What's Next?

Early season racing is over, U.S. Nationals is complete and I am back in Ketchum figuring out the rest of the year's racing schedule. Some of you might be wondering, "what about the Olympics?" For those of you who might not know about the Olympic selection process, I will briefly try to bring you up to speed.

The U.S. Olympic Team is significantly smaller this year than in previous years. This is a result of the change in criteria and the selection process, which was put into effect this past summer. Country's such as Norway, Germany, Italy, etc., who have an overall better FIS ranking, are allotted up to 20 spots. However, if they choose to take fewer athletes, the "left over" spots get passed down to the next ranked country. Long story short, the U.S. Team was initially granted 8 spots, 4 men and 4 women. Since then, a few spots have opened up and now the U.S. has an additional 3 spots, totaling 11 athletes.

I have had a good season with some strong results, consistently placing in the top-10 nationally, but unfortunately I am on the edge and with so few spots available I probably won't make the team. (I say probably, because there is still a chance that more spots will open up). While this is disappointing, I am satisfied with the hard-work and improvements I have made throughout the season. I qualified to represent the U.S. at the World Cup races in Canmore, Alberta. I leave on Tuesday and will compete in the 10k skate on Friday, February 5th and hopefully the classic sprint on Saturday, February 6th. These races will be a great opportunity to race against the best in the world and yes, most of them, if not all, will be racing in the Olympics. So for me, I am going into these races, thinking they ARE the Olympics, at least they will be for me!

I have spent the last two weeks trying to figure out what my racing plan will be for the rest of the season. After a lot of thought and figuring what will be best for me and for improving as an athlete, my travel and racing plans look like this:

February 2nd-7th: Canmore World Cup - 10k skate, classic sprint
February 9th-14th: Aspen Super Tour- 5k classic, 21k skate
February 15-20th: Training block in Sun Valley
February 21-26th: Olympics in Whistler- spectate and train
February 27-March 16th: OPA cup trip in Europe- La Feclaz, France and Rogla, Slovenia
March 17th-28th: Fort Kent, Maine -U.S. Long Distance Nationals

Whoa! Quite the plan... I am very excited for the rest of the season! I am very fortunate to be able to race in Europe. It will be a great opportunity for me to race against some very fast and accomplished skiers and also to improve my points. It will be a great experience!

Me, leading the way in early season Canmore sprints

I will do my best to keep you posted as I travel and let you know how the racing goes!
Thanks to all of those who support me! I couldn't do it without your help!

Onwards and upwards!

Three in One

This past weekend I discovered what it felt like to do three jobs as one person! I was my own coach, my own wax tech, and a racer. I'm glad it's not that way very often because let me tell you, it is stressful! Whoa!

I went to the Methow Valley where I raced a sprint race on Saturday and a 10k on Sunday. The weather was not the most cooperative as it was warm, rainy, and slushy. The volunteers did a great jog of shoveling snow onto the sprint course, trying to preserve the snow. We lucked out with a surprisingly sunny day on Saturday, making the sprint course icy in the morning and softening up in the afternoon.

Sunday however, was not so sunny. The race was moved to a venue 2000 feet higher, where the snow was more abundant. When I arrived at the venue, it was misting rain. My first reaction was "oh no, this is going to be really tricky waxing!" After talking to some people about waxes, I decided to race on my zeros. Zeros are skis that do not require wax, instead the kick zone is roughed up with sand paper to create kick and suction when the conditions are wet and warm. Surprisingly enough, they worked decently. There were a few slips here and there, but I did not want to risk going on skis with wax that could ice up or not kick. So off I went, on my zeros! I skied knowing that it was a tough day for everyone and the people who were going to ski well were going to be the ones who did not let negative thoughts get to their head. So that is the path I decided to take. I was happy to end up 3rd, especially with the tough conditions. In the Arena alumni athletes Caitlin Compton and Laura Valaas stood on the podium as well. On the men's side, In the Arena athlete's Torin Koos and Brian Gregg took 1st and 2nd. A good day for ITA athletes!

ITA athlete's Laura Valaas, Caitlin Compton, & Nicole De Yong dominate the podium

I am currently back in Kethcum, where I am laying low as I am trying to get rid of a cold I acquired along the way. Once I am feeling better, I will put in some good training before I head to Canmore for the World Cups the beginning of February.

Day Four!

The forth day of U.S. Nationals concluded yesterday with the classic sprint. We couldn't have asked for better conditions than what we had...23 degrees and sunny! Prelims started at 10am and the rounds followed at 12:30pm.

I didn't feel very quick and snappy in my prelim, I qualified 15th. I was hoping to feel quicker in my quarterfinal but I unfortunately got out sprinted in the last 100 meters and failed to qualify for the semis. This very disappointingly put me out of the rounds for the rest of the day, not what I was hoping for.


All in all, my results at U.S. Nationals were satisfactory. I was hoping to put together an extraordinary performance, but it just didn't happen. It is a bit frustrating to feel like I have the capability to do better but at the same time I know I tried my best and skied my hardest.

I am excited to say that I was named to the U.S. Nations Group Team for the Canmore World Cups taking place February 5th & 6th. These World Cups will be highly competitive as nations participating in the Olympics will race there to get ready for the Olympics. The U.S. Olympic Team has not been officially named. As of now, the U.S. has a total of 4 men's spots and 4 women's spots. There is a possibility that additional spots will be given to the U.S., but that will not be announced until January 19th.

I am headed to the Super Tour races in the Methow Valley on Thursday and then headed back to Kethcum in a week.

Day Three!

