January 11, 2011 (Val di Fiemme, Italy) – Happy New Year everyone!  It’s been one heck of start to 2011 as I just finished my first Tour de Ski.  Eight races in 10 days, four venues, two countries, yeehaw! The highlights included a strong opening prologue in 16th, a 17th in the classic sprint, a 5th place in the skate sprint, and an overall result just 20 seconds out of the top 20 for 21st.

I also made it to the top of Alpe Cermis, one of the toughest races I’ve ever done. It’s been a great learning experience and I’m looking forward to coming back again next year.

But first, one more skate sprint coming up this weekend in Liberec and then home for a short break to prepare for the World Championships.

Quote of the day
“Completing that climb was one of the hardest physical challenges I’ve ever done.  I now have a much greater appreciation for it than what I had seen on TV!”

What’s Coming Up
– 1/15/11  World Cup – Liberec Skate Sprint
– 2/19/11-2/20/11 World Cup – Drammen, NOR
– 2/24/11-3/6/11 World Championships!!

Tour de Ski! – The Full Story
Hello everyone.  Happy New Year!  I am writing to you from Val di Fiemme, Italy where I have just completed my first Tour de Ski.   It has been a whirlwind last ten days with several back-to-back races, a lot of packing and unpacking, and some of the toughest ski racing I’ve ever done.  Now that the craziness is finished, here are some thoughts and details from the week…

For those not familiar with the Tour de Ski concept, here’s a little introduction.  It’s a unique event modeled after the Tour de France bike race, comprising of eight races in ten days in four different venues in two countries, overall leader and sprint jerseys, and a punishing final climb up the alpine runs of Alpe Cermis.

Going into this year’s Tour de Ski, I had never done so many races in such a condensed schedule and so I was anxious to see how I would hold up.  After spending a low-key and relaxed Christmas break in Davos, Switzerland, the US TdS contingent assembled in Oberhof, Germany on the 29th of December.  We had three athletes, four coaches/service men and a massage therapist.

Stage 1: Oberhof Prologue
The first stage of the Tour kicked off on my birthday (Dec 31) in Oberhof with a 2.8km freestyle prologue.  This is not a distance I race very often and I knew pacing would be critical.  I started about midway through the pack just as it started to snow.   My strategy was to start a little conservative and then attack the second half.  I paced it well but the final 1 km was really tough.  It was like doing a sprint qualifier that kept going.  The final 400m was into a headwind and it was a long fight to get to the line.  When I crossed, the announcer played a techno-version of Happy Birthday for me while I hung on my poles.  I ended up 16th fastest, 13 seconds out of the lead.  It was fun to get birthday wishes from everyone, although I didn’t stay up to ring in the new year, lots of racing ahead!

Stage 2: Oberhof 10k Classic Handicap Start
Immediately the next day, we did a 10km classic that was a handicapped start based on the first races’ results.  Since the previous day had been so short, the times were really close and it was basically a mass start.  We did 3 laps of a 3.3km loop.  The pace was furious from the start.  Despite not feeling great on the first lap, I warmed up through the race and got into a good pack for the final lap.  I felt really strong on the climbs, but unfortunately my skis were a little slow on the downhills and I ended up getting stuck behind some traffic at the end.  I managed to pull back a couple places on the finish stretch to finish 22nd.  Immediately after the men’s race we packed up and drove several hours to Oberstdorf.

Stage 3: Oberstdorf 1.2km Classic Sprint
For the second classic race in a row, we had to deal with snow flurries just below the freezing mark making for tricky waxing.   I struggled to find total confidence in my kick during the qualifying round and only managed 18th, frustrated that I wasn’t able to use all my power.  In the quarterfinals, I got off to a great start and was in 2nd going up the first climb.  But the pace was brutal and by the top of the 2nd hill I was hitting the wall and dropped to fourth.  I tried to fight back on the double-pole finish and narrowly caught the Russian Ivanova for third.  She ended up advancing to the semi-finals as a Lucky Loser as we had the fastest heat, while I just missed by .2.  Ah, so close!!  I ended up 17th for the day and moved up to 19th in the overall.

Stage 4: Oberstdorf 5km+5km Duathlon
The sun finally came out for our fourth consecutive race.  The men raced first and so I had to wait until late afternoon for the women’s start.   A miscommunication with the shuttle driver almost left me stranded at the hotel (a 30 minute drive from the venue) and I arrived with less than 1 hour until start.  This meant that I didn’t get a chance to test my skate skis and my warm-up was a little rushed.  By the time we started at 3:30pm, most of the course was in the shade and it got pretty cold.

