On the Up and Up

The sky on fire in West Yellowstone, MT (Photo Caitlin Patterson)

After a nearly 24 hour travel day from Sun Valley, Idaho to my home in northern Vermont, I'm finally getting around to putting a blog up.

We went out to West Yellowstone almost 3 weeks ago to get our ski legs back under us and acclimate to the thinner air. Also known as West Yelly/Jelly, West Yellow (a Pepa-ism), or simply "West", this particular locale in Montana is always home to the first SuperTour races. Because of this I always associate the town with happy memories of Thanksgiving and catching up with ski friends that I haven't seen all summer.

The SuperTour races over Thanksgiving weekend were a freestyle sprint and a 10k freestyle individual. Although I felt great skiing around before and was completely adjusted to the altitude, I finished the race weekend frustrated. A strong qualifier in the sprint (9th) was followed by a lackluster quarterfinal where I let myself get boxed out and then missed lucky loser. In the 10k the next day I had a stellar first lap followed by one of the biggest blow-ups I've ever experienced in a race and finished 16th. It was one of those times where I had to readjust my assessment of the race results and focus on the positive things I was doing during the race (cornering, transitioning, and keeping my technique) rather than the number result.

An easy recovery skate with the Green team ladies turned into
one of the more spectacular ski sunsets I've ever experienced (see above)

Going into the Sun Valley races I was ready to put the less than stellar races behind me. I started to feel better during our training sessions and went into the weekend with confidence knowing that classic is usually my stronger technique. Turns out my teammates were equally brimming with confidence, and we had one of the best sprint qualifiers I can remember- Kait won, Caitlin was 2nd, I was 4th, and Heather and Alex both made the rounds in the high teens. Kait and Caitlin rode their momentum all the way to the A Final, where they took 2nd and 3rd. Heather improved a ton in the rounds and just missed lucky loser in her semi, so she ended up 8th. I wasn't able to capitalize on my good qualifier as I went "sliding for home" around the downhill corner and lost all of my speed. I still picked myself up, sprinted as hard as possible, and took 3rd in my heat, but it wasn't enough. The next day the Green team had another really solid day in the 10k classic, with Caitlin on the podium, Kait in the top 6, and myself in 9th. Overall, the weekend was a good improvement from West Yellowstone, but left me wanting more.

The takeaway from the first two weekends of racing? I'm working on turning my frustration into fuel for the upcoming races. The good news about coming short of your goals is that it forces you to reexamine your approach and see where you can make improvements. I have a few weeks to put in a low altitude training block in Craftsbury (where we'll be hamster wheeling on a 1km loop of man-made) and then head home for the holidays before US Nationals. 

Although I may have missed the cliché "Thanksgiving blog post", it's still the holiday season and I have a lot to be thankful for this year, so I'll leave you with some words of gratitude and of course, a few photos from the week in Sun Valley.

1. My very speedy yet humble teammates. I'm so lucky to have the opportunity to train with an exceptionally talented group of skiers and biathletes. Just in the first few weeks of the season, Ida took 7th place in a World Cup sprint, Clare PR'ed with a 16th in a biathlon sprint, and Kait and Caitlin double podium-ed at the Sun Valley SuperTour. We're off to a ripping start, and I love spending time (on and off skis) with this focused but silly group of people.

2. Incredible support. Starting up the racing season just reaffirms my belief that wax techs and coaches work about 200x harder during race weekends than the athletes do. Thanks to Pepa, Nick, Anna, and Ollie for taking care of us and giving us the best boards. Of course, we also have sweet support from the Craftsbury Outdoor Center, and our team and indvidual sponsors!

3. Snow. All around the US, we're experiencing the effects of a low-snow year. During the Sun Valley SuperTour, volunteers shoveled for hours to make the loop ski-able for us. Back in Craftsbury, we're on a 1k loop. Never has it been more apparent that our sport is in danger of disappearing if things don't change drastically, and soon. Therefore, I'm thankful for real snow that falls out of the sky and turns my favorite places into winter wonderlands. And it would be great if that could happen in the East, asap!

3. My family, for road tripping to both of my race weekends out west, providing hugs, loud cheers, and advice, and generally just being great peeps.

4. And finally, the Craftsbury dining hall. Beets burgers, maple mustard dressing, fresh produce, all I can say is YUM. It's good to be back.

Road tripping from WY to SV- Craters of the
Moon National Monument (spoiler alert-it has
nothing to do with the moon)

Our beautiful first training day in Sun Valley. We drove
high up to get to Galena Lodge where there was plenty of snow!

On the classic sprint morning we got to watch our teammate Clare
PR (by about 30 places, no big deal) in the biathlon World Cup
sprint, which got us pretty jacked up for our race

Classic qualification. Thanks for the pic ACB!

A very happy Pepa with her green goblins

Girl's team hug- celebrating podiums for Caitlin and Kait

Women's mass start in the 10k, Caitlin leading Kait and I in the
train

Navigating the Sun Valley downhills was a good challenge- here
we are off the start in the 10k

Sometimes when you go in the pain cave, you just focus on the
person in front of you and hang on for dear life.

Cool kids still sit in the back of the bus (or rental van)

So lucky to have the support of my family during both
Western race weekends. Thanks guys! Not pictured 
but equally important-my mom and pooch Tele

Next up we'll race the Eastern Cup next weekend here in Craftsbury, and then over the holidays everyone will disperse for a few weeks before we meet up in Houghton for Nationals!