Last One Fast One

When I raced at UNH, at the end of every interval session or race season we would call out "last one, fast one!" as a reminder to keep pushing through the pain near the end. Knowing that we were all in it together motivated us to keep going even when coasting in would have been easier.

After a long season, sometimes the final races of the year can feel like a countdown, with each kilometer raced another check mark towards freedom. I know that in the past few years, I've reached Spring Series with a tired and sore body and survived the races, rather than pushed my limits. This year it was really nice to come back from OPA Cups with a little bit of energy and motivation to do well in Craftsbury in front of a home crowd! After the travel back to the States I came down with a mild cold, which was a good excuse to rest, and also lowered my expectations for the races since I wasn't sure how my body would react. Usually SuperTour Finals are the only time that the US domestic skiers get to compete against our US cohorts on the World Cup, so it's great to hop in with them and see the level needed to compete on the world stage.

Craftsbury was able to rally and pull off really high quality races, especially considering that winter forgot to visit the Northeast Kingdom, and the entire East Coast this year. The grooming crew maintained a 3.4k loop with plenty of climbing and great snow base depth. I think that all of the racers were really impressed with how good the skiing was even as green grass grew on the side of the courses.

On the Saturday before the races we hosted a Fast and Female event in Craftsbury, with over 80 local girls skiing side by side with ambassadors from our team, the US Ski Team, and the other elite clubs. We had perfect weather for our ski stations and I think everyone had a blast. A few hours later we hopped in Dash for Cash sprints- short, 4-person heats that started with a downhill and 180 degree icy turn and ended by taking the "hole shot" through the snow pile. The whole event was really fun and ridiculous, and while my lack of warm-up may have taken me out of the running, it was fun to see Ida take the win and Heather the "wooden medal" (4th).

My Fast and Female station- starts and finishes! (Photo Caitlin
Patterson)

Fast and Female participants ready to go out and ski (Photo
Reese Brown)

Navigating the Dash for Cash turn in ice and slush (Photo
Reese Brown)

The first race of SuperTour finals was a 10k freestyle individual, something I haven't raced since the beginning of the year in West Yellowstone. Faced with icy, fast conditions and, happily, sea level, I raced to 14th place. 10k freestyle, especially individual start style, has been a struggle for me but I keep honing my technique and pacing and it's slowly starting to pay off. The field in the 10k included two foreign World Cup athletes and 6 regular US World Cup skiers, so even in the regular SuperTour circuit I held my own.

Just one day later it was time for one of my favorite events- the classic sprint! I felt really good in my qualifier and was happy to see I placed 4th, and then skied at the front of my quarterfinal heat to take 2nd and advance. My semifinal was tough, but I skied as hard as I could and just didn't have enough on the final hill to advance and ended up 4th. Placing 7th overall was a little bittersweet because I haven't made the A Final in any sprints this year and I really wanted it, but 7th in this field was a far stronger result than my 7th in both the sprints at US Nationals earlier this year.

Hanging on to Jessie Diggins in our semifinal heat
 (Photo Reese Brown)

We had a little break before racing the mixed club relay- a 4x5km event that features two classic legs and two freestyle legs, with 2 women and 2 men forming a team. Because all of the GRP men were in Fort Kent for biathlon nationals we had to mix it up a little bit and pair with skiers on other teams, which unfortunately took us out of contention for the official podium and prizes. Luckily there were two skiers from CU looking for a team and they happily took Hallie and me as their teammates! Our classic scramble leg, Petter Reistad, double poled the course and tagged off to me in 5th, and I went on the chase to catch the skiers in front of me. After hanging on to Ida and Annie Hart for our two laps, I tagged off to Mads Stroem in 3rd, and he moved us up to 2nd after his leg! We ended up 4th overall, which was just fine since we weren't eligible for the podium anyways. Big thanks to those guys for hopping in to race with us and skiing pretty darn fast!

Leading a train near the start of my relay leg (Photo Bryan Fish)

Tagging off to our freestyle leg, Mads Stroem from CU
(Photo Reese Brown)

The Green Buffaloes- stoked on our 4th place
finish!

Finally, we had just one more race to tackle, a 30k classic mass start. After last year's 30k slogfest, I think all of the women were really happy to see that they reversed the start order and had us start at 10 am while the tracks were still semi-frozen. It made for a slow and grueling 50k for the men, who started at 12:30pm, and I applaud everyone who finished that race, it looked absolutely brutal. I had a decent race, losing the lead pack somewhere during the second lap and then finishing the next six laps with Erika Flowers from SMS-T2, who I have been going back and forth with all year. After a blow-up on the final uphill, she skied away from me and I ended up 11th. It was certainly a long, tough race and a good way to end the season. My Craftsbury teammates had a really strong day, taking 2nd, 3rd, and 5th, so it was sweet to see so much green on the podium!

The women's start (Photo Reese Brown)

Either the first or second lap, climbing Moss Run
(Photo Reese Brown)

Skiing with Sophie Caldwell and Erika Flowers of SMS-T2
(Photo Reese Brown)

Switching off the lead with Erika kept me motivated and pushing
on our 9 laps (Photo Reese Brown)

It's time now for a little rest and recharging, and doing some active recovery before hopping back into training. I'm currently traveling to California where I'm planning to hop in the Mammoth Ski Marathon this weekend as a fun race, then I'll be spending the spring in Park City, with escapes to Southern Utah for backpacking and mountain biking. As I process the season, I realize that even though I didn't have the standout results or big break-through I was hoping for, I'm still making forward progress in so many areas. I'm motivated to train hard and consistently next season, and I'm really excited to be moving forward with this team. We have such a strong women's program right now, and I think the forward momentum we've built will only push each of us to new heights next season! Big thanks to coach Pepa for her dedication and hard work, and to Nick Brown, Anna Schulz, Ollie Burruss, and everyone else who helped wax for our team this year and gave us great skis all season. For now, enjoy the spring everyone, get some sunshine, and I'll be back in May!

Most of the GRP women's team, just missing Hannah, Clare,
and Emily