Offseason Training and Cross Country Athletes

XC athletes use nordic, winter running to train for the season

It’s the first snowfall in November and the cross-country season has come to an end with Minnehaha’s boys and girls varsity teams making it to the state meet, but that doesn’t mean it’s over. These athletes have many plans for this off-season; such as joining Nordic and Track for the first time. 

Greta Gesick and Allison O’Leary are two of our top girls varsity athletes that have decided to take up a new hobby for the winter season. 

“I’m planning on doing Nordic this year, which is cross-country skiing so I can keep my cardio health up,” said sophomore Greta Gesick. 

Gesick’s goals are to not lose any strength or stamina she worked so hard to build through the fall.

“I’ve struggled to find what works best for me to train in the winter, but I heard from a lot of the other girl cross-country runners that they were going to join nordic and decided to try it out this year,” said junior Allison O’Leary. 

O’Learys goals are to take a break from running and just have fun, but she also needs to stay in shape.

In Minnesota, winter training for running is very difficult, but athletes are making the best out of it. 

“Thirty-six miles a week is my minimum goal this winter,” says O’Leary, “I’m gonna push myself to not let the cold get in my way.” 

 O’Leary stated that she isn’t going to treat this Nordic season any differently than cross country and keep pushing herself to do her best. 

“I’ve never skied cross country before so I’m excited to push my body in a different way,” Gesick said. 

Gesick used to be a swimmer and her decision to quit swimming and take up Nordic was hard but she knows it’s what’s best for her running. 

Gesick also has plans to pick up another sport coming in the summer, track. 

“Track has always been a sport I’ve wanted to do but never had the time. Now that I’ve quit swimming for Nordic, that opens up my summers” said Gesick. 

Track is an amazing way for distance runners to push their bodies to do just a little bit more. They will have to push themselves to run faster and keep their speed up for longer amounts of time. 

“I think joining track might be the best decision for my running,” said Gesick.