December first marked the start of the race calendar this
year but I was heading out a week early. Changes in environment, particularly
altitude can take a while to adjust to. I hopped on Air North, bags tipping the
scales at just overweight enough not to get charged. I arrived in Calgary with
my four teammates and some thirty or forty skis between us. Renting a car when
you’re under twenty-five isn’t simple. It usually involves a hefty under age
fee. Other times it involves cool Dave sweet-talking the rental agent. Just
like we smoothed things over with that friendly lady at the Air North counter.
After the rental van was stuffed with five dudes, five ski bags, five duffel
bags, and four hundred dollars of Costco groceries, we hit the road to Canmore,
Alberta.
The trails in Canmore were designed for the 88 Olympics and
are extremely hard. The races last weekend (Dec. 1, 2) were also used to
qualify athletes for the Canadian World Cups this December.
The first race was a skate sprint. A short course and fast
conditions made for fast times. The race ended up being just over two and a
half minutes. I had an OK qualifier and finished as fifteenth open man. My
quarterfinal was very close. Everyone finished the two and a half minute race
within one second. I finished fifth. I was a little disappointed because with
everyone finishing so close, it could have been anyone’s race. Because a few
athletes decided not to take their spot in the World Cup I actually got offered
a spot in Quebec. This was a nice surprise but I decided that spending two
grand to fly to Quebec to do a three-minute race and get my ass kicked is not
worth it. I’ll focus on World U23s.
start of my quarterfinal
finish of my quarterfinal
Sunday was the 15km Classic. I almost always do well in this
discipline, but this time the Canmore hills got the best of me. I started out
at a good pace, maybe a little too good. But in order to glide up the hills and
not run you’ve got to go pretty hard. I was getting sixth place splits and
caught the guy who started thirty seconds ahead of me. I lasted to about kilometer
twelve of the fifteen-kilometer race. Then I hit the wall and I hit it hard. All
of a sudden I couldn’t kick my skis, my muscles were chalked full of lactic
acid, and I was gasping for air. I knew if I could just hang on for another
couple minutes I would have a start on the World Cup. I flopped down on the
finish line and had to be dragged into the first aid room. My throbbing
headache finally went away and after sipping on apple juice I could finally
stand up. I don’t think I’ve ever been that out of it after a race.
I ended up losing nearly a minute in those last couple
kilometers and went from sixth to thirteenth, missing out on a world cup spot
by fifteen seconds. I know I’m faster than how I raced that day but I was
feeling great for most of the race and I even when I was “hitting the wall” I
gave it all I had so I’m happy. I’m also happy for my teammate David Greer who
will be representing our team in the Canmore World Cup.
This past week I’ve been enjoying perfect skiing conditions
in Silver Star. The next races won’t qualify me for a world cup but I’ll be
racing against the guys that are qualified and this time I’ll be sure to avoid
hitting the wall.
