Warriors head East: Eastern Canadian Championships 2012

Alison during the 10km. skate

          After yet another two weeks of dry-land training the UW Nordic Ski Team decided to head on over to the east for the Eastern Canadian Championships 2012.  We left the PAC with the sparsest team to date-  Coach Colin and Coach Derek, and athletes Tim, Ryan and Katie.  Two more joined the team in Ottawa though, Glenn, who's there on co-op and Alison who had arrived the day prior.  The even took place over three days, but us Waterloo gang opted out for the first day of sprints to minimize missing school and because, well, let's just say it was a big field.

          The team arrived just in time to catch the end of semi-final and final sprint races, the finals for each being between some of the country's fastest skiers- which if not awesome to spectate got us in the mood for a race, and at the least got rid of the post-bus blues. Only one Waterloo athlete competed in the sprints:

Place	Name	Time for  1.4km Free
88	Glenn Hartman	3:34

          

Waxing in no joke to Coach Colin

          The race course for the the rest of the weekend was to be the same 5km loop that was used for the distance races in previous years, and laps of that would be done for each of the various distances.  The terrain itself was somewhat of a challenge though.  Off the start was a short loop of gradual ups and downs, which worked as a good section for the pack to thin out off the start, as a place to establish your pace and to work out those start line jitters.  Following was a streak through the stadium,  a gradual climb up power line, and a grueling climb up Montee McCarthy- arguably the hardest part of the course.  It was down Dirk's dive after this, up Chute Charon, down and back into the stadium for the final turn to the finish.  Saturday's freestyle race was 10km for the women and 15km for the men, so two and three laps of said course respectively.

The UW teams results are as follows:

Women:

Place	Name	1st 5km lap time	2nd 5km lap time	Total time for 10km
73	Katie Madden	17:26	17:26	34:52
76	Alison Stephenson	17:42	17:59	35:42

Men:

Place	Name	1st 5km lap time	2nd 5km lap time	3rd 5km lap time	Total time for 15km (skate)
76	Glenn Hartman	13:25	14:11	13:54	41:32
126	Tim Hughes	14:54	15:56	16:22	47:12
136	Ryan McNamara	15:44	16:39	16:15	48:38

          So the team finished up strong (always) and made their way back to the hotel.  It was still quite early in the day and so the opportunity was had to enjoy the beautiful winter weather and the start of Winterlude, delve into some much need studying or-the popular choice- nap time.   All was well with the usual UW hotel happenings, and lots of food, water  and sleep were to be had in preparation for the next day's long distance races.

          Sunday's races were 15 and 30km classic for the women and men, respectively.  The course remained the same as the day before which meant 3 laps for the women and an astonishing 6 for the men.  Unfortunately though we were one athlete short as Glenn was not well enough to race that day. Another look at UW's impressive results...

Women:

Place	Name	1st  5km lap time	2nd 5km lap time	3rd 5km lap time	Total time for 15km (classic)
72	Alison Stephenson	20:32	21:21	21:21	1:03:15
78	Katie Madden	22:34	22:52	23:52	1:09:20

Men:

Place	Name	1st 5km lap time	2nd 5km lap time	3rd 5km lap time	4th 5km lap time	5th 5km lap time	6th 5km lap time	Total time for 30km
111	Ryan McNamara	16:28	17:48	18:11	18:48	19:13	19:16	1:49:46
127	Tim Hughes	16:34	17:42	19:30	20:31	22:15	22:28	1:59:02

Ryan, although I think this is during the skate race...

          Everybody managed to keep it together enough maintain a consistent and strong race.  The most impressive result coming from the second day of racing though was Ryan's time of 1:49:46, in comparison to last year's time of 2:12:45, a whopping  23 min faster on the exact same course. Wow!

