Testing Week: Mid-way

For our Comp Team athletes this week is our second of three dryland testing weeks of the year.  We have a slate of 4 tests we use during each of these weeks in a standardized order to monitor the effect of our training. 

Monday morning we started with the 3000 meter running time trial on the track.  We saw a couple of best-ever results for our ranks from Kyle and Megan (9:19 and 10:52), and everyone improved since June including a number of PRs.  Afterward we did some 200s, 400s and (for some) a 600 repeat to finish the session running fast (instead of fading) and to work on foot speed on the track, since we don't often get that opportunity.

Results (*=PR)
Ladies
Megan 10:52*
Helen 12:36
Ema 13:54
Jewel 13:55*

Fellas
Kyle 9:19*
Vanya 10:40
Bobby 10:49*
Kevin 11:35

In the evening we were back at Birch Hill to test strength.  I personally was very curious about these scores since we have been emphasizing velocity of movement in our choice and execution of exercises this past month, while spending less time emphasizing high-force movements.  The hope was to maintain our numbers in the force-based test we incorporate while seeing our strength transfer better to our skiing.  Thankfully, things worked out as we hoped, and - with a few exceptions - we consistently saw improvement from two months ago and maintenance or slight improvement from those who completed a strength check at the begin of July. 

Wednesday is probably the most important test we do - the uphill Double Pole test.  At least it is the one where we see the highest correlation between improvement on it and improvement in results in the winter, with pretty clear lines where athletes start to qualify for JNs and finish in the top 10 at JNs.  Unfortunately, it is also the least controlled, with conditions and rollerski model being important variables.  Yesterday morning we had wet (i.e. slow) conditions, so a PR was big, but a similar time to faster conditions would indicate improvement.  Our second flight in the evening had dry and warm conditions - about perfect.  We saw some good results, PRs for both in our evening flight, a bunch of PRs for the morning crew and a lot of times close to either all-time PRs or results from June despite the slower conditions in the morning.  Performances of the day: included big PRs from Pat, Megan and Kevin, and a HUGE PR from Bobby.  After the test we headed over to Lawlor to do some 70m double pole sprints. 

Results (*=PR)
Fellas
Vanya (AM) 4:34
Pat (AM) 4:58*
Kyle (AM) 5:08
Bobby (PM) 5:25*
Max (PM) 5:28*
Neill (AM) 5:34
Kevin (AM) 6:07*

Ladies
Megan (AM) 6:11*
Helen (AM) 6:58
Jewel (AM) 8:11*

Pictures from Wednesday: