Here’s the synopsis of the two races I competed in here at WOP. It was a tough two days of racing, especially with a sub-par body but I was able to still compete which was the whole goal.
Category: XCFeeds
A collection of live feeds from cross-country ski blogs around the web.
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Ski Fun at the Junior Pursuit
Junior ‘racers’ from 3 to 13 years old showed up for ski fun at the Methow Pursuit Saturday and Sunday, January 10 11.embed type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” src=”http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf” width=”288″ height=”192″ flashvars=”host=picasaweb.google.comRGB=0x000000feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fanniebunce%2Falbumid%2F5291729917106372049%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss” pluginspage=”http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer”/embeddiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/489212310283984495-4341162115830447987?l=methowvalleynordicteam.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
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U.S. Nationals Recap
Quite a bit has happened since my last blog!span style=”” /spanTo catch you up to date, I will continue where I left off… p class=”MsoNormal”o:p /o:p/p p class=”MsoNormal”b style=””Monday, January 5/b- Temperatures warmed up to -3 F and we were able to race the 5k skate.span style=”” /spanWith built up excitement and energy from the previous two days of not racing, I bolted out that start gate.span style=”” /spanA 5k race is short and I pushed every part of the course.span style=”” /spanI ended up in 12supth/sup place, just 4 seconds from 10supth/sup!/p p class=”MsoNormal”o:p /o:p/p b style=””Tuesday, January 6/b- Woke up to another day of subzero weather!span style=”” /spanThe race got delayed two times.span style=”” /spanI began my warm-up and soon found out that they canceled the race.span style=”” /spanAnother day gone!span style=”” /spanDue to the cold weather, I chose to run indoors on the treadmill.span style=”” /spanIt was a good little L3 workout and it felt good to run.br /br /p class=”MsoNormal”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/SW_PdTRbCBI/AAAAAAAAAN8/MeILJ5Xykf0/s1600-h/IMG_0073%5B1%5D”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/SW_PdTRbCBI/AAAAAAAAAN8/MeILJ5Xykf0/s400/IMG_0073%5B1%5D” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291676189480126482″ border=”0″ //a/pdiv style=”text-align: center;”span style=”font-style: italic;”Kate Arduer and Laura Valaas waiting to hear if the race is on./spanbr //divdiv style=”text-align: center;” /divp class=”MsoNormal”o:p /o:p/pb style=””Wednesday, January /bspan style=”font-weight: bold;”7-/spanb style=”” /bEven colder today…-18 F at my house this morning!span style=”” /spanRaces were canceled and this time I didn’t even have to go out to the race venue.span style=”” /spanI ran on an indoor track at the “Dome.”span style=”” /spanMy workout included a 1x5min L3 with 6×15 sec speeds.span style=”” /spanFeeling ready to go!br /br /p class=”MsoNormal”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/SW_OQE35ohI/AAAAAAAAANk/tU3AJ28nl0U/s1600-h/IMG_0082%5B1%5D”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/SW_OQE35ohI/AAAAAAAAANk/tU3AJ28nl0U/s400/IMG_0082%5B1%5D” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291674862765056530″ border=”0″ //a/pp style=”text-align: center;” class=”MsoNormal”span style=”font-style: italic;”The dome has 4 soccer fields and has the largest indoor track in North America./spanbr //p p class=”MsoNormal”o:p /o:p/p p class=”MsoNormal”b style=””Thursday, January 8- /bWoke up to a -12 F…knew there was a possibility of racing!span style=”” /spanWent out to Kincaid at st1:time minute=”30″ hour=”12″12:30pm/st1:time and heard the word that the race was on!span style=”” /spanI immediately was in race mode and began my warm-up.span style=”” /spanAlong with a temperature of -3 today, there was a wind chill which created a temperature of -25 F!!!span style=”” /spanBrrr, it was cold!span style=”” /spanI completed the qualifying found feeling like I had gone slow.span style=”” /spanWithout knowing where I ended up, I began my cool-down.span style=”” /spanWhen I returned to the stadium, my name was posted in 7supth/sup!span style=”” /spanI was very pleased and figured that if I felt slow and got 7supth/sup, then I could got fast in the rounds.span style=”” /spanI ended up 9supth/sup overall.span style=”” /spanI was pleased with my result…I wasn’t expecting