Just got the season underway on the weekend. After a week of suffering the effects of altitude in Canmore for the first time in a long time, I managed to pull off a decent result on the weekend. In hindsight, I am glad I spent a full week in Canmore in preparation for the weekend, cause boy, was I sucking wind up there.
The first day of the skate sprint/classic distance race weekend, I slogged through a pretty dismal qualifier, posting the 12th fastest time in the exact event/location that I have placed 2nd (2006 as a Junior against Seniors) and 4th (last year) in qualifying. With a 6 hour break before heat action got underway, I had time to regroup and refocus. I bounced back for a great afternoon of racing, managing to benefit from the lucky loser rule in the first ever timed heats in Canada. Made it to the final! After not much rest after the semi, toeing the line for the final I was still a little gassed, and tried in vain to hang on to the stiff pace led out by two of Canada's Olympians, Brent McMurtry and Phil Widmer. I skied in for a 6th, and a successful first day of heat skiing for the year.
A-final action. I am trailing on the far left of the shot. (Photo cred: Angus Cockney)
I won't go into much detail about Sunday's race. When you start warming up for a race at 8:20 am and finish cooling down for a race at 4:30 pm the day before, you're bound to have some lingering fatigue. Sunday's 9 km race was a good fit for me, but 3 km in it was evident it wasn't going to be my best performance.
Photo cred: Angus Cockney
I am now in Silver Star, where my coach, Andrew, and his wife, Ginny, have generously offered me their condo for a few days of preparation leading into this weekends NorAm sprint race. With races taking longer than normal to recover from, post-mono, I have opted out of the distance event this weekend to ensure good energy for the following weekend of NorAms in Rossland.
I am excited to try my hand in this weekend's tough field.
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