STATES RACES during February vacation week

IMPORTANT - The State Races will be held Wednesday and Thursday, February 23 and 24, at Black Mountain in Rumford. This is during vacation week (for MCWS). Please plan your vacation so that you are available during these days.

Practice plans for Tuesday & Wednesday this week

Due to current NYA covid protocols, we will miss the NYA skiers this week but hope they get out on snow on their own and we look forward to having them back on board next week.

The practice plans for Tuesday (December 28) and Wednesday (December 29) are:

Tuesday at Pineland:

Unless someone contacts Susan by Monday at 5:00, there is nobody riding the van.
Everyone - meet at 10:30 in the usual team meeting spot

Wednesday at Quarry Road in Waterville:

Van riders - meet at school at 9:15
Others - meet at Quarry Rd at 10:30

Plan on ~2.5-3 hours for practice both Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

According to the poll everyone was asked to complete, we are expecting the following skiers at practice:

Tuesday: Emma, Odessa, Evan, Noah K
Needs a ride: nobody

Wednesday: Conrad, Emma, Evan, Noah K, Leah
Needs a ride: Evan, Noah K, Leah

If your name is NOT listed above and you find you can attend practice, please just show up. If you need a ride on the van, please email Susan - highschool@mainecoastwaldorf.org - by 5:00pm the day before.

If you name IS listed above as needing a ride and you don't need one after all, please email Susan by 5:00pm the day before so we don't end up waiting for you to catch a ride.

Looking ahead to next week

We are hoping to get the team on good snow for two practices next week - Tuesday, December 28 and Wednesday, December 29. Since it is during vacation and we realize people may have family plans, these practices are optional but if you're around, we hope you'll make it to practice.

In order to continue with plans, we need to know who's available and what the transportation needs are, so please complete the form linked below as soon as possible (and no later than Sunday at noon). Due to changing and unpredictable weather and snow conditions, we can't yet say for certain where these on-snow practices will be held. It could be Pineland, but also could be Quarry Rd in Waterville or Black Mt. in Rumford. Stay tuned to the blog as the date approaches for more precise info on location and timing. Regardless of location, practices will ~2.5-3 hours beginning on snow at ~10:30. If we travel to Waterville or Rumford, we will still have 2.5-3 hours on snow and folks will also need to add on travel time (~1 hour each way to Waterville, 1.6 hours to Rumford), so if we travel, everyone should plan on practice taking a pretty good chunk of the day.

***Click HERE to complete form***

Please note - This form wasn't correctly capturing names when it first went live so if you filled out the form around noon on Thursday, we don't know who you are. As of 6:15 on Thursday, the only person whose name got attached is Conrad, so if you filled out the form and you're not Conrad, please submit it again. Thanks!

***CHANGE TO PRACTICE LOCATION - Tomorrow (Thurs. 12/23): Moved to Pineland

Practice for tomorrow, Thursday 12/23: MOVED TO PINELAND - after this freezing rain the snow will be better there than Val Halla, I think. Meet in the parking lot beyond the market, where we usually meet!

***CHANGE TO TOMORROW'S PRACTICE LOCATION (Tues. 12/21): Moved to Pineland

Practice for tomorrow, Tuesday 12/21: MOVED TO PINELAND - meet in the parking lot beyond the  market, where we usually meet. 

Team Practices This Week: Tuesday, 12/21 & Thursday 12/23

Hi Team, 

The results are in and the people have spoken: we will have team practices tomorrow (Tuesday, 12/21) and Thursday, 12/23 this week. If you have skis and boots but no poles yet, bring what you have and hopefully we can find a pair of poles for you to use - everyone: please bring extra poles if you have any - ideally ones that might work for Evan, Pendo, or Odessa! If you don't have any skis/boots yet, you are of course still welcome to come along and do the on-foot version of the workout, but running in the snow will be more difficult and your feet will get wet!

Tuesday 12/21: Meet at *PINELAND (park in same place we normally do, in the parking lot beyond the market lot)*, bring skate skis, rock skis if you have them (originally thought we might be able to do classic, but temps are going to be in the 40s which means we would need klister and I'm not going to make us klister up for our first team ski). Start time: 2:30pm, end time: ~4:30pm

Thursday 12/23: Meet at *PINELAND (park in same place we normally do, in the parking lot beyond the market lot)*, bring skate skis, rock skis if you have them (you're welcome to also bring classic if you'd like, but I think after the warm temps the snow will be glazed and waxing will once again be difficult). Start time: 2:30pm, end time ~4:00pm. 

Email with any questions - thanks!

Plans for the next two weeks

All skiers should have received an email from Nathan on Saturday, December 18, with info and a link to a doodle poll re: availability for practice this coming week. Please respond to that poll by Sunday evening at 8:00pm. Nathan is happy to have practice in person this week, but only if we know a number of people are able to attend. Once the poll numbers are in, we will post on this blog what days we will have in person practice.

