December 1, 2009 (Kuusamo, FIN) – After her stellar performances in the preview races in Beitostolen, Norway, Kikkan Randall and the US XC Ski Team headed to Kuusamo, Finland, for the Nordic Season Opener. Held over the American Thanksgiving holiday, she and the team gave their fans a lot to be thankful for. While she was disappointed with her sprint results here Kikkan tells us how she and the team set her up for her best World Cup distance race result ever:

Quote of The Day:
“I was determined not to let a disappointment in the sprint ruin my weekend. In the 10km, I went out more aggressive this time and skied a consistent race for my best ever World Cup distance finish.”

What’s Coming Up
12.5.09 World Cup Sprint Skate – Dusseldorf, GER
12.12.09 World Cup 10km Skate – Davos, SUI
12.13.09 World Cup Sprint Skate – Davos, SUI
12.19.09 World Cup Sprint Classic- Rogla, SLO
12.20.09 World Cup 15km Classic- Rogla, SLO

Kuusamo World Cup Double-Header

Cliff Notes:
Thanksgiving week in Northern Finland, the Nordic Opening World Cup in Kuusamo!! Conditions started off with a good cover of snow and moderate temperatures during the training week, but as the classic races approached, go figure, the weather got funky. Celebrated T-day with some turkey for dinner and a showing of “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” with the team.

For Saturday’s classic sprint, the temperature hovered around +2 C, making soft, warm and wet tracks. It was a tricky pick for ski selection and I ended up choosing to go on my zeros (no wax) skis at the last minute. It proved to be a poor choice, as I was unable to get solid kick up the course’s major, decisive climb, and was unable to carry enough momentum to advance to the quarter finals. I had to settle for a disappointing 36th place, and watch the rest of the race on TV.

Determined not to let the sprint race ruin my weekend, I turned my attention to Sunday’s 10km classic. I started in the middle of the red group for the first time, being chased a minute back by Petra Majdic. This time I had plenty of kick and skied a solid race. With a little faster start and a really strong last quarter, I skied to 18th place, my second personal-best World Cup distance finish in two weeks.

Now I hang out in Kuusamo for a few more days before heading to the next World Cup in Dusseldorf, Germany. It will be the traditional skate sprint on the city streets along the Rhine River. Wish me luck!

The Full Story:
After opening up the World Cup season last weekend in Beitostolen with a successful distance race, I was really looking forward to testing out my sprinting skills in this weekend’s double-header in Kuusamo, Finland. Shortly after the conclusion of the men’s relay last Sunday, the team hoped on a bus and traveled the four hours to the Oslo airport. I grabbed the team some take-out pizza for the bus ride, and immediately became everyone’s best friend, myself included. We spent a short night in an airport hotel and flew out to Kuusamo the next morning at 7am.

Our arrival in Kuusamo was greeted by a light snowfall and the looming darkness of being above the Arctic Circle. Liz (Stephen), Mo (Morgan Arritola) and I settled into our little apartment, figuring out how to fit all three of us and our giant gear bags in a small loft. We then set out to inspect our new surroundings. This will be my fourth time to Kuusamo, so I played tour guide. We met the team for lunch in a small hut/ souvenir shop. We were all starving from the travel and the food took forever to come. I ordered the “kebab platter” which ended up being a massive pile of kebab meat, french fries, and lettuce with some chili dressing. Not exactly what I expected but it did the trick!

Tuesday was a distance day with two ski workouts. During the morning ski we were headed out on this trail that I had always skied out and back on and assumed just went straight out away from the apartments. However, we came to this one section of trail that seemed an awful lot like the race trail (which I thought was in the complete opposite direction). We made it all the way around the loop and down one of the race course’s major downhills before I realized we had actually looped all the way around the mountain and were indeed on the race trail. I had to laugh at myself!