The bus was boarded quickly as we still had a 7ish hour drive ahead of us, making for one long day.  For myself, and I think I speak for many others, the return back to reality/school was dreaded.  It's that time of year when those awful things called midterms start happening to you  and so one must often face the choice of sleep/recovery vs. studying vs. training.  The team does have this coming weekend off from racing though, which will be a welcome break to catch up on this whole school thing, and possibly get some easier training in.  The next voyage for the Warriors will be to Sudbury, Feb. 24-26 for the OUA Nordic Skiing Championships.  In farewell, I unfortunately will not be saying 'happy skiing', or 'happy trails' because I have wholeheartedly given up on skiing in Waterloo. If you are fortunate to have snow wherever you are do enjoy it, but please, try not to make the rest of us too envious. 

Alison during the 15km classic

Snow? and Racing? North Bay OUA Invitational 2012

          Scheduled this weekend of January 21-23 was the North Bay Nordic/Nipissing Invitational Race.  Although there had been previous scheduled races this season and a couple of time trials, this was the first major race for the Waterloo Nordic Ski Team.  It was similar to last year's race in that format was the same- skate races on the Saturday and classic races on Sunday but it differed in that  both the Men and Women were to ski the same distances and the forecasted temperatures weren't an unbearable -30 degrees.
         From Waterloo left coaches Colin and Derek, and athletes Martha, Lucy, Tim, Ryan, Alison and Katie.  We were joined in North Bay by Glenn who travelled from Ottawa.  Friday met us with some chillier temperatures but the skate race course was skied by the team- two laps around the red trail for both men and women.  For those unfamiliar with North Bay Nordic trails the red course is essentially a long gradual uphill, a series of rolling ups and downs, a climb up the "wall", yet more gain in elevation, about 1km of downhill back to the stadium and, for this race, a lap around the stadium, a repeat  of previous said course and back down to the finish.   To finish off the first day of the weekend the coaches stuck around to do some wax testing in preparation for Saturday's race and the athletes returned to the hotel for a room-cooked meal and an early bedtime.
          Saturday's race had quite a later start than usual- the race didn't start until 12pm.  For most athletes it was a nice relief to have such a long time to wake up, prepare for the day, and then extra time at the race site to warm up and make it to the much-anticipated start line on time.  The men were scheduled to race first and the results are as follows:



Place	Name	1st 5km Lap Time	Second 5km Lap Time	Total Time for 10km
18	Glenn Hartman	16:06	16:57	33:04
33	Tim Hughes	17:50	19:00	36:51
38	Ryan McNamara	18:44	19:47	38:31



And for the Women:





Place	Name	1st 5km Lap Time	Second 5km Lap Time	Total Time for 10km
25	Alison Stephenson	20:12	20:54	41:06
27	Katie Madden	20:44	21:03	41:47
42	Lucy Yao	28:30	31:04	59:35

       
            It was somewhat challenging for us Southern Ontario-ers as we've had significantly less time on skis than some of the northern schools.  Regardless, everyone put forth their best effort and some decent results were found, with  Glenn having  the best placing within the team.  Saturday night was the usual post-race/pre-race happenings and all was prepared for the following day's race.
          The forecast for Sunday was supposed to be a step warmer than Saturday, but as we arrived to the race site we found that it felt significantly colder than Saturday.  The start was more of a usual 10am time- the men's race starting the clock and the women's starting 25 minutes after.   The race course was North Bay's blue extension trail instead of the red. This was beneficial for a classic race because there weren't nearly as many steep climbs to herringbone up, but rather more gradual hills which were easily stride-able.  The disadvantage to this course was that many athletes had not skied the course in the past and there was very little time and/or energy to ski the course after Saturday's race.  As a result a  number of athletes saw the course for the first time during their race.  Even so, most athletes were quite pleased with their results.


