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This is posted from http://www.enjoywinter.com/skipost-archives
Would you please respond to the issue of wearing hats to help maintain core temp and thus not jeopardize performance. Our middle school & high school girls are into looking good with brightly colored headbands that leave much of their hair & head exposed to the elements. Today at the JNQ Sprint races in Wausau we had pouring rain (it could have just as likely been heavy wet snow) coming down that was totally saturating their head/hair as well as their race suits. While coaches are concerned with the wax on their athlete's skis, it does not seem like they are as concerned with lessened performance due to inappropriate dress. I am not talking about sunny 30+ race days. I was always taught that if core temp was maintained or even increased - the extremities (legs/arms and the muscles in those legs and arms) would perform at a higher level than if the body was chilled and the blood was being shunted to the core. Is this old school thinking? I believe if an expert responds to this, I have a better chance of being listened to when I tell them to put a hat on! Frozen Coach Yes, the human body performs best when its core temp remains around 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius). Too cold (or too hot) and performance quickly drops. We lose heat through conduction, convection, radiation and evaporation. We constantly release heat in the form of radiation. Conduction occurs when our bodies give away heat to that other object that we are in contact with that has a lower temp, like snow or air particles. Convection occurs when we transfer het to air particle through motion i.e. "wind chill" Finally, when as we sweat, ( or get wet) we transfer heat through evaporation, as water on our skin transforms into a gas. Since our bodies naturally give away heat to colder, active particles, air particles in wind, and water particles (snow and rain) can accelerate that effect. To combat rapid cooling, we shiver to generating heat by exciting our muscles. In the cold many parts of the body blood vessels in our skin tissue constrict, or tighten up to keep blood away from the cold outer layer of the body and helps circulate warmer blood to our core areas. But this tightening is not good for peak performance and racing. Why a hat? Because areas around the head, neck, chest and groin don't constrict as effectively as the smaller ones near the skin and thus more even more susceptible to heat loss. Furthermore water is denser than air, so it absorbs more heat (up to 32 times more) than air. So when you are skiing in rain or snow you can get hypothermia quicker if the rain or snow is falling on your uncovered head and neck. That's why Nordic racing attire includes a hat and often neck gaiter. When your core temperature down to 95 degrees or below it is called hypothermia. When your re-warming reactions are not enough to overcome the cooling process, hypothermia can set in and skiing performance will decrease quickly. Mild Hypothermia includes shivering, goose bumps, difficulty with complex motor skills Moderate Hypothermia includes violent shivering, sluggish, speech problems, difficulty with fine motor skills. Severe Hypothermia includes rigid muscles, dazed, shivering has stopped, blue skin, erratic heart beat. So dress properly, starting with your first layers and finishing with a hat and neck gator to race better. Andy at SkiPost
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The Ripple Effect award is given to athletes whose actions have a positive effect on their coaches, teammates, perception of the team by the public or the University of Wyoming community Trevor was a great training partner while skiing, and helped me and the other freshman with all of our activities. I nominate Trevor for the ripple award because he did a great job of keeping the team together over camp and encouraging everyone after the time trial. Maddy was super fun and a great role model. She helped me with logistics and just made the camp awesome! I want to nominate Maddy and Rylie for stepping up as incredible leaders for the younger kids. From helping freshmen with lunches, to scraping the snow off Clifford, to taking charge of dinner, I am so impressed with the leaders both of them have become over the last year and it really showed this week! Derek helped make my week better he could tell I was feeling down and was there for me as a teammate and a friend which is what we all need! I want to nominate Derek. No matter what, he is always positive, hardworking, and eager to help in anyway he can. Ben & Derek were incredible and took time out of their afternoon to shovel snow for Dick & Evelyn! Coaches would like to nominate the everyone for such amazing teamwork! This is how great teams are born, as small laughter, support, and camaraderie!
Many Dragons will be slain this year!  Smiling after an amazing week of skiing! Yes that is Mt. Elbert in the background! Wow! What a magical Thanksgiving Camp! We simply couldn't have had better snow, training, laughter, team building, and racing! Well done everyone!
We are now in that time of year when the conditions are variable so please pay attention for changes or let us know if you want to join us for a workout! We will be doing a recovery week here so fewer hours but we will be doing some more speed to get ready for the first race! Here are the official practices for this week:
The Ripple Effect award is given to athletes whose actions have a positive effect on their coaches, teammates, perception of the team by the public or the University of Wyoming community Ben Noren, Trevor, Silas, and Derek. Ben has shared some sage advice with me about life, skiing, and women as well as made me feel at home. As for the other boys, they helped me at a time when I was at a low point. Trevor is my nomination this week, because he drove us to skiing, he hosted us last night, he helped me out a lot with all sorts of things this week, also he’s just great.
 Playing in the leaves is fun BUT skiing is better! Yay! The last full week of training before Thanksgiving Camp! Wow!!!
We want you to have at least 7 classic skis before your first skate ski SO you want to get out there this week so you can skate next week at camp!!! We will be giving everyone a chance to take an easy weekend before the amazingness of Thanksgiving Camp so if you want to head home, or go home with someone, this is the weekend! With the variable conditions things could change at any minute so pay attention and be sure you are on the GroupMe text so you get messages for changes this week. Here are the official practices for this week:
SLAY THE DRAGON! The Ripple Effect award is given to athletes whose actions have a positive effect on their coaches, teammates, perception of the team by the public or the University of Wyoming community I would like to nominate Ella. She did an amazing job organizing the benefit dinner, and she did it with such a positive attitude and smile on her face! She was so patient with everyone, even when I’m sure she was overwhelmed with all the things she had to do! Such an amazing role model for this team! I want to nominate Ella for leading the benefit dinner. The night went off super well and she created an environment that allowed lots of people to work as a team to create an amazing final product. She was so great to work with throughout the whole process! Amanda deserves a Ripple Award for the hour she spent up to her elbows in fish skins trying to dislodge them from the baking pans. It was tedious, messy work and she did it with a smile and a laugh! I want to nominate Syd, Rylie, and Ben for the Ripple Award this week. I can’t express just how much help they were with all the planning and prep for the benefit dinner. It was such a relief for be to know that when I was busy, I had such amazing people that could step in. I’d love to nominate Ella, Syd, Ben, and Ry for a ripple award for making sure that the benefit dinner was running smooth from preparing the recipes to being at the loft all day to the plating. Everything ran so smooth because of them! I’d like to thank the freshmen who were quick to respond when the team presentation plan changed I would like to nominate Sloan for the Ripple Effect because she did an amazing job cleaning up after the benefit dinner last night and she always knows how to make me laugh, motivate me, and make my day better! Rylie made my week better she helped me get ready for the benefit dinner and answered all the questions I asked since I don’t know much as a lil freshman.
 Dinner accomplished! What an amazing week! UW Nordic got a TON of yards done for raking, we got to have a lovely ski on Saturday morning and we have an extremely successful benefit dinner on Saturday night! TRULY AMAZING!
With the variable conditions things could change at any minute so pay attention and be sure you are on the GroupMe text so you get messages for changes this week. Here are the official practices for this week:
Dinner dragon slayed... |
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