We are also planning on getting the team on snow on Tuesday and Wednesday, December 28 and 29. If we have snow locally, skiing could happen at Pineland. However, if Pineland is not yet open, the team will travel (Quarry Rd/Waterville, Black Mt/Rumford, etc.). We'll see where the snow is as the dates get closer. We will send out another poll this week to see who's available for the 28th and 29th and what everyone's transportation situation is, so be on the lookout for that.

Two important things ...

A reminder to all that in order to participate in afterschool activities (which includes ski practices and races), students must attend a full day of school on the day of the activity. Medical appointments are exempt from this, however sleeping late, getting your hair done, taking half the day off for vacation, etc. are not excuses. The big message is that you need to be in school in order to attend practices and races. Re: Saturday races - you need to have attended school on Friday in order to race on Saturday. If you have extenuating circumstances, please talk with Susan (highschool@mainecoastwaldorf.org or 865-3900 x201).

We have not turned up parent chaperones for overnight ski camp during December break, so we will not be having overnight camp. Although camp is always fun, we do understand that it is a big ask to parents, especially during covid times, so while we'll sit this year out for overnight camp, we hope that parents will start thinking about next year and ready themselves to step up for chaperoning duties. It is work but it is also super fun to go away with the team!

We will be planning a couple day trips for the ski team over break and will get dates out soon. Realizing that many will have family plans over break, these day trips will be optional.

Weekend Practices - On Your Own

Sat. 12/4

Older/More Experienced Skiers – On your own: Distance run with 15x15 sec bursts or RS classic w/ 20 min double pole, 20 min no-pole *Emma/Lydia version: reduce or skip no-pole depending on how it feels, can increase DP time to 30 min. (1:30 – 2:00) and Core - each exercise 1 min unless otherwise specified, equal rest, whole circuit 2-3x

Younger/Newer Skiers – Off or On your own: Distance run with 10x15 sec bursts or ski walk w/ poles (1:00-1:30) and Core - each exercise 30 sec. unless otherwise specified, equal rest, whole circuit 1-2x (lower difficulty versions – feet on floor for core-focused exercises; knees on floor instead of feet for push-ups)

Sun. 12/5 

Everyone: Off

Core/Strength Info

 MCWS Core/Strength Circuit - To be completed Thursdays and Saturdays on your own

(Note: I have tried to describe each exercise as thoroughly as I can, but if any exercise is unclear to you or you are not sure how to do it, skip that one for now and ask me about it at the next practice. Be sure to engage your core muscles during all exercises--think about drawing your belly button toward your spine. This will help stabilize all your other movements and also help protect your back!)

 

If you have been doing strength/core exercises on a regular basis: all exercises 1 min each unless otherwise specified, do whole circuit 2-3x

If you are new to strength/core exercises or haven't done any in a while: all exercises 30 seconds each and start out with lower difficulty versions (feet on floor for more core-focused exercises; knees on floor instead of feet for push-ups), do the whole circuit 1-2x

 

-       Crunches (normal - arms crossed on chest, hands on opposite shoulders, feet flat on ground or lifted slightly for greater difficulty)

-       Push-ups (normal - lower body toward ground until elbows are at 90 degrees) 30 sec.

-       Kayakers (sitting, knees bent, heels on the ground or lifted for greater difficulty, hands clasped in front, rotate trunk side-to-side)

-       Push-ups with Twist and One-Arm Extension (at end of each pushup, pivot weight onto one arm so that your chest is now in line with that arm, point other arm at the sky, then pivot back onto two arms, alternate sides) 30 sec.

-       Dips (normal, palms on seat of chair behind you, heels on floor, lower body toward ground until elbows reach 90 degrees) 30 sec.

-       Planks (front, left, right) 30 sec. each side

-       Alternate Leg/Arm Raises (on hands and knees)

-       Leg lifts (laying down on your side, lift upper leg toward sky and lower slowly back down) 30 sec. each side

-       Crunches (oblique - hands behind head, one leg crossed over and perpendicular to the other, foot of straight leg flat on the ground, crunch to touch opposite elbow to knee of folded leg) 30 sec. each side

-       Russian Twists (lie on back, arms straight out on the ground making right angles with your trunk, legs lifted together, knees bent with shins parallel to chest – twist legs left and right toward the ground, make sure to engage core muscles)

-       Penguins (lie on back, knees bent, feet flat on the ground or slightly lifted to increase difficulty, arms at your sides, tip right and left to touch your fingers to your ankles, make sure to engage core muscles)

-       Supermans (lie on stomach, lift both arms and legs at the same time, hold for 5 sec., lower slowly and lift again. Lift arms only to decrease difficulty)

-       Bridge with Leg-Lift (lying on back, arms at sides, hips elevated, alternate) 30 sec. each side

-       Circle Squats (squat on one leg while using your other leg to draw a half circle from the toe to the heel of the weight-bearing leg). 30 sec. each side

-       Tuck Squats with 3 Vertical Jumps (arms overhead, jumps evenly spaced - i.e., after 30, 45, and 60 sec. of tucking)

Change to today's practice plan

Due to the inclement weather, practice will NOT be at Pineland and will instead be here on campus. Skiers should be finished 4:00-4:15.