Nationals- a good ending to a great season

After Turkey I was in rough shape. I needed to recover fast but sometimes taking it easy can be the hardest part. With the most beautiful spring skiing conditions, all I could do was watch from the living room window sipping on tea and eating soup. With only a few days left to nationals I was finally starting to feel like myself again. I did my first intensity workout on Wednesday, three days before the first race. Here is a look at how the weather changed during the week.

 the week before nationals….

….during nationals

Just as expected the first race, the team sprint, came with the warmest temperatures of the year. 15 degrees and as you could imagine the skiing conditions were marginal. Skiing in ankle deep slush, I teamed up with John Parry to finish fourth on the day. Also from Yukon, Dave and Graham finished second and Colin and Ray finished sixth. Next year we’ll fill the podium.

hammering up the hill in the team sprint.

The classic race came with similar conditions; warm and wet. I felt great and pushed hard up all the hills in the sloppy tracks. My skis were not great but I think most other peoples were not great either. I crossed the line satisfied with my race but not ecstatic. I was surprised later on when I found out I had the fastest time! Also winning Gold medals for Yukon was Dahria and Fabian.

 here i am finishing off my classic race

The warm weather continued on to the 15km skate. I was having a great race, feeling light on my feet and hop-skating the up-hills. It was the downhill’s that really slowed me down. My skis were really bad this day. They almost seemed to stick like a suction cup to the wet snow. Not an issue of waxing, some skis are just slow in different conditions and these ones sucked today. What could have been a great race was still a good one as I finished in 4^th place, 3^rd Canadian.

in the skate race with my way-too-small leader bib

With a day to rest I was all prepped for the sprint race. Expecting the same sloppy snow conditions, I was surprised to be warming up on a rock solid track. The trail crew did a great job of salting the track overnight to firm things up. It was hard to stay on your feet in the icy conditions so I felt unbalanced and uncoordinated in my qualifier. The heats were better. I cruised through my quarterfinal in second place. In the semi I was holding on to second spot when I lost a pole on the last uphill. Someone had stepped on my basket just at the wrong time and my hand just slipped out. I thought of turning around to pick it up but with four more people charging up from behind I just free skated like mad with one pole all the way to the finish to squeak in to a “lucky loser” position. I would also like to thank my teammate Raph for snatching up my pole and trying to get it back to me in the race, in a way sacrificing his own position. By the final I was toasted and had to settle for 6^th place. I was happy to still be holding on to the leader bib at this point.

lunging in my semi final with only one pole

Finally the weather had taken a turn for the better and the course froze overnight. The conditions were fast and icy. For the mass start 30km the pace let out really slow. Sometimes when no one wants to be at the front the pack can stay together skiing easy until the finish where there’s a sprint, much like cycling. Nearing the end of the first lap we hit the icy downhill. Going about 60km an hour I got tangled up and skidded off the trail into some spectators. I scrambled to my feet amazed to find all my equipment intact. From 60 to zero in 2 seconds and I found myself at the very back of the pack. Soon after I fell the two Norwegians made a break off the front of the pack. This was what I was waiting for. Unfortunately there was a wall of 30 skiers between the Norwegians and myself. In no longer than five minutes I was back at the front of the pack but by that time the Norwegians were long gone. Nobody even tried to follow them. Much to my demise the pace slowed down again and we continued like this for almost the entire race. I felt so strong but I had to keep myself from making stupid decisions. Trying to make time on the Norwegians by myself on the second lap would not have been smart. I waited until the last kilometer or two before I started actually “racing”. The only one who could match me was Stefan Sander-Green with his unreal tempo in double pole. I was lucky to get him in the finishing stretch.

leading out a slow pace in the 30km

It was an interesting race. I was happy to win and become Junior Canadian Champion but also embarrassed that the Norwegians were so far ahead. I felt like letting them know we’re not always this slow in Canada.

It was great to rebound after a disappointing time in Europe. It has been a great season for me and although ski season may be over here in Quebec, Skiing is at its prime right now in the Yukon.

Once Dave and I can find the vehicle registration and insurance papers we will be departing on an epic journey back to the Yukon in the Kia Sedona. 6 thousand K past the Great Lakes, Prairies, and Rocky Mountains; the mother of all road trips. You can expect twitter updates along the way. We will also be looking for generous people to offer us their hospitality. The Sedona is great at cruising the highways but offers little comfort for sleeping and has limited food-making capabilities.

Quebec Update

I was relieved to finally be back in Canada after Turkey. However, unlike most athletes I was not home. David Greer and I are staying in Quebec for the two plus weeks between Turkey and the National Championships here in Quebec. This gives us a good opportunity to adjust to the conditions here and not to mention we saved some extra travel costs.

David and I are both staying at Mireille Belzile’s (Alex Harvey’s mom) house. For a skier in Quebec it couldn’t be in a better location. We can literally ski from right outside our front door. It’s a five-minute drive from MSA and a five-minute drive from the ski chalet.

Living here is very comfortable and easy. The fridge magically refills its self and for the most part dinner is waiting for us at 6:30 pm. Life is a breeze, but life is also boring, or at least right now it is. The past week has gone by very slowly. With nothing to do, not even cook dinner, I am ashamed to say that Dave and I have past the time by playing Age of Empires (currently level 18).

I don’t know what it is about flying over seas, but it seems for me, more often than not I get sick. When I was young I could chew a piece of gum off the sidewalk and I’d be healthy as ever, now I can’t even walk into an airport without getting sick. Long story short, I’m still sick. It has just been one sickness after another. Right now I’m on round two of sore throat.

On top of being sick for real, I can pretty much say for certain I’m home sick. Not home sick like most people for their mom’s cooking (although my mom is a good cook). And not home sick for my bed. I hear people say all the time “I miss my bed”. 90 percent of hotel beds are better than the one I sleep on at home, I can tell you that. I miss the mountains and fresh air. Nothing compares to Yukon. Turkey has mountains, but no trees and the air is toxic. Quebec is close with trees, and fresh air but there is only one mountain that you might as well call “Hill-Saint-Anne”.

I shouldn’t talk down Quebec right now though because the skiing lately has been amazing up until now (It rained all last night). But don’t worry National athletes; it would have to rain for a week straight to melt all the snow here. The last week has been spring skiing at its best. Beautiful. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to take full advantage of it, being sick and all.

I have been resting and resting. I am just desperate to get healthy by Nationals. As Excited as I am for Nationals, I am almost more excited to get the season over with and go home to the Yukon. It’s been way to long since I’ve been on a Yukon camping trip but plans are already in order!