December 2, 2008 – Here’s an insider’s view from World Cup XC ski races at round #2 in Kuusamo, Finland last weekend by top US skier Kikkan Randall, who is also a contributor to our SkiTrax Diaries. Randall gives a personal account of the women’s 1.2km Classic Sprint and 10km Classic individual start races.

Cliff Notes:

A lot has happened over the past several months (blood clot, wedding, training, etc.) but I’m happy to report that my health is excellent, married life is fantastic and the race season is underway!

Last week I traveled to Kuusamo, Finland to start the 2008-2009 season. After a few days adjusting to the 11-hour time change and a little uncertainty of when my ski bag would arrive, I got back into race mode for a 1.2km classic sprint and a 10km classic individual start race.

Over the past seven months I have been working hard to improve my classic sprinting abilities. So I was excited to hit Saturday’s sprint as the first gauge of improvement. Unfortunately, my body was still a little flat from the travel over and I couldn’t quite put together the performance I had hoped for. Instead I finished 33rd, 0.6 sec out of qualifying for the quarterfinals. My day ended early and I watched the rest of the race from the sidelines.

Day two was another chance. I was unsure of what to expect going into the 10km classic individual start race after my disappointing sprint and a less-than-inspired warm up. Yet, when I got on course I felt loose and relaxed, my skis worked great, and skied my way into the race. I caught a ride with one of the red group skiers midway through my second lap and finished strong for 23rd place, my best ever World Cup distance race. Top 30 skiers score world cup points, and it was exciting to finally break that barrier.

Now I head on to Davos, Switzerland. I will be training there for the next two weeks until the World Cup comes to Davos on Dec. 13-14.

The Full Story:

Cross-country skiing must have one of the longest off-seasons: seven months of training, four months of racing and only a short three-week break in the spring. When you train for seven months, by the time you reach November, you’re chomping at the bit to test yourself out in a race.

My seven month preparation period was a little different than usual this year. I spent five weeks after the season ended unable to do much more than walk short distances as I dealt with two large blood clots in my leg and the post-op recovery from the removal of those clots. It was the first time in my life that I was forced to be so inactive and going through the whole ordeal gave me a new appreciation for simply being able to move unhindered. After my second hospitalization near the end of April, I was able to get back to skiing fairly quickly and with renewed motivation, I began the new training year.

Then came May and the wedding. It was an amazing time hosting friends and relatives and celebrating, but boy was I wiped out by the time we headed off to our Canadian reception in Ontario followed by our honeymoon in Moab. We had a great honeymoon mountain biking, running, roller skiing and exploring Moab, and returned to Alaska ready to get back into the training routine.

Alaska had the summer that never came, with cool temperatures and few sunny days. We hunkered down and trained away, logging 30 days of skiing on Eagle Glacier over four camps and plenty of roller skis in the rain. It took me a few weeks to regain my form and figure out the effects of training while on the blood thinning medication, but by July and August I was hitting my stride and feeling fitter than ever. In September I met my US Ski Team mates in Whistler for a 10 day camp, and in October, I teamed up with Olympic Gold Medalist Chandra Crawford in Canmore, Alberta for an 8-day sprint hammer camp. Then I returned home to Alaska for the final six weeks before the first race.

A flu/cold virus slowed me down for a week or two upon returning to Anchorage, but with patience, and encouragement from my coach and my husband, I was able to get my health back and put the final touches on my last big training block. We were fortunate to get early snow in Alaska this year, allowing us to ski an hour’s drive away from Anchorage beginning mid October and then a snowfall in Anchorage three weeks ago enough to ski on the local trails.

At last it was time to leave for the race season and put all the training to work. I celebrated an early Thanksgiving dinner with my family and then headed off to Kuusamo, Finland early last week. My trip took me through Seattle, Amsterdam and then Helsinki, totaling 28 hours from door to door. The travel went pretty smooth minus my ski bag not arriving in Kuusamo. (I ended up spending three nerve-wracking days tracking my skis down before I got them back!)

