First Half of Ski Tour Canada

The Tour has been an amazingly exciting and exhausting whirlwind, and an incredible learning opportunity. I've never raced a World Cup before, or even an international race for that matter (unless you count North American Midget Championships), so the whole experience has been new to me. It's been comforting to have Pepa, Nick, and my teammate Ida here to help guide me through. Sadly, my teammate Caitlin caught an untimely cold and couldn't start the Tour... I certainly miss having her here and I know it's been difficult for her to sit out these races.

The Tour kicked off in Gatineau, Quebec with a skate sprint on an 800m loop in a small city park. Testing skis and warming up on the course felt like skiing on a crowded multi-lane highway and was a bit overwhelming. Heading into the race I realized that I was actually more worried about all the logistics and making my start than I was about actually racing. Luckily everything went smoothly on race morning and I made my start with plenty of time to spare. The race itself was a bit of a blur, but fun all the same. The course was lined with enthusiastic, cheering spectators which was awesome! Congrats to Jessie and Simi who both finished the day in 3rd!

Ida and me at the Ski Tour Canada opening ceremony
in Gatineau
(photo: John Lazenby)

Starting my first World Cup!!
(photo: Deb Miller)

The Mama came to watch all four races in eastern Canada!

And Miss Maeve came to watch the first two stages before
jetting back to Norway

Following the conclusion of the sprint in Gatineau, all the athletes hopped buses to Montreal for the next day's classic distance race. The race took place in Mount Royal near the Old City. The course was quite narrow with some sketchy corners and some pretty steep walls which made the mass start quite exciting. Fortunately I avoided the major pile-ups, but did manage to take myself out on one of the corners when I caught an edge and my jelly legs gave out. However, I felt great racing, my skis were superb, and I was really happy to finish 39th.

The classic mass start 10k in Montreal
(photo: Deb Miller)

Skiing with Ida who made an impressive
come-back after braking a ski early
in the race
 (photo: Reese Brown)

photo: Deb Miller

While the busy Tour schedule doesn't leave
much time for sight-seeing, the view
from my hotel room in Montreal
was quite nice.

As was the view of Parliament from my room in Quebec City

Shortly after finishing the race in Montreal, it was back on a bus and the traveling circus rolled on to Quebec City. We had one day off in Quebec before another skate sprint followed by a 10k pursuit start skate. The races took place on the Plains of Abraham with the Parliament building, city walls, and Saint Lawrence River providing a scenic backdrop. 

The Quebec City stadium

Testing skis with GRP tech Nick, who has been an invaluable
support throughout the Tour
(photo: Reese Brown)

Racing along the city wall during the skate sprint qualifier in
Quebec. I finished 58th which was an improvement on my
61st place finish in the Gatineau sprint.
(photo: TokoUS)

Tuck-skating during the 10k skate pursuit in Quebec
(photo: Flying Point Road)

I was amazed by how many people I knew at all the eastern stage races. Many college and club teams came up to watch and it was incredibly inspiring to have so many current and former teammates, friends, and family members on the sidelines cheering. Thanks to everyone who made the trek up to Canada! Also, a huge thanks to Concept 2 and the National Nordic Foundation for making it financially possible for me to compete in the Tour. 

The little sister came to watch the Quebec races along with
most of the Bowdoin team. They were a
fantastic cheering squad!

It was super fun to have some of my GRP teammates at the
races! I must mention that they are the ones solely
responsible for the "Kaitlynn Miller, Athlete" Facebook
page. So if you saw a post and thought to yourself, "hmm,
this doesn't seem quite like Kaitlynn...", you were right.
They get all the credit.

Looking over Quebec City toward the Saint Lawrence River

Following the pursuit we jumped on yet another bus bound for Montreal and the following morning we boarded a plane for Calgary as the whole second half of the Tour takes place in Canmore. We already have two races under our belt out here and only have two more to go! The fatigue is definitely starting to set in, but I'm still excited to be racing. With each race I finish I have more confidence in myself and I'm very grateful to have this amazing opportunity to compete against the fastest women in the world. I'll write another update soon, which will feature many mountainous photographs of beautiful western Canada! 

Thanks for reading!

Mid-Winter Update

It's been really nice to spend some time back east, although it would be a bit nicer if there were more snow... The skiing was actually pretty great in Craftsbury when we first returned from Nationals in mid-January and we were able to ski the Grand Tour! Unfortunately the snow has deteriorated since although the manmade loop is still in solid shape.

A sunny morning in Craftsbury

Perfect corduroy on the manmade loop!

Heading out to do some shoveling on the
marathon course

We found a mouse in the trail!
(photo: Caitlin)

The Monday before the Lake Placid SuperTour, Caitlin and I decided to take a road trip to Montreal. We wanted to preview the World Cup course at Mount Royal Park and we needed to pick up Susan from the airport. We had quite a fun and adventurous day. You can check out a more verbose and picture-heavy post about our day in Montreal here.

In addition to previewing the World Cup 
course, we also explored some of the 
snowshoe trails at Mount Royal

Skiing over to the edge to get a view of the city. We think the 
course either goes along or near this overlook.
(photo: Caitlin)

A panorama of the city

Obligatory selfie with the view

Capturing our "Montreal Moment"

We heard there was a self-guided bird feeder tour at the 
Mount Royal park so we were on the hunt for feeders. The 
one feeder we located was feeding more squirrels than birds, 
but we did see some Black-capped chickadees 
and White-breasted nuthatches
(photo: Caitlin)

I finally took out my watercolors after almost a year-long 
hiatus and painted the Montreal Town Hall. My former 
french teacher informed me that in 1967 the then President of 
France (General Charles de Gaulle) gave a famous speech
from the balcony encouraging Quebec separation 
from Canada.

The clock tower at the Old Port

Looking up a cobbled side street towards the
Notre-Dame Basilica

A few days after we returned from Montreal we were back on the road headed for Lake Placid and a weekend of SuperTour and Eastern Cup racing. The races were held at the jumps where there was almost three feet of manmade snow on their 2.5k loop!

Waiting for the Charlotte-Essex ferry on our way to 
Lake Placid

The first day was a skate sprint and the second a 10k classic individual start. The sprint qualifier went well and I qualified for the heats in 7th. All six GRP women made the heat as well as two of our junior women! After leading into the final downhill during my quarterfinal I got passed and ended up in third. Unfortunately my time was not fast enough to get me a lucky loser spot. However, Heather, Liz, and Caitlin all advanced to the semis and Caitlin went on to place second (she actually won the qualifier in the morning)!

Hanging with Liz before the sprint heats

(photo: Alex/Caitlin)

The classic race went better for me and I ended up finishing second behind Caitlin. Chelsea Holmes of APU finished third so it was the exact same podium as Nationals!

Tucking down flagpole hill in the 10k classic
(photo: Deb Miller)

And climbing flagpole hill
(photo: Deb Miller)

Thanks to Nick, Ollie, Ruth, and Anna for the fantastic skis!
(photo: Alex/Caitlin)

Alex the photographer who took 6,600 pictures 
in two days

The Mama came to watch!!
(photo: Alex/Caitlin)

The 10k classic podium
(photo: Alex/Caitlin)

Almost all the GRP women in one place!
Just missing Ida, Hannah, Suz, and Clare.

The following weekend was the SuperTour/Eastern Cup/UVM Carnival at Craftsbury, which was originally supposed to be held at Trapps. Unfortunately I contracted a cold on Friday and decided it would be best not race... I had lots of fun cheering and taking pictures though and I got to catch up with many friends, former teammates, and coaches. It was a great weekend of racing for Craftsbury with Liz placing second in the classic race (on her birthday!) and many of the juniors qualifying for Junior Nationals. Also, it was inspiring to see Hallie race so well following two knee surgeries! 

Emily, Heather, and I quarantined in 
Tamarack for the weekend with our tissues. 
We decided it's better to be sick with friends.

Cheering on the Bowdoin skiers

Liz cruising to second place

Craftsbury juniors, Callie and Phoebe, at
the start of the U16 girls race

That's all for now. I'll be training in Craftsbury for the next few weeks until we head up to the World Cups in Canada! Here's hoping for some more snow! Thanks for reading.

Catching Up

I seem to have fallen off the blogging train since the race season kicked off in November so this post is an attempt to get up to speed. I won't bore you with too many words, but will instead share some pictures from our various travels.

The first SuperTour races took place in chilly West Yellowstone, Montana with back-to-back skate races. The town, which was nearly deserted when we first arrived, was hopping by the time the weekend rolled around and the trails became virtually flooded with happy skiers of all ages.

Enjoying all the snow in West
Yellowstone!

Liz skiing off into the sunset

Ready to brave the cold temps for our first race of the
season with my thickest long underwear, a pair
of toe warmers on each leg, and some duck tape.
Luckily it all fit under my suit! 

The races in West Yellowstone went fairly well and I improved upon my results from last year with two 18th place finishes. In addition to racing, I got to catch up with two close friends from college who both happen to be living in Big Sky!! They came to watch me race the sprint which was awesome! We stayed in West for a few more nights following the races and then drove to Sun Valley for the second SuperTour weekend featuring two back-to-back classic races which is always a favorite of mine, but definitely less exciting for our techs...

Enjoying the scenic Idaho landscape during our drive to Sun Valley

Team photo at Crater of the Moon National
Monument

Some off-day adventuring

We found a partially frozen river and I got a bit carried
away taking artsy pictures along the edge...

