Ready to race !

After waiting around for another day the boys and I are ready to race. It looks as though postponing the classic race for a day will enable the organizers to patch together a 2.5k loop for tomorrows 15k. Hopefully I will be able to draw on my past experience running indoor track while at Virginia Tech so that I do not lose track of what lap i'm on. It will be a hamster wheel with skiers going round and round and with somewhere around 120 races it should prove interesting. It should also be a great opportunity to jump on the tails of some world class skiers and hitch a ride for a lap or two!

Yesterday we went to Great Glen trails in New Hampshire to seek out some snow. The trails were in great shape despite the recent thaw. Thanks to Eli Walker and the rest of the staff at Great Glen for getting the trails in shape for everyone. It was also great to see that they only charged each skier $5.oo to ski when they could of charged whatever they wanted ! You don't often see that kind of inhospitality or common sense when it comes to things of that nature and it was a huge relief for many! Thanks Again

Here a some pictures from yesterday and today. Enjoy !

(Waxing the boards up for tomorrow)

(Hanging out at the races)

(Adam racing in the qualification)

(Reed racing in his qualification)

(Our home for the week)

Nor-Am Biathlon

Last week Marty and I left Rochester and headed to our home away from home the Bradley's in Barrie Vermont. The Bradley's have been awesome letting us stay at their home for many different reasons the last few years. It makes everything a lot easier having a place to stay where you can get a good home cooked meal, enjoy great accommodations and most importantly great conversation.

(Our waxing facility at the Bradleys ! World Class)

The reason for our trip last week was to race in the Nor-Am Cup Biathlon races in Jericho Vermont. Well the report from home was that the temps were rising and the snow melting we were greeted with -6 deg on the first morning of competition. The sun came out and all three days of competition were as good as it gets with nice firm tracks and lots of snow. These races also acted as the world junior trials so their were a lot of teams, parents, and coaches making the atmosphere at the range pretty electric.

(Standing Shotting at Jericho)

It was great to see all of the New York juniors at the races. NY has a long tradition of producing some of the top biathletes in the country and it looks like we have a few more on the way!!!! The races went well for both Marty and I as we were able to go 1-2 in all 3 races. Since just about everyone who is front of us on the national rankings list is in Europe racing the podium was left wide open for the taking, and neither of us were complaining. The juniors also had a great week with Carly Wynn leading the way and qualifying for World Juniors !! Also qualifying for World Juniors was Silky Hynes a transplanted NY'er. Also competing and doing very well were NY'ers Alex Goff, Patrick Detraglia, Brian Halligan, Will Fieroh, Elizabeth Izzo, Hilary Saucy, and Maddie Phanuef

.

(My helpers for the week, Toko Cold Powder mixed with HF Blue says the kitten)

I would also like to thank Art Stegen, and Sean Halligan for all of their help on the range. Sean also had a great race on Thursday, showing his son that he still has it!

Results are posted here. http://www.eabiathlon.org/

All in all it was a great week. I'm now in Rumford Maine for U.S Nationals with Reed and Adam ! Update to be posted SOON

!!

(Also my entertainment)

It's all about the PIE !!

For most NY skiers the Osceola Christmas race is the unofficial kickoff to the ski season. It's not called the "World Famous Osceola Christmas Race" for nothing ! With over 240 races it is one of the largest races in NY.

Not only are early season bragging rights on the line but so are delicious pies for the winners of each age group! In addition to earning respect and pies race organizer Julie makes custom pottery awards for the top3 in each age group. Check out all of her beautiful and unique products at http://www.earthandironstudio.com/ So needless to say their is a lot on the line for this early season race to make it even more interesting the race was classic technique this year. Thankfully Hugh came through laying down some sweet tracks with his new grooming set up and the snow gods came through and blessed the tug will with plenty of the early season white stuff.

