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| Looking towards the stadium from the ski depot in Canmore |
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| The mountains were beautiful even when it was cloudy |
The altitude on top of four races and considerable travel time left me feeling pretty exhausted. The classic sprint went well, but I really struggled during the 15k skiathlon. There were a few moments when I got incredibly light-headed during the classic portion, but fortunately felt much better skating which gave me confidence going into the 10k individual skate race.
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| Skiing the classic section of the skiathlon (photo: Angus Cockney) |
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| Waiting for the train to pass on my way to get a muffin in town. Canmore has lots of good muffins and I consumed at least one per day. |
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| Jennie and me in some of our NNF gear. I'm very grateful to the National Nordic Foundation for helping support me financially during the Tour. (photo: |
The 10k skate race went quite well for me and it was the first full 5k loop I've raced on since Nationals in Houghton! We've had so little snow this year that short hamster wheel courses have become the norm... I was caught by Hannah Falk of Sweden 5k into the race (she started 30 seconds behind me), but was able to ski with her for most of my second lap which was a lot of fun. The final race of the Tour was a 10k classic pursuit. Only the top-10 women were in the pursuit start while the remaining skiers were in a wave 6:30 back from the leader, Heidi Weng. The time deficit, combined with the fact that we were skiing on a 3.3k loop, left me pretty worried about getting lapped and therefore eliminated from the race. Thus, I started pretty hard and pretended I was doing a 6.6k race, which was the distance I had to cover without getting lapped by the leader. This strategy led to some highs and lows during the race. I was happy with my speedy start and ability to move up through the pack. However, I blew up pretty hard on my second lap and actually walked up one of the hills... I was following a Canadian skier who was also walking up the side of the trail and I kept telling myself I could walk as fast as her if I just kept putting one foot in front of the other... Fortunately, I was able to recover a bit by my third lap and finish strong. Going into the Tour I really wasn't confident I would make it to the end so I was incredibly happy, and relieved, to cross the finish line and complete the final stage.
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| The final race of the Tour - a 10k classic pursuit (photo: Angus Cockney) |
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| Lots and lots of spectators lining the course! Although I didn't recognize as many faces in the crowd as I had back east, the cheering was just as enthusiastic and I heard people chanting my name as I skied by. |
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| We stayed up at the venue after our last race to cheer on the guys. Here's Tad Elliot lapping through the stadium during the men's 15k pursuit |
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| Sergey Ustiugov heading into the finish |
Following the conclusion of the Tour, I headed back home to Craftsbury for SuperTour Finals.
SuperTour finals is always a fun, but very competitive, week of racing. With the U.S. ski team in contention, it is the highest level of domestic competition we see all year. The week kicked off with a 10k individual skate race in which I felt much better than anticipated. The following day was the classic sprint and all six GRP women made the heats! Liz, Caitlin, and I went on to the semifinals, and Ida made it all the way to the final where she placed second!
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| Some interesting weather back in Craftsbury |
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| The stadium prior to the addition of lots of manmade snow |
The groomers, as well as some of my teammates, did an impressive job farming snow and we were able to race on a hilly and challenging 3.5k loop composed entirely of manmade snow. The weather cooperated, freezing overnight, and the many hard-working volunteers made the whole event run incredibly smoothly. It was really fun to end my season racing at home with friends and family lining the course!
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Prior to the races, we hosted a Fast and Female event. There
were over 80 girls in attendance and it was awesome to have
so many women from other elite teams help
out as ambassadors!
(photo: Reese Brown)
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| Jennie Bender and I headed up the obstacle course station. Here's one participant doing the limbo in an awesome pink suit! (photo: Caitlin Patterson) |
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| It was great to see so many Craftsbury junior and BKL skiers at the event! (photo: Caitlin Patterson) |
SuperTour finals is always a fun, but very competitive, week of racing. With the U.S. ski team in contention, it is the highest level of domestic competition we see all year. The week kicked off with a 10k individual skate race in which I felt much better than anticipated. The following day was the classic sprint and all six GRP women made the heats! Liz, Caitlin, and I went on to the semifinals, and Ida made it all the way to the final where she placed second!
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| Racing my semifinal with Ida and Caitlin. I ended the day in 8th overall. (photo: John Lazenby) |
After a day off, racing continued with the mixed relay. With all the GRP men at Biathlon Nationals, the GRP women formed relay teams with other clubs. Caitlin and Ida (along with Vail skiers Tad and Noah) placed second overall and Hallie and Liz (along with two Colorado University skiers) placed fourth! I had a ton of fun skiing on a Bowdoin relay team with my sister and two of her teammates.
For the final race, the women really lucked out as we got to start first while the tracks were still fairly hard and fast... The snow did soften up considerably throughout the 30k (9-lap) race, especially when the sun came out, but our skis worked incredibly well the whole time thanks to Nick, Pepa, Jake, and Anna. Classic distance racing is definitely my favorite so the 30k was a lot of fun for me. I skied with the chase pack until part-way through my seventh lap when I lost contact due to a small tumble and finished the race on my own. I was quite happy to place 5th and overall is was a fantastic final race of the season for the GRP with Ida placing second and Caitlin third!
Here's a great video that Everett Sapp put together from the race (I'm bib 207).
It's been a fun season with results and experiences I didn't think possible at the start of the year. I'm very grateful to my fun and supportive teammates as well as to Pepa and Nick for their dedication to the team and for all their hard work on our behalf. Also, a huge thanks to Ollie Burruss, Anna Schulz, Ruth McGovern, and Jake Barton for helping test and wax this winter!
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| The whole Bowdoin crew, minus Spencer who was napping. It was great to see everyone and catch up! (photo: Deb Miller) |
For the final race, the women really lucked out as we got to start first while the tracks were still fairly hard and fast... The snow did soften up considerably throughout the 30k (9-lap) race, especially when the sun came out, but our skis worked incredibly well the whole time thanks to Nick, Pepa, Jake, and Anna. Classic distance racing is definitely my favorite so the 30k was a lot of fun for me. I skied with the chase pack until part-way through my seventh lap when I lost contact due to a small tumble and finished the race on my own. I was quite happy to place 5th and overall is was a fantastic final race of the season for the GRP with Ida placing second and Caitlin third!
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| Starting the 30k (photo: Reese Brown) |
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| Lots of green suits in the chase pack! (photo: Deb Miller) |
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| Skiing with Ida and Caitlin was a lot of fun (photo: Deb Miller) |
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| Apparently we still had some energy left at the finish! (photo: Deb Miller) |
Here's a great video that Everett Sapp put together from the race (I'm bib 207).
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| Cheering for the guys with some Bowdoin friends (photo: Deb Miller) |
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| The GRP crew (photo: Deb Miller) |
Now it's time for some rest, recovery, and off-season adventuring! Thanks for following!
