Photos of the day

A link to Kara’s Olympic Resume

This reflection drew me to think about this craft called coaching. What is it that makes a coach? What are the indicators that show a person is worthy of the honor of being called coach?

Expert at Encouragement: Several years ago, I was walking past a speech coach talking with one of his students. While I have forgotten the specific vocabulary he used, I can still feel the tone of his words as he spoke to the young lady. He praised her effort, pointed out an area of needed improvement and then said a few more words of encouragement. Just in that short encounter I could tell that he was a master coach, he understood the value of positive words and tone.

Master of Management: According to Dr. Mike Hieb; coaching a nordic ski team of Jr. High and High school students is most closely related to herding a group of cats. Each athlete has their own agenda, desires and needs. A coach needs to recognized this and then craft a program that takes all of these individuals and turns them into a team. The defining moment in the movie “Miracle on Ice” is when the players finally understand the answer to Herb Brooks’ question of who are you and who do you play for. After weeks of hearing the question and replying with their name and the team that they came from, a player finally says his name and then states that he plays for the United States of America.

Thoughtful Teacher: Coaching at its purest is teaching and teaching at its purest is coaching. The two are one in the same. The goal of every coach is to teach each player the skills that they need to be successful in their chosen sport. Paula Anderson is the head coach of the Ely Nordic Ski Team. She is the perfect example of a thoughtful teacher. Her training plan and daily practices are finely crafted to teach each athlete what is appropriate and needed for each stage of her athlete’s career. Her skill has allowed Ely to compete successfully with schools ten times the size of Ely.

What qualities do you feel are most important for a coach to have to be a successful coach? What “tools” do you as a coach have in your “tool box” that you could not do without? Athletes: What do you most value in a coach? What skills to you see as most important for a coach to hone and perfect?

I would love to hear your comments and ideas.

Weekend Plans

Word has it that the Grand Marais area received about 9 inches of snow. Look here for information about conditions on the Onion River Road. The ORR might be a great place for you to head to on Saturday or Sunday for that longer ski! Willing to drive further? Check out this webcam from the Kamview ski trails in Thunder Bay.

See you at practice!

Just thought I would get a quick post in here before Thanksgiving.

Everybody seems to be doing very well during these first practices. 

Seeing as how we are doing a fair bit of running at this point, I thought I would bring up a few important points for the athletes on the team.

Make sure you are getting plenty of good food and drinking plenty of water.  When you are doing workouts on a daily basis, your body burns through an immense amount of calories.  Make sure you are eating three good meals during the day, focusing on healthy foods with plenty of fruits and vegetables, carbohydrates from pastas and breads, and foods high in protein and iron.  Those are just a few examples.

Drinking plenty of fluids during the day is very important this time of year as well.  When the air is cold and dry, your body loses a great deal of fluid, even from something as simple as breathing (you can see it with every foggy breath you take outside).  You need to be replenishing that fluid on a consistent basis in order for your body to operate at maximum performance.  Our bodies are made up of mostly water, so it is natural that without enough of it you can’t be at your best.  The key is not to wait until you feel thirsty to drink, that is a sign that you are already getting dehydrated.  

Try keeping a water bottle with you all day and slowly drinking from it so that you are drinking at least two liters per day.       AVOID CAFFEINE!!!!    Caffeine is a diuretic and will end up working against your goal of hydration.

Also make sure you are getting plenty of sleep.  It is very important to get plenty of rest to properly recover from the workouts and give your body a chance to strengthen itself.  Try to get a least 8 hours per night and you will really be able to benefit from the hard work you are putting in everyday at school and practice.

That’s it for now, have a great Thanksgiving!

 I am really pleased with how practices are going, folks are ready to start right at 3:25, everyone is doing an excellent job of signing up for your workout group and it looks like all are working hard at practice. 

 Final note:  Have you turned in your race and season contract?  What questions do you have?  Leave me a comment or two….
Mr. DJ

Clothing/Equipment

Remember to bring in a bicycle helmet, gloves, and ski poles so that you can roller ski.  Each day you will need complete cold weather running gear to include your shoes (ELLA!).  Also bring in all your ski equipment in a ski bag so that we can prep it for the upcoming snow!

Paperwork

Have you downloaded the proper workout calendar?  Is it in a spot in your house where you can write on it each day after practice to document your attendance?  Also turn in your season contract and race contract.

Keep up the great work and we will see you on the trails!

Coach DJ

Photo Bruce Adlesman 

Ski season has started but we have no snow! What is a ski team to do? Here at Marshall Nordic we will use this time to properly prep our skis for the season ahead, maintain or increase our fitness and strength as well as work on ski technique using roller skis. To make this all happen each member of Marshall Nordic needs to come to practice with the correct equipment. For roller skiing you need your bicycle helmet, gloves, ski poles and if possible NNN style ski boots. For running you will need your good quality running shoes, cold weather running clothes to include a hat, gloves and windproof tops and bottoms. Also bring in all the ski equipment that you have so that we can inspect it, evaluate it and prep it for the upcoming season.

At each practice we will divide into small groups, several for running, one for roller skiing and one to work on our equipment in the wax room. Our goal will be that when the snow hits the ground all members of Marshall Nordic will be ready to fly!

See you at practice!