that in a classic sprint of all races!span style=”” /span/p p class=”MsoNormal”o:p /o:p/p p class=”MsoNormal”That evening the pre-olympic world cup team was announced.span style=”” /spanI was not sure if I made it, but was excited to hear my name announced!span style=”” /span/p p class=”MsoNormal”o:p /o:p/p p class=”MsoNormal”b style=””Friday, January 9- /bWoke up and didn’t have to mentally and physically prepare of a race!span style=”” /spanI enjoyed an easy distance ski on some of my favorite trails at Kincaid.span style=”” /spanFriday evening I helped out with an event called Fast and Female.span style=”” /spanThis event was for 9-19 year old girls and it included a ski session from elite female skiers, snacks, inspirational speeches, videos and autograph signing.span style=”” /spanIt was a huge success!span style=”” /spanThere were over 160 girl participants./pa onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/SW_OoOmS-EI/AAAAAAAAANs/Dp_nUof2xIk/s1600-h/fast-female-0065.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/SW_OoOmS-EI/AAAAAAAAANs/Dp_nUof2xIk/s400/fast-female-0065.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291675277692434498″ border=”0″ //adiv style=”text-align: center;”span style=”font-style: italic;”All 160 Fast and Female participants and the 25 elite female skiers who volunteered./spanbr //divp class=”MsoNormal”br //pp class=”MsoNormal”span style=”” /span/p p class=”MsoNormal”o:p /o:p/p p class=”MsoNormal”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/SW_O9–q9jI/AAAAAAAAAN0/svv9DfSrYHQ/s1600-h/IMG_0094%5B1%5D”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/SW_O9–q9jI/AAAAAAAAAN0/svv9DfSrYHQ/s400/IMG_0094%5B1%5D” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291675651456824882″ border=”0″ //a/pp style=”text-align: center;” class=”MsoNormal”span style=”font-style: italic;”Posing for a picture with Jamie and Annie./spanb style=””br //b/pp class=”MsoNormal”b style=””Saturday, January 10- /bI raced in the 10k classic UAA invitational at Kincaid.span style=”” /spanI felt pretty sore and tired going into the race but thought I might be able to ski it off…that did not happen.span style=”” /spanI finished 10supth/sup despite feeling flat and tired.span style=”” /span/p p class=”MsoNormal”o:p /o:p/p p class=”MsoNormal”b style=””Sunday, January 11- /bTook today pretty easy.span style=”” /spanI still felt a little tired and sore from the races.span style=”” /spanResting up for next week!/p p class=”MsoNormal”b style=””Monday, January 12-/b It finally warmed up to above zero!span style=”” /spanIt’s 13 F today!span style=”” /spanI went for an easy distance ski./p p class=”MsoNormal”o:p /o:p/p p class=”MsoNormal”b style=””Tuesday, January 13- /bLeft Anchorage and flew to Whistler.span style=”” /span/p p class=”MsoNormal”o:p /o:p/p p class=”MsoNormal”b style=””Wednesday, January 14- /bI was informed that I get to race the pursuit race as well as the classic sprint this weekend at the World Cups in Whistler.span style=”” /spanYay!span style=”” /spanI skied the pursuit course and included some speeds.span style=”” /spanI am feeling good and I’m very excited to be here!span style=”” /spanIt is sunny and 32 degrees!span style=”” /span/p p class=”MsoNormal”o:p /o:p/p p class=”MsoNormal”b style=””Thursday, January 15- /bTested skis at the venue…it is full on klister conditions.span style=”” /spanGetting ready to race tomorrow!/p p class=”MsoNormal”o:p /o:p/p p class=”MsoNormal”Tomorrow I race in the classic sprint race.span style=”” /spanI am very excited to race in my first world cup and I am aiming for a top-30 tomorrow! o:p/o:p/pdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5903545846797966075-5380359009028953124?l=in-the-arena-nicole.blogspot.com’//div
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among mountains and clouds
My attention drifts with the sights of Vancouver’s skyline as I wind through the city streets. It’s turning dark. Humidity drizzles from the sky. A caravan of three minivans carries a group of skiers that have converged from various outposts – Anchorage, Alaska, Wenatchee,Washington, Park City, Utah – to the capitol and most populous environ of British Columbia. The caravan snakes its way through Friday night’s stop-and-go traffic. Modern towers and high-rise condominiums along the waterfront. The occasional Burberry store and clean-swept sidewalks with hedges groomed to the nines speak of the city’s affluence. And its influence. In just over a year, the best sliders, skaters, skiers, hockey players and curlers will descend into