Red Deer Nordic’s NEWSLETTER April, 2015 The last of the snow! March, 2015 Remember this in the summertime! Our Last Month of Snow It is difficult to watch the snow melt and not have your emotions swing between sadness and anticipation. On the one hand, it can be hard to say goodbye to a ski season. (There are trails left unskied! Hills unconquered! Routes unexplored!) When one thinks back to the first few strides in perfect track, it is understandable to be a little remorseful as puddles start to form where your intervals formerly paced. With the melt comes all sorts of other surprises, like the construction and restructuring of the riverbank, or the fresh tracks of overzealous all-terrain vehicle drivers, not to mention all the recently buried dog poop. Wolf Howl Read about the screams, the surprises, and the hot chocolate that made this night ski great fun! On the other hand, when the temperatures start to warm and one can see grass under the snow banks, athlete minds start to turn towards running, mountain biking, and warm days in the sun. Can you blame them? After 6 months of tricky weather and piles of slush, who wouldn’t want a little bit of sunshine and a chance to wear shorts? Read on about Red Deer Nordic and Track Attack’s adventures in the last days of the season. Check out our “new” trail map, photos, and stories! Ski on as long as you can! J Yay! Spring! Page 3 Nationals Page 2 Read more about results in Thunder Bay, Ontario, at the 2015 Haywood Ski Nationals! . lorem is a, April Newsletter, 2015 Nationals in Thunder Bay Red Deer Nordic representation at the 2015 Haywood Cross Country Ski Nationals! M O RE IN F O What is it? The Haywood XC Ski Nationals are sponsored by Haywood Securities (hence the name). “Nationals,” as they are simply called, are every year in different venues across Canada. The races are the completion of a season of ski racing, and a huge domestic competition. Where? This year, Nationals was held at the Lappe Nordic Centre, about 20 mins/45 km from Thunder Bay, Ontario. Who Comes? The Haywood Canadian Cross Country Ski Nationals are held every year at a Nordic venue in Canada. There are 5 races (Team Sprint, Interval Start Short Distance, Interval Start Medium Distance, a Short Individual Sprint, and a Mass Start Long Distance race). The split in odd numbered years is 40% skate skiing to 60% classic skiing in the races. Skiers from across Canada come to the National Championships, and the competition is very challenging. The 2014 Ski Nationals were held in Corner Brook, NFLD, and this year, most participants had a shorter journey to the championships in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Red Deer’s Bailey Johnson made 4000+km trip this March, representing both the Alberta Development Team and Red Deer Nordic. Bailey was accompanied by her awesome chef mom, Diana, the coach, and by two other skiers from central Alberta: Marin Cislo, from Edmonton Nordic, and Derek Stollery, from Camrose Ski Club/Augustana Vikings. Following a difficult first race in the Interval Start Skate distance, Bailey turned things around in a big way. She raced to a super 5th place finish in the Interval Start Skate race in her Juvenile Girls category. (Con’t on next page….) Nationals are held for the categories of Juvenile Boys/Girls (birth year 2000 and older), and upwards to the Open category of racing. There are also standing and sit-ski Para Ski Nationals races. Athletes come from clubs and teams all over Canada, from Vancouver to Newfoundland, The Northwest Territories to the Toronto Area. It’s a truly National event! Why go? New friends, cool local experiences, and awesome races! Just go ask Bailey. No, seriously, go talk to her. Wow! 2 April Newsletter, 2015 Nationals Con’t The Short Classic Sprints were next, on a challenging 1.3km course. After qualifying 7th in the category, Bailey raced in the quarter finals, the semi finals, and then found herself on the start line of the A final with 5 other skiers, all from British Columbia. Bailey finished 5th after a hard-fought race. The final race was a 7.5km mass start classic race. With 68 other racers, even the coaches had a hard time keeping track of all the skiers. Bailey managed a solid 12th place finish, and had a commanding uphill charge on the last portion of the course. Want to hear more about the Nationals adventures? Find Bailey or her mom for more details! Shurlee to Business! Bailey on the podium in 5th place. Spring Checklist H ere’s what you need to do to prepare for the “off season” of skiing: 1. W ax the glide zones of A LL your skis with a warm wax, but don’t sc rape it off. Leaving the wax on the skis over the summer will allow your skis to stay saturated with wax (so they won’t dry out in the summer Etiam et Aurna heat). dditionally, the wax is a protec tive c oating for the ski bases, so you don’t sc ratc h them by ac c ident in the garage. J fringilla Etiam 2. S tore your boots with newspaper in them to ward off dampness. Fusce urna 3. C lean up your bike and rollerskis for the summer training ahead! 