NorAms

I am back at my parents' house in Salmon Arm after a busy two weeks of travel and racing. I returned from Europe and jumped right back into the NorAm domestic racing circuit 5 days later.

I spent a couple days recovering from travel then joined the Academy in Vernon for the Sovereign NorAms on December 10 and 11. It was great to see my team again and catch up with everyone after a month away.

Saturday was a classic sprint. I felt surprisingly peppy in the qualifier and got the fastest time of the day. In the final heat I died in the last section and had to settle for 2nd behind American superstar Jessie Diggins. Sunday was a 10km classic individual. I felt a bit flat from the efforts of the previous day though I felt better as the race progressed. I finished in 7th, but was the top Canadian.

Sprint qualifier. Photo: Peter Collins

We packed up the vans on Tuesday and drove down to Rossland, BC for another weekend of races.I had a slump mid-week and was tired going into the sprints on Saturday. I qualified in 4th but felt better and better as the heats went on and was able to steal 2nd spot in a sprint to the finish, once again behind Jessie. Sunday was the last race before the holidays: a 10km skate mass start. It was a fun race as I was skiing in a pack of 3-5 girls most of the time. Jessie took off in the first kilometer and I was in the chase pack. The first two laps of the 3.3 km course were tough and I was yo-yoing off the back. By the last lap I was feeling good and had enough gas to sprint the last kilometer and secure 2nd spot.

Here is the sprint podium. I'm wearing the bright new One-Way team parka.

The Academy girls did some Christmas baking for the coaches and staff in Rossland. Rebecca was kind enough to let us take over her family's kitchen for an afternoon. Each gingerbread person resembled the recipient!

I am quite happy with how the last two weekends went. I was worried I would be fatigued coming back from Europe and dealing with jet-lag but I seemed to bounce back fairly quickly. Overall, I think it was an advantage to have an extra month of racing under my belt as I raced better than I ever have in December.

After 6 straight weekends of tough races and time trials I am ready for a bit of a break. I am spending Christmas at my parents' house with easy training. I took advantage of an easy day and did a slow 20km ski on some of the ungroomed trails at Larch Hills yesterday with my family and some family friends. It was fun getting off the groomed trails and we had a great day. 

I head back to Canmore on the 27th and plan to put in a good training block. My next race will be NorAms in Whistler in early January.

Don't forget to put out your stockings tonight!

Dusseldorf

I am back in Canada after a month-long European adventure. I was sad to leave the team and the World Cup circuit but I have been enjoying skiing at the winter wonderland of Silver Star and Sovereign and catching up with family and friends.

Dusseldorf was my last race weekend of the trip and it was a great finale. The races were in downtown Dusseldorf on the banks of the Rhine. Snow was trucked in and the course was prepared Friday night. This is what the course looked like Friday afternoon:

The loop was around 800m with the girls doing one lap and the boys looping around twice. By Saturday morning the track was in good shape, though the snow was quite dirty.

Saturday was an individual skate sprint. I felt pretty good in the qualifier but it was such a short and fast course I had no idea how I had done when I crossed the finish line. I finished in 38th place, 0.77 seconds out of qualifying. It was disappointing not to qualify but it is encouraging to be clawing my way closer to the top 30. Chandra had a fantastic day finishing 4th, her best result in over 3 years!

Sunday was the team sprint event. Dasha and I were trailing after the first couple laps and weren't able to match the pace of the top girls in our semi-final, so our day ended there. It was a great opportunity to practice exchanges and sharpen my elbows with 11 girls flying around the tight narrow corners. Chandra and Peri made it to the final and came in 7th and Drew and Lenny finished an impressive 5th. Also Kikkan and Sadie teamed up for the US and came 2nd, with Sadie getting her first World Cup medal!

The whole atmosphere in Dusseldorf was so exciting. There were booths and food vendors set up by the track and the area was crowded with people. There was a Christmas market downtown selling ornaments, toys, candy, food and alcohol. The mulled wine stall was by far the most popular.

We discovered a gourmet tea shop where we drank the best tea of my life.

Running along the Rhine for our afternoon workout:

The race hotel is attached to a big indoor arena. It holds soccer games, concerts, and various other events. This year happened to coincide with the Race of Champions, an indoor rally car event. There was a viewing platform attached to the hotel restaurant so we watched as they prepared the course. We snagged tickets for Saturday evening and watched until the exhaust fumes and loud noise sent us back to our rooms. 

I had such a great time with the World Cup athletes, coaches and staff. A big thank you to all the wax techs for taking great care of my skis, Scott, Shayne and Wolfman for the amazing massages/physio sessions and also to Eric, Justin and Louis for coaching the trip.

Drew wrote a great blog about the perpetual optimism of athletes. No matter what happens we always believe it is going to get better. I believe I will get faster and will eventually make it to the front of the pack. Check out his article here. 

I flew to Kelowna on Monday and spent a day at my parents' house before meeting my Academy teammates in Silver Star. I am hoping to conquer jetlag and race both NorAm races here this weekend.

.