Pics from Tuesday

As with most weeks, Tuesday was a busy day for us, and it took me all of Wednesday and now into Thursday to post some photos.

We started the day with some monitored intervals.  We have been looking for ways to integrate testing into our training and make our testing better training, so this was one idea on how we might accomplish that.  Credit for the concept has to go to Nick Grimmer, our former assistant coach who tried something similar on snow last winter.  We did 3 intervals of each 70, 400 and 800 meters, with each set of 3 intervals being split between double pole, no-pole and skating.  The idea was to treat it like a set of intervals, and to go hard -  meaning not all-out, but pretty darn close.  The duration of each of the intervals was about 12-20 seconds, 1:20-2:00, and 2:40-4:00, respectively - meaning the first set was primarily a test of speed and acceleration, the second set was on the anaerobic side of the aerobic/anaerobic energy distribution and the third set on the aerobic side of it.  Athletes did as many intervals as they felt they could do at high quality which meant 7-9 depending on age, fitness level and equipment malfunctions...

Overall it worked well on both counts: as a training session it was a good workout, and it was interesting to look at how times compared at different distances between the various techniques, and to see areas where athletes can put a bit more emphasis in their training. We'll look for opportunities in August and September to try this again.

Jordan racing the cops... don't try this at home

Real electronic eye timing and very official start line!

Thanks to Greg Whisenhant of Beaver Sports for lending us the electronic-eye speed trap.  It may be vintage, but it worked great.  We are always super thankful for the fantastic support we have from the local shops here in Fairbanks, especially Beaver Sports and Goldstream Sports.

On to the 400s...

And finally 800s...

In the afternoon with the Prep/Devo summer group we did a speed station and a strength station and then played a long game of Pillow Polo.  Today we will do a session more focused on endurance.

Olivia leads the girls through Push-ups.

Stair drills with Chris and guest coach, Reese

Broad Jumps!

The group seemed a tad sluggish after the 4th of July break, but came to life for some Pillow Polo at the end of the day! 

Ethan scored about half the goals on Tuesday

Fencing...

Batter up!

After the younger crew, the Comp athletes checked back in for some strength work.

This month we are focused on explosive, high-velocity exercises

We also did a quick check of our strength with Dips, Pull-ups and 1 min of sit-ups.  By and large the group did well, although a couple of people really need to keep strength as a main focus of their training.

Before breaking out the pillow polo sticks, the crew checked out the 'super' on the new turn on the Comp Loop.  She'll be nice and banked, and super fun!  (Get it?)