Slow Burn

I'm just now realizing that it's been a while since Nationals and my last update! I'll try to keep this one succint and photo-filled.

We arrived back home in Craftsbury to sweet skiing. Not going to lie it felt great to sleep in my own bed, eat the delicious food at the COC dining hall, and catch up with everyone here. Only a few days later, Kait, Hallie and I road-tripped over to Waterville, Maine for the Eastern Cup/Bates Carnival and I raced the 5k skate individual. I think I was still pretty tired from Nationals, but I was happy to race to 4th place, less than a second from the podium. The next day Kait and I sat out the 10k mass start classic, opting to wax test for the juniors and Hallie. It was a blast testing skis, cheering for the juniors, and also seeing Hallie on top of the podium after a summer and fall that included double meniscus surgeries and sickness. 

Two weekends later we hopped on the ferry across Lake Champlain all the way to Lake Placid for a SuperTour freestyle sprint and 10k classic. Instead of holding the races on the Olympic race trails at Mt. Van Hoevenberg, the organizers had to use the man-made loop at the base of the ski jumps. In college I had a really good result racing a 5k classic on the jump trails so I was actually pretty excited for the change of venue. However, I think I overestimated the effect of training and traveling on my body, and I felt a little flat and tired all weekend. I followed up an 8th place qualifier in the skate sprint with a lucky loser spot into the semis, where I finished 5th, good for 9th overall. I wasn't totally psyched with the result, but it was fun to celebrate Caitlin's 26th birthday and cheer her to a 2nd place finish. The next day we raced 10k classic individual on one of the toughest courses I've ever skied. To give you an idea, we started at the bottom of the 120m ski jumps and and the course topped out all the way near the in-run of the jumps, then came down and around. And then we repeated 4 times. I have a lot of respect for my teammate Caitlin's race that day, as she won by around 1 minute! I took 11th place, never really hitting my stride but pushing through nevertheless.

Getting the rough end of the "slingshot" effect in the Lake Placid
sprint, APU speedsters Chelsea Holmes and Becca Rorabaugh
coming through (Photo Alex Howe)

Women's sprint semifinal #2 (Photo Alex Howe)

A smile even with klister all over his hands! Thanks Nick
for always taking such good care of us and our skis (Photo Alex Howe)

GRP women's team

Kait had another awesome result, finished 2nd in
the 10k classic! (Photo Alex Howe)

One weekend later, we were supposed to race on the Trapp Family Lodge 5k course in Stowe. However, a few days prior to the race we kept hearing reports that rain had wiped out the entire stadium, so in a last minute decision they moved the race up to Craftsbury on our 2.4k man-made loop. The East is hurting for snow this year, but venues with snow-making work so hard to make racing a possibility. Seeing the work firsthand here at Craftsbury makes me really appreciate having snow to ski on!

Anyways, we had another 5k skate individual at Craftsbury, and I felt good warming up and went as hard as I possibly could during the first lap, survived the second lap with maximal pain (pacing may be something I could work on...), and finished 8th in the SuperTour/collegiate field. I was happy but not entirely satisfied with that, and knew I had a bit more in the tank. The following day we had a 10k, with 4 laps of the same course. We've done a lot of training on the course they used, so I knew where to push it, and especially that the flats and downhills were a place to make up a lot of time with a powerful "reach" double pole. I started out hard again and by the second lap had caught up with APU's Rosie Frankowski. The APU ladies chose to double pole the 10k on skate skis, which I thought was incredibly gutsy, bad-ass, and proves that the US women's field is getting stronger all the time. I'm all for it. I chose to go on classic skis because I know that striding is my strength and I have a lot of confidence in our wax tech, Nick Brown, and his ability to give us really fast classic skis with solid kick. Rosie, Jessica Yeaton (also APU) and I skied much of the rest of the race together going back and forth on the uphills and flats. The whole race was a blast, and I knew I was having a good one by the splits I received during the race. I crossed the line to find that I was tied for 2nd place, which also ties my best ever SuperTour result! It was a fun way to celebrate my 25th birthday as well. Huge thanks to the maintenance and grooming crew at Craftsbury for pulling off a quality race despite less than ideal conditions, and also to Nick, Ollie, Anna, Ruth, and Pepa for waxing, cheering, and just generally making things fun on race weekend.