I spent the first couple days getting adjusted to the 11-hour time change and skied easy to recover from the travel. Mid-week I threw in some intervals on the race course to wake up the body and by Friday’s pre-race workout I was just beginning to feel somewhat normal. It was great to be back in the middle of the World Cup circus, getting reacquainted with the routine. I felt good about Saturday’s classic sprint race.

1.2km Classic Sprint
Early Saturday morning as I made the 5 minute walk down to breakfast, I was happy to find that the wind had died down, the snow showers had subsided and the conditions were shaping up for a darn-near-perfect classic race day. The sun was just starting to spread some light into the sky (it never really comes above the horizon this time of year) as I made my way down to the wax cabin. I grabbed my warm-up skis for a few easy minutes of skiing before jumping into the rat race of ski testing.

Peter and the other techs and coaches greeted me down at our waxing station at the bottom of the course’s monster climb. We got to work right away narrowing down the selection from four pairs to two, and then down again to the race pair. I did several runs up the big climb, trying to get a feel for the kick strength and glide of each ski. It was a close contest between a brand new pair of 812 powder skis against my favorite pair of powder skis from last season. The kick on the new pair felt a tad more solid and I decided to race on those. Then I finished my warm up and took off for the start.

Kuusamo is one of my favorite classic sprint courses on the World Cup tour. The stadium is the high point and the course first descends down a fast pitch before making a big U-turn and heading back up the monster climb. This year the course changed slightly adding a little bit more distance on the bottom of the loop before the U-turn and then a little extra distance around the stadium before the finish.

I took off hard out of the start and carried a low tuck into the fast downhill. My momentum carried me up and over the first bump where I switched into a rapid double-pole kick heading towards the U-turn. I accelerated hard into the turn and kept pumping all the way through and out the other side. The next section was ever so gradual leaving no room for resting. I pumped a fast double-pole that carried me across the next flat and into the monster climb.

As soon as I felt my momentum start to slow I switched to a hurried stride. The pitch steepened and I slipped once. To counter I quickened my arms and shortened my steps. I really relied on my arms to pull me up the hill. I couldn’t seem to get a solid kick and that was preventing me from really carrying my momentum forward. I resorting to running up and over the final steep pitch and kept striding across the next flat. Then I double poled around the bend and into a hairpin turn around a tree before the final 100m. I accelerated out of the turn and sped towards the finish with everything I had left. Then I threw my foot across the finish line.

The scoreboard read 13th place, +10 sec out of the lead. I knew immediately I was in trouble. I was only bib 17 and there were still plenty of fast skiers out on course. I lingered in the finish area for a few minutes after I put my warm-ups on to watch the scoreboard. I watched my name slowly slide down the list. As I headed off for a cool down ski, I was sitting precariously in 27th place with more skiers still coming in. By the time I got back to the wax cabin the word was in-my final place was 33rd, 0.6sec shy of advancing to the quarterfinals.

It was disappointing to miss out on the rounds, especially by such a small margin, but the result was about right. I hadn’t felt quite like myself out there lacking my usual zip. In a World Cup field there is no room for error. I spent the rest of the day watching from the sidelines. Okay, well actually I watched from inside the dinning tent where the race was being projected onto a big screen and I could sit next to a heater. It was frustrating to watch knowing that I usually get even better in the rounds. Oh well, at least I had another shot at racing the next day.

10km Classic
My goals going into this season are mostly focused around sprints. Yet, I always like to keep a few distance races in there for experience and building for the future. So, going into Sunday’s 10km classic race, I was really just looking for a good, hard workout and chance to test out my fitness. With the disappointing result in the sprint race the day before, and a tired, achy warm-up, I didn’t have any expectations for the race. Ski testing went well, and this time I decided to go on my old favorites, pair 347.

The wind started to pick-up as I took my place in the starting line-up and I was anxious to get the race going and warm back up. It was a good feeling I have to admit to place my poles in front of the start wand and hear the starter give me the count-down. 5…4…3…2…1…go!