4. G o have fun in the sunshine and fresh air! S pring is here! 3 1 2 April Newsletter, 2015 Nighttime Ski: The Wolf Howl! The Red Deer Nordic skiers, Track Attackers, and Jackrabbits gathered at Great Chief Park on the evening of March 6th. A fire was lit, boxes of cookies lined the food table, and the hot chocolate was flowing. Skiers tried out the “Wolf Trivia” scavenger hunt, searched for glow sticks in the “Glow Stick Garden,” and played a long game of Capture the Flag as the sun set. However, the skiers weren’t the only ones running through the darkness. Somewhere… lurking in the trees…was the WOLF! Terrified (and hilarious) screams filled the chilly air as skiers encountered the creepy face of the Wolf. For the braver skiers, the Wolf offered chocolate eggs. This generosity became a burden to the poor canine later in the evening, as THE WOLF (Pictured at right.) packs of skiers yelled, “We’re going Wolf hunting!” and skied menacingly away into the night. This coach learned a lot in the evening: 1. Athletes have really excellent lung capacity, and can scream really really really loud. 2. The guy in the wolf costume is a pretty good runner. 3. Mobs can form over chocolate eggs. 4. Teenagers (and adults, apparently) LOVE danger, and will throw glow sticks in the fire just to see them “get all colourful”. 5. Oreos are very popular cookies. 6. Great Chief Park has two parking lots. Huh. 7. Sometimes the moon rises whenever it wants to…like, 2 hours later than the previous evening. 8. Hot chocolate makes excellent fire retardant. 4 April Newsletter, 2015 Canada Winter Games Report We asked Anna Zimmerman, RDN racer and member of the 2015 Alberta Team, to write us about her her experiences at Canada Winter Games. Read on! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yeah, leaving your family for a week and going to a strange city called Prince George is pretty scary, but leaving with 4 girls you don’t know and flying on a plane for the first Anna Zimmerman time is quite another thing. That was the first thing that happened before getting to PG. • 17 years old Already I was acquainting myself with these other 9 athletes, • Skiing 12 years • Goal: Qualify for and guess what? I actually survived the flight!! Believe me, it’s 2019 CWG and hard preparing for such a week while your brothers are represent Red Deer watching Mayday, and other scary plane crashes on tv. in Red Deer! The first thing I saw getting off the plane was media! There were several guys out there with their cameras and everything! People trying to get footage of us, and interview us! The food there was sooooo amazing! For those of you who remember the AWG food, I’ll tell you the food here was much better, and everyday we had different choices! During that time, I got the chance to meet so many athletes, and became great friends with a few of them. Believe it or not, I was competing in two different sports while being there. In fact, almost everyone was competing in two sports as well. I remember our coaches telling us that the CWG had another sport that anyone from athletes to even citizens could participate in. It was pin trading. Each province was given a set of pins, and everyone would go crazy trying to get the set they wanted. Some people offered $150 for just one set. So in our free time, (days we weren’t necessarily racing) we would explore PG, trade pins, shop, watch aboriginal dances and different sports, etc. There was never a dull moment at PG, and every day they offered some type of activity for us athletes. Maecenas purus One day it was an epic nerf gun battle. Now for the races, it was really intimidating racing against girls 2, 3 or even 5 years older than I. Some of these top skiers were nominated for junior national teams!! These girls were the best of the best. I was thinking if I had a good race I would AT LEAST get in the