New Years Eve's Eve Greetings!
As 2020 comes to a close, I want to thank you all for your support of NENSA. Your memberships and donations all directly support the programing we do. If you are able to do some year end giving, we thank you.
This has been a (insert any over used but still very relevant word: crazy, heartbreaking, unprecedented...) year, and our single focus from the start of this pandemic as been to keep our cross country ski community connected and engaged. Back in the spring, we were certainly hoping for a more "back to normal" winter season, but that has not happened. But our focus has not changed - we will continue to bring you the programing we can, be it with virtual challenges and races or with smaller state by state races and clincics. Our goal is to keep our community safe and engaged. We are most certainly looking forward to a future where COVID is behind us, and we can't wait for the day when we can all line up toe to toe at a start line, or gather at a New England wide Bill Koch Festival, or a coaching clinic again. Until then we will continue to support our NENSA clubs and members with safe and COVID appropriate programming.
Here's what we have in store for you in this week's KickZone below ~
- This week we are so honored to announce our NENSA 2020 John Caldwell Award recipient ~ Fred Griffin
- December Club KM Challenge update - it's a tight race to the finish with Mansfield Nordic, Ford Sayre and CSU/EMN all duking it out for the top honors!
- Year End Giving to NENSA ~ there has never been a better time to give what you can!
- Sign up now for virtual Bogburn Classic, Freeman Frost and Race For Snow races this January & February
- A fun time-lapse video from Quincy Massey-Bierman on the Craftsbury Outdoor Center snow pile transforming to skiing!
- BKL Youth BINGO is in full swing ~ and we are announcing our first "winners" by raffle tomorrow, 12/31!
- NENSA Women's XC Ski Day ~ now to be held on February 21st in 4 states and 5 different locations, so you don't have to travel far to be a part of the fun!
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From our Partners: U.S. Ski and Snowboard, 11 U.S. Athletes Open 15th Tour de Ski Friday in Val Müstair: from Salomon, From Full-Time Athlete to Full-Time Work, by Ben Lustgarten; and from TOKO, and interview with Noah Hoffman
I also want to say a special thank you to ALL of our NENSA Sponsors ~ they are all such a HUGE part of our NENSA programing continued success, and we so appreciate them all continuing to support NENSA, even in this very difficult time.
Happy New Year everyone ~ and above all, I hope that 2021 is a good, healthy and positive New Year!
Be safe and be well!
Best,
Amie
Amie W. Smith
Executive Director
New England Nordic Ski Association
Amie@nensa.net
GIVING: DONATE to NENSA today, and thank you!
MEMBERSHIP: RENEW or JOIN today, and thank you!
Please take a few minutes to do that and support the organization that supports XC skiing here in New England, and beyond! NENSA is here for you, running programing for you, our ski community ~ we need your support this year, more than ever!
Be sure to follow us on fb, Twitter and on Instagram @nensa_nordic
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NENSA News from the Field
Highlights and Notes from NENSA and the Nordic World
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Our 2020 NENSA
John Caldwell Award
recipient is Fred Griffin
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One of NENSA’s finest traditions is presenting the John Caldwell Award. This award annually recognizes a single individual, or entity, which embodies the spirit, dedication, innovation, and pride of John Caldwell. NENSA is thrilled to announce Fred Griffin as our deserving 2020 John Caldwell Award recipient.
Fred has been involved in the New England ski community for over a quarter century and served as NENSA’s first executive director, a position he held for 8 years (1996-2004). Fred also coached Northeast Nordic for 20 years, coached BFA Fairfax (both running and skiing) for 23 years, led numerous U16 and Eastern High School Championship teams for Vermont and New Hampshire, and he has been teaching English for the past 23 years, and worked as a special-needs coordinator at the Galen Center. In addition, during the winter of 2002-03, Fred co-founded the technical delegate program with Jim Rodrigues. Fred’s friend and former athlete, Jennie Bender, describes Fred as a life coach, a master gardener, an adventure guru, an ultimate frisbee coach, and a loving husband among many other things.