With all that was on the line R.N.R decided to come out with the guns blazing and blazing they were. With both overall winners and 4 of the top 6 overall having ties to the summer program things could not of been much better. Congratulations to Chad Day and Amanda Moreland on the overall win and to Jason Hettenbaugh, and Hanna Barnes on their top 3 overall performances. In addition to being in the top 3 overall we also had some great junior performances from Eric and Reed going 2 and 3 in the J1 boys and Adam winning the OJ boys race. Steve also had a good race finishing 2nd in the M4 race. All in all it was a great day to be a part of R.N.R !!

Currently R.N.R is training hard for some big time races coming up. Marty and Jason are in Vermont racing the Nor-Am Biathlon races in Jericho. So far they are off to a great start with Marty taking the victory in the Sr mens category and Jason placing second!! Next week Jason, Reed, and Adam are headed to Rumford Maine for U.S Nationals, and then most of the team will be back together for the Queensbury JOQ followed by the Super Tour in Lake Placid. We are also going to have a surprise for all of you soon so keep your eye open!!

Our day in Pictures

Recently our weekend practices have been at our local alpine hill. No matter what you call it moose-hoofing, ski-walking, it's a great workout!

Since we have been doing this workout for a couple of months the number of repeats is getting pretty high and starting to create a serious "SITUATION" for my legs!

So to give them a little more this week we decided to keep the number of repeats the same but to add a little spin session at the end.

The data was good and the attitudes even better!

After all the hard work it was time for a treat.

The kids seemed fine but the workout almost killed one of us!

Even after and Epic workout you still have to get up the next day and get after it, no matter how you feel, how the weather is, or what your friends are doing ! It's all on YOU !!

Get out there and get after it!

Keep On Rollin'

(Amy headed to St.Lawrence to ski next year, headed to the bottom to ski to the top today)

We are going full speed ahead here in Rochester. Most of the athletes are now done traveling for the summer and are focused on getting the job done ! We are still missing a few that are finishing up there last week at various summer camps and family vacations, but we had a good solid group last night to get after it, and that they did!

(The ladies headed out)

When we fist started coming to this hill the everyone was doing between 4-6 repeats. Last night everyone did between 8-10 repeats. Not only has the number gone up but the avg time has gone down !! It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that the kids are getting fit!

(The one thing that about roller skiing is that when you fall it is going to leave a mark, the questions is how fast do you get back up?)

Last night I took some video so that they could review there technique. I waited to take the video on the last two sets so that we could see what was going on when they started to get a little fatigued. We still have a lot of work to get done but things are looking good!

(If you ski up a big hill you gotta go back down! Coach Weston running the lift service)

New Paltz Camp

Another week another camp! This week we packed up the car and headed to New Paltz for the second consecutive year. Last year was so much fun the word seemed to spread within the group and this year 5 athletes and I made the journey East.

(My car has looked like this for 75% of the summer! Sweet!)

First off I want to thank the entire Mancuso family for hosting this camp at there home. Without them stepping up and providing accommodations, food, coaching, and support this camp would not take place. I would also like to thank Art Stegen, and Greg Malia for helping out as well.

(Adam and Reed with our host and athlete Gabby Mancuso)

The New Paltz area is a really special place. Being only an hour outside of NY City you would assume that there would be no place to roller ski and limited places to even train. Well you would be wrong because this place is awesome! In the heart of the Gunks there are miles and miles of carriage trails to run on, as well as some sweet roads to roller ski on. There are also some huge climbs around with the Catskills being so close.

With so much to do, the time and the camp really flies by. We arrived on Thursday and got right in to it heading out for a skate technique session, followed by a trail run up to the Mohonk Mountain House. This place is sick ! It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Once up to the grounds we went through a rock scramble and then climbed up to the fire tower. We even poached a swim in the lake, though somehow I think the lifeguards knew we were not guest they let us sneak in and out!

