US Nationals are over (except for the 50k which will be in March at Fort Kent, Maine) and I’m headed out to Washington state (Methow Valley) for the next big races: a freestyle sprint on Saturday and a 15k classic (interval start) on Sunday.
Both are SuperTour races although they probably won’t be the deepest fields…however this is motivating for me as it gives me a better chance at a top-10, or maybe even a top-6 (in the money!) I’m ready to regroup, get on track, and try to race a lot better there than I did this week.
Yesterday’s classic sprint (1.5k) was not terrible but definitely not my best. 34th, missed the heats by just under 1 second (.98). Probably needed some more kick wax and a more confident attitude. I skied reasonably well until the first big uphill where I had to herringbone the entire thing and couldn’t seem to go very fast…definitely lost a lot of time there. Another little thing to work on: herringbone sprints up steep hills. Weird because I was actually doing alright with that a few weeks ago. But these conditions might have been a little different.
After the sprint, Russell and I did a pretty solid 1hr.20min. double pole along the coastal trail, from the venue back to our hotel/condo, which was great. First of all, it’s just great that you can even do that…ski from the race venue to right downtown, right next to the ocean the whole way with amazing views no less! But it also just felt great to do a just-plain-distance/strength session after all this sitting around resting and then racing and then resting some more. I must be really abnormal or something but I actually feel a lot better when I do 15 or 20 hours of easy distance per week, than when I do 7 hours a week trying to be all “rested up” for the races. Looking forward to doing some more distance soon. But in any case it was a nice way to finish up the time in Anchorage.
So, all told, a 37th, 31st, 36th, and 34th….not where I should have been, but also not too bad, all things considered (previous best finish in the middle distance races was 68th.) I had amazing support up there thanks to FW coaches and Salomon/Swix wax technicians…Just racing kind of flat this past week but hope to rest and recover well this week, do some speeds later in the week, and then go for broke in both SuperTour races. Looking forward to moving on and some chances to do what I can really do!
(Below are some pictures my friend Davya Flaharty took at nationals: one from the 15k skate and some from the 30k mass start classic:)
