Lucky Sevens

I'm back to the blog world after a some time off, and a lot has happened! We traveled back east after the first two SuperTours and had a training block in Craftsbury, doing a lot of loops on the man-made and getting creative with running and strength workouts. Then we had the Craftsbury Eastern Cup at home, a skate sprint and 5k skate. It was a fun way to get in some intensity and race on our home trails.

5k of racing on a 1k loop at the Eastern Cup. It's kind of like 
Mario Kart, but you know, a bit more aerobic

I got to go home to Park City for 8 days over the holidays, which can be a little tricky considering that it's right before Nationals, but in this case it was great to go home to 3 feet of new snow. I had good training sessions with some University of Utah skiers, a few of my former Park City teammates, and my dad! Park City is one of my favorite places to train in winter or summer, and it definitely didn't disappoint this time.

Snowed in on my back porch in Park City

A Christmas day alpine ski with my mom and family friends.
After taking two silly crashes in sprints early this year, I decided
it was time to break out the alpine skis and reacquaint myself
with high speed turns.

Then it was on to Nationals! Our entire team met at the Detroit airport and made it to Houghton without a hitch. We got there 4 days early, so lots of time for testing on the course and getting in a bit of intensity. 

The first race was a 10k classic interval start. 10k interval starts of any kind have traditionally been my Achillles heel, I don't know if I lose focus or what, but the last 4k always seems impossibly long. This race, I didn't quite pace it perfectly (slipping back two spots in the second lap), but I was really happy to finish 7th and truly leave it all on the course. It was also my top 10k result at Nationals thus far, and my teammates Caitlin and Kait took 1st and 2nd, so it was a pretty awesome way to start out Nationals. We had hardly any time to celebrate though since we raced the 10k on Sunday afternoon and then had to turn around and do the skate sprint the next morning! Craziness (especially for the techs).

Got a lot of comments on our new Craft suits at Nationals,
they definitely stuck out in the (sometimes) grey
Upper Peninsula landscape (photo Skinnyski)

Team GRP at the 10k awards (photo Terry Smythe)

These ladies rocked it! 

The following day, I had pretty heavy legs warming up for the skate qualifier, but I had to remind myself that everyone who raced the previous day was probably feeling the same thing. I felt okay in the qualifier though, and then found some extra power in my quarterfinal to take second and advance. I went on to make a few tactical errors in the semifinal and ended up 3rd. By just missing lucky loser, I missed the A Final and got my second 7th place finish in a row. It was my best skate sprint result at Nationals ever, so I couldn't be too upset to miss the final, and I learned that when the course is long but conditions are fast, positioning is everything. If a move happens when you're stuck behind someone, you can say goodbye to their retreating back!

Making a pass in my quarterfinal (photo Christopher Schmidt)

Finish of the quarterfinal (Photo FasterSkier)

We then had two days off in which to recover and prep for the next round of races. I often get the question- what do you do to keep yourself sane during the long downtime while traveling and racing? Usually it's a mix of reading, searching out the local coffee shop, working on my computer, or watching World Cup biathlon and cross country and cheering for my GRP teammates overseas. At Nationals, we combated cabin fever with a new one- coloring books! Yup, evidently they're coming back. Who knew. I have to say it wasn't my favorite downtime activity but we did end up with some decorations for the cabin where we stayed.

Budding artists?

An unexpected Houghton sunset

Next up, we raced the 20k skate mass start. I warmed up well, but on the first uphill felt like something was off. I was dropped by the lead pack, and then the chase pack, and mentally felt the race slipping away from me. However, I'm nothing if not stubborn, and I wasn't about to call it in, so I just tried to focus on small things like using higher tempo on the uphills to keep from bogging down, and skiing the downhills and transitions the best I possibly could. A few feeds helped me pull away from the girls I was skiing with, and while the end result (20th) wasn't what I was hoping for, it was a good reminder that distance skate is something I need to continue to work on.

First hill, still in the mix, but feeling the pain (Photo Skinnyski.com)

20k start, trying to avoid mayhem before 
the first downhill turn (photo Christopher Schmidt)

Then, two days later, it was time for one of my favorite events, the classic sprint. Warming up for the qualifier, I felt awesome, my skis were perfect (and the birds were probably singing too). I absolutely hammered the whole thing, finding a new gear on the uphill that I'm not sure I knew I had. Crossing the line, I knew it went well, and was excited to hear that I qualified 2nd, which I was okay with considering the first qualifier was my teammate Kait! My quarterfinal went well too. Although I didn't have the best start, I had enough on the uphill to take second and advance. I was hoping to ride the momentum into the semi, but off the line it was a crazy mix of jostling and passing, and I don't think I was quite prepared for the level of aggression. Although I pushed as hard as possible in the finish, I took 4th and missed lucky loser again. This time, I wasn't as happy to finish 7th after having such a good qualifier, but after all, that's why they make us race the rounds. It was a good reminder to bring the same level of intensity and focus to each sprint round, and to be the one in control, not the one getting skied over. 

Fun to ski in my semi with Heather! Her result from the classic
sprint clinched a spot on the U23 World Champs team for her,
and I can't wait for her to rip it up in Romania (Photo Christopher Schmidt)

Just like that, the whirlwind week was over. The crew of Green Racing Project women (Caitlin, Heather, Kaitlynn, and myself) had some of our best results of the season, taking 3 out of the 4 National titles. Caitlin had good enough results to join the World Cup for Period III as SuperTour leader, and Kaitlynn will also be racing as a Nation's Group skier for the Canadian World Cups in March. I'm really psyched for them, as well as Heather for her U23 spot, and mostly just happy to be a part of a team with this much forward momentum. As for me, if someone told me two years ago that I wouldn't be quite satisfied with three 7th place finishes at Nationals, I'm not sure I would have believed them. It's a testament to the strength of the GRP women's program right now and our belief in our training, coaching, and wax techs that I feel that the best is yet to come.

In the meantime, I'll be doing some training and racing in the East, based out of Craftsbury for the next few weeks until I figure out the rest of my winter schedule. A few of the GRP women, including myself, are racing the Eastern Cup tomorrow in Waterville, Maine, and then will start training with a focus on the next two SuperTours in Lake Placid and Stowe.

I'll try to check back in soon, thanks for reading!

Bye Houghton! Skiing the trails in Chassell,
10 min away from the race venue, on our
last day.