and Heidi Henkel.

We have times for this course from over the past 10 years so it is nice to compare to see how the group is doing. Good news..everyone set PR’s!

We take split times on the course to see how people are pacing themselves AND to get a feeling for ski speed. Bryan and Maria are fast and are good bench marks for us, but they also have fast skis (Green Team issue) so their times are especially fast :).

The boys course is split into 4 timing sections, the first section is gradual up and flat, the second section is down and flat, the third section rolling up and the last section has a downhill leading into a killer uphill. The second split gives a pretty good idea of relative ski speeds along with double pole strength.

We had several people asking what happened to Skyler in the skate TT (he was last). I answered “bad wax”…indeed, he has slower skis. So..take the times with a grain of salt 🙂

Here are the boys splits and times.

Bryan 6:41, 4:28, 9:32, 4:43, 25:24

Skyler 6:46, 5:21, 8:55, 4:55, 25:57

Hamish 7:17, 5:45, 9:27, 5:32, 28:01

Gino 7:10, 4:56, 10:41, 5:23, 28:10

Paddy 7:31, 6:14, 9:53, 5:22, 29:00

Tyler 8:11, 6:14, 9:21, 5:09, 29:05

Calvin 8:01, 6:29, 10:21, 5:07, 29:58

The girls course covers the last 5 km (also the last two splits) of the boys course. The first section is rolling up and the last section has a quick downhill leading into a 1 km steep uphill finish.

Maria 10:13, 5:31, 15:44

Megan 10:50, 6:12, 17:02

Brooke 11:20, 6:14, 17:34

Issy 11:44, 6:13, 17:57

Heidi 12:05, 6:45, 18:50

Mackenzie 12:25, 6:46, 19:11

Mollie 12:47, 7:02, 19:49

Tess 13:00, 6:51, 19:51

Anika started with the boys and finished at the bottom of the last big climb (at 9 km). This was by design. Here are her splits:

Anika 8:43, 6:49, 11:38.

We had a few kids who were fighting colds or a bit tired so they skied easier and did pick ups as the racers went by. We were very happy with everyones efforts. Everyone was charging hard and it was good to see.

Pictures are from the cool-down today – all three coaches were timing and taking video, so no on course pictures, sorry!