A Tour de Ski

In Europe, a ski event called the Tour de Ski is held annually. It was modeled after the Tour de France cycling event, and it has 6 to 9 stages, or ski races. This year has been historical for the US, with 2 American women, Sophie Caldwell and Jessie Diggins winning stages in a competition field that is normally dominated by the Scandinavians (or mainly the Norwegians). One of the challenging aspects of the Tour is the number of races condensed into a small amount of time. This year, the athletes are racing in 8 races in 10 days, in 4 different venues across 3 different countries.
Senior Nationals


I apologize for not getting a blog up earlier, as promised, but after my dad left Houghton, on Monday, I moved in the EU guys that were up there, and I didn't have anymore wifi.
Racing in Michigan

For me, I did a little Tour de Ski myself, racing in 5 races in 6 days in 2 venues in 2 states! I competed in the classic distance race, skate sprint, and skate mass start in Houghton, Michigan for Senior Nationals. I had high expectations for Senior Nationals, and I definitely didn't meet them. I was pretty bummed, but I can appreciate the poor performances because it makes me reflect on them, and I'm learning what I need to work on to become a better all-around skier and racer. I was also extremely lucky to be surrounded by supportive teammates, friends and coaches throughout the week.
Fooling around with the guys during the Sprint heats (far right)
We drove home from Houghton Thursday night (and got home very very early Friday morning) and after one day back in the Twin Cities, Highland raced in the Loppet Invite yesterday (Saturday)! I was really excited for this invite because it's one of the most competitive Minnesota high school Invites, and Highland had potential to do well as a team.
Lili, Jake, Me, and Maria in the cold on Saturday

The Loppet Invite was made up of 2 races, first a classic mass start and second a skate pursuit. The pursuit start order was the finish order from the classic race, so if one person beat another by 5 seconds, they would start 5 seconds in front of them for the skate race.
Start of Classic Race
The classic race went well for me. It was a short course and a lo
t of girls racing, so as soon as the gun went off, I tried to go out fast to stay out of the way of any crashes. I succeeded and lead the whole race, winning by 33 seconds. In the second race, I had the fastest skate time by 12 seconds so I ended up winning the whole Invite by 45 seconds, which was very nice after having rough races at Senior Nationals.
Finally had a good race :)

After the Tour de Ski, the athletes get a 2 week break before any other big races come up on the schedule. For me, I get to race again on Tuesday (if it isn't canceled from the cold) and I have some Midwest JNQs next weekend in Wausau, Wisconsin!
Celebrating good races! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sprint Course Preview

Image
This morning after a beautiful morning run, we previewed the sprint course! I tested skis, tried out the downhill turns and made sure I drank a lot of water! Sun Rising Over Donner Lake The course is very short. We skied a bit later than yesterday, and it was a little warmer, but the track upheld well, despite the amount of people on it. The course was still very icy, but the race directors had put a bit of fresh snow on top of the glazed tracks. This easily was pushed away and off to the side, but added a bit of traction on some of the hills. The stadium is the same as the distance races and you go down the first big hill, but instead of turning left, you turn right. Then you do a 'S' turn which today, in training almost all the skiers snowplowed and because the U16 girls go very last tomorrow, I'm curious what kind of condition it will be in. Me and my roommate Olivia walking along the beach! After the sketchy downhill, there is a sharp left turn that turns away
Read more

2nd Race- 5k Individual Start

Image
I  believe you can always find something good in a disappointing race.  Today was a very challenging race, and several factors played into this. As much as I do not like to admit this to myself, the Auburn Ski Club is just below 8 thousand feet, and compared to the Twin Cities's 700 feet, it's been a bit of a challenge getting into top notch form. Not impossible, but a challenge. The weather has also played a part. Monday's long hot day really drained me and I believe that played a part in the toughness of today. Also today's weather made a difficult race day. After raining most of the night, and after suffering the hot sun all week, the trail was pretty worn down, and after the U16 boys went through it was pretty slushy. The Midwest wax techs were up to the venue before 5:00 trying to work with the dirty slushy snow we have, and the Midwest athletes owe them so much for the hard work they have put in all week making sure we have the fastest skis out on the cours
Read more

Mental Health

Image
I have talked before on my blog about physical injuries. But something that is a little harder for me to talk about is how those physical injuries affected my mental state. I first started writing this piece in the Fall of 2017, but it's only been recently that I've opened up to my friends and family about what I have really gone through after my shoulder injury and surgery. I had always considered myself a positive person, and so when things starting to change for me in my head, I hid it, because I wanted to been seen as strong and tough. I was so lucky to find such a supportive team to ski competitively for I've been working on prioritizing health as a whole: both mental and physical. But despite all the hard work I put into myself, I still feel the effects of my struggles with mental health almost every single day. Four years ago, I never would've seen myself going through struggled with mental health, but I had a life-changing event, and I am a completely d
Read more