Well, the best way to describe today's 20k classic race is, TOUGH! The forecast for today called for temperatures anywhere between 26-32 degrees and a 50 percent chance of snow/rain, possibly starting in the morning or maybe holding off until the afternoon. For those of you who don't know as much about the technical side of skiing, well these conditions are probably the toughest for waxing! The options are endless...is it zero skis, harries, stiffer skis, softer skis, klister cover, hard wax, etc. As you can imagine, this makes for a little bit more stressful morning choosing skis.

When I woke up this morning I checked the temperature, 27 degrees. I looked outside, falling snow. "Hhmmm" I thought to myself. As I drove to the race venue, the snow was beginning to fall harder and it was starting to accumulate. I walked into the waxing trailer where the coaches were busily testing everything! I managed to get a good warm-up in, although I forgot that the first 2.5k of the course doesn't have lights. It was dark and I kept my eyes open for moose meandering the trails. Fifteen minutes before the start, I frantically went looking for my coach and my race skis. I tested them with only a few minutes to spare and they were slipping. My coach applied another layer of wax, but with only five minutes remaining until the start, I did not have time to test them again. I ran to the start, went through ski check and found my starting lane amid 9 lanes and over 70 starting positions. Everyone was silent and still with 30 seconds to go. "Bang!" the gun went off. I had a strong double pole start, positioning myself near the front. As soon as the pack of women hit the hills, I began to slip! I focused on setting my foot and wax pocket...but I just kept slipping. I immediately dropped back to somewhere around 20th place in the first 2k.

The pack of women 1k from the start
Photo by Bill Roth of ADN.com

I completed my first 7k lap and I was discouraged. I was expending a lot of energy trying to set my wax. I passed my coach and asked if dropping out might be a good option, in order to save some energy for Friday's classic sprint. I did not get a quick enough answer, so I kept racing. Back out onto the tough 5k loop with lots of big hills I went! I slowly caught and passed the girl in front of me. Half way through the second lap, my skis were beginning to kick better and i was able to push a little harder. I caught up to a pack of four girls in front of me. I hung on their tails for about 2k before making my move and passing them. With 6k to go, I skied as hard as I could! I managed to work my way up to 11th and was gaining on the girls in front of me. Had we skied another lap, I probably could have caught them.

Liz Stephen leading the train of women.
Photo by Bill Roth of ADN.com

Today was a tough race but there is always something to learn and today I learned not to give up! A lot can happen in a 20k race and fortunately my race got better and better as I went. Tomorrow is a rest day and U.S. Nationals will conclude on Friday with the classic sprint.
All for now!

Click HERE for results

9th place-10k Freestyle Race
Photo by James Brady

Day Two

Day two of U.S. Nationals concluded today with a 10/15k freestyle race. Conditions were decent and temperatures remained in the 20's. The course was technically tough with long grinding uphills and some quick turns.

My effort today was good enough to put me in the top-10. I felt like I skied strong and consistent the entire way. I learned some good things from this race and I am ready to get after it in the 20k classic race on Wednesday.



Results:

Men:
1) Kris Freeman, U.S. Ski Team, 37:17.6;
2) Tad Elliott, CXC Team Vertical, 37:42.1;
3) James Southam, APU, 38:15.2;
4) Matt Liebsch, CXC Team Vertical, 38:21.1;
5) Noah Hoffman, U.S. Ski Team, 38:37.7;
6) Lars Flora, APU, 38:52.1;
7) Leif Zimmerman, Bridger Ski Foundation, 38:55.2;
8) Chris Cook, Steinbock Racing, 39:04.0;
9) Brian Gregg, CXC Team Vertical, 39:06.5;
10) Simi Hamilton, Sun Valley, 39:22.3

Women:
1) Kikkan Randall, U.S. Ski Team, 28:40.1;
2) Caitlin Compton, Go! Training, 28:50.5;
3) Liz Stephen, U.S. Ski Team, 29:03.7;
4) Morgan Arritola, U.S. Ski Team, 29:26.9;
5) Ekaterina Vinogradova, Auburn Ski Club, 29:31.7;
6) Rebecca Dussault, CXC Vertical Limit, 29:37.9;
7) Holly Brooks, APU, 29:57.9;
8) Beth Reid, Auburn Ski Club, 30:14.5;
9) Nicole DeYong, Sun Valley, 30:32.8;
10) Tazlina Mannix, U.S. Ski Team, 30:44.8;

Complete Results:

Click HERE!

Day One of U.S. Nationals

On a cold morning out at Kincaid Park, in Anchorage Alaska, more than 300 racers blazed off the starting line to kick off the first day of the U.S. Nationals Cross-Country Ski Championships. For many, warming up in the dark and racing with the moon setting on one side and the sun rising on the other was a new experience...and for those of us from Alaska, well we thought nothing of it. With temperatures barely above zero degrees, everyone was excited to race and begin a tough week of racing!

Photo by Marc Lester

Photo by Marc Lester

I had a decent qualifier, placing 9th, but failed to ski aggressive enough in the quarterfinal to make it into the semis. While I was disappointed with my result, I am ready to charge in to Monday's 10k freestyle race.

Photo by Marc Lester

A big congratulations to Simi Hamilton, my fellow Sun Valley ODT teammate, who won the men's sprint race! Simi won the qualifier and continued to ski strong all day!

Simi Hamilton, racing his way to a National Championship!
Photo by Rob Whitney

The rest of the week looks like this:

Sunday: Rest/training day
Monday: 10/15k freestyle race
Tuesday: Rest/training day
Wednesday: 20/30k classic race
Thursday: Rest/training day
Friday: Classic sprint race

You can find up to date results at: www.summittiming.com

I will also update my blog as the week progresses!