Canmore 15k

Today was a good race. I really had no idea where I would end up, I was hoping to finish around or ahead of where I was in 2005 here (31st) but after Nationals where I was in the 20's something much worse wouldn't have been a huge surprise. I was looking over the results from the 2005 race and I was very conservative out of the start so that was the plan today since this place can eat you up if you go out too hard. I managed that and by the top of the course I was within a few seconds of the leaders to that point and had almost caught the guy who had started in front of me without digging too deep. Coming into the second lap the first of the red group was starting. When you are lapping and a guy is starting just let him go and thenif the next starter catches up try to go with him. So that is what I did. I let one guy go but tried to keep him in sight once he settled in. About 3/4 of the way to the top of the course Kris Freeman came by on his first lap and so I pulled in behind him. After a few minutes the pace became just a bit too high and I had to let him go and try to regroup and get back to my own rhythm. It took a little while and really I didn't ever feel quite the same but I managed to get back in the rhythm behind Kuzzy who had a sweet race for himself before he pulled away in the last couple k's.

Internationally it was not a great race but considering I where I was a few weeks ago I am pretty fired up with it and am looking forward to the second half of the season.

30k

I went into yesterdays race pretty relaxed. No expectations but definitely some hopes and it was a little less than I hoped. It has been cold here and was a little warmer yesterday but still -15 C in the morning so I dressed how I usally do for cold but not too cold. Turns out the air temp to freezing shortly before the start and I was way overdressed. As I've mentioned before the hills here are big and the snow is abbrasive. We ended up waxing pretty warm whick means it isn't as durable also I made the mistake of not going on a stiffer ski which would keep the kick wax off the snow so it would last longer.

My plan was to ski more relaxed out of the start than I usually do in the mass starts and ski my way up. I managed but in the chaos that the first laps are I ended up missing the first 3 feeds. Still I was skiing around guys with bibs in the 20's and 30's by the second lap (I was #48). They my kick started to go. I could still kick up everything but not as effective and I should and I started to slip back from the pack.

Coming out of the exchange I was skiing with Lars Flora, Mikey Sinnot, and a Canadian or two and once the skate skis got on I started to feel good. Mikey got out quicker that the rest I and caught up to him and was lokking to keep going but then the warm clothes and the missed feeds caught up and I started to cramp up. Once that happens the only thing to do is ski within yourself and take all the feeds you can and hope you can come back around. After a while the cramping went away but there wasn't any pop left so I called it a day knowing that my skating is feeling much better and not wanting to put myself under for the 15k on Friday.

After the race coach Frode made my day saying I was looking like the old James out there. It's coming...

Canmore

It is the morning before the pursuit and it's -24 degrees C outside. Tomorrow is supposed to be about 10-15 degrees warmer and we don't race until 12:30 so it won't be too bad. So I've had few cups of coffee watched Sports Centre a few times before I go out to test skis and do some light intervals to warm the body up for tomorrow.

Myself and the crew from APU got to Canmore two days ago after a long long drive. It's usually about a 6 hour drive but we did it in about 8, thanks to some snow that slowed things way down. We were also stuck in traffic 40k from Canmore for an hour while they cleared the road after an accident. Long day.

Yesterday I just tested classic skis and skied easy for an hour which in Canmore means walking around the race trails. They are huge! Big, big climbs that are all skiable thanks to snow that is virtually bulletproof. I don't think natural snow could handle these courses since it would probably break down and get soft. Off to test...

A little video Jeff has been working on...

The end of Silver Star

So now I rest... The last week has been what I needed. 8 hard workouts that I finished it off yesterday with an long pursuit pace workout an easy little ski in the afternoon a hottub and a beer. That pretty much put me in a coma. With each workout I felt like I have been getting stronger. I knew that I would I just needed a chunk of time to get some training back in so I can get back to this...

Silver Star

Myself and the rest of the APU athletes going to the World Cup in Canmore next week plus our rehabing Canadian translator Jeff Ellis are doing alittle training camp here in Silver Star, BC (www.skisilverstar.com) This place is hard to beat. Our house is right on the ski trails and there is another set of trails a few minutes down the road at Sovereign Lake where the World Cup came back in 2005. Tons of snow, temps in the mid 20's and easy living... great place for a camp.

After US Nationals which were a total disappointment I have been getting in some hard training while we are here. I just wasn't feeling like myself out racing and decided I had rested enough and needed to get some quality training back in. So since we got here after a long but easy three days of traveling it has been nothing but intervals and I have been feeling stronger and stronger with each workout. So I've got a few more hard workouts in the next two day, and then I rest up for a couple days and see what happens. Excited about it and also curious to see how much better they will go...

Race morning

The first race of Nationals is coming up this afternoon so I'm killing some time in the hotel while the snow is blowing sideways outside... Yesterday they were calling for up to 10 inches of snow but we lucked out and got maybe 1 or 2.

So far the trip has been pretty smooth other than sleeping on Alaska time (4 hours earlier) until last night. I've had a few light pace workouts, one yesterday and the other Friday around the course just to get a feel for how it skis. Also I've been testing out skate skis with Frode which has been good but odd. I have some very good skis, but what is running the fastest always seems to be changing even though the weather until last night has been pretty stable and some grinds that you would not expect to be even close among the best. But with the new snow overnight and coming thru the day conditions will be totally different than anything we have seen this week. Which means that we get about twice as many skis ready for today than we usually do.

Annie is here and will be taking some pictures at the race so there should be some up later.