Once again I've neglected to actually post the blogs I've been writing so here is a condensed version with lots of pictures and fun to keep you interested!
NorAm Opener: Sovereign Lakes: It happened! The first races of the season are raced and out of the way. I say out of the way because you never know how they'll go or how you will feel and you just have to go out and race. I don't disregard these races or put any less emphasis on preparing for them and racing my hardest, but come March, these aren't usually the races that stick out in my mind as any measure of the season. But alas, it was a solid weekend. I didn't feel shiny and overly fast but I'm really happy with the way I'm beginning to ski in classical style and the courses here at Sovereign have become second nature as we've raced the exact ones so many time.
Day 1- 1200m Classic Sprints - I started out feeling strong and skied relaxed and smooth up the first climb out of the stadium. My skis were feeling fast and took me around the course at what felt like a decent speed. I had a small slip up on the final climb which probably ate up a few seconds and I came to the finish line at 15th. Starting the heats I knew I would most likely have to finish in the top two to advance since the Lucky Loser spot (top 2 3rd place finishers from the quarterfinal heats) was determined by bib number and my bib was a little on the low side for easy advancement as a LL. I had a good start and a good lane around the course. One or two people went down, I'm not exactly sure how many, but I lost a little bit of momentum avoiding the crash. By the last 100m I kind of ran out of juice and didn't advance to the semis. For a classic sprint it wasn't too bad of a start.
Qualifier for 1200m sprint- Thanks to Jesse Winter for the great race photos. He took a bunch from the day. Go here to check them out: www.jessewinterphotography.com
Quarter-final heat, I'm to short one in the middle.
My Uncle Bob andAuntie Bev drove up from Salmon Arm to watch the races!
10km Classic- This race was hard and great all at the same time. I started out at a good pace and worked to keep everything in order. Keeping my technique in check was a main focus for me for this race. I went though periods of feeling really great and really crappy but it turned out to be a decent race. Overall nothing special but it felt like a good start.
On to Rossland, B.C. we go...
Although the mountain was closed we had plenty of snow to run our xc races. I'm a fan of the trails at Blackjack Nordic with the layout of the courses and flowing trails.
Skate Sprint: My legs felt a bit heavy all day. I skied through the heats and felt like I was holding on but managed to ski to the B-final. Time for some serious recovery action for the afternoon...
10km Skate: YAYYYY! FINALLY! I found something I was looking for and new was in there somewhere but had trouble spitting out. I had a really really great race. I felt great from the moment I put on my warm up skis. It was a mass start and my seeding in distance put me in the 3rd row to start so I had a lot of racers to ski through to get to the front. The nature of the course (50m, uphill,downhill,uphill) made for a crammed start and luckily everyone stayed calm for the first few kms. Mass starts can get strung out fairly quickly on a course like this. I started in 16th and finished in 11th. Regardless of the placing I had a great race and felt a lot of quality training and technique coming through. Excellent.
Rossland was a good weekend for the whole team as well with a bunch of top 10s and top 5s. We're starting to improve every weekend. Then It was home for Christmas...
Santa Showed up in the backyard.....
We had NO snow at home so when we finally got a dusting we headed to the golf course. I had to ski in my Mom's old boots on a pair of old fischers with only one bumper but hey, we were skiing! I've never golfed on the course but finally saw all 18 holes!
And then we got dumped on. It was a treat to be able to ski at Hardwood before we left.
Our annual Christmas party was held at my house this year. Having all of my friends from home in one room is rare so we always opt for the family photo. Great people right here and always supportive!
I'll end the update here and continue (yes I ACTUALLY will) in a new one this afternoon. Right now we are in Canmore for Canadian Westerns but it's been so cold, -37 C right now, that we had to delay leaving the house. So hopefully we get out today.
Later!
Erin
