Russia and U.S. Nationals
Hey everyone! Happy New Year! Sorry it’s been a while since my last post. We have been on a little bit of a break from World Cup racing since Russia, but have been very busy nonetheless.
Ski racing in Russia was an experience like no other. Even though we were in what looked to be a pretty small town, spectators from all over just poured in for the event. The fans, the music, the food, the Vodka… are all part of an unbelievable XC ski racing experience in Russia. Cross country is more of a mainstream sport over there and the country’s XC skiers are some of their national heroes, so the sound from the grand stands was earth-shattering.
Despite getting tangled up with some other skiers in my semifinal heat, Sunday’s sprint race was a great day for the U.S. Ski team. Because of the fall, I was unable to move onto the A Final but raced a solid B Final, winning the heat and picking up the 7th place spot. On the women’s side it was a historical day for the U.S. with Kikkan Randal bringing home the first ever U.S. world cup win for a female!! The whole team was SO fired up! You should have seen the coaches jumping up and down in the finish area. It was rad. And despite not having a Russian on the top of the podium, the local crowd was amazingly excited to see the U.S. there.
After an unbelievable weekend of racing in Rybinsk, Russia, the U.S. XC team and I traveled back home for a short Christmas Break. It was nice to come home to plenty of snow in the East and cold temps… something we don’t always have during this time of year in Vermont. Coming home and skiing on my local trails of southern Vermont is always a highlight of the winter.
The break was short-lived however, when on December 31, I had to hop on a plane and fly to Houghton, Michigan, for our U.S. Short Distance Nationals. What a way to ring in the New Year, huh? I think we reached 2008 somewhere during the 20 minute decent on the small 30-seat airplane we were flying on. By the time we landed, it was already 15 minutes into the New Year and already time to start thinking about the next race.
Houghton is a small town on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with not a whole lot to do but cross country ski, snowmobile, and talk about the Packers. But, wow, did they have a lot of snow. It pretty much dumped the first three days we were there, making it hard to even see where you were skiing. Luckily by the weekend Sprints, things had cleared up and we had a tough, hard-fought competition. The Sprint this year was freestyle and I was stoked to bring home my second U.S. national title and repeat the victory from last year. There was some tough competition not only from the other members of the U.S. Sprint team, but also from some fast foreigners as well. The following day (Sunday) was the classic technique Sprint Relay event where my teammate, Torin Koos, and I were able to outsprint the Factory Team for the win. We had been edged out in this event before so I made sure to just put my head down and hammer the final stretch.
I made my way home from Michigan yesterday…. Only having to take THREE different flights! And now I’m back home in Vermont for another short week of training. The World Cup tour will resume in Canmore, Canada, in two weeks time. These are some very important races for us not only because they are in North America, but also because there are two separate sprint races in four days. So there are a lot valuable World Cup points to pick up. Check back to see how I’ll be preparing and training for those races!