Men's:

Place	Name	Total Time for 10km
13	Glenn Hartman	28:57
21	Tim Hughes	32:25
33	Ryan McNamara	34:10



Women's:




Place	Name	Total Time for 10km
19	Alison Stephenson	38:25
29	Martha Sutton	42:24
31	Katie Madden	43:53
36	Lucy Yao	1:00.0




          Once again, Glenn was the best ranked on the team, with an excellent placing of 13th.   For most, Sundays results were welcomed with much more pleasure for the team.

            The race weekend finished up quite early and we were able to depart by about 12:30 to embark on the trek to the land-of-no-snow.  To our surprise there was snow on the ground upon arrival, even enough for skiing!   However, our hopes were once again crushed with a morning of rain.  Oh well, to Mono Nordic next weekend it is for the Mono Nordic Ski Race, as it is officially called on Zone4.  Until then, happy skiing, slush-skiing or whatever the heck it is we're supposed to be doing until then.

Glenn

Lucy

Alison

        

Back to Highlands/Time Trial #2

          This past weekend it was our earnest intention to race at the Wasaga Loppet. There was, however, not enough snow on the ground to have that fulfilled.  But good  old Highlands had more then enough snow for a weekend of skiing, and so trips were planned for both Saturday and Sunday.  Saturday's schedule was a day of nice easy skiing, with some technique work, and for Sunday there was a time trial planned, in which we would be joined by Guelph.
           On Saturday Derek, Ryan and Katie made the trek, enjoyed some beautiful sunshine  (although it was still quite chilly)  and both Katie and Ryan got some classic technique expertise from Derek.
          Sunday came around and a few more Waterloo athletes came along, this time it was Colin, Alison, Lucy, Katie and Ryan.  The time trial was to be 5km classic for the women and 10km classic for the men.  After the appropriate wax was chosen for the day, everyone waxed up and made their way up the glacier to the start line.  The results are as follows:


Men's:

Place	Name	5km Split Time	2nd 5km Split Time	Total Time
1	Matti*	15:42	16:18	32:00
2	Erin P.*	15:55	16:23	32:18
3	Graham*	16:52	17:00	33:52
6	Tim H	17:14	18:16	35:30
7	Colin	18:06	18:42	32:56
11	Ryan	19:35	20:24	39:59





Women's

Place	Name	5km total
1	Laura*	19:46
4	Alison	21:25
5	Katie	25:07
6	Lucy	33:00



*denotes a Guelph skier
       
            It was a great race experience to get out onto some real snow, as neither Waterloo or Guelph has ski-able snow.  Next weekend both teams will travel to North Bay to participate in the North Bay/Nipissing OUA invitational.

Time Trial # 1

           Early Sunday, January 8, 2012 the UW Nordic ski team rolled out of bed and started the drive from Waterloo to Highlands Nordic for a 10km skate time trial with Queens University and The University of Toronto. In Waterloo, the snow was just dusting the grass blades, but as the cars drove north the snow began to accumulate and at Highlands the snow was perfect for the upcoming time trial; a hard base from a thaw earlier in the week covered in a few centimeters of fresh snow.

          The morning at Highlands began with the confirmation of the time trial course. The primary concern in choosing the course was the likelihood other recreational skiers would also be using those trials. In the end it was determined the course would consist of two 5km laps starting and finishing at Larry’s glacier following a mix of the red and yellow trail markers.

          Shortly after 10:00am, Seven Waterloo skiers lined up to start, two men and four women (finally the ladies are outnumbering the men). Ryan, Tim H., and Colin lead the charge for the Waterloo men. After the first few climbs Colin dropped out still suffering from a lingering cold but Ryan and Tim pulled through finishing with times of 38:34.0 and 34:33.0 respectively.

          The women started a few minutes behind the men. Emily, Alison, Martha, and Lucy lined up amongst the UofT and Queens skiers. Emily and Alison went off with a strong start as the field spread out, sitting in fourth and sixth through most of the first lap. Emily stopped during the first 5km choosing to take it easy after racing the previous week at US nationals and racing next weekend at World Junior Trials. Alison skied the full 10km looking much better than earlier in the fall season. She skied slightly faster the second lap finishing in a final time of 39:52. Before the start of the time trial, both Martha and Lucy with the support of coach Colin Rhodes decided to only race 5km. Martha chose the shorter distance because of a persistent but recovering injury and Lucy chose that distance because she was very new to skiing. Martha finished in a time of 21:40.0, while Lucy finished in 28:58.0.

