Tough Competition in Canmore
The World Cup field was as strong as ever for last week’s races in Canmore, Alberta, Canada. The two sprint races were action packed, and to say the least, with lots of tactics involved and some close finishes.
Wednesday’s classic sprint was a tricky race for the U.S. team. Although the waxing conditions were pretty easy and stable for a classic race, things are never that simple on sprint day. The course had two mellow up hills and the snow was running pretty fast in the track, so rumors of skiers double-poling on skate skis were buzzing everywhere. During circumstances like that, there tends to be a weird tension around the course during warm up. Everyone is looking around at each other’s skis and boots trying to get an idea of who will be striding and who will be just using their arms.
In the end, it turned out to be a good day to be double poling on skate skis. The last 400-meters of the course consisted of a long gradual down hill into a long straightaway finish so the skate skis were gliding a lot faster in the track. Unfortunately I decided to stick with the kick wax on my skis and it turned out to be a poor call and I ended up 17th on the day.
My frustration didn’t subside after the skate race either. I was really fired up going into Saturdays skate sprint because I knew it could be a good course for me because it was so quick and fast. I felt great in the qualification, posting the second fastest time, but when it came to the heats I made another tactical error by letting myself get boxed out heading into the finish lanes. I was skiing in 4th position heading into the final straightaway and there was a split second when I needed to make a decision to pass. I chose to make a risky move and shoot past someone on the inside lane and the other skier squeezed me right into the fence. I don’t blame him because I would have done the same thing, blocking well is a big part of cross country sprint racing. Looking back on it, there’s no denying that it was a bad call on my part.
So the Canmore races ended up not going my way. Finishing well in these races was a big goal for me this season, so I’m very disappointed that both days I made some tactical errors. With four more World Cup sprints to go this year, I’m going to try to focus on tuning up my fitness and trying to make it into as many finals as possible. World Cup sprint competition is so tight this year that one podium finish can really make or break the season.
Tomorrow we’re heading out of Canmore on a 4:30 a.m. shuttle (ouch!!) to go to the Calgary airport and fly to Sweden. From Sweden we’ll take another small flight to Tallinn, Estonia. From there it’s a short drive to Oteppaa, where the next sprint World Cup will take place.