Peaks and Valleys

So the whirlwind of the Craftsbury SuperTour/Dartmouth Carnival/Eastern Cup/Craftsbury Marathon/Master's Nationals (yeah, there was a lot going on) has finally come to a halt, so I have some time to get an update out!

The truth is, these last couple of weeks have been a bit of a rollercoaster for me, so it's nice to actually sit down and put my thoughts on paper/screen. 

We kicked things off with a 20k mass start classic. From the beginning I knew I was missing that little extra gear and so I wasn't surprised when the pack dropped me around 13k. However, I still gave it my all and didn't lose very much time. I was happy to finish only 30 seconds behind the leaders, although I would have loved to be in the finishing pack sprint, which is pretty rare in women's races! But, c'est la vie, onward to the next races.

Leading one of the trains out of the start of the women's 20k (Photo John Lazenby)

Erika charging, Green team right on her tails (John Lazenby photo)

Taking advantage of a clear track the 1st time up Screamin' Mimi (John Lazenby photo)

Two days later was one of my all-time favorite events, a classic sprint. I put down a solid 2nd place in qualifying, so I knew I was primed to have a good day. The women's sprint course at Craftsbury is really fun, it starts with a winding downhill into a sharp right-hander, then finishes with all gradual striding and double pole. In the final, everyone was jockeying for position but I found myself head to head with Anja Gruber and Erika Flowers in the finishing sprint. I somehow found a new double pole gear and stayed ahead to take 2nd behind Jennie Bender. It was some of the most fun I've had racing in a long time, and it was extra sweet to get on the podium in front of the home crowd. My housemate and GRP rower Emily Dreissigacker (who also happens to moonlight as a nordic skier) had a fantastic day as well and made it to the A final, so it was fun to have 2 GRPers in the final, although perhaps not the two you would have expected!

Striding it out in the quarters. Another cold but altogether beautiful VT day (John Lazenby photo)

All focus at the start of the A Final with eventual winner Jennie Bender (John Lazenby photo)

Out of the start (Thanks Caitlin for taking pictures even though you were sick!)

It was super close coming into the finish and then came down to a double pole drag race. Fun to race against these speedy girls! (Photo Caitlin)

Capping off a perfect day in the sun 

We had a few days in between the races to train and recover, but unfortunately I started feeling worse and worse and by Wednesday I couldn't deny that I had the bug that was going around. I did my best to fight it, but the cold and racing really took a toll on my immune system. So, instead of prepping for 3 more races, I instead spent some long days in bed trying to convince myself I would be okay to race come the weekend. Fat chance.

It was so hard to sit out races that I have been looking forward to all year long, and even harder to watch as my teammates and friends put it all out there while I stood on the side of the course. Luckily, I had awesome and constant support from my family and gentle reminders from my coaches that while these races are important, they're not my big goal of the season, and I need to be healthy when I travel to Europe to race OPA Cups later this month.

Another positive was that in between the races Craftsbury successfully hosted a "Skiing with the Stars" event where we paired local junior skiers with SuperTour racers for free skiing and a fun relay event. I think everyone had a complete blast, and the kids were totally not intimidated by the SuperTour athletes and held their own in the relay. Thanks go out to the athletes who came to help, you guys were great! It's really fun to be able to do an event like this that gives back to the community and hopefully inspires a few future racers to give it their all.

Andrew and Tyler Kornfield showing the kids how it's done

Jennie gets sassy with her hometown PA middle school girls

All focus at the start of the relay (sorry for the blurry photo, it was the only one I had of the start)

Another plus was that my GRP teammates totally rocked the second weekend of racing, landing on the podium multiple times. If I wasn't able to race, at least they were out representing the team, and hopefully my somewhat hoarse cheering encouraged them.

Also, I would be totally remiss if I didn't mention the great work by Craftsbury in hosting these races. As racers, we often show up at big events and everything is already in place: courses groomed, fencing set up, timers running. However, since we live so close to the action in Craftsbury we got to see first hand all the work that went into these events. From the groomers hauling snow to make the courses absolutely perfect, to the organizers and timers, volunteers, kitchen staff, housekeeping, etc etc everyone absolutely worked their butts off this weekend and it showed! We also had great support from our army of wax techs, testers, and coaches which led to great skis. So many racers complimented the venue, so it was great to show off the best side of Craftsbury.

GRPers Caitlin and Kait capping off a great week where we had at least one girl in the top 6 for every race except the 10k skate! Here's the 10k mass start classic podium

Gordo skied a smart and gutsy race in the 15k mass start to take 2nd and his ever first SuperTour podium!!!! Congrats Gordo!

What now? I'm still on the recovery train, putting in very short and easy skis and trying to get back to full strength. If I feel better I will most likely race a carnival or Eastern Cup this weekend, and then on the 24th I head to Rogla, Slovenia, for the start of my European adventure. Thanks for reading everyone!