          After the time trial and some technique work on the groomed trails at Highlands, the UW Nordic ski team pack up the cars and drove back to the green grass waiting in Waterloo.

Men’s 10km Skate

Place	Name	School	Time
1	Patrick	U of Toronto	29:27.0
2	Aaron	U of Toronto	29:32.0
3	Ian Weir	U of Toronto	30:13.0
7	Tim H.	Waterloo	34:33.0
12	Ryan M.	Waterloo	38:34.0

Women’s 10km Skate

Place	Name	School	Time
1	Julie McVicar	Queens	36:14.0
2	Jessica Metuzals	Queens	36:33.0
3	Katie Prufer	Queens	36:54.0
5	Alison Stephenson	Waterloo	39:52.0

Article written by: Alison Stephenson

Twas the Night before Ski Camp not a Snow Flake was in the Air

Beware the writing contained beyond this point is not very good and may not be suitable for all to read. PS this is why I’m an engineer.

Twas the night before ski camp not a snow flake was in the air

The forecast was warm which caused us skiers to say our goodnight prayers

Excitement was rising since all exams were nearly written

Even though it was warm Coach Colin said “Don’t forget your mittens”

The day had now come when some athletes planned on arriving

It started with three men, Derek, Oliver and Glenn driving

The car was very packed, due to the amount of equipment

Many pairs of skies and clothes this was a large shipment

Normally at the corner of Singhampton snow can be seen

But not this December 15 nothing but the hideous sight of green

To the farm house we entered, unpacked and started to relax

Today sure wasn’t the day to be thinking about ski wax

There were two more skiers on their way

Both Colin and his friend Ursula were the only others for the day

The five got dressed and laced up their shoes

To the bush they disappeared ......(couldn’t think of word to rhyme, therefore you come up with one)

After dinner the schedule read a strength circuit

Everyone complained but that courageous Glenn R. Workit

When it came to push ups he did well over a hundred

Some say Chuck Norris got scared and wondered

The strength circuit pretty well summed up the night

Everyone soon was off to bed to rise early in the morning sun light

In hopes that snow would have scattered that ground

That way they could ski and not run around

Well rhyming takes a lot of time and so the remaining of the ski camp adventures will not be shared in such a way as the first day.

So day two of the camp soon arrived with a few centimetres of snow on the ground. The four guys unpacked their rock skies and set out for a morning adventure out on the white stuff. A few laps began around the lower field but soon their interest grew short and they began to trek through the ponds and mud puddles formed through-out the various trails leading up to Larry Glaciers. The snow was little nicer up top, or maybe it was the fact that the ground was not a marsh that melted the snow the instant it hit the ground. As you can imagine there was not a heavy amount of snow but we made the best of it by putting a few hours of striding in, with a hint of mud running and rock climbing. Yes that is right ladies and gentlemen some rock climbing was done while we were out for our morning ski. It may be a little painful to take in the fact that skies were being used for the pleasure of climbing over trees across beds of rocks and through patches of raspberry plants, but coming from the not so snowy city of Waterloo the conditions were not all that big of a surprise for any of us. A good few hours went by from the fun filled morning which made it lunch time and gave us some time to realize how much we all wished there was snow on the ground so there was no repeat of the morning. But lunch was finished up and the scheduled nap was disrupted to yes you guessed it go for another ski hike with skies on. This time around things were not near as fun since we came to realize this wasn’t the smartest and nicest way to treat ones skies. So the afternoon ski came to a close with the remaining afternoon work out to be done by playing some ultimate Frisbee. Due to the short turn out so far to the camp teams were broken down into the young bucks, strong accurate thrower rookie Oliver Conway-White and superior quick hands second year Glenn Hartman. These two men took on the old folks, butter hands Colin Rhodes, talented but short Ursula and lastly Sir falls a lot Derek Hartman. As you can imagine it was a blow out game with the young guns making some unbelievable plays leaving the old farts left behind not knowing what hit them. Day two soon came to an end which included the arrival of two more fellow athletes, Tim Hughes and newly comer Lucy.