While Fred’s resume is impressive, what stands out most is who he is as a person and how he impacts those around him as he moves through life in the many spheres he occupies. Fred has touched the lives of so many people in the ski world and beyond that I could fill pages with why he is deserving of this award. However, as my freshman and sophomore English teacher, Fred taught me that more is not necessarily better so I will try my best to be concise.
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THANK YOU TO OUR ASSOCIATE SPONSOR SWIX! |
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NENSA Racing Update:
Zak & Club / DCKC
Bogburn and Race for Snow virtual races
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Please continue to be safe out there folks – stay local – and help us maintain the health of not just our skiers, but all the communities we visit. If you feel off – DON’T GO.
Zak and Club Cup:
Tentative in person race date: 1/23/2021
December Club KM Challenge:
There are currently eleven clubs participating in the DCKC — logging over 35,000 km to date, or roughly 870km per day. As a reminder you can reach out to Justin@nensa.net directly to share club activity or update your data on the #DCKC form here. There are likely many kilometers that haven’t been recorded or submitted – there’s no cost to NENSA clubs – and $9000 of reward for the top three clubs over the course of the season. Get out and enjoy the upcoming snow and join in the fun!
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Enjoy this fun video from Quincy Massey-Bierman ~ a time laps video on the snow pile ~
Stripping chips off the snow pile at the COC!
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THANK YOU TO OUR ASSOCIATE SPONSOR L.L.Bean! |
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Year End Giving to NENSA just got a little easier! The CARES Act added a new $300 charitable contribution deduction for 2020
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The CARES Act, which went into effect this spring, established a new above-the-line deduction for charitable giving. You can write off up to $300 in cash donations on your 2020 income tax return!!
The CARES Act, included a “partial above the line deduction” for charitable contributions. This allows people who take the standard deduction - which is $12,400 for single filers and $24,800 for married-filing-jointly in 2020 - to claim a deduction of up to $300 in donations.
You’d claim this tax break when you file your 2020 return next spring.
So giving a few bucks to your favorite charity (like NENSA!) by 12/31/20 means you can collect a tax break for it next spring! Click here to donate any amount, and we thank you for considering NENSA in your charitable giving plans!
GIVING: DONATE to NENSA today, and thank you!
Or you can send a check to NENSA at:
49 Pineland Drive, Suite 301A
New Gloucester, ME 04260
For any donation of $250 or more, we have three incentive gifts for you to choose from:
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Our NENSA/SKIDA 25th Anniversary Hat ~ 25 years in 2020
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Our snowflake NENSA/SKIDA fleece line neck-warmer
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From our partners at Cabot Cheese Cooperative ~ a $25 gift box of cheese!
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NENSA/SKIDA 25th Anniversary Hat |
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Receive a Gift Certificate for a $25 Gift Box of Cabot Cheese! |
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THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA CONTRIBUTING SPONSORS: |
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BKL XC Ski Bingo Fun Continues! |
The smiles continue as BKL'ers from across New England submit their completed Bingo Card to us this week!
Our first prize raffle of the season will be held tomorrow 12/31/20!
NENSA is psyched to be partnering with LL Bean and some northeastern Ski Centers in a fun, free, engaging youth cross country ski game this winter: XC Ski Bingo! Every few weeks we will raffle off LL Bean US Ski Team Pom Hats and $20 LL Bean gifts cards to players who completed Bingo. Players can submit more than one Bingo throughout the season if each one is unique.
Download and print the Bingo card for your state and get ready for some winter adventuring. Be sure to fill out the BINGO ENTRY FORM when you get Bingo. We’ve got Bingo cards specific to Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont with local Ski Centers to ski at and fun activities to complete. Activity descriptions and info about participating Ski Centers included in the Bingo card downloads below.
Rules of the Game:
- Must be under 14 years of age to play.
- Game runs from December 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021.
