Let’s talk about the races, this past weekend.
After a just vicious weekend in Gallivare, Justin and I adjusted my training, cutting some hours in a desperate hope to regain some better feelings in the body. It was a good week to only be skiing once a day, and running the afternoons too – as Kuusamo was not only dark (as normal) this year, but cold all week. It was a rare day that we’d see -15 Celsius on the thermometer.
Day 1: 1.4km classic sprint
The warmest of the three races, this competition was my luckiest race of the three. I didn’t feel fantastic in the qualifier, feeling sluggish – especially climbing – but was able to sneak into the rounds. Barely. I qualified 30th place for the first time in my life. It was both an amazing feeling and terrible feeling all at once. Amazing because of course I was keen to keep racing. Not so much the fact that I was over 5 seconds off the best qualifier, and I wasn’t feeling that great/snappy out there.
In the rounds I was not much better than the qualifier. I got off to my usual snails pace start and was quickly in 6th. Not a great place to hang out. Around the first uphill corner I got tangled up a bit with a Swedish skier and soon found myself a distant 6th. Even worse.
I did nothing up the big last climb, but felt much better double poling once I crested the top. I started to come back on the pack – then another hit of luck happened, as Dario Cologna bailed around the infamous “tree corner” just before the finishing stretch.
I just barely made it around Cologna and stayed on my feet – picking off another dude to finish my heat in 3rd – good enough for 16th on the day. My first points of the season, and gaining 15 bonus seconds in the overall.
Ok, the sprint was cold. -15 is freezing! Yet, nothing was as cold as the dark (I started at 2:24pm) and absolutely frigid temperatures of the classic race. It was -19 (supposedly) during the race and down the first hill I even came out of my tuck to check my suit – I thought I had left it unzipped it was so cold!
Like Friday’s sprint, the race was a mixed bag. I felt stellar on the flats and rolling sections, but pretty flat climbing – struggling to find a good rhythm on the big, steep Finnish climbs. I started what I thought to be “hard” but was only 12th at the first split station. I drifted back all race to finish 22nd on the day. I was happy because last weekend I would have done anything to have finished 22nd, but also a bit disappointed because in my best event (short, individual classic distance race) I only managed to crack the top 25. Still, things were getting better and better. Energy was better than Friday, and it was fairly close (I was 48 seconds adrift of Cologna who won).
I had never competed in a race that was so cold, and it definitely took some time to thaw out after that puppy, and the relief of an “ok” race soon left me, as I shifted my focus to the finale – the 15km skate pursuit start in -18, in slow snow with giant climbs. I wasn’t even nervous – thinking my weekend of racing was pretty much over.
After the dust settled in the first two races – I was sitting in 16th overall. 51 seconds down on the leader (Joensson). There were plenty of dudes around me on the start list, and I knew it was going to be an epic battle in the frigid air to determine the overall rankings for this mini-tour.
I was not confident. I went into today’s race with zero expectations. The goal was kindergarden simple. Ski relaxed, focus solely on the technique and just see what happens.
The race started fast – which was expected, but I was feeling pretty good right from the gun. I settled into the front end of our “chase pack” and just focused on my day’s two goals. The laps ticked by, and even up the viciously steep climbs the legs weren’t loading up with lactic acid – as they did in the previous two competitions. I was feeling good!
It was a very tactical race, as no one was keen to lead. The pace was sometimes torrid – as someone would go to the front and chase like a banshee to regain contact with the leaders, and sometimes we just stood around watching each other – no one wanting to lead out the group.
We picked off some dudes that were exploding ahead of us, and before you know it was the last uphill into the stadium. I was 7th – and went for it up that hill. But – the legs weren’t there. Three guys dusted me up the steep final climb, and I ended up finishing the pursuit in 10th place. I had the 9th fastest time of the day – which was another surprise. I couldn’t believe it. Everyday I was better and better, and to finish the weekend in the top ten seems crazy – after how bad I felt last weekend.
Ski racing makes no sense. One week you can feel like a total bum, the next you are reborn. I pushed my training too much upon getting to Europe and it caught up with me in a big way. But, thankfully I have a great, astute coach in Justin – and he made a big difference in my preparations coming into these races. He realized my mistake (over doing it) and quickly adjusted.
He was confident it would workout and believed that my form/body would come back around just in time. He told me that everyday – I was pretty sketched out and it took a lot of convincing. The fact that he was right was awesome. I’ve had a lot of coaching changes, and I gained a lot of confidence this weekend.
Now, I head to Livigno to put in some volume days. I am looking forward to the sunny Alps and the great food. It will be a small crew (just George and I for athletes and Jon and Louis for staff), but it will be good to recharge, train well and see the sun again.
Alex was impressive this weekend too – 9th in the sprint, 17th in the distance race was an amazing way to start off the mini-tour. He’s disappointed with how today went – but he was the one that reminded me Saturday evening that last year after Kuusamo – we had amassed zero points.
Not everyone had great races, or even ok races. Sport is tough that way. Still, I’ve trained with everyone this spring/summer/fall and I know that great things are coming.
Thanks to all – next update will be over cappos’ in Livigno baby!