Summer wrap-up w/Annie McColgan
With the end of the summer upon us, I thought this would be a great time to write about our training with our brand new team Mansfield Nordic Pro! Luckily, I’ve trained in Burlington for the summer before, two summers ago with the Mansfield Nordic University Team, so I knew what I was getting into. What has been special though, is just how many awesome athletes joined us for our summer this year. With an extra strong college group, including national team members, NCAA All-Americans, I feel especially confident in the training we put in this summer. We have athletes from Bowdin, Dartmouth, Bates, Middlebury, UVM, UNH, all working together to make each other better. That’s pretty special. I talked about this in an article I wrote for Enjoy Winter a month or so ago, but it is certainly worth repeating. One of the largest assets I’ve this summer has been the cohesion of the college group. We had a goal setting session between the summer girls and the pro team girls to discuss what they felt they brought to the training group from their college teams, and what they would like to brin back from this team. The big thing was support and being eager to try new things. It was super cool to know that the girls I was training with, had goals that aligned with my own in ways that made me want to be better for their sake and mine. The comradery, motivation, passion, and fun of this group is exactly why I love that I have continued to ski race. I’m certainly excited to see what this group can do on the trails this winter.
Summer team boat outing with Haley Brewster, Shea Brams, Amelia Tucker, Emma Crum, Me, and Ava Thurston
Team goal setting!
I really love training in northern Vermont. Coming from UVM, I have a lot of my usual places under my belt, making my routine natural and easy. However, I still find that I’m discovering new trails and roads just out my back door that I’ve been loving. Whether it is new roller ski neighborhoods, or back gravel roads, I have been loving the summer sun and having my job be centered around being outside every day.
An epic VT ride that I told my teammates would be 2:30 hours give or take… ended up being 4… sorry guys.
Not just training, but I’ve been enjoying the opportunities for fun outside of training that Burlington offers. In the middle of the summer, we went to Do Good Fest in Montpelier Vermont to see The Fray, one of the many concerts we attended this summer. We also went to the championship game for our soccer team Vermont Green and watched them win alongside what must have been 8,000+ people. It was particularly awesome getting to see Vermont rally around a professional sprots team like that. It made me think of our little team, and how excited I am to get to watch us grow into a community.
Summer Athletes Molly Moening and Amelia Tucker getting into sport fan mode with at a Vermont Green Game.
Speaking of community, it has been awesome training with our juniors during our sessions at the range. Doing speeds with the juniors at the range has been incredibly fun, getting together with a big group to work on our starts, finishes, climbs and corners. Pretty cool to see.
Speeds with the whole crew!
These big blocks in the summertime start to go by pretty fast once you find your rhythm, and all the options Burlington has to offer has been great for me in finding my volume groove. Additionally, having the roller ski track in Jericho Vermont has been awesome for intensity work on ski specific terrain, something that really pays off in the wintertime. You got to be careful though when it is wet out. Perry took good care of me after a crash during a threshold session but just had to take a picture because of how comical my helmet marks looked. Don’t worry, I was all good. A crash every once in a while is good for you (probably?).
Post-Crash… I didn’t know why my coach Perry Thomas was laughing till I saw my helmet marks. Always wear your helmet!
However, it hasn’t just been training keeping me busy. I’ve been working at Ski Rack on the upper floor—shameless plug for if need any shoes, socks, nutrition, or bike maintenance—which has been awesome. I love running into folks in the community, telling them I’m on the Mansfield Nordic Pro team, and seeing their faces light up with excitement. It is clear that our name is getting out into the community and that people are excited to have a new professional ski team right out the back door. I’m excited for our upcoming events, such as our Halloween Ball for us to all get together and form these connections of support all together.
Photo from our first team fundraiser at Cochran’s Ski Area. Absolutely amazing to see what this team means to the community and excited to be a part of the new chapter of Vermont Skiing!
Our team! Mansfield Nordic Pro (Minus Mr. Colin Freed of course. He was somewhere on a mountain when this was taken).
We’ve gotten out into the community a few times thus far for our fundraisers (and more on the way, check out my other blog!) It is incredibly cool that built into the function and mission of this team is our community engagement,. Not only do we rely on our community to get us to our goals, but we also are incredibly rewarded by them. I get so much joy getting to roller ski with the BKL and Junior kids, hearing that they watched me race at the NCAA Championships at Oakhill, or have even beaten me at Cochran’s Nordic Cross, and that they are super excited to race in the winter. I remember being that age, and I knew I would have just exploded with excitement if I got to do agility with a professional skier. Giving back to the same spaces that got me into skiing in the first place has certainly been one of the best parts of this program. Additionally, we’ve formed new partnerships with groups beyond our ski community. Recently we, cheffed up pizzas with the Richmond Trail running club at the Aliza La Pierre Fan Club 50k, getting to feed runners and chat with them about our program.
Chef Colin making some pizzas for the Aliza La Pierre 50k with Richmond Trail Running Club.
With fall on deck, we are thinking more and more about our intensity and focusing in on the small things that will make us fast for the winter. Check out my other blog detailing our plans for our awesome Halloween Ball coming up on October 24!
This fall, I can’t wait to keep getting out into the community, working on going fast, and getting pumped for winter. If it is anything like our summer, I’m sure it will be great.