This time I had good grip on my skis and got off to a good start. I narrowly avoided a big crash on one of the first downhills. The pace was furious but I felt strong, and for the rest of the classic portion of the race I was skiing up amongst the top 20 and feeling confident. When I switched to skating however, my legs tensed up and I couldn’t get comfortable on the icy and hard trail.  Several skiers came by me and I struggled to respond.  Going up the final climb I was finally able to dig in and I passed two skiers.  But I had just barely snuck into the points with a 30th place and had lost valuable time in the overall.  I was frustrated with my lackluster 2nd half.  No time to dwell however, as it was on to the next venue that night.

Rest day 1: Toblach
Now midway through the tour, we got our first rest day in Toblach.  It was nice to get a chance to check out the courses for the next two races and have a relaxing day.  I felt surprisingly good skiing around and it was hard not to test out the sprint course.  I spent the rest of the day exercising my mind with Scrabble and Sudoku on my iPad.

Stage 5: Toblach 1.3km Skate Sprint
Finally I got a crack at my favorite event, the skate sprint.  I was pretty nervous that morning, wondering how I would be able to perform after a rest day and with four races in my legs.  The course was on the long side too, so I knew it would require the right pacing.  In the qualifier, I maybe started a little too relaxed but still managed 16th place.

In the quarterfinals, I tucked in behind Charlotte Kalla of Sweden for most of the race and then used a slingshot move off the downhill to take the lead and advance.  In the semis, I again used a slingshot move off the downhill to move up and finish 2nd to move on to the final.  With each round, I felt better and better.

In the final I got off to a fast start and tucked in behind Majdic and Follis up the first hill.  But they surged right over the top, catching me sleeping, and I missed getting in their draft.  Thus I became the draftee and this time, two racers used the slingshot move on me and I was dropped to 5th.  This caused me to panic for an instant and so going up the steep climb, while I should have just patiently followed the main train on the left, I opted to follow Norgren of Sweden up the outside.  As soon as I shifted behind her I knew I had made a mistake, and just as I was about to accelerate, Norgren got her pole stepped on and fell, and I fell right over her.  We got so tangled that by the time we got up, the rest of the pack was gone.  I managed to win the cat-and-mouse game against Norgren for 5th place but I was so frustrated with myself for not skiing smarter.  I for sure felt strong enough to contend for the win, but took myself out of contention with the bad tactics and some bad luck.  5th just isn’t satisfying anymore.  At least I managed to move up to 17th in the overall.

A quick side note here. After two podium finishes already, Devon Kershaw (Canada) skied an amazingly bold and gutsy race to win the men’s final and take his first world cup victory.  As the Canadians are our fellow North Americans, it was incredibly emotional to see Devon win.  So glad I could be there live to see it!

Stage 6: Toblach 15k Free Handicap Start
While the men got to ski a point-to-point course from Cortina to Toblach, the women’s race was held on 3 laps of a 5km loop.  It was another afternoon start, so I spent the morning watching the men on TV and feeling anxious.  I was relieved to finally start my warm-up and I felt surprisingly fresh.  With the handicap start, I knew it was going to be a good day to try and hang with some faster skiers.

I started in the same second as Sarasoja from Finland, and had figured I would be trying to follow her.  But immediately out of the start she became my shadow and so I led off at a powerful but controlled pace.  Midway through the first lap we had caught a couple skiers that started ahead of us and had also been joined by some skiers from behind.  We formed a large pack and there were some overly eager racers in the group that kept squawking as we jockeyed for position.  I tucked myself in the pack, conserving energy and keeping a careful eye for any breakaway attempts.  It was a fast pace but I felt comfortable.

As we hit the climbs on the final lap, two Norwegians got to the front and I readied for the attacks to begin.  But after the first climb the pace remained the same and suddenly I felt the urge to attack.  I pulled to the front and upped my tempo.  The hill kept going a little longer than I remembered but I was committed now.  I battled Sarasoja up one more uphill section in a V2 sprint, but then let Saarinen take the lead on the next downhill so I could draft.  Just before entering the stadium, a Czech girl came out of my draft and I had to pass Saarinen to chase her.  We sprinted all out up the hill on the sprint course and then descended down into the stadium.  Norgren of Sweden got by me off the draft and I just missed pulling her back in on the final stretch.  I crossed the line in 15th position, less than 2 seconds out of 13th.

