Southern Ontario District

SOD Team Fall Camp-Huntsville, ON

Hey Team,
 
As I’m sure many of you are, I am now back at school and day-dreaming of long training sessions outside in the rain. (Well, maybe not the last part.) But I did want to take this opportunity to reflect on last weekend and our jam-packed training day in Huntsville. A big THANK YOU goes out to everyone who helped make the day a success– including all of you, the athletes. Your positive attitude and hard effort meant that we were able to make the most of our time together and to grow as a team.
 
Looking ahead to the first snowfall, we had the opportunity to work on our skating fundamentals: balance, weight-shift, glide. We also talked a bit about double-pole starts and had a giant team relay to work on agility. Who knows when rubber chickens might be added as official batons in FIS-sanctioned events? Our agility and coordination were challenged once again in a game of mud-puddle soccer. Dryland camps are the perfect time to develop our skills through both skiing and non-skiing-related activities. 
 
In the afternoon we stuck it out for a tough session of uphill striding, where we learned about explosive “spenst” training. Hard bounding workouts are a sure sign of the race season approaching, and I hope you are able to incorporate some of the things we worked on into your training leading up to this winter. We will be skiing on snow again before long!
 
A special thanks goes to our teammates from Arrowhead Nordic as well as Holly and Jon, for helping us to secure an indoor space and for showing us around their home training grounds! I had a super fun time and I hope you did too. Keep an eye out for info regarding our winter training day in December. Scott and I loved hearing all your ideas: snowball fighting, snowman making, obstacle courses, relays– we will see what we can dream up.
 
See you on the trails!
 
Finn