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East-Side Update
We've had some recent requests for more Andy Newell on Team Today. Great timing, since the boys of southern Vermont generally have a pretty entertaining 4th of July.
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\r\nEast-Side Update
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\r\nBy Andy Newell
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\r\nThe first week in July is always a great one here in Vermont. Every year around this time I head out to Park City for our summer training routine, so the 4th of July has always been the culmination of my summer here on the East Coast. One of the main things that make the first week in July so great is that it always ends up being a hard week on the training schedule, and therefore one of the busiest weeks of the year. With only seven days to fit in all the training, working, and partying necessary for such an occasion this is the one week a year we come close to completing “ hard-core week”.
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\r\nHard-core week is more of a myth that anything around these parts and some say it even goes back to the days when Koch, Gallahger, and the boys ruled the scene here in Vermont. The guidelines of hard-core week are fairly simple and are as fallows: You have one week complete 20 hours of training, 40 hours of pounding nails, and to drink 80 beers. Yes, it may seem simple on paper but trust me it is not. You can split up and complete the three requirements any way you want in the seven days of the week, which adds a whole strategizing element to everything. I personally have never seen of anyone completing it and really don’t know if it is possible at all. But every year around this time talk of hard-core weeks begins to resurface.
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\r\nThe dudes and I had trained quite a bit the week before (something like 16 hours) and I was a little tired, so I knew I had no chance in going for hard-core week this year, even though the thought was in the back of my mind. This weeks training was particularly important for me because it was a VO2max booster week, and my last chance to get some good high speed intervals in at a low altitude before heading out to Park City. Because of this I decided to hold off until the weekend until getting rowdy.
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\r\nThis is how the week went down for me:
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\r\nMon: am: Run and Strength 2:00 pm: recovery distance: 30
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\r\nTue: am: bounding int. 1:45 pm: Bike: 45
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\r\nWend: double pole/ core strength 1:00/ 1:20
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\r\nThurs: am: Striding int. 1:40 pm: Run: 45
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\r\nFri: Skate w/ no pole 2:00
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\r\nSat. am: Strength 1:00 pm: skate w/ speed 1:15
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\r\nSun: Off
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\r\nThe week went well for training and even though I was pretty tired by the end we did get some good strength, intervals, and ended up getting around 14 hours in. I even got around to working around 20 hours too (sorry, well off hard-core week standards.) The great part about training hard all week is it really makes the weekend feel a lot better.
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Team Today isn't sure what kind of parade Londonderry hosts, but we're pretty sure it's not too tough to enter a float...
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\r\nThe problem with having the 4th fall on a Sunday is that there is a very good chance everyone in town will be too blown out by the end of the weekend and the actual 4th will end up a bust. This was kind of the case here in Londonderry this weekend. We started off the weekend strong with some shoes at fosters house and a party in some dudes barn I didn’t know. That night we got an emergency phone call about the Londonderry parade that was scheduled for the next morning. The Londonderry parade is an amazing event; it has everything from rednecks driving their mudding rigs through town to old geezers driving lawnmowers. Every year, anyone who has a muscle car drives through and does burn outs and brake stands down main street, its awesome. Anyway… we got an emergency call saying that the guy, who was supposed to drive Senator James Jeffords, this year Grand Marshal, wasn’t going to be able to make it. Just like that we saw the potential of having Fosters Caddie leading the Londonderry parade and we jumped at the opportunity. We quickly cleaned all the beer cans out of the white 69 Cadillac coup de vile, slapped a big American flag on the back, and it was ready to go.
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\r\nOn Saturday Foster managed not to scare off the Senator and lead the parade. A buddy of ours had a much of city kids over for the weekend so we played a bunch of New York homeboys in a game of slosh-ball (it’s a lot like soft ball only with a little twist I wont mention. I sure its played at a lot of colleges). It was a Red Sox vs. Yankees battle and of course the Red Sox won. By 1 am that night we found ourselves playing the city folk once again, this time in redneck barn basketball, and Gus ended up messing up his knee. He didn’t realize the injury until the next day and had to go the doc. but I think he is going to be ok. As planned everyone in town was pretty blown out by Sunday and not a whole lot other than Fireworks and a BBQ went down. I think I was in bed by 11 or so. Once again not very hard-core of me, but I guess there is always next year.
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\r\nThat’s all from the East side. My next update will be coming from Park City in a week or so. Until then, keep em on 4, drive it like you stole it, and ski on!
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\r\nNewell
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\r\nTeam Today is a non-profit organization run by, and for, the athletes of the US Cross-country team. The USST is run on a shoestring budget, and our increasing success at the international level is making for increasing demand on our ever-limited resources. To find out how you can join Team Today, visit www.teamtoday.org, or contact Andrew Johnson bode1978@yahoo.com, or Pete Vordenberg pvordenberg@ussa.org. With your assistance, we will be THE BEST IN THE WORLD!
Written By: anewellDate Posted: 7/9/2004Number of Views: 304
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