Coach Rj out - Until next time

Hi all,

Moved into my house in Ottawa yesterday, settling in nicely. Still going to have to learn the ropes a bit, it's a work in progress. Hope the first day of the testing camp went well!

I want to say a few things to you guys, first of all I had a great time this summer, you guys are an awesome group to work with! I admire all of your efforts and wish you all the best with your fall and winter training and racing.

Kieran made a great blog post a little while back regarding marginal gains. He calculated that 2mins in a 10km race breaks down to 1.2s every 100m. Go read his blog post for more details, but definitely think of that as you train this fall into the winter. Every stride counts, whether you're training or racing, make every stride deliberate.

Now I have a video I would like to leave you off with. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjZ0KbJcav0 

There's a lot of key mental gains you can make from the messages in this. 

- your brain is like a circuit, if you genuinely believe you can accomplish something, you will perform accordingly

- everyone fails and gets knocked down, but those who are successful do not live there

- think about what you're thinking about when you put forth a low effort … the compare that to what you're thinking about when your effort is high

- opportunity vs. obligation 

Keep up the great work, remember the technique pointers we worked on! I'll be back periodically to help out, but don't be afraid to email anytime me if you have any questions regarding anything!

Until next time,

Coach Rj out 

Tomorrows Session (June 15th)

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the late blog post! Got back from Canmore and quickly departed for the awesome canoe trip, just catching up on a few things.
Just a reminder that tomorrows session is at Hardwood, not Ron's house. Hardwood at 5pm or downs view at 7pm.

For those going to hardwood, parents should plan for pick up at 8pm. We are have a little fireside chat activity after training.

For athletes, I would like you to watch these two videos sometime before tomorrows training. Please inform teammates in other groups to check the blog and watch these two videos as well. Thanks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1sXTmaqRHU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDf757QwXpk

See you tomorrow,

Ryan

This week

Hi all,

I'm off to Canmore for the next week or so, I will not be at tomorrows session or Wednesday's session. Keep thinking of the technique pointers we've been working on, if you have any questions feel free to shoot me an email (ryanjacksonxc@gmail.com)

Happy Training,

Coach Rj

Summer Camp #2

What a weekend! Team Hardwood summer program take-2 was a tremendous success. Over 20 athletes out training hard, learning, and having a blast. Awesome group to work with.

First rollerski session (photo by Natalie Pekos)

                 
The camp started Saturday morning with tent setup and a rollerski technique session and some rollerski agility. Huge improvements were made across the board. After about an hour and a half on the road, lunch was consumed, a volleyball tournament took place, then everyone rested for the afternoon, then we were off to the next session.

Out of bounds

Reid with the power serve

The next session was "Kings Court" rollerski intensity. A relatively technical 600-700m course was set up around a school tarmac, and after a lengthy… rather challenging super top-secret warmup was completed, the races began (unfortunately I do not have any pictures from this session, since I was participating. If I stumble across any I'll add them in). For the qualifier, everyone did 2 laps as fast as possible, and then were organized into heats based off of qualifying time. In heats of three, everyone raced a hard one lap with minimal gnarly crashes (just one, S/O to Kristen). The winner of each heat moved up to the faster heat, the 3rd person moving down. The final consisted of the same format, but was 2 laps.
Overall, a deceivingly difficult workout.

After the workout, we made a stop by the beach, and then headed back to the farmhouse for dinner.
After dinner, the real training began. It was time for Go-Carting.

Even Coach Kieran couldn't hold back his excitement 

3, 2, 1 - GO!

Off to the races

After about an hour of epic Go-carting/bumper cars, it was time to call it a day.

Sunday started with a morning run and then a distance rollerski/technique session/agility work.
And from there it was time for lunch and pack-up.

"Everyone,  look excited!" … maybe it's the lighting… 

Had an awesome time running this camp, great group! If you missed out this time, don't worry, there are more camps to come. Including the MEGA camp later this summer.

Thanks again to all the athletes for making this camp such a great success! Love the effort and enthusiasm, keep it up!

Well, that's all for this one, until next time,

Coach Rj out

Great Camp!

Awesome job at the camp this weekend to all of you! Saw some great improvements across the board and saw everyone having a great time. Keep up the good work!

Some technique reminders:

Claudia - knee flexion, hips forward

Katjia - full leg extension, body weight over ski (push out with pinky toe)

Kristen - arms square with shoulders, body weight forward and over ski

Bella - hips forward, bodyweight over ski (push out with pinky toe)

Zoe - agility work

If you have any questions let me know! Focus on one component at a time. 

I'm going to try to have a full camp blog post out for tomorrow night, stay tuned! 

Ryan 

Camp Weekend!

Hope everyones excited for this camp. It's going to be a good time. Here's a reminder of what need and the schedule! 

Checklist: 

$25 for Go-karting

1 potluck item for Saturday dinner

Breakfast food (cereal, oatmeal)

Training snacks - we will have some and we will have Gatorade 

Very bright shirt for roller skiing sessions

Helmet, Skate roller skis, boots, Skate poles

Lots of training clothes

A sleeping pad (foam mattress) - just go out and get a good one because you will need it again this summer

Running shoes

Classic ski poles

Towel

Positive Attitude 

Schedule:

Saturday

9am - Meet at the farm house: 

2024 line 6 north, Oro Medonte, Ont. L0L 2E0

10am - Roller ski technique skating (we will be doing video as a reference for improvement)

12pm - Lunch

1pm - Talk about roller ski technique and how we can make it close to ski technique

2pm - Rest / Study / Hang-out

4pm - Natural intervals - skate roller skiing

6pm - Dinner Pot-luck

7pm - Swim then Go-Karting

10pm - Bed

Sunday

7am - Morning run and stretch

8am - Breakfast

9am - Ski walking session with technique

11:30am -  Lunch

12pm - Pack-up 

1pm - Parents Pick-up from the farm house

Super excited for this, see you in the morning. 