(The Mountain House from the fire tower)

On Friday we got in a skate OD in the morning and then a classic technique session in the afternoon. Saturday the group headed out for a classic roller ski and then in the afternoon we went for a sweet mountain bike ride up in the Gunks! It was refreshing to be able to ride a few miles and then jump in a mountain lake, ride a few more miles and then jump in another lake. Pretty spectacular training. Sunday morning we headed south to West Point for a time trail. Last year we classic skied the TT so this year we switched it up and went with skate. Now we have a baseline for both techniques. The TT is primarily uphill for 5 or 10k depending on age and ability and has a huge shoulder so it is also safe.

(All these camps are hard work for the coaches as well but hey I cant think of a better way to spend the summer!)

The kids all were hurting and put in some good efforts. This time of year it is good to remind the body what it takes to put in that kind of effort. Though for some of them it was there third TT in as many weeks. Luckily there are no camps this week, other than vacation so we are working hard back in Rochester with the rest of the crew!

(Reed's new profile picture, I'm sure this will be on Facebook very soon!)

(The R.N.R Boy's Minus Dylan who forgot his sneakers and rocked the five fingers on the run and rock scramble! Needless to say his feet were hurting at this point)

(The crew back to work on Monday)

(Get after it ! )

Busy Time Of Year.

To put it mildly the summer is super busy. It seems as though there are commitments everyday of the week, this week, next week, last week, every week. It sounds funny and maybe crazy but to be good really good you have to make a commitment a commitment to get better each and everyday!

(Warm-Up obstacle course)

The summer though seems to try to add other commitments vacations, weddings, late nights, and all the things that seem to happen over the summer. I guess it is a good thing in some ways since we compete over the winter when everyone else seems to go in to hibernation. For the most part everyone has been dealing well with all of the commitments and some even seeming to excel. For some the commitment may be only 3 days a week when we meet as a group for others it might be 7 days a week. It seems as though the entire U.S is stepping up it's game and in by doing so there are a lot of opportunities to share your commitment with others.

(Dinner at Charlie's on our way to Craftsbury Salmon, Venison, and Caribou!!)

Most recently I had the opportunity to attend the NENSA REG Camp in Craftsbury Vermont. It was an amazing opportunity, and i'm glad that they extended it to include some of us from Mid-A. Not only was I able to be a part of the camp but so were three athletes Reed Likly, Elizabeth Izzo, and Charlie Bencze. Everything at the camp was amazing the coaches, the athletes, the accomidations, the weather, I mean everything. I have been to a lot of camps as both a coach and and as an athlete and this was without a doubt the best. It is not a surprise that New England has brought home the Alaskan Cup the last couple of years and that they are also well represented on the USST. There is a level that has been set in New England and everyone is trying to get to that level. Pretty sick stuff !! A big thank you to NENSA for letting us take part. For more on the camp check out http://www.nensa.net/index.html For more info on Craftsbury and the Green Racing Team check out http://www.craftsbury.com/skiing/nordic_center/home.htm

(The NENSA REG CAMP)

This week some of the R.N.R gang has invaded the OTC in Lake Placid for the NYSEF camp. They will be home next weekend and on Thursday a bunch of will be leaving for New Paltz for another camp! Three Camps in less than a month! Commitment!!

On a side note I recently drove out to Oklahoma City with my dad to pick up his new Stratos Bass Boat. It was a 20hr trip one way from the HF. We left Friday morning at 9am and I was back here Sunday at 1:00pm. We even stopped at my Grandmothers for breakfast Sunday Morning! I got to see some cool things along the way. The St. Louis Arch, Busch Stadium, Lucas Oil Stadium, and above all other the World Headquarters for Bass Pro in Springfield Missouri. Most of you know how much of a country guy I am and it was like heaven on earth. We only got to stop for about an hour so I need to go back for sure. You could spend a week in that place and not get see everything. Pretty sweet place.

Keep it real and keep the commitment going! I'm off the practice !

(It's hot here in NY as well)