- Get “Bingo” by completing the activities and skiing at the Centers in a full row, column, or diagonal.
- Document your activities and the Ski Centers you skied at with photos and mark your Bingo card.
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Fill out the Bingo entry form once you’ve completed Bingo. You will include your activity and Ski Center photos and a picture of your marked Bingo card.
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Follow all state COVID-19 Regulations: MA, ME, NH, NY, or VT.
- Get outside and HAVE FUN!!!
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Direct any questions to kait@nensa.net
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THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA SUPPORTING SPONSORS: |
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NENSA's Women’s Day postponed to
February 21st
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We have moved Women’s XC Ski Day from Sunday January 24th 2021 to Sunday February 21st 2021. Our priority is keeping everyone as safe and healthy as possible, and we believe we will have a better chance of hosting the whole event in each state, and that our events will be safer, if we postpone by a month. We are also keenly aware that such an event is not possible right now in Vermont and we are waiting to see how those regulations change. We appreciate your flexibility and understanding as we navigate this uncertain winter!
We still have space available for Vermonter’s in the Woodstock event, and if you’re based in Massachusetts, Maine, or New Hampshire, you can add yourself to the event-specific waitlist under registration.
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Hey NENSA members ~ click on this banner ad below from Trapp Family Lodge to purchase your season's pass membership ~ and get ready for a great season of cross country skiing and exploring the trails at Trapps! |
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THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA SUPPORTING SPONSORS! |
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Hey NENSA members ~ check this new offer out ~ subscribe to Cross Country Skier Magazine for just $12!! Click on the ad below for the offer, and to enjoy a years worth of gorgeous photos and wonderful articles! |
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NENSA COVID-19 Considerations ~
Contingency Planning
for our Events and Races
this coming season
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The Covid-19 pandemic poses significant challenges to NENSA’s 2020-21 winter event schedule. We are committed to hosting races and will make every effort to safely put on events in whatever form they might take. Our first objective is to ensure the health of our community in New England. Our second objective is to host our major events: Eastern Cups, Popular Races, U16 and Eastern High School Championships, the Bill Koch Festival, and Women’s Day as scheduled. To further foster excitement and an inclusive and community-centric atmosphere around skiing, NENSA will also be organizing some new fun season long challenges and goal-oriented activities. Skiers are encouraged to limit their travel and attend events that are within their region and state.
....click HERE for the current NENSA plans for Eastern Cups, Popular/Citizen Racing, U16 & EHS Camps, BKL Festival and Women's Day
Venues, event hosts and event organizers, BKL Club Leaders check out:
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December 30: 11 U.S. Athletes Open 15th Tour de Ski Friday in Val Müstair
The Davis U.S. Cross Country Ski Team looks to continue its early-season success as they kick off the 15th edition of the FIS Tour de Ski Friday in what may be the most important event of the season outside of the Feb. 23-March 7 FIS World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany. ...READ MORE / SCHEDULE
How Rosie Brennan Persevered Through Injuries, Illness & Tragedy To Lead the XC Ski World Cup Tour
When Rosie Brennan starts the FIS Tour de Ski on January 1, 2021, she will wear the yellow bib of the FIS World Cup leader. No U.S. cross-country skier has ever started the prestigious eight-stage Tour de Ski ranked number one. ...Read the Full Story at TeamUSA.org
Stratton Mountain School Praised As Breeding Ground for U.S. Ski & Snowboard Athletes
I was intrigued when I first found out about Stratton Mountain School. A school with a total enrollment of 154 this year — its largest-ever — producing world-class winter sports athletes who are bringing home gold medals and placing student-athletes on national teams throughout the world? All in a small Bennington County, Vermont mountain town? Wow. ...Read Full Story at BenningtonBanner.com
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From our partners at Salomon:
From Full-Time Athlete To Full-Time Work
By: Ben Lustgarten
Train 2.5 hours in the morning, shower, stretch, eat, nap, work, train 2 hours, shower, eat, sleep. This is what I was used to for the past four years training and racing full-time for the Craftsbury Green Racing Project, and how lucky I was to have that opportunity! Having the ability to develop your life around the pursuit of athletic perfection was a journey of a lifetime and something I now realize I may have taken a bit for granted. I started my full-time job (not skiing) this spring only a few weeks after the 2020 ski season's premature end.
