Monday, 27 February 2023

Week of Feb 27th - Everyone's Going Racing!


We're so glad that true winter has returned - about time in late February - which should set us up for a great final weekend of RACING!

Some are traveling North to Timmins for the Ontario Youth Champs, while most are staying in the area for what could be a cool double-header weekend!

We are wishing Elliot, Livia, Sarah, and Lily all the best as they face-off against may of the best U14 and U12 skiers in the province.  Coach Sarah will be leading this group and they'll also be joined by Anna Liisa Vurma and Jackson Golisky who are both also U14's training with the Senior Team.  

Right here at HSB, the Fischer Loppet offers a variety of distances for Junior Skiers.  Younger skiers are encouraged to challenge themselves to the 5km distance.  Older skiers could even attempt the 15km if they feel they have enough skiing this year.  See the registration link HERE and some notes below for Saturday.

Things get even MORE fun on Sunday with the Midland Ski(ish) Cross event.  Part "Regular" ski race and part "Snow Cross" the event was such a hit last year that the organizers have brought it back.  You'll be rewarded for all the time we put into agility this year if you try it!  See the registration link HERE and some notes below for Sunday.

Sadly this marks the last official week of the Junior Program for the season.  You have all been such a great bunch and you've all improved your skiing so much!  We can't wait to see how much stronger you'll become next Fall!

With that said, there is another final race in the SOD Series at Georgian Nordic on Saturday, March 26th - the Team Sprints!  It is by far the most fun event of the series and parents are welcome too!

Typically a short loop (500m to 800m) is skied by a pair tagging at the end of each lap.  The team would do six (6) laps in total with each skier going three (3) times with a break in-between while the other skis.

As noted above, snow conditions this year are looking great and the long-term forecast for the Parry Sound area - see HERE - looks really good through the March Break.

If the conditions allow, we'll look to see if we can do a "Crust Ski" sometime in the HSB area before the end of winter.  We look for some unique set of conditions where the snowpack has thawed but then refrozen hard enough that you can ski right through the forest as if it was a groomed trail.  It's LOTS of fun and hopefully something we'll be able to do as a group this year if the weather gives us the perfect day.

Tuesday - Skate Skiing at HSB

We will meet at The Chalet!  Arrive between 5:20PM and 5:25PM so that we can begin skiing by 5:30PM.

A working HEADLAMP is still REQUIRED to participate.  Please make sure you have yours packed with fresh/charged batteries.

Practice will run until 7:00PM as per usual.

Saturday - Fischer Loppet

The 15km Classic begins at 9:25AM and the 15km Skate at 9:40AM.  Happy to provide some waxing recommendations on Friday night, but right now it's looking to be around -8C to -4C during the event, so perfect Blue Wax conditions!

For those doing the 15km, just scout out the first climb out the "Racer Out" as it's the hardest part of the route.  Once you're up to Cookie Tin, the course is much easier and does the FULL Sochi Extension - see HERE.

The 5km and 2.7km events begin at 12:30PM and 12:35PM respectively and are on much easier routes featuring many of your favourite trails.

Coach Jason will be in the 30km Skate, so look for him out there in the morning as well as around the Start/Finish for the 5km and 2.7km events.


Sunday - Midland Ski (ish) Cross

Here is a quote from the organizers about the race - which is Skate

After lots of positive feedback from the coaches last year, this year’s event will again be an interval-start race on a closed-loop course. Please beware that our course is only for the brave and, as always, will include ski cross features such as jumps, banked turns and rollers…..

We'll send out more info once the start times are released, but plan to be there early to pre-ski to get to know the course.

This is one of Coach Adam's favourite events, so watch for him flying down those curves!

As for the rest of your week, here are some suggestions for other activities should you need them:
  • Be active every day, get enough sleep and be sure to always eat healthily
  • Running – Try for 20-30min.  Start easy, but find some hills if you can!
  • Cycling – Try for 20-30min, indoors on a Spin Bike while watching your favourite show
  • Strength Training – Keep up with the exercises that we did at practice in the Fall on your own.  We would encourage everyone to keep up with doing one Run/Strength session each week.
  • Be sure to keep working on your mobility either through stretching, yoga, pilates, etc.  There are LOTS of great resources online
  • We know that most of you are quite active between practices, just be sure you are doing something for 45-60min most every day.

Team Hardwood Provincial and National Program Blog - http://teamhardwood1819.blogspot.com/?m=1

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