March 24, 2009 (Falun, Sweden) – Here’s an inside look at the XC World Cup Finals which concluded last weekend in Falun, Sweden March 20-22 by the USA’s Kikkan Randall. The mini Tour de Ski style finals started with the 1km Sprint Classic that took place on Wednesday March 18 in the city of Stockholm. The athletes returned to Falun that evening and from March 20-22 raced a 2.5/3.7km Prologue, a 10/20km Pursuit and finished with a 10/15km skate race.

The Cliff Notes:
A mini-tour (kind of like the Tour de France) in Falun, Sweden, would be the finals of the 2009 World Cup season. Four races in five days.

The first race was a classic sprint in Stockholm. I just missed qualifying, finishing 33rd. We got a quick day off before a 2.5km hill climb prologue up the infamous “Murder Hill.” The prologue, although only eight minutes long, was grueling. I finished 31st, one tenth outside the top 30.

In the duathlon, my inexperience caught me off guard and I started too conservatively. We raced up the Murder Hill two times. I ended up 55th and lost considerable time in the overall. I rebounded a bit more the next day however, and finished 50th overall in the final 10km handicap start skate race, with the 46th fastest split time of the day.

After a quick celebration to close up the World Cup tour for this year, I now head to Fairbanks, AK to finish my season with US Distance Nationals.


The Full Story:
Following the success of the Tour de Ski event earlier in the season, FIS decided to make the last races of the season a mini-tour. That meant that in order to take World Cup points in any of the races, you had to complete all four events and an overall time was kept and bonus points and seconds were up for grabs at different stages. The finals were staged mainly out of the Lugnet stadium in Falun, Sweden, a venue that has been hosting international Nordic events since the 1920’s.

Royal Palace Sprints:
The first stop on the World Cup Finals mini-tour was the annual classic sprint on the steps of the royal palace in Stockholm. We loaded onto the bus at 8am and drove the three hours from Falun to Sweden’s capital city. The driver made a required stop midway through so that they could serve us tea and make sure we all got enough to eat. When we arrived the temperature was a balmy 35 degrees with a light wind and the only snow to be seen was the 1.1km ribbon around the race course.

This year we were allowed on the course much earlier than usual and it was a little less hectic trying to pick skis, dial in wax and complete a warm-up. It wasn’t easy to keep the pace down though, and after just a few laps I was already warm and breathing hard. The first hill of the course had been in the shade all day and the track was glazed and icy. Other parts of the course had succumbed to the heat of the sun and were quite mushy and slow. My ski testing went well and I felt confident that my skis were both running fast and griping well. I headed to the start as bib #40.

I took off hard out of the start, snowing flying with each plant of my poles. I came flying around the first turn and into a steep pitch. This is where the track got icy and I immediately tensed up and clawed my way up the hill. Midway up, I got more confident in my kick and stretched it out. I hammered over the top and made it safely around a tight hairpin turn. The next section was getting mushy and slow so I kept the pressure on. There was no rest as I continued pumping my double-pole across the flats. As I made my way up the last hill I could tell I was catching the girl ahead of me. My kick was slipping a little bit out the back and my tempo was as fast as I could go. Jeff yelled at me to stretch out my arms. I sprinted as hard as I could to the line. When I slid across I was in the mid 20’s. However, as girls behind me came in, I saw my name slip down until it just outside the top 30. I ended up 33rd, tenths of a second outside.

Darn! Another near miss. My day was done, it was time to start preparing for the next race. At least I wouldn’t have to wait a whole week to race again. Right after the race, we rode the bus 3 hrs back to Falun. We had a quick day off on Thursday to get to know the distance courses. I had a good training session testing skis and scoping out the famous “Murder Hill,” that we would be going up five times over the next few days.


2.5km Hill Climb Prologue
Taking a little inspiration from the Tour de France, this next stage was a blend of the opening time trial and a hill climb. For the women, we would go just 2.5km, individual start, basically right out of the stadium, up Murder Hill, and back down to the finish. I hadn’t done such a race ever, so I was anxious to see how I would stack up.

I made sure to get in a hard warm up so as to be ready to go the instant I hit the start line. A little anxious, I got to the start sooner than I probably needed to however and had to run around to stay loose. The first starters were already finishing when I took my turn on course.

I powered out of the stadium with a quick V2 rhythm. As a sprinter, I sometimes have to be careful in distance races not to start too hard. When I hit the bottom of the climb, I started off with quick and light steps, with the intention of picking up the pace as I went up the hill. The fans were lining both sides of the course and there was no lack of encouragement. Midway up the hill my legs were already burning. I tried to quicken my step and find my best climbing gear. The hill seemed to go on forever and the burn got deeper. There are a couple mean false peaks towards the top and I had to focus to not succumb to the pain. At last I pushed over the top and dropped down into a twisty, fast decent.

I tried to take the best line and work the corners but my legs were heavy and slow to respond. I pre-jumped going over a steep bridge and still caught a moment of air. Cruising back toward the stadium I tried to get into a low tuck. But my legs would cramp whenever I got too low. I free-skate through the slush and pushed hard around the final turn. The last stretch was gradual uphill and I awkwardly bounced from side to side. I shot my foot across the line and slid to a jerky halt and rested on my poles. For just a seven and a half minute race, that hurt!!

My feet were cramping and my legs were still flooded with lactic acid as I made my way out of the finish zone. I slowly put my warm-ups back on, sipped some sports drink and skied a long, slow cool-down to recover. When the results came out, I ended up just a nick outside the tope 30 again, in 31st place. This time just one tenth away. It was a solid distance skate result for me though. Two down, two to go!