Saturday morning came with a great surprise, nearly a foot of powder. Breakfast was quickly eaten since everyone was so excited to get out and experience the winter wonderland. Everyone strapped on their skies and set out for a morning of technique on the classic skies. The day consisted of skiing and lots of it. Most people remained with the classic since the snowmobiles had not yet had time to proper pack the trails and make the conditions suitable for skating. There wasn’t even time for a nap this afternoon because of the fear that the snow would soon disappear. So after long kilometres on out in the bush dinner was greatly appreciated by all. Joining us for dinner were a few extra Hartman boys Ian and Karl as well as some Guelph athletes Shaun, Laura and Mary. After dinner was complete the Waterloo team did the tradition gift exchange which resulted in a few laughs from some ridiculous gifts, may just have to come out next year to see what the gifts were since that sometimes becomes a routine of re gifting. Most hit the hay around 8:00 in order to be rested up for another great day of skiing and/or potentially racing in the Yuntide Blast.

Sunday came quick with only getting an 11 hour sleep, breakfast was eaten with hardly a word spoken (general case for tired, hungry skiers). The race today was going to consist of a 3 km loop from the lodge, out the green loop taking the short cut up to the first finger were the climb continued. Once the top of the climb was reached the remaining part of the race proceeded to be downhill, backwards on blue to Larry’s Glacier and a sprint down to the finish. For the men this was repeated 3 times and with the women doing 3 as well. Not too many Waterloo members participated in the race due to the fact of working extremely hard over the previous few days. Results available on Zone4.ca.

Over all the camp ended fairly well, plus I am getting really bored writing this blog so that’s all I’m writing. If you want more, it will be nice to see you all out next year that way you can experience in the excitement.

Merry Christmas Everyone,

Happy skiing over the break and I will see you out at the future races.

December's Daily Dilemmas

          Yesterday morning I woke up to 35 centimeters of snow.  The excitement was unbearable, I immediately went to scrounge up whatever ski gear I could find in the basement (I was visiting home and, without anticipating snow, left all of my ski gear in Waterloo) and was planning on getting to our local ski club as soon as I could to indulge in all of the snow we'd gotten.  I was then faced with a decision.  With upcoming exams and all, I really should have been spending the day studying, with upcoming ski season though, I really should have been spending the day skiing...

          The conclusion I drew was that being a university skier in December is hard! For any student, December is a month full of final projects and exams, not a lot of sleep and stressing about whether the work you have or haven't done will be good enough for whatever your standards are.  Generally speaking, not a fun time- at least in my experience.   Being a skier though, December is a very exciting time of year- after 8 months or so of dry-land, the snow finally comes and you get to try out all of those fancy new tricks (or was it technique?) you've learnt over the fall.  But not only is it an exciting time of year, it is also a time crucial in your training plan.  If dry-land, you're trying to get in as much volume as possible, and if on snow, as much time on snow as possible.  So the study vs. ski dilemma isn't purely desire over discipline, but two competing needs both with considerable consequences.

          In the end, I ended up going for the ski, and it was well worth it.  The snow was beautiful and I even got some studying in too.  The message here isn't to skip out on studying the day before that exam you have to pass to go for a ski, but to know that as university skiers we're all in the same boat right now.  Study hard for those exams, and get out there in the snow as much as you can manage. Christmas is right around the corner, where we will be able to ski until we can ski no more.