Scando Racing
The Scandonavian cups sprints were the perfect lead into the World Cups in Lahti. The level of competition is a step up from NorAm racing, but a step down from World Cup. This meant that the Canadian crew got to mix it up in the sprint heats with athletes who were in the top 10 a little over a week late in the world cup. My race day started a bit slow as I chose to double the qualifier on a course that was borderline. In the heats I felt quite strong and just missed having enough grip on the final climb and ended 3rd in my heat and just out of advancing to the semi final. I finished 15th. Unfortunately I woke up with a sniffle on the morning of the second Scando sprint and sat on the sideline to ensure I would not compromise my chances of having a strong result in the Lahti World Cup 10 days later. After a few days I was back to preparing for the Lahti World cups.
The goal heading into Lahti was to crack the top 30 in the qualifier, which gets you into the heats. All week we were preparing on soft sloppy snow and I heading into the sprint thinking it would definitely be sloppy conditions which are not my strength. I think the entire team was thrown off because they shut the course to preserve it from breaking down, and then they salted it. So we got on the course expecting soft snow and were met with bullet proof ice. I was happy with my race, but I could definitely see the 3 seconds I needed to qualify and where I lost them on the course.
Post qualifier cool down with Cendrine and Dahria.
I think a major theme of my season has been to live in the moment in the race because you can’t prepare for every possibility. Just heading into each race not knowing what to expect but being excited to test my fitness and speed in the race. In the past I tend to enter races expecting certain things to happen, instead of entering it with a mindset of responding to how the race unfolds, and then when the unexpected happens, I have been caught off guard. But I feel like I am now physically fit enough to race hard and not need to plan each attack ahead of time. You can bring this into the everyday. You can prepare for every possibility but often times what you least expect will happen. Often it is best to master whatever skills it is you need to accomplish a task and then just head into a challenge not with a preconceived plan but with an attitude to meet the challenge with your skills mastered and ready to fight.
It is both frustrating and motivating at the same time to look back on a qualifier and figure out for the next time how to reel in those extra seconds, knowing that the next time won’t be for another year. This year has allowed me to finally attain the fitness I need to be at the next level. And so, I will head into the next season with skill sets that have taken me years to build and with a mindset ready to fight in each race.
I would like to add a special thanks to WoodPecker European Timber Framing, who came on board to support my efforts to preform on the world cup this year. This company is Bow Valley based and uses materials technology from Germany to build super efficient houses all over Canada. Check out some of their work at http://www.europeantimberframing.com
