What's happening in November

Greetings from the United lounge at Lax…I can’t believe how busy it is here.  Just had some very good Mexican (check out Harah Fresh Mexican if you’re passing through…they make a nice little quesadilla). 

It's November...let's take a quick look at what’s happening during November, as well as what our staff are up to; 

-          Luc is currently consulting with the Kabdalis team (www.kabdalis.com) up in the Swedish lapland (north of the Arctic Circle).  During his time at Kabdalis, Luc will work w. IR program athletes, as well as consult with the team during their November preparation phase.  He will also be actively involved with hill preparation (injection) for training arenas and delivering coach education clinics to coaches from the Nordbotton region (here’s a sneak peak at some of the content that Luc and I put together for the clinics, which are based on IR methodology - 

IR Nordbotten region coach ed Nov 2012 V1 (JB-LP - brief - blog version)

     Luc will keep plugging in Sweden for the next 3 weeks, and will arrive in Canmore in early December.

-          I (Jeff) am on my way to Copper Mountain, Colorado for a speed block with the Australian World Cup Ski Cross team.  I will be working as an alpine consultant to the team, and working primarily with veteran ski cross athlete (& former Alpine world cup racer & Olympian) Jenny Owens (www.jennyowens.com).  We will train at Copper through to November 17 with a focus on SG.  We travel to Panorama on the 17 for a 5 day SG-GS block.  We’re then off to the Windtower on November 24 (Canmore – Nakiska) for a 2 week block at Nakiska in preparation for the season opening world cup at Nakiska on December 7-8.   I return full time to the IR program after these races.

-          Brett is currently in Vancouver…busy with last minute planning details and looking after the branding and design of this year’s schwag (more information on the new uniform pieces below).  Brett will travel to Canmore on November 15 and spend a few days setting up shop at the Windtower before starting at snow on Norquay on November 18 for a 6x day slalom camp with members +of the Boston College Ski Team (Mike, Eddie, Taylor & Kelly) as well as Andrew, Willy, Luci and Hannah.  Those sticking around will take a well-deserved rest before heading into a 6 day GS block at Norquay.   A few more arrive on the 27-28 November...Zach, Ned, Tom, Imogen, Meg, Max, Annie, Oliver, Sarah, Harrison, Jack and Louis. 

-          Trent is running the VIC Alpine conditioning programs in Melbourne…Trent and a dozen athletes are on the ice as I write this for a 2 day ice hockey skills camp at the Medibank Icehouse in Melbourne.  This is our 5^th camp at the Icehouse, a great venue (www.icehouse.com.au).  We are big believers in the benefits of ice hockey…we see it as a valuable for lower leg skills, energy system development, athleticism, coordination, decision making, team building…and maybe even a bit of fun.    Check out this article from Alpine Press on how a few other teams integrate ice hockey into the programs (it’s certainly not uncommon by any means)  http://alpinepress.com/article/dryland-training-power-play/

-          Jennifer is enjoying some down time in Melbourne…playing some bike polo (www.bikepolo.com.au).  If not familiar w. bike polo, it is what it sounds like…polo on bikes.  I swung by Flagstaff Gardens in Melbourne last weekend to check out one of Jennifer’s games…it’s a really quite a cool sport (probably best not to try unless you’re reasonably handy w. a bike).  Jennifer flies to Toronto this week and will spend a few weeks in Ontario before embarking on the relatively lengthy (3700’ish km’s) from Toronto to Canmore in late November. 

The uniform…

As I mentioned, Brett has been hard at work getting the new uniforms put together…details:

-          Spyder puffy jacket

-          Spyder soft shell training jacket

-          Adidas track suit (top & bottom)

-          Adidas dry wick t

-          Cotton t

-          Ball cap (2x styles)

-          Toque (or beanie if you prefer)

IR dryland t - included for all program participants

The new IR hoodie

Luc modelling the new track suit top

-          Some pieces are included with IR programs (inclusions vary based on program length)

-          All pieces are available for purchase (purchase information will be available separately)

Keep the foot down with the conditioning in the lead up to your time on snow…success is in the last 5% (of intensity & effort)…get it done.  I’ll wrap this up w. something that Brett said a few days back that stuck with me;

“Winners never quit, & quitters never win.”

