The First Weekend of Racing

Our season kicked off this past weekend with a classic prologue, a 10k/15k skate, and a 5k/10k classic. Almost all of the top Canadians and Americans were present and the competition was fierce since there are a lot of athletes vying for a coveted Olympic berth. Mike Hinkley (APU Nordic Ski Center, #166) and Sylvan Ellefson (Vail Ski Team, #165) flying up a hill towards the finish of the classic race. It was inspiring getting to watch the guys put the hammer down after our race-- especially after knowing how much dedication at focused training it takes to ski that fast.

As a whole our team had a very impressive start to the season. We had numerous top 10 Supertour finishes, and Holly Brooks even turned in a jaw dropping WIN in the skate race!! Kikkan Randall, who has her Olympic berth clenched kicked her season off by posting her best world cup distance race ever. It's encouraging to see my teammates perform so well, especially after we have been doing so many of the same things and challenging each other on a daily basis.

Personally, I did not have the start to the season that I was hoping for, especially after making so many improvements in training this past training year. But sometimes I can learn the most from disappointing races and I know I have put in the training so my time to shine will come. Ronski in the 5k classic race on Saturday. Even though there is a list of things I plan to improve upon in the upcoming races, there were also moments where I skied very well and felt awesome. Thanks to Doug Edgerton for taking the outstanding photos and for creating the fantastically groomed ski trails! We met Doug outside the local grocery store. Holly Brooks, Becca Rorabaugh, Laura Valaas, Katie Ronsse (photo credit: Kevin Sweeny of Swix). I am lucky to get to spend my time with such an incredible ladies team.