I was anticipating having a bit more time to relax, reflect, and process the end of my ski career, remembering the good times and coming to terms with goals not-yet-achieved. However, I was plunged headfirst into a completely new and rather foreign lifestyle. Now the routine is: eat breakfast, drive to work, work 8am-5pm, drive home, squeeze in a short workout, make dinner, clean up and sleep.
I am not saying I am an expert at transitioning from full time training to full time working, but I have learned some tricks for how to adapt some important workouts into a very tight schedule. I also am very aware that I have a lot of work to do if I want to attain fitness even close to what I had a mere seven months ago. And for full transparency, I have had some serious ebs and flows of motivation to train, with both the desire to keep my hard-won fitness and also the feeling of being burned out and not needing to train hard anymore. I figured with my job taking the time from about 7:40am - 5:20pm I decided to not even attempt to do 2 workouts in one day. I wanted to make sure what little I trained would be quality. It was much more about efficiency and effectiveness of the training than the volume.
My goal is to hit about 12 hours per week, which would translate to about 600h per year, however I have been stuck at 8 hours for longer than I care to admit. This is due to a combination of lack of motivation and life getting more in the way than it used to be. I am not angry about it, just accepting it and trying to see how I can bump those numbers up a bit.
I have spoken to my coach Pepa and she kept encouraging me to do intervals to keep my fitness. I couldn't rely upon hours of training each day, seeing that I could workout about 1.5h max per day after work without sacrificing all my free time to training, and a few hours per day on the weekend. Really in the past few weeks I got a good system, and it goes like this:
Most weekdays: try to get a good 1-1.5h workout after work. I aim for L1 run or bike ride, or a good strength workout if it is raining and gross out (because I have the glorious power to choose that now)
Wednesday or Thursday: Do a 1.5h rollerski interval workout, something short like 6-10 x 1min L5 intervals. Then work from 10am-6pm. I am lucky to be able to shift my schedule at work to arrive late and leave late.
Saturday: Intervals in the morning - something longer like L3 (8-10min per interval) or longer L4 (3-5min per interval).
Sunday: longer workout like a hike, trail run, or bike ride.
My main goal going forward is to be consistent with doing intervals every week. I had a very hard time in the summer with adjusting to work, and not having a team or coach to encourage and/or tell me what to do. Doing 1.5h of L1 six days a week does relatively nothing for high end speed and ability to process lactic acid.
Efficiency with time is the most crucial element with working a full time job. I find that if I come home from work and sit down and eat a snack, maybe check my email, then suddenly it is 6:15 and I don't have time for a full workout and I just choose to not workout or to clean up and make dinner, etc. It is so easy to miss a workout. Or if I have to bring my car in, or run an errand, suddenly the workout time is gone.
At the end of the day, I know I just have to try my best. But also it is a time of my life where I realize skiing and training is not everything anymore. This realization is quite liberating, so I let myself accept that I won't hit all my workouts, and that is ok too.
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TOKO athlete interviews continue with Noah Hoffman! |
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THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA OFFICIAL SUPPLIERS: |
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Upcoming Events
A Look Ahead at the NENSA Calendar
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Eastern Cup/VT Cup Race Series Calendar HERE
Popular/Citizen Racing: Zak Cup Race Series Tentative Schedule HERE
Full NENSA.net Calendar Listing HERE
Link to our NENSA Virtual Resources Page HERE
Link to our NENSA BLM Resources Page HERE
Link to our NENSA Equality & Diversity Policy HERE
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New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA)
49 Pineland Drive, Suite 301A
New Gloucester, ME 04260
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