top 40, but I was wrong. The first day was a classic distance of 7.5 kms of crazy downhills and uphills. I finished 23rd, even though I over paced it. Next, the sprints came along, and not believing I would qualify into the heats, I finished 28th. I just made the cut for that top 30 selection. I only manage to race one heat, and for the rest of the day, I cheered on my teammates. We then we had a 10km skate distance, and hoping to be in that top 25, however, I just missed my goal finishing 26th. 5 April Newsletter, 2015 Canada Winter Games report: Con’t ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And sadly enough, I didn’t get a chance to race in the relay, but I decided to be the LOUDEST and the CRAZIEST cheerleader for my team. They were hoping to get a medal, but finished 4th, 40 seconds away from a bronze. Man, I wish I could go on and on about my experience, but I think this wraps up the highlights. CWG’s have been such a huge step in my athletic career, and my next goal is to represent Alberta in my hometown, Red Deer. I think that would be very, very cool!! And hey, If you’re ever bored and wanna come and talk to me about CWG, I would be more willing to share some more stories. :) Editor’s Note: Thanks so much Anna! Can’t wait to hear more! About the Canada Winter Games Who: • 2,400 athletes • 1,000 coaches • 4,500 volunteers • Lots of media and spectators! • The City of Prince George • The Lheidli T’enneh First Nation Where: • Various venues in Prince George • Otway Nordic Ski Centre (Nordic Sports). Maecenas purus Anna with Team Alberta, all decked out to cheer! Inspired? Learn More: • http://www.cana dagames2015.ca • From Anna! C anada W inter G ames is held every 4 years in a different venue ac ross C anada. In 2019 the G ames will be held right here in Red D eer!! You c an help out, and maybe even c ompete in the G amesjust ask your c oac hes and parents about 2019! W oo H oo!! 6 April Newsletter, 2015 New Trail Map and Signage on Hills The RDN crew did a Saturday ski with a mission: Assign names to all the major features on the hills section of the ski trails, and put up illustrated signs. You can check out their work below (see picture), on the website (for higher resolution), or in person when you’re out on the trails. Not only will the signs and names make it easier to meet people on the trails, explain interval courses and routes, but with Canada Games approaching, it will be awesome to show off our trails and our new names to visitors! Check it out! 7 Ask the Coach Is April supposed to be totally off from training? What am I supposed to DO with my life? - Cautiously Lazy? Time to hit the beach! Hey there! You’re right: April is typically a “rest month” for competitive skiers. After eleven months of hard and disciplined skiing, we need a break for both our bodies and our minds. Some World Cup skiers take the month to go surfing or to lie on tropical beaches. Wow! Others go backcountry and downhill skiing on long, sunny tours. Crust skiing is awesome in some parts of the mountains in April! For us, it’s still a good idea to aim for about 3-6 hours of physical activity a week, depending on how much you train a year, and how healthy you are. This “training” lets us maintain some fitness before the spring dryland ski stuff starts. However, this “training” doesn’t have to be long boring runs or strength workouts. Go with someone experienced if you crust ski- be safe out there in the mountains! April is a good time for you to try different sports and have as much fun as you can. Rainy soccer game with your friends? Laser tag? Bike tour? Now’s the time to do it! Keeping “workouts” short (less than 1 hour), and fun (go with friends and family, try new things, etc..), we can stay pretty fit and give our ski minds and muscles a muchneeded break. Hope this helps! Have a great April! J What about the Summer? When summer time comes (June to August), it’s hard to think about skiing. It’s a great time, however, to build a good cardio “base” for the ski season. Think of this “base” as the foundation of a good training season. It makes it easier to get muscles into ski shape when the ski season starts. So, what can you do to build a good summer ski base? Cardio workouts like swimming, biking, and running, soccer, ski walking, rollerskiing, rollerblading, and paddling are great! Strength workouts also build strong muscles. Have fun and stay fit!
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