Vancouver for the 2010 Olympic Games. br /br /After passing by and taking in the eye-candy roaming around the University of British Columbia we roll through the forested grove of Stanley Park. The canopy of Western Red Cedar, Doug Fir and Western Hemlock reach heavenward, at times upwards of 250 feet. br /br /The green, narrow-leafed Western giants remind me of my latest book, span style=”font-style:italic;”Young Men and Fire/span by Norman Maclean. The book unravels a story about the universe’s four forces at work – sky, fire, earth and young men during a fire in the Gates of the Mountains in Montana, a wilderness area just east of the Missouri River. Partway down a ridge between the Mann and Meriwether gulleys sixteen Smokejumpers descended upon the burning forest just before the it turns into a blow-up, the most deadly – and least understood – fire. Of the sixteen, thirteen would never return.br /br /”Smokejumpers were the fastest the nation had in getting to where there was danger,” wrote Maclean. “They got there by moving in the magic realm between heaven and earth. When they got to a fire, they almost made a game of it. None were surer they could not lose than the Seventh Cavalry and the Smokejumpers.”br /br /span style=”font-style:italic;”Young Men and Fire/span is the story of how America’s best and bravest got into more than a game with fire. The crown fire helped start bundles of spot fires. These turned into firewhirls, which in turn became the worst kind of blow-up known as a Halocaust that enveloped four square miles in ten minutes. A forty-foot wall of flame raced up the 76 degree Mann Gulch slope at seven and one-half miles an hour. All but three young woodsmen would suffocate, then burn to death within sight of the ridgeline. span style=”font-style:italic;”Young Men and Fire/span is a terrible tale. I highly recommend it. br /br /In time, the evergreens give way to the Lion’s Gate Suspension Bridge, named after the pair of peaks that definitively end the city’s northern expansion. br /br /Inside the Dodge, Gang of Four’s on heavy rotation. The Leeds, England outfit cranks out a harsh, funk/punk sound with distraught lyrics layed atop. br /br /span style=”font-style:italic;”Ought to control what I do with my mindbr /Nothing in there but sunshades for the blindbr /br /Love’ll get you like a case of anthraxbr /And that’s something I don’t want to catch/spanbr /br /Listening to Gang of Four comes as a sort of baptism by fire. The guitars, the beat, the lyrics hit immediately. I can imagine Dave Allen’s slap and speed bass playing influence on Flea, the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist’s own style when he says, “The Gang of Four is the first rock band I could truly relate to. These limies rocked my world.”br /br /Go4 guitarist Andy Gill even left U2’s Bono with a sort of superior-inferiority complex. “Hard. Angular. Bold. Andy Gill’s chin is the black hole of ’90s music we should have all disappeared into if we had any sense; a dimple atop the body politic, a pimple on the arse of pop. A Gang of Four metal guru, a corporation of common sense, a smart bomb of text that had me at home feeling like a typist.” br /br /After a sushi stop in Squamish, the road winds higher along the Sea2Ski Corridor to Whistler. For the next ten days – and the fourth time this year – this valley has become my home; to breathe in its maritime air, get lost and found in its fog, to slide on its various configurations of snow crystals. And dream out loud. My first chance to do this is Friday, January 16th when the World Cup makes its debut on the Whistler Olympic courses.div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2691525267872963085-3625615781409187641?l=in-the-arena-torin.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
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Oberhof Wrapup
Carving up the Christmas turkey with my sister, Kendra
It’s back to work this week, in Ruhpolding, Germany, site of IBU World Cup #5. Last week was a good step forward for the team in Oberhof. We managed an 11th place in the opening relay event, but the big improvement came in the Sprint competition on Saturday evening. The events drew in 25,000 people each day so it was a great atmosphere! Oberhof is the only place in the world where, for most of the course, you can’t hear the sound of your own breath as the crowd noise drowns everything else out. In order to get splits on the course, most of the coaches have to write the information on a dry-erase board because they can’t be heard over the cheering.