On Wednesday I met up with Chandra (Crawford of Canada) and Ester Bottomley (Australia) for some sprint pace intervals. The whole sprint course wasn’t ready, so we just did laps around the part that was open. Chandra and I took turns leading and it was a great way to practice different tactics on the course. I felt strong at sprint pace and it gave me confidence for the weekend. Wednesday afternoon was a strength session in the local gym. All the jumpers and Nordic combiners were in there as well and it was quite a circus. Made me feel tough though, around all those skinny dudes!

Thursday was a recovery day, with just a short ski and a run in the afternoon. It was also American Thanksgiving. Not sure whether they planned it or not, but the hotel served us turkey breast that evening. It wasn’t as good as homemade, but we at least all shared what we were thankful for. Then we capped off the night with a Thanksgiving classic, “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.” Gobble, gobble.

By Friday it was finally race prep day and the course was fully open. I tried to get out on course a little earlier to beat the rush, and was able to get in most of my faster skiing before the tracks got clogged with athletes, coaches and techs all trying to test skis. I joined my US teammates for a few practice starts (Grover actually has a practice gate set-up for us) and then tested some skis with Peter. After a couple days of cooler temperatures and fresh snow, the temp was warming up fast. I finished off the day with an easy jog with Liz and a team meeting where I got my race bib, #3. “If I can just race my bib tomorrow, wouldn’t that be sweet!” I thought to myself.

1.2km Classic Sprint:
When I headed down the hill to breakfast on Saturday morning, it felt tropical. The temperature had warmed up above freezing and a light mist was falling. I definitely had a few butterflies flying around in my stomach at breakfast and had to take my time eating my porridge and eggs. The race start wasn’t until 11:15am, so I had a pretty relaxed morning packing my stuff and rocking out to my favorite country mix.

I met Peter at the waxing station with over an hour to go until my start, because I knew it would take a while to dial in skis. We started with three klister pairs and took off up the big climb with different skis on each foot until we narrowed it down to the best pair. After we had the klister pair picked, I tested a pair of my Fischer Zero skis (hairies). At first, the kick was not good enough, but the glide was faster. So the techs ruffed up the hairies a couple times until the kick improved. With about 20 minutes to go until my start, I had to make the call. The klister skis felt the most solid in the kick, but I was concerned about the glide. Since the zeros were gliding so much better and and the techs promised even more kick, I decided to go on the zeros. I rushed up to the wax cabin and changed into my race top and then headed to the start.

As bib #3, there was no time to observe how the other racers would take the course. The first two racers dropped out of sight immediately and then it was myturn. I pushed out of the gate, striding aggressively for several meters and then switched to a quick double-pole. I carried a lot of speed around the first corner and dropped into the tracks to sail down the hill. The track banked a hard left and I dropped my hands down towards my feet to keep my balance over my skis. My momentum carried me up and over the first rise and I double-poled madly across the flat. I accelerated around the hairpin turn and really focused on opening up my double-pole coming back towards the big climb. My poles were sinking into the slushy snow, so I upped my tempo.

Coming into the bottom of the climb, I was feeling pretty good, but now it was GO time! I double-poled until I felt my momentum start to slow and then switched to striding. I tried to keep my movements long and powerful, being quick but not too rushed. After a few strides however, I didn’t feel very secure on my skis so I upped the tempo. Midway up, the hill steepened. I stood up tall and continued to drive my legs up the track as quickly as possible. I had to really rely on my arms to keep my rhythm as my skis slipped every few strides. I ignored the slips and gritted my teeth to make it up and over the crest and then strided a few more times to rebuild speed.

There was no rest from here to the finish. I double-poled into a tight hairpin turn around the famous Kuusamo tree. Then I step-turned hard out of the corner and strided madly up the final 100m. With about 50m to go I had enough momentum to switch to double-pole, and I gave it everything I could until I slid my foot across the line.

When I looked up at the scoreboard I immediately knew I was in trouble–I was third fastest (out of three), eleven seconds out of the lead. By the time I got my warm-ups back on and started walking back towards the wax cabin, I had already dropped down the result list out of the top 30. There would be no more racing for me that day. “AAAAHHHHHHH,” I screamed to myself!!

