March 11, 2013 (Oslo, Norway) – I went for a short skate ski this morning with Sadie Bjornsen and Tad Elliott. We skied from the hotel in Vierumäki. I was a little sore and tired after yesterday’s race. It was fun to have a low key session.

We’re now on our way to Oslo. The Lahti organizers provided us a full size bus to the airport. The Helsinki airport has a brilliant security line that allows you to put your things in trays while you wait as opposed to other people waiting for you to load your things.

There are two remaining World Cup races before World Cup Finals in two weeks. The first is a classic city sprint in Drammen, Norway on Wednesday. I won’t go to that race. The second is the famous Holmenkollen Marathon, a 50k mass start skate in Oslo on Saturday. The top 50 skiers on the overall World Cup list after Saturday will qualify for World Cup Finals in Sweden the following weekend. I am currently sitting in 50th on the list.

I will probably fall out of the top 50 on Wednesday, but I have a chance to qualify for finals with a good race on Saturday. Besides normal World Cup points for the finish on Saturday (100 points for first, 80 for second, 60 for third, 50 for fourth, 45 for fifth and so on down to 1 point for 30th place) there are also six intermediate sprints that award points (15 points for first, 12 for second and so on down to 1 point for 10th place).

I am hoping to score 30 points to give myself a chance at World Cup finals. My coaches and I are deciding how much emphasis I will put on sprints versus the finish of the race.

This season has been successful for me to this point. I have taken a substantial step forward from last year. Qualifying or not qualifying for World Cup Finals does not change the success I have already achieved. I am looking forward to the opportunity in one last race to achieve one of the big goals of my season.