NEWS FLASH UPDATE

          Folks, UWNN has a serious news update to make with regards to last weekend's racing.  It has been brought to our attention(/calculated by coach Colin) that we have tied for the overall men's team points from Ocup #2 in Walden.  The tie was with Guelph who had a significantly larger number of skiers.  But alas, it is about quality and not quantity.  This is a significant result for the UW Nordic ski team as we have been struggling in the past few years for enough numbers to even have full teams.  Walden was a great confidence building race, and we can expect that this result will give us a boost to bring our best foot (ski) forward for upcoming races.  A NorAM you say this weekend? No problem. UWNN (as well as the team) will be there ready to rock'n'roll.  See ya on the trails!

Ocup #2- Bring your Woolies to Walden

          This past weekend the UW Nordic Ski Team competed in the first of their three major race weekends of the season.  The race was the Ontario Cup #2, held in Lively, Ont. (near Sudbury) hosted by Walden Nordic Ski Club.  The team travelled up as per usual on the Friday preceding  the event to pre-ski and get a feel for the race course.  The race format for the weekend was middle distance classic race on the Saturday and a longer distance skate race on the Sunday.
         The forecasted weather conditions for the weekend also proved to be challenging.  For Saturday a mid-range temperature between -2 to -6 and lots of fresh snow meant there was some figuring out to do for selection of the perfect grip wax.  And with Sunday's plummet to -19, it was expected to be a slow day for skating- even with the right choice of wax.
          The men got the first crack in the tracks (or what remained of them) in Saturday's classic race, being the first race  scheduled off the clock.  Saturday's race was also an interval start, with skiers starting at intervals of 30 seconds.  The entire men's team laid down some solid and consistent races.  The women were starting a little later in the morning, which meant that the snow would be that much softer, the hills that much more chewed up, and the tracks a little bit less useful.  Nonetheless, the women's team of two strode to the line, in a field that was somewhat less competitive than the men's.
Saturday's race results:


Men's:

Place	Name	Total Time for 10km	Time off of First Place
Junior Men
7	Colin Elliot	38:59.0	3:19.4
9	Ryan Fahey	39:43.4	4:03.8
Senior Men
3	Tim Rhodes	37:28.8	1:14.5
6	Glenn Hartman	38:51.7	2:37.5
10	Nolan Beanlands	40:49.3	4:35.1
21	Colin Pilkey	56:16.3	+20:02.0



Women's:

Place	Name	Total Time for 5km	Time off of First Place
5	Alison Stephenson	22:01.0	1:45.0
15	Katie Madden	26:10.3	5:54.3



          After a day of racing, warming up, cooling down, testing skis and locating teammates, the team was ready to head back to the hotel for some recovery time.  This time was spent by taking painful ice baths, (not so painful) naps, watching a hockey game or two, eating some delicious and healthy food, and prepping for the next day of racing.  An important aspect of the nights in between races is to debrief that day's races- figure out what you did well and what mistakes you could learn from- and to set goals for the following day's races.  Speaking of the next days races...
          The expected temperature plummet did in fact play out, and by the time the early morning run rolled around it was a balmy -19 with a windchill of something even more ridiculous.  Nevertheless, the races were held and the team bundled up to the point of being unrecognizable- and then some.  There was grease, tape and double layered buffs  on all of our faces, in an attempt to keep the frost from biting.  All circumstances considered, the team had a general, overall better day from the results perspective.


Women's:

Place	Name	Total Time for 10km	Time off of first place
4	Alison Stephenson	37:07.4	+2:53.3
10	Katie Madden	39:49.8	+5:17.6



Men's:

Place	Name	Total Time for 15km	Time off of First Place
4 (senior men)	Tim Rhodes	46:06.9	+2:13.0
5 (junior men)	Colin Elliot	46:08.2	+5:09.1
6 (senior men)	Glenn Hartman	46:14.3	+2:20.4
24	Nolan Beanlands	49:27.1	+5:33.1



         And with the first big weekend of racing at a wrap, it was time to hit the road for a long bus ride back to Waterloo.  Upon arrival in Waterloo we were warmly welcomed with a fresh layer of snow, which hopefully will be skied on the majority of this week.  The next bout of  racing is coming right up this weekend at the third race in the Haywood NorAm race series, taking place at Highlands Nordic in Duntroon, Ont.  Stay tuned!

