The Wild West

We've spent a considerable portion of our race season out west this year and it has been quite exciting, to say the least. I was anticipating lots of sunny weather, but instead we got almost everything except sun. Needless to say, the weather was wild. We began our western adventure in Park City Utah where Liz, her mom Julie, and her mom's boyfriend Dave graciously hosted us low-altitude residents for a pre-Nationals camp. We were lucky enough to soak in some rays while staying at chez-Guiney and it was great to have Liz show us all the awesome Park City ski trails.

Beautiful skiing at White Pine Touring
(photo: Liz)

All dressed up for the Eve-Before-the-Eve
party up in Deer Valley
(photo: Julie Guiney)

After our pre-Nationals camp, we moved to a rental house in Heber and met up with Nick, Pepa, and Jake. We were also joined by Anna, Ollie, and a small crew of Craftsbury junior skiers.

It was awesome to have Craftsbury junior skiers Callie,
Phoebe, and Alex join us for their first Nationals experience!
(photo: Anna Schulz)

So happy that my mom could make it out to Utah!

The Nationals race week kicked off with a 10k skate. I have to admit, a 10k skate at altitude is not my favorite race... However, I headed to the start line with a pacing plan and some technique goals in mind, and I felt like I skied the race to the best of my ability which is always satisfying. I was super happy for Caitlin who skied her way onto the podium in third!

Midway through the 10k skate
(photo: The Mama)

The day after the 10k was the classic sprint which was the race I was most excited for. I had to be careful not to put too much pressure on myself and to just focus on what I could control and not on what I couldn't. The weather was incredibly unpleasant which was unfortunate, but also not something to dwell on. It was sleeting/snowing during the qualifier and then it had switched over to rain during the heats. Some really lovely east coast-style weather! I definitely had a hard time staying warm, but I kept switching mittens and thanks to some sweet rain pants, courtesy of Liz's mom, I didn't turn into a popsicle. The abysmal weather also made the waxing situation rather complex, but as always, Nick, Jake, Ollie, Anna, and Pepa did an amazing job with our skis. I definitely couldn't have gotten the result I did without all of them behind me. I felt really good in the qualifier and ended up winning. I was able to move on from my quarter and semi and ended up in the final where I placed third. Congrats to Jennie Bender for winning the race and to Becca Rorabaugh for placing second! It was awesome to race against such a strong group of women.

Classic sprint qualifier (photo: Toko US)

Classic sprint podium!
(photo: Fasterskier)

Lots of hydrating in doping control!

After one off day it was time for the 20k classic mass start. Once again the weather was anything but normal... The biggest decision of the day, for me, was whether to race on klister or zeros. My zeros were working well in testing, but not quite as well as my klister skis. However, the threat of fresh snow mid-race tipped my decision towards zeros. Unfortunately that turned out to be the wrong decision as the snow held off and on-course my zeros had very little kick. I blame no one but myself for the decision, and it was definitely a learning experience. I had been working on shifting my weight back in classic skiing in order to get better kick and this race provided me with the perfect opportunity to put that technique change into practice. The also provided me with a great opportunity to work on my herringbone... I was pleased to spend most of the race slowly moving up within the pack. I felt good and skied well, and came away with an 8th place finish. I was very happy for Caitlin who had another strong race placing third. The true highlight of the day though was Ben skiing to his first National title in the men's 30k! Ben is an incredibly hard worker and a dedicated athlete and it's really inspiring to see his hard work pay off. He's now headed to Finland for World Champs! 

Mass start classic (photo: The Mama)

Liz (#2) on the left, Caitlin (#1) in the middle,
and me (#5) on the right
(photo: The Mama)

Climbing out of the stadium
(photo: The Mama)

Nationals concluded with a skate sprint qualifier which, to be honest, was somehow the hardest race of the week for me. My legs flooded about a minute in and I was tasting blood in my mouth. I also reverted to some old, frantic technique which wasn't incredibly efficient... However, the race was over before I knew it and then it was off to California!

I picked up a watercolor journal this fall to get myself back 
into painting. I have a small set of watercolor paints that 
I travel with and when I'm not too busy, I've been 
doing a little bit of painting. Here are some colorful carrots.

And some abstract leaves

Appreciating some geology-from-above
during our flight to Reno

When we first arrived in California, we were treated to a few beautifully sunny days before snowpocalypse descended upon us. The skiing was incredible and we couldn't get enough of it!

Skiing up to the viewpoint at Tahoe XC after our 
interval session
(photo: Ben)

Lake Tahoe! Seeing the lake brought back many fond 
memories of a backpacking trip I went on 
with two college friends after our freshman year. We 
circumnavigated the whole lake on the Tahoe Rim Trail!

Team selfie, courtesy of Mary and her selfie stick

Heather and Mary beat the bonk with a blok. We're pretty
psyched with our new team sponsor, Clif Bar! 

Mary pauses to appreciate the snow
(photo: Caitlin)

Glad that's not our truck...

Plowing our road, again... I was impressed
with how quickly the roads got cleared
after each new dumping of snow.

Mary takes a break from sledding to do some
planking in her snowbank bed while Ben looks on
(photo: Heather)

One of our slightly sketchy drives up to Auburn 
Ski Club. Note the nearly buried road sign...

The first race of the weekend was a classic sprint, which took place in a snowstorm. No surprises there... The volunteers and staff did an incredible job organizing the race and keeping the course groomed throughout the day. Fresh, soft, powder skiing is definitely my favorite classic race conditions and I felt really good in the qualifier. I was quite happy to win the qualifier and to move through the quarter and semi into the final where I placed second. Congrats to Jennie for taking another classic sprint win! It was a great day for the team as a whole with Ben winning the men's sprint (his first ever sprint win), and Heather, Caitlin, and I all making the women's final! As always, a huge thanks to Nick, Jake, and Pepa for the speedy skis and support!

The K(C)aitly(i)nns doing some "recovery knitting" before 
the heats (photo: Jennie)

Women's classic sprint podium
(photo: Jennie)

An already good day ended on a high note with a
Solidarity Ski through the stadium following
the men's final.
(photo: Skyler Mullings)

Unfortunately, the following day's distance skate race got cancelled because there was too much snow... Craziness! The highway had to be shut down and apparently there was a small avalanche across the road. We ended up leaving for the airport in Reno a day early, once the highway opened back up, and aside from an unplanned stop in Connecticut during our flight to Burlington, we made it home without a hitch!

Out for a "walk"

We had to climb a snow pile and uncover the 
road sign to figure out where we were!

There was too much snow even for
Lois, our resident snow-woman

So much shoveling!
(photo: Heather)

You may be wondering what one
does in snowy California for a week
while waiting to race
(aside from ski and shovel, of course).
The answer is knit 6 pairs of mittens
as Craftsbury Marathon prizes!