There wasn't much snow in Sun Valley when we first arrived, but after many volunteers spent countless hours shoveling, the trails at Lake Creek were in great shape and race-ready. Classic tends to be my stronger technique so I was hoping to improve upon my results from last weekend. However, I wasn't expecting to qualify first! The team as a whole had a fantastic qualifier with Caitlin in second, Liz in fourth, and Heather also making the heats. Anna and Nick did a fantastic job with our skis and I ended up making it all the way to the final along with Caitlin. I finished second with Caitlin right behind in third for my best-ever SuperTour finish. It was quite exciting to have two GRP athletes on the podium!

Start of the final
(photo: Fasterskier)

Post-race group hug
(photo: Caitlin)

photo: Caitlin

One last distance workout before heading home.
It was a winter wonderland and I didn't
want to stop skiing!

Back at home baking cookies for the Outdoor Center's
holiday staff party. We made over 200!
(photo: Caitlin)

Unfortunately we returned to no natural snow at home... However, the Center staff had done an excellent job of blowing and moving snow so there was a solid 1.5k loop in the field which we made good use of. 

Climbing Chip Hill during the Craftbsury Eastern Cup
(photo: John Lazenby)

While at home I found time to make some Arctic-themed notecards to add to my Etsy shop. The original prints are from a field notes-style artist book I made senior year of college. The book documented many of the flower and wildlife species I encountered while studying on Svalbard in the Norwegian Arctic. I created the book to portray some of the fascinating and beautiful life forms that grow and thrive in the harsh Arctic landscape.

For sale as a set of 5 (including four different Arctic
wildlife cards) here or as a single card here.

For sale as a set of 5 (including four different Arctic
wildflower cards) here or as a single card here.

Christmas socks that I knit for the mother and the sister

Anyway, I've digressed, back to skiing... After a quiet Christmas at home with my family, it was off to Houghton, Michigan for US Nationals. It was my fifth time traveling to Houghton for races. The first time I raced there was in 2006! I really like the courses in Houghton and the officials and volunteers run incredibly well organized races so it's always a fun place to return to. 

Playing with our new furry friends at the 
Chassell General Store

A house-sized kicksled!!

Last year I made huge improvements at Nationals qualifying for heats in both the skate and classic sprint, and racing to a personal-best 13th place in the 20k classic race. I came into Nationals this year feeling strong and hoping for further improvement with a goal of posting some top-10 finishes. Needless to say I was quite pleasantly surprised when I finished the individual 10k classic race and discovered I was second behind Caitlin (who won her first National title). I was getting good splits on course, but I was the first starter in the A-seed so I wasn't sure how accurate they were. Turned out they were pretty accurate! We had excellent skis which, thanks to lots of hard work from Nick and Ollie, turned out to be the norm for the week.

Starting the 10k individual classic race
(photo: Terry Smythe)

Double podium for the GRP!!
(photo: Liz)

photo: Fasterskier

The following day was the skate sprint in which I qualified 13th. All the GRP women qualified for the heats which was awesome. I felt a bit snappier and more alert during the heats and after winning my quarterfinal and getting lucky loser in my semi, I ended up in the final. I didn't get off the line super quick and ended up at the back of the pack for most of the heat, but was able to make a few passes heading into the finishing stretch and move up to fourth!

Quarterfinal skate sprint heat - I'm bib #13
(photo: SkinnySki)

After two days off from racing we were back at it for the 20k mass start skate. Skating (especially distance skating) has historically been my weakness so I've spent a considerable amount of time working on my technique and building strength. Thus, I was exceptionally happy with my 10th place finish (also, Caitlin had another fantastic day capturing her second national title).

Practicing my vertical jump before the start of the 20k mass start skate
(photo: SkinnySki)

Beginning of the 20k mass start - if you look carefully you can spot the
torsos of all four GRP womem
(photo: SkinnySki)

Cornering during the mass start
(photo: SkinnySki)

The last race of the week was the classic sprint which had the potential to be our team's best race. As Pepa always says "last one, best one." We started the morning well with me qualifying in 1st, Liz in 2nd, Heather in 5th, and Caitlin in 11th. Then, after spending a rather jittery hour in the warm sprinter van, it was time for the heats. I was pretty nervous and just kept reminding myself to work on skiing efficiently and focus on what I could control. Once again we had superb skis, thanks to the very dedicated and hardworking Nick and Ollie. 

Racing the classic sprint quarterfinal with Caitlin. Including the skate
sprint, we skied 5 out of 6 heats together.
(photo: SkinnySki)

Pepa motivating us to ski faster with lots of enthusiastic cheering
(photo: Terry Smythe)

Toeing the line for the final
(photo: Christopher Schmidt)

Sprinting to the finish line 
(photo: Christopher Schmidt)

My "holy cow I just won" moment
(photo: Christopher Schmidt)

To come away from Nationals with two podium finishes, including a national championship, was incredibly exciting, a bit overwhelming, and definitely unexpected. What made the experience even better was that my teammates also had an incredible week of racing. And as a team, the last one was definitely our best one as all four GRP women finished in the top-10! 

Pepa's been coaching and supporting me since I was a
junior and has been incredibly instrumental
to my growth as a skier. 