Finishing out a tough 5k skate (Photo Kait Miller)

Hallie and I are all smiles and tired squints after a tough 10k.
(Photo John Lazenby)

Making a pass before dropping down into the pipeline in
the classic race (Photo Kait Miller)

Women's 10k Classic Podium with Erika Flowers (SMS-T2)
and Julia Kern (SMS PG) Photo John Lazenby

My mom and Pepa at the awards (Photo Sue Higgins Gill)

Up next, I plan to race Dartmouth Carnival this weekend as it's being held on our home course in Craftsbury again and then in a few weeks I'll be leaving to compete in OPA Cups in Arber, Germany and Toblach, Italy in early March. I'm really excited about the direction my season is headed after a slow start. My teammate Susan gave me some great advice earlier this winter to "keep the fire burning" inside of me in spite of bad results or frustrating setbacks. It may be a slow burn, but I'm hoping that the fire will just get hotter! I'll check back in a few, in the meantime pray for snow in the east!!

I got to learn how to drive the snowmobile for a race-trail
shoveling work project. Pretty fun!

Hallie on top at Waterville! (sorry for the tiny/blurry picture)

Post-dinner ski commutes to our house from the
dining call for the latest in ski fashion

But skiing through the moonlight.... can't beat it

Clare came to visit on break from the IBU
World Cup! This photo is not staged.
Ethan liked it.

Got slightly addicted to a 2,000 piece puzzle, here's Mike
with the finished product

Great to have mom course-side for the SuperTour and my birthday!

Now a member of the quarter century club- blowing out the
candles with Dave, who shares my Feb. 7 bday

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.

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!

Fall Into Winter

It’s been a while since I last updated this blog, and we’ve quickly gone from watching the first few autumn leaves turn to eagerly awaiting the first real snowfall. I think every skier recognizes the inevitable push and pull of this time of year: on the one hand it seems like we’re hurtling towards race season at breakneck pace, but on the other hand, stick season seems to never end, teasing us with glimpses of winter. It’s only a matter of time before we click in our boots in West Yellowstone, and the anticipation for real snow under our feet is high.

Since the GRP returned from our September training camp in Austria, we had a few weeks at home in Vermont to soak up the training and enjoy the changing leaves.

Just another Northeast Kingdom sunset over the windmills

Dirt road cruising with the GRP women's team (Photo Caitlin Patterson)

My favorite fall activity- apple picking! The apple
monster (Casey + Hallie) getting to the top of the tree

Then it was off to Park City, UT, my hometown, for a US Ski Team training camp. I was really excited about the camp, and already planning to post a blog from there with lots of wonderful mountain training photos. Well, on the first day of the camp I woke up with a bad sore throat, which turned into a full blown cold, which turned into a sinus infection. Yuck. So instead of lovely outdoor photos, I could have shared a screenshot of my Netflix account as I whizzed through my 5th Scandal episode of the day, but I decided to spare you all! Needless to say, it was really bad timing and I hated sitting out all of the intensity and most of the distance workouts during the camp. Luckily, Park City is still a great place and if I had to be really sick in one place, I would choose a place where I could spend time with my friends and family.

Sunrise at Cutthroat Lake in the Uintas- from a quick backpack
trip before the camp started

Mountain biking on Mid Mtn. trail with my dad (Photo  Logan Jones:)

Rolling on the Mirror Lake Highway, and happy to be out and
about after sickness!

Heather, Kait, Caitlin and I post-ski at Provo
River Falls

Luckily once we got back to Vermont and reunited with our biathlon teammates, we had a cool opportunity in the east. Usually the west gets all the early snow, but this year the touring center in Foret Montmorency (up in Quebec) saved a huge pile of last winter’s snow under sawdust and spread it into a 2km loop. Finally feeling healthy, I joined the team for a 4 day intensity-focused camp on snow. Although it was a short camp, it was really productive and we squeezed intervals, speeds, tempo work, a time trial, and some distance into our six sessions. I left exhausted but definitely feeling more confident in my preparation for the season.

Em and I hammering out some L4 intervals, taking turns leading
and following (Photo Caitlin Patterson)

Skiing into the sunset with Heather (aww) (Photo Caitlin
Patterson)

Specific strength and focus (Photo Caitlin Patterson)

Part of the women's team, sporting our new gear
from Craft, Skida, and Bliz!

Back in Craftsbury we jumped in the Concept 2 World Sprints.
1 k on the ski erg = total pain and suffering (I think this photo
conveys it pretty well) Photo Judy Geer

So that’s the quick and dirty that brings us to now! We have a little over a week left in Vermont before Caitlin, Heather, Kait and I leave for West Yellowstone and the first SuperTour races of the year. I absolutely can’t wait to put on a bib again and see all of my skier friends from around the country. I’ll check back in after our first races, thanks for reading :)