At press time I’m not sure if this is his quote or not, or if it originates from somewhere else…so I will loosely give the quote credit to Brett, apologies if the credit is due somewhere else (maybe from a Red Bull add or something like this?...ha), it’s a fitting statement either way

PS – check out the ‘IR Yellow Jersey’ blogpost if you haven’t seen it already

On behalf of the IR team, over & out for now

Jeff Books 

Athletics Director & Partner

International Racer

Mobile: +61 (4) 31 071 121

Skype: jeff.books

 

IR Yellow Jersey Program

IR Yellow Jersey Program

November is upon us. 

-   The intensity and specificity of training increase as we move into the Specific Preparation Phase (SPP). 

-   This also means that it’s time for fitness testing.

-    …& time to launch the IR Yellow Jersey program.    

Here’s how the IR Yellow Jersey program works:

-   IR branded yellow jerseys (t shirts) are awarded to the fittest athletes (statistically)  based on the most recent round of fitness testing results. 

o   November testing in Sydney & Melbourne – other testing sessions following the current SSA Fitness Testing Protocol or similar   

- Points are collected based on your performance in your most recent testing session.

-          Yellow jerseys awarded to the following age – gender groups;

o   U14 women

o   U14 men

o   U16 women

o   U16 men

o   U18 women

o   U18 men

o   U21 – Senior women

o   U21 – Senior men

The scoring system   

- A value of 0 (not able to complete), 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) is assigned to each of the key areas from the testing protocol:  

o   Aerobic power

o   Anearobic endurance

o   Explosive power

o   Flexibility

o   Agility

o   Linear speed

o   Strength

- U14-U16’s will receive a score out of 50

- U18-U21-Senior athletes will receive a score out of 60

Check out the complete scoring summary below

This scoring system allows you to:

- Break the testing data down to an easy to manage meaningful number

- Track changes over time (as you can w. the testing data), although it is our hope that this method will simplify the process

- IR minimum requirement is ‘Good (62-75%)’  

** NB: for 2013.14 & beyond, minimum fitness standards will be required to be met for acceptance into the program

Testing

-   Fitness testing will give you an overview of your capacity, by providing data on your strength, ability to run, jump, create force etc. 

-   The testing process will provide you with data that you can track throughout your athletic career.  One off tests are of limited use – tracking one’s progress over time is the only way forward.   

-    Testing is an important and often misunderstood and underemphasized practice.   More emphasis is needed on the importance of physical capacity in Australian ski racers…the majority of Australian athletes lack the fitness, strength, flexibility, mobility and athleticism required to move (& ski) in a powerful and efficient manner.    

-    Any testing – assessment will result in a better understanding of your current strengths and weaknesses and provide valuable information in future planning. 

-   Testing is necessary to determine the effectiveness of training programs, determine future program direction, track (& monitor) progress and establish goals and performance benchmarks.  At school, we write tests and exams – on the hill we race (& train with timing) – with conditioning we test. 

-    This is something that you do as an athlete – you must make the time to attend testing sessions.

Movement screening

-    Movement screening is an essential assessment tool. Whereas testing captures your movement capacity, movement screening is designed to capture your movement quality.  Movement screening is intended to highlight both efficiencies and inefficiencies within one’s movement pattern.  Screening can be performed in conjunction w. fitness testing (often at the start and/or finish of each training phase), or on its own.  Stay tuned for more information on movement screening, and particularly the ‘Functional Movement Screen’, most often referred to as the ‘FMS’ coming your way on the IR blog later this month.

For more information, contact:

Jeff Books

Athletics Director

E – jeff.books@internationalracer.com