During the Sprint, Jay placed 17th, Tim in 22nd, I came in 39th, and Jeremy place 44th. It was a great day for us as a team and I think it is a good point to be at going into the middle part of the season. After travelling home for christmas, it is always some anxiety as to how your shape will be coming back after a long break (almost three weeks). It was good to see that my ski speed was a little bit better and I felt good for the races. In the past, the post-Christmas world cup has been one of the more challenging events for me so I am happy that this time around, things went well.
The view of the Thuringen region from my hotel room in Oberhof
After the races, it was just a 6-hour bus ride from Oberhof to Ruhpolding on Monday. Normally this trip takes a little over three hours (if you are driving fast on the autobahn). Our head wax tech, Andi Elmslander, took every chance to remind me of this when I arrived at dinner that night, three hours behind the others. Andi, however, has the benefit of Kati Wilhelm’s German Team-issue Audi Q7. I’ve driven with Andi on numerous occasions and I know he wasn’t joking when he said his top speed during this trip was 250km/h (155mph). I also know that the Q7 handles a little bit better than the tour-bus I was on. And I got to brush up on my Russian as the bus entertainment system showed back-to-back Russian blockbusters. So 6 hours and two Russian films later, I arrived in Ruhpolding ready to prepare for Thursday’s relay competition. The weather has been great here in Germany so far this year and I’m hoping the trend continues through the end of the month. Hope all is well in the States.
Best,
Lowell
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Bring on the rain….
I have a new appreciation for the rain. I have always liked rain, but winter rain is not always as pleasant as a warmish summer rain. In the winter, generally, you would rather see snow falling from the sky, however, rain in the winter does guarantee one thing: It will not be below zero on the thermometer, and for me, right now, that is worth jumping in the air for. divbr //divdivWe just left Anchorage, Alaska, where the temps were below -4 degrees span class=”blsp-spelling-corrected” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_0″Fahrenheit/span (well below most days) for 2 weeks straight. I say below -4 because that is legal race temp, and without being above that mark for most of the week, 2 of our 4 races were cancelled. That is a bummer, for sure, as there were hundreds of athletes who make the trek to US Nationals every year, but something incredible always seems to happen whenever we race in Alaska, and that is this: The volunteers are unbelievable people. I have been in Fairbanks, AK, many times for races where is is extremely cold, and despite all, the course is lined with hundreds of smiling faces of people who have left their warm homes to come stand in the frigid temperatures to help a cross country ski race get off the ground. Some of them ski, a lot of them don’t, and that is something to be incredibly thankful for, the volunteers. So a huge hug goes out to all of you who were out there day after day, trying to get a race off for us, and smiling even when you were freezing. Thank you. br /divbr //divdivDespite the rain and mist that has been hanging around for the last couple of days, the snow here in whistler is incredible. I am here to race a world cup (my second ever) and I am super pumped. There is a classic sprint on Friday, a 15/30K pursuit on Saturday and a skate team sprint on Sunday. It is going to be awesome. /divdivSorry no pics….I need to take my camera out of my bag if I want to be able to post any…./div/divdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8313858291794282393-7475896862219211607?l=lizhstephen.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
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28 DEGREES
…that is the temperature for tomorrow in Sun Valley – and I am going to be there! br /br /I would be lying if I said it was easy to watch everyone race (or at least try to) all week. To watch warm-ups and finishes, team selections and victories – from the bench.br /br /I am happy for them, but it does not mean I can’t feel sad for me (just for a second). br /br /I am not World Cup bound this year, but I get to head home and continue my training. There will be a time, and it will be this year, when I ski to my potential. br /br /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SWb4M9FDQLI/AAAAAAAAAgM/vhUIhP88RNE/s1600-h/IMG_0334.JPG”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 258px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SWb4M9FDQLI/AAAAAAAAAgM/vhUIhP88RNE/s400/IMG_0334.JPG” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289187713831092402″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-size:85%;”span style=”font-style: italic;”the stadium under lamp-light: classic sprint heatsbr /br //span/span/divdiv style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SWb4NVMPMdI/AAAAAAAAAgU/nqN68dRK9EE/s1600-h/IMG_0338.JPG”span style=”font-size:85%;”span style=”font-style: italic;”/span/spanimg style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 155px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SWb4NVMPMdI/AAAAAAAAAgU/nqN68dRK9EE/s400/IMG_0338.JPG” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289187720303686098″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-size:85%;”span style=”font-style: italic;”the BC World Cup team (click on image for full size)/span/spanbr /br //divdiv style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SWb4Mi8w5xI/AAAAAAAAAgE/7fKFvh0ogvI/s1600-h/IMG_0332.JPG”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 236px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SWb4Mi8w5xI/AAAAAAAAAgE/7fKFvh0ogvI/s400/IMG_0332.JPG” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289187706817013522″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-size:85%;”span style=”font-style: italic;”men’s heat, heading under the bridgebr //span/span/divbr /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SWb2nuspRvI/AAAAAAAAAf8/vIf6hrDSmPg/s1600-h/IMG_0323.JPG”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 290px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SWb2nuspRvI/AAAAAAAAAf8/vIf6hrDSmPg/s400/IMG_0323.JPG” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289185974803842802″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-style: italic;”span style=”font-size:85%;”another men’s heat, lead by Mikey Sinnott, after the bridgebr //span/span/divbr /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SWb2ndV60BI/AAAAAAAAAf0/A13a4cFeQXg/s1600-h/IMG_0306.JPG”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 156px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SWb2ndV60BI/AAAAAAAAAf0/A13a4cFeQXg/s400/IMG_0306.JPG” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289185970145120274″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-size:85%;”span style=”font-style: italic;”Sun Valley junior, Miles Havlick, skiing with the USST in his heatbr //span/span/divbr /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SWb2nPFKeAI/AAAAAAAAAfs/ZY70Y_6GzUk/s1600-h/IMG_0290.JPG”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 192px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SWb2nPFKeAI/AAAAAAAAAfs/ZY70Y_6GzUk/s400/IMG_0290.JPG” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289185966316746754″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-size:85%;”span style=”font-style: italic;”Nicole DeYong, finishing up her qualification roundbr //span/span/divbr /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SWb2m7dq37I/AAAAAAAAAfk/A5qmVZKcj34/s1600-h/IMG_0224.JPG”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 308px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SWb2m7dq37I/AAAAAAAAAfk/A5qmVZKcj34/s400/IMG_0224.JPG” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289185961050824626″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-size:85%;”span style=”font-style: italic;”Colin Rodgers, taking his prelim out strongbr //span/span/divbr /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SWb2min2xxI/AAAAAAAAAfc/duNn9npoFGE/s1600-h/IMG_0179.JPG”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 204px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SWb2min2xxI/AAAAAAAAAfc/duNn9npoFGE/s400/IMG_0179.JPG” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289185954382661394″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-size:85%;”span style=”font-style: italic;”Chris Freeman, qualification round (just out of the start)br /br //span/spandiv style=”text-align: left;”span style=”font-size:85%;”span style=”font-size:100%;”That is all from Alaska folks. Hopefully when we are in Fairbanks this spring, the temperatures will be slightly warmer. Okay, who am I kidding – I am hoping for at least 30 degrees warmer!/span/spanbr /br /Congratulations to all who made their goals and a HUGE THANKS to the volunteers and race organizers!br //div/divdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4299718529371785873-2671454324095482472?l=in-the-arena-kate.blogspot.com’//div
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Koch skiers in Mazama
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Nationals done
Todays sprint was cancelled which means they will try to hold them tomorrow instead of the distance classic race. The organizers delayed a few times but it wasn’t even close to -4 F out there. Tonight the World Junior and U23 World Champ teams are named and we haven’t had a sprint race in the country yet. Bummer for the sprinters. divbr //divdivThis morning was another run on the treadmill at the Alaska Club and distance ski as the sun set at 3:30 pm. I think I am starting to get used to the ridiculous cold, it was -16 F and I felt fine as long as I kept moving. The skiing has been amazing other than the cold. Hard fast tracks and blue skies and big bright moon the other 18 hours of the day.divbr //divdivThe sprint has been rescheduled for tomorrow, but it won’t be a championship qualifier race. Either way my championships are done. It’s a bit of a letdown after finally getting a chance to race at home, but fortunately my season continues at the World Cup in Whistler next weekend. I knew coming into the season that it was going to be the first race that really counts toward qualifying for Worlds and it is also the first race towards Olympic qualifying./divdivbr //divdivThe next few day it’s time to get a few hard workouts in and jump in the UAA Invitational on Saturday for the mass start classic race with all the western college skiers before heading to Canada on Monday. It should be a good field and a good chance to get a mass start in before the World Cups. /div/divdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5871152313769582978-9055934067425465385?l=jamessoutham.blogspot.com’//div