My strategy was to start off with a steady pace and build into the race. There are three major climbing sections on the course and only a few short sections to recover. Being a sprinter I wanted to be careful not to start too fast thereby using too much of my anaerobic system too early. I hit the first climbing section focusing on a quick tempo and staying relaxed. My skis worked great and I was able to make it up and around the first loop with a good rhythm. As I sailed back down a fast descent, snow was starting to fall, hitting my face like little needles.

Before the race I had read over my notes from last year’s log and noticed some comments from last year’s Kuusamo10km. It said, “not aggressive enough in the gradual terrain.” So, as I hit the gradual sections this year, I made sure to be more aggressive. I worked on driving my feet down the track in sync with quick, rapid arm movements. This carried me into the next big climb at the far end of the course. Coach Grover was there giving spilts. I don’t remember the specifics, but as bib #30, I wasn’t doing to bad, I was racing close to those around me.

As I headed out onto my second lap I was beginning to realize that I was having a good race and still had good energy. I kept focusing on keeping a quick tempo and readied for a red group skier (starting their first lap) to come by. I made it up and around the first loop and was well into the second half of my lap when at last a Russian skier caught me. She gave me the hup command and I moved out into the side track to let her by. Recognizing that we were heading into an exposed flat section, I picked up the tempo to tuck in behind her over the top of the hill.

I got a good ride on her tails until the next uphill. The grade steepened and the Russian girl began to slip and therefore stepped out of the track to herring-bone. My skis were gripping well and I continued charging up the track with a quick tempo. By the top of the hill I was side-by-side with her. I let her take the lead going over the top thinking it would be good to get one more drafting section before my final push. But then she proceeded to snow-plow through the S-turn downhill and we lost more speed than if I had led. I followed her across the next flat, mimicking her drawn out tempo. I kept riding up on her tails but I was waiting to make my move on the final climb.

When we hit the last hill going up to the stadium, I pulled out beside my Russian pace setter and hammered up the hill. I still had lots of punch and carried good speed up and over the top. My mind drifted back to yesterday’s sprint and the job left undone. I challenged myself to sprint in like I would in a sprint round and charged around the hairpin turn and into the final 100m. It was snowing and I strided into the bright lights illuminating the stadium. Then I finally slid my foot across the line and slumped over my poles.

Breathing deeply with spit hanging off my chin, I took a glance to the side at the timing screen. Bib #30, place 2, +21 sec. Wow, cool! Never before had I started a distance race with such a high bib and never before had I come into the finish so close to the lead. While I knew my final place would slip once the red group skiers began to come in, I was satisfied that I had put down a good race.

As I headed off on my cool down I couldn’t help but smile. Here I hadn’t known what to expect from my body and I ended up feeling great and skiing a solid race. I over heard the coaches on the radio saying that my split was still holding in the top 30 with most of the red group skiers having gone through. Wow, I thought, maybe today I’ll be close to the top 30.

Before I made it back to the wax cabin, I ran into Oleg, one of our wax techs. He had a big grin on his face, and he asked me what place I thought I had finished. “27” I threw out there, being optimistic. “no… 23!” He said and gave me a big hug. What? 23? That’s insane. Wahoooo!!!!

It’s quite a crazy weekend when my distance result out does my sprint result! Every one was so fired up. The coaches and the wax techs offered big congratulations, hugs and high fives. It was definitely a big lift to my spirits after the previous day’s disappointment.

I wanted to break into the top 30 this season, but I had no idea I would do it in the first race. I guess I’m fit.

So, with the first weekend of World Cup racing complete, I now head down to Davos, Switzerland. I may have an opportunity to jump into an invitational sprint on Thursday, otherwise I’ll be in Davos training until the World Cup returns there a week from Saturday.

My battery is about to die, so I better send this off. Glad to have you all along with me again this season!

Cheers,
Kikkan 🙂