Dashing through the snow, in a one horse open sleigh. . .make that trudging two miles uphill in the snow, and pulling a sleigh with a horse in it.

While most Penn State students will use the winter break to catch up on much needed rest and take a step off the speeding treadmill of student life, fighters on the school boxing team will have to spend their vacation staying in shape.

In the club's last practice of the semester on Tuesday, boxers were given two sheets full of exercises and drills to keep the ring rust from forming during their weeks away from school.

Weight lifting, running, shadow boxing and watching their weight are all highlighted on the workout pages, which closely follow the routine completed by the team during fall semester.

"I made this up so they could stay sharp over the break," coach Bill Wrable said. "We can't afford for them to come back her after a long layoff and have to start over again."

With no chance to meet as a team and practice together, it will be up to the boxers to keep themselves motivated. Miles Rivas, who experienced the same long layoff during last season, said it's tough to come up with a schedule to do all the exercises when Wrable is not looming over him.

The term-break workout calls for each fighter to exercise every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

Each session begins with jump-roping, followed by 15 minutes of shadow boxing that is broken up into three minute rounds of jabs, hooks, uppercuts and combos. After a round of "cherry pickers," the team finishes their workout with sprints and a three-mile run.

Perhaps more difficult than keeping up with their exercises will be holding off on second helpings during holiday meals.

"You know how it is when you're home and mom is cooking," Rivas said. "We'll be able to tell the first sprint we run when we get back who worked and who didn't."

When the team reports back for spring semester, they will have three weeks to prepare for their next scheduled bout. Wrable expects them to be out of form the first few times they step between the ropes, but he needs them to take it upon themselves to continue their training.

"This team is not in bad shape right now," he said. "But they can't get out of it. They've got to keep working."