A little bit in disbelief that I had missed qualifying for the 2nd year in a row, after qualifying as high as 12th before here, I staggered off into the woods to find the coaches. Meanwhile, my mind retraced every step out on the course. My skis had definitely not felt solid going up the big uphill, had I skied too tentative? My double-pole hadn’t felt amazing, but could it have been that far off? I felt good energy wise out there, I know I’m in shape, how on earth did I loose 11 seconds? These were all questions I posed to myself to try and explain the disappointing performance.

While I was quick to blame myself and my technique, the coaches’ observations focused mainly on the skis. They said it looked like I didn’t have solid kick and that I was skiing in protective mode trying not to slip instead of really driving up the hill. They felt the double-pole looked solid enough and that it was easy to see how much time could be lost on the big climb. The result didn’t reflect my ability so much as it did a bad ski selection.

As I cooled down, I turned my focus away from the sprint race, on which nothing more could be done, and instead focused on how I wanted to ski the next day’s distance race. I still had another shot to make this a good weekend! It wasn’t easy to put the sprint behind me, but I gradually wrestled it down and set about my preparations for the 10km. I walked up to lunch and ate by myself and then tramped back to the apartment to watch the rest of the race on TV. It helped my mood to watch Andy race his way to an hard fought 7th place!

10km Classic:
Sunday was definitely a new day. The temperature had cooled a few degrees during the night, dipping below freezing just enough to firm up the snow and make for solid tracks. We had a good vibe going in the girls cabin, as Liz, Mo and I all packed our bags and headed down to the stadium. I had a few moments to chat with Ahvo Taipale, owner of the FinnSisu Ski and Sauna shop in St. Paul, MN. Ahvo, born and raised in Finland, had come over to cheer us on, and it was nice to see a familiar face in the crowd.

I headed down to the ski depot for testing a little earlier than usual so I would have plenty of time to dial in my skis. Peter and I took a few runs up the big hill and got a good feel for the skis. Today, the kick felt much more solid and the tracks were so fast, I knew glide wouldn’t be a problem either. We dialed in one of my favorite pairs, and I could turn my attention to the warm-up.

Because of my top 30 distance result the previous weekend, I was starting in the seeded group as bib #70. My warm-up didn’t go super well, I didn’t have enough kick on my skis and there was only a short loop open, so I ended up finishing it on foot. I was definitely nervous as I headed to the start. Starting in the middle of the “fastest” group for the first time, I didn’t want to screw up and look stupid out there. And, I knew Petra Majdic was starting a minute behind me, and I vowed not to let her catch me.

My plan was to go out a little more aggressive this time and try not to loose as much time to the leaders over the first half of the course. So I sprinted out of the stadium and headed up the first two climbs with a good tempo. After a couple kilometers however, my arms were feeling tight and tired, and I momentarily panicked that I had started too hard. I tried not to let my thoughts turn negative and instead focused on the terrain directly ahead of me. I was particularly focused on keeping the pressure on over the gradual sections. I got a couple splits over the first lap that I was sitting around 12th, about 7 seconds out of the lead. That was a good sign.


My skis were kicking well and I was able to stay in the tracks up the big climb on the far end of the course. I was catching a skier ahead of me coming over the top of the climb and I readied for the upcoming technical downhill. Then suddenly, just as I was setting up for the first turn, the girl in front of me crashed. She immediately bounced back up, but right where I was headed, and I had to swerve at the last second, barely sneaking through a small gap between her and a tree. This sent me sailing wildly around the next turn and I barely kept myself on the trail. Close call!

As I came through the lap lane, I could tell I was still feeling pretty good and with the race now half way over, I could turn my attention from maintaining to attacking. I remembered my strategy from the previous week, get faster every kilometer! Grover was at the top of the next big climb and he gave me splits that I was doing well. But I knew it was tight. Heading down the fast downhills was a little harrowing. The tracks were so glassy, you could practically see your reflection, and the turns were so fast, you just had to lean into it and hold on.