It was one of those sweet race days where I felt good, I could attack and leave it all out there.  I was pumped for the final 2 stages!  After the race we packed up and journeyed on to Val di Fiemme.

Rest Day #2: Val di Fiemme
For the second rest day of the Tour I tested classic skis with Peter and scoped out the classic course in the morning.  The kick was excellent and my impression of the course was that it would be a good one for my strengths.  In the afternoon we drove up to the top of the Alpe Cermis to scope out the final climb course by skiing down it.  It was definitely steep in parts, but not so bad, at least I thought!

Stage 7: Val di Fiemme 10km Classic mass-start
The women’s race was again held in the late afternoon.  Despite such nice conditions on the rest day, the track had degraded to a wet, sloppy mess.  We did our best to select skis with enough kick but it was impossible to avoid having some drag in the soft conditions.   Still I was excited and eager for the race, determined to see strong against the girls I was within seconds of in the overall.

The start of the race was promising.  I got up into the top 12 going up the first climb and although the pace was fast, I felt like I settled into a good rhythm.

Coming down off the high point of the first lap however, I began to lose places as girls whizzed past me on the downhills. I fought back up the next climb only to lose the ground again going into and through the stadium.   From there, the race began to fall apart and it was a battle both physically and mentally.  But I knew I had to keep fighting.  It wasn’t pretty but I made it to the finish in 27th place, although I lost a lot of time.  I was completely frustrated and disappointed.  To top it off, I had to report to doping control.  It was definitely one of my low points in the Tour.  I tried not to dwell on it, and focus instead on the one remaining race.

Stage 8: “Alpe Cermis” Final Climb (9km skate handicap start)
All the racers that were more than 7 minutes back from the leader got to start in a wave, which began with 15th place.  I was glad that I would have a good group of girls to duke it out with in the final race.  When the clock reached 7:00, the gun fired and we took off.  There was a small ceremonious loop around the stadium before we hit the 4km trail downhill to the base of the climb.  Everyone was pretty eager and there was a lot of jockeying for position.  I settled into the middle of the train and tried to conserve as much as possible.  When we hit the base of the climb, it was go time.

Immediately two girls in the train picked up the pace.  Not wanting to be complacent, I too increased my pace at the bottom of the climb.  The pack began to string out a bit.  I found a good rhythm and cruised by a couple girls.

Despite feeling good early on however, the effort quickly got really hard and I began to realize how difficult this was going to be.  In my course inspection I had remembered three step sections but in reality, those sections were much longer and harder than they seemed.  I tried not to think of how much uphill was left and just focus on the sections right in front of me.

Making my up through the steeps and then switchbacks around GS gates, my legs and lungs were screaming at me. At one point I thought I was near the top only to find a giant steep section looming in front of me.  People were lining the whole course and ringing cowbells and screaming in your face.  It was both exciting and annoying at the same time.

Up the steep sections, I had been leading a train of racers.  As we crested onto the last 600m, which was more gradual, that train started to come around me.  I was really struggling to keep my own tempo going and their surge caught me off guard.  I didn’t respond.  With about 300m to go I could almost see the finish and I finally got my tempo up.  I was able to pull back one skier just before the finish line and then at last I got to collapse into the snow.  It was the greatest feeling ever to lay there with my chest heaving.

Completing that climb was one of the hardest physical challenges I’ve ever done.  I now have a much greater appreciation for it than what I had seen on TV!

My climbing time hadn’t been spectacular, but I still managed to move up one spot to finish 21st overall, with the 23rd fastest time of the day.  My goal coming into the Tour had been to make the top 20 and I only ended up missing it by 20 seconds after 8 races.  Not a bad first try.

Conclusions:
Now having completed a Tour de Ski, I can appreciate this unique event.  It was such a valuable experience to race head-to-head with the world’s best skiers for so many consecutive days.  I had some good days and definitely some pretty tough days, but through it all I really learned a lot about what my body can handle and how to recover.  I know that the experience I gained from this rookie Tour will help me prepare and race even stronger the next time.

A big thanks goes out to my teammates and our staff!! The Tour is a big logistical challenge with all the different venues and the travel, but everyone worked incredibly hard to make sure we were feeling good and had the best skis possible.

I now have one more week left in Europe before heading home.  Andy and I will be competing in the World Cup skate sprint this weekend in Liberec, Czech Republic.  It’s the course where I won the silver medal at Worlds, and I am looking forward to another shot at the podium!

Signing off for now!

Cheers,
Kikkan