Yuletide Race Results

Women's Results:

Place	Name	Total Time
13	Alison Stephenson	25:50
22	Katie Madden	28:18

Men's Results:

Place	Name	Total Time
16	Glenn Hartman	21:43
19	Tim Rhodes	21:48
27	Colin Rhodes	23:35
28	Ryan Fahey	24:06
29	Nolan Beanlands	24:11

Christmas time, ski time

         After a long and snowless December, patience was running dry just in time for Mother Nature to give in.  Winter camp was the light at the end of a long tunnel of final exams, a month of long days spent by seemingly endless hours of studying, and a mark of the beginning of the holiday season.  There was just one problem up until this point: there was no snow to be seen. 

Hold it.  There was one other slight-well, maybe kinda big- problem.  The world was scheduled to end, that's all.  Anyway...

          There had been snow previously in December-both in Waterloo and at Highlands-  however, many days of rain and forecasts of 10° weather  destroyed any hopes that skiing might become anything less than a privilege.  The plan for winter camp was still rolling but Coach Colin warned us of the possibility of having to rollerski, so we prepared ourselves for the worst.  Thursday morning dawned and upon arrival to Highlands there was still no sign of any of the white gold under the rainbow.  But luckily by Thursday night the leprechaun made it to the pot and on Friday endless amounts of white gold were falling from the sky and everyone was more than happy with their share.

        In short, we got lots of snow. No really, LOTS of snow.

        The majority of team members arrived throughout the day on Thursday-Fri. Morning, those being Coach Colin, Coach Derek, Tim, Alison, Katie, and Nolan and Ryan F. Arriving from Ottawa. The rest of the stragglers were expected to arrive throughout the weekend.

         To continue with the strength building that has been a part of our fall training, the official first activity of the training camp was a strength circuit.  The circuit was by no means your standard circuit.  Though it was plain and simple: large numbers of push ups, squats, dips, and sit ups were expected- you pick the format.  It was reported that everyone was able to complete this task, except for Coach Colin who may have put his coaching dictatorship to use.

         Friday was skate day. Not figure skating, not hockey skating- not even skateboarding- but you guessed it, skate...skiing! Remember, we ARE the Nordic Ski team , we do actually ski sometimes.  The day started out with some technique work: no poles, weight shift, hips forward.  After each of us fully mastered each and every major technique point we moved to the hill to do some offset work and video analysis.  This was a very useful tool for improving technique, but it was hard to focus for there were much more serious matters on our minds: tuna toasties.  We used our new found technique to ski as fast as we could back to the farm house to indulge ourselves in the winter camp delicacy.  On a less serious note, the post-nap scheduled ski was 'downhill technique' which, at first, there was some focus but as soon as variations on the drill were introduced- 2 people, 2 skis, going backwards, skiing blindfolded,  and the infamous Zoro- all serious concentration was lost.  That wrapped up the first full day of winter camp.  The day on snow, that is.  There was much more to come in the evening- the main part being the gift exchange.  The rules for the exchange are simple: Bring a gift, trade the gift, guess who's gift you get.  The kicker is that that gift has to be under $5, and it can be anything from a pack of gum, to some old ski boots you found in your basement.  The point being, it can really be any (ridiculous, or not) household item that you wish to discard.

         To fit the schedule accordingly, Saturday was classic day.  As a team we usually only skate rollerski, so getting some solid miles and technique sessions on classic skis is imperative.  We did a whole heck of a lot of no poles and video technique which as confusing as it may be (at least I always find it confusing) makes a whole heck of a lot of difference.  That afternoon we had a classic time trial amongst ourselves which, although racing probably felt a little rusty for most, was a good opportunity to have a less serious first race on snow.  On a side, but more exciting note, Kikkan Randall decided to show up at our technique session.  We tried to give her a few pointers, but she wouldn't have any of it.  The only alternative was to invite her in for some tuna toasties which c'mon, you have to admit, you shouldn't say no to regardless of how famous and/or fast you are.  Sadly, she didn't show (which meant we didn't have to give up any tuna toasties) but I guess it was pretty cool to be skiing at the same venue as one of the fastest world cup female skiers.

         To finish off the training camp we participated in Highland's annual Christmas time race, the Yuletide blast.  The race was well attended by many top university skiers and the amount of snow that the area received over the previous days meant a very snowy course.  Race results to follow.

         Exams done? Check. Training camp done? Check.  This could only mean one thing: that it was officially Christmas holidays for the UW Nordic ski team! It was time for everyone to go home to Christmas dinner's, cozy houses, friends and family.  Happy Holidays!