Ryan 

Parking

Hey guys,

So we have two parking events coming up in the next week or so.

Wednesday, June 10th - PanAm torch parking at hardwood. Be at hardwood for 3:45-4:00. Ron will also be driving a group to hardwood from his house at around 3. Be ready to train after we're done parking (approx. 6pm).
For this event we will NOT be collecting donations at the gate, just parking.

Saturday, June 14th - Canada Cup Parking. Check the google docs to see your time slot & job.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1N_bCswJlaci375o8Al6lvb2F9OnDXciVZtwtpB9bvMM/edit

We will be switching shifts and training throughout the day, so bring training clothes and come prepared for a long day outside!

If you have any questions don't hesitate to send me an email,
ryanjacksonxc@gmail.com

Wednesday June 3rd & Sunday June 7th

Hey team,

So for team training this Wednesday we will be meeting at 5pm at hardwood, like usual (7pm if downs view). Kieran and Madi will be running Wicked Wednesday and I will be doing a roller ski technique session. If you're roller skiing be prepared for classic and skate.

Sunday there will be a group mountain biking, and a group ski walking. Both at hardwood 9am.

Train smart, I'll see you Wednesday!

Wednesday Fun Run

Hey everyone,

this Wednesday we are doing the Barrie Fun Run (5km or 10km) at the South Shore Centre along the waterfront. The race starts at 6:30 and you can register before hand on site. It's a wicked fast course, a good opportunity to pull off some fast times and have a lot of fun.

You have the option to do the race(6:30pm), go to hardwood(5:00pm), or go to downs view(7:00pm). 

Kieran and I will be at the race, Bella at downs view, and Ron at hardwood. 

PS. We are responsible for parking duty on June the 14th. There will be an email sent out tonight where you can sign up for your position.

Train smart,

Ryan

Wednesday May 20th & Sunday

Hey guys,

We have a wicked workout set for Wednesday. One session will be held at hardwood and one at downs view. Their essentially same workout is being done so go to which ever is closest for you.
If you're at hardwood you'll need running shoes, if at downs view you'll need running shoes and roller skis (skate).

On Sunday we will be doing the Ganaraska hike. We're going to meet at Georgian College at 9am and carpool together.

Sunday May 17th Session CANCELLED

To my group, sorry about missing my blog update for Wednesday. Got my blogs and days mixed up. 

Important note, this Sundays workout is cancelled. Do the hours you have on your plan, meet up with someone to train with if you'd like, but there will not be an organized group session. Remember to stay in zone!

Season Kick Off Testing Camp

Had an awesome time at the testing camp this weekend! Had over 20 awesome athletes put in huge efforts and made the camp an awesome experience. The camp started on Friday with a 3000m metre track TT, followed  by a 1000m about an hour later. An arguably tough test, but not for Hardwood.

Kieran, Alex, and Finn leading off the 3000m.

The timing crew.

Matias and others mentally preparing for the 1000m

 After the test on Friday, everyone went over to Coach Ron's place for a team dinner. Everyone crammed onto the back porch and enjoyed copious amounts of burgers and pasta salad. A classic Team Hardwood gathering.

Hardwood veterans, beginners, out-of-towners, all gathering and conversing over dinner.
Having a great time!

The next day was a full day of training and testing. Kieran and I did a nice early morning workout before the camp got started, nice to get back into that routine. 

Day 2 of the camp started with ski erg test combined with strength and balance. The athletes first did a max watt test on the erg. Just pulling the largest amount of watts as you can. That was followed by 1000m TT on the erg, which is a super gutty, tough couple minutes. And then finally the anaerobic test, where the athletes get to their max watt as fast as they can and then try to stay above 85% of their max for as long as they can. In between each test was balance, strength and dynamic flexibility work (because theres no time for rest at hardwood, always working on something). 

Zoe, Dylan and Katjia lining up for the 1000m TT 

After the morning session athletes prepared for their 2nd workout, lunch. Again, copious amounts of pasta salad, burgers and chocolate milk.

The afternoon session was a roller ski test for some, or a roller ski technique session. The roller ski test consisted of two uphill intervals, one skate, on double pole only. A great test to find athletes strengths and weaknesses. I personally got to do this test which was tons of fun. 

The day was wrapped up with the Team Hardwood banquet, which was great as always. Lots of food, fun. Hardwood is an unreal community, proud to be a part of it. 

The next day was the traditional Mt. St. Louis hill test. Pretty simple, run up this rather large ski hill with poles as fast as you can. I was not able to attend the test because I was at the Sporting Life 10km in Toronto (cracked the top 50, placed 46th overall, 8th in U19, with a time of 36:32). But I heard the test ran quite well. Some experts ran the test, and some ran it for the first time. Regardless I'm sure it was super tough and everyone put in a gnarly effort.

As a whole the camp was a huge success, everyone had a great time, including myself. Thanks to everyone for making it such a great time. Looking forward to working with you all this summer.

Until next time, 

Coach Rj out.