5km/5km Duathlon
Immediately the next day we were back on course. The men raced first this time and the women did not start until 3pm. It was a long morning, waiting to race. Eating lunch because the body needed fuel, not because the appetite was there. Duathlon events are both classic and skating so it was a busy warm-up testing skis and switching equipment. The staff was great, very helpful with testing and made it very easy on me. I had a great warm-up and the legs didn’t feel too bad.

With three minutes to go until start, we took our positions in the chevron formation. I was bib #27 after my combined time from the previous two events and it was cool to be up towards the front half of the field. Shortly after the 30 sec command the gun fired and we were off.

At first I started off aggressively as the lanes narrowed down from eight to six and then down to four. It was a frenzy of skis, and poles as girls from behind me rushed to move forward. My plan was to try and ski smooth and relaxed and work my way up over throughout the classic leg. I may have started off a little too conservatively however, because I had dropped to 2nd to last by the end of the first kilometer. By the two kilometer mark, I had moved up a little and was skiing in a tight pack. Even after my conservative start, I was surprised at how hard the pace felt. My skis ran fast on the down hills and I was able to make up a few places there. Going up Murder Hill I got stuck behind a train of girls with a slower tempo and I had to abandon the tracks to get around. There were a couple more quick climbs and then we got to head back into the stadium.

Entering the exchange zone, we all split different ways to get to our exchange boxes. I skated over to mine while taking off my pole straps. There was a blue mat underneath our boxes and as I stepped onto it, my klister suddenly stopped and I launched forward. I fumbled to regain my balance and unclick my bindings. Then I stepped into my skate skis, grabbed my poles and headed back on course. It took me a second to get my pole straps on. I tried to regain contact with the group ahead.

Being later in the day, the snow was starting to freeze up again in places. It was tricky balance, especially in pursuit boots. My legs felt pretty good to start out but I could feel my lower legs start to get tense trying to keep my skis gliding flat. I worked my way around the course, trying to find a good rhythm. Soon I was back at Murder Hill. As soon as I started climbing, my legs began to burn. Going up the steepest section of the hill, I actually used a single-stick technique to keep my legs moving more quickly. There were some girls tantalizingly close up ahead and I tried to catch them. On the downhill my legs refused to get into a low tuck and it was a little wild around the icy turns. I jump skated up the last uphill and then realized it kept going longer than I thought. I sank deeper down into my technique to try and keep the blood pumping. At last I sailed back into the stadium, free-skating through the partially frozen, rutted snow. I staggered across the finish line just a few seconds behind those girls I had been chasing, for 55th place.

I saw Jeff right after the finish and the look on his face said everything. I hadn’t been aggressive enough out of the start and therefore I was too far behind to get in with a good group on the skate. I lost too much time and skied slower than where I know I can ski. It was a little disappointing and I lost a bunch of time in the overall. I decided I needed to use a different strategy in the last race.


10km Skate – Handicap start
The final race was a 10km skate, two laps around the 5km course, and two more times up Murder Hill. The race start was based off of each racer’s overall time back from the leader, except all those that were more than four minutes back that would start in a wave all together. I was in the wave. We watched the other racers head out on course, shooting out from three different lanes. At the four minute mark, we took off in a big pack.

I tucked myself behind a couple other skiers and tried to match their tempo. Over some sections I felt controlled and relaxed while on others, I had to rush to keep up with their accelerations. When we hit Murder Hill for the first time, I settled into a quick rhythm. I was able to move on and off my skis with a good tempo and I made it up the hill feeling pretty good. My skis were fast and I was able to tuck behind the train and get a little rest going into the stadium.

Over the first half of the 2nd lap, I pushed myself to stay with the group ahead. I was following a Swiss girl and she was carrying good speed over the gradual terrain. My skis were faster coming off the top and I moved past her and a Russian girl just before we hit Murder Hill. I was excited to have clear snow ahead of me, thinking I could do some damage to the group and try to pull away.

As soon as we started climbing however, the light feeling in my legs was gone and the heavy burn was back. The group of skiers I was with gradually started to move by me. I was fighting to match their tempo but I couldn’t get my legs to move fast enough. Jeff was yelling encouragement. A few of them pulled away slightly over the top and I was only able to pull back the Russian, who I realized was Olympic Champion Julia Tchepalova. I passed her on the fast downhill and hammered with what I had left up the last climb.

Coming into the stadium, Tchepalova was able to tuck into my draft and she came whizzing by, almost knocking me down. I tried to get into her draft but she pulled away too fast and I was left on my own just a little bit behind. Then I saw the Swiss girl getting up after an apparent fall. There were three skiers only a couple seconds ahead, but I had nothing left. I sprinted to the finish line for the final time, coming across in 50th place overall and 46th fastest on the day.

Jeff had a more approving look on his face this time and I had to agree. As hard as it was to race four times in five days, and go up that crazy hill five times, it was a good fight. I was happy to have moved up a few places in the final race, and my split time was one of my better skate distance races on the World Cup. A good finish to the World Cup season!

With the races done, everyone could finally let down a little bit and celebrate. There was a great group atmosphere that night at the hotel and despite our different nationalities, we could collectively appreciate all the hard work that had gone into the season as well as look forward to a nice break. Of course, for many of us, there are still a few races left this season before we’re really done.

After two months in Europe, I am super psyched to head home and rejoin my fellow North American racers for the US Distance Championships in Fairbanks this week. Last year I headed to Fairbanks with the same enthusiasm only to end up diagnosed with a serious blood clot. I hope to fair a little better this year!!

One final report will be coming from the far north as we wrap up the season.

Cheers,
Kikkan 🙂