Coming under the tunnel and heading out on the south loop, I was really trying to keep my tempo up. My skis were slipping a bit as I switched from double-poling to striding, so I had to keep my calm until I got my momentum going. When I got to the steep climb on the far end, I could run like mad. The effort was definitely burning through my body, but I was alert and charging. This time, heading through the S-turn I had no obstacles in my way. I made it through safely, bringing me into the last kilometer. Justin was yelling splits that it was 5 seconds for five places, I knew every second counted. I was skiing totally alone, only the voices in my head pressing me on.

Going up the stadium hill for the final time, I drove my feet up the track with big, lunging strides. Towards the top I tensed up a little bit, but came over the top with good momentum. The final 200m was a real struggle, trying to give everything I had left with heavy and uncoordinated muscles. I came around the tree and sprinted towards the final stretch. Over the last few meters I drove my core over my poles and then crossed the line. This time I hung over my poles for a while and slowly caught my breath.

When I looked up at the result board, I was in 7th place. The times were tight. Twenty more skiers were still left on course. I could only watch to see how my time would hold up. As the final skiers came in, the scoreboard was flashing to try and keep up with the new results. I lingered in the finish long enough to see that I had hung on for my first top 20 finish. I was 18th, +58 seconds out of the lead. I walked away with a smile. My goal had been to finish in the top 20, less than a minute out. Check!!

Energized with the endorphins you get from racing well, I felt like a different person than the day before. I had to laugh at myself once again, that I had notched another World Cup weekend with a better distance result than sprint. I guess I can’t say I’m really just a “sprinter” anymore. Sweet.

I did a short cool down ski and then headed to lunch to try and finish before the men’s race started. I definitely had an upset stomach from racing so hard and I have to say the ‘baked red bass’ or whatever fish creation it was, and the plain boiled potatoes weren’t the most appetizing thing in the world. Then I huffed it back up to the apartment and settled in to watch the men’s race on TV.

It was quite an exciting race to watch. Several of the Russians started fast, Russia owned the top eight places at the first split station. Then as the race went on, some of the fast earlier starters began to fade and some of the slower starters were coming on strong. I was anxiously looking for signs of how my teammate Kris Freeman was doing, but didn’t see his name on any of the split results. I was beginning to think he wasn’t having a very good one when they flashed to him over the last 50m and he crossed the finish line to take second place.

Holy cow!! There were only a few more racers out on course, he could be on the podium. Legkov came in a few seconds later and bumped Kris to 3rd. He was still hanging in there with one more threat on course, Peter Northug. The commentators were yelling in Finnish but I knew there was a good race going on. The clock was running in the bottom of the screen, with the leader’s time and Northug’s clock still running. As he came down the final stretch, we were all counting it down out loud. He lunged for the line and narrowly took the win by 1.4 seconds. It was an incredible effort. Unfortunately that bumped Kris to fourth, just seconds off the podium. Wow!

Our team was abuzz with excitement that evening from the good results.

Okay, wow, this report is getting long. Let me finish off (no pun intended) by saying that another solid weekend of World Cup racing is under my belt. Now we’ll put the classic boards away for a while and turn our attention to skate. I’m staying in Kuusamo for a few more days with Andy and Torin, while the distance crew heads to Davos to set up shop. The next World Cup races are coming up this weekend in Dusseldorf with city sprints along the Rhine River. Saturday will be a skate individual sprint and Sunday will be a skate team sprint. Unfortunately I don’t have a sprint partner, so I will only be competing in the individual sprint on Saturday. Last year was my first time in Dusseldorf and I missed qualifying after misjudging the speed needed for the short 800m course. I hope to use my experience to race better this time around.

December is now upon us. Hope you all are getting in the Holiday spirit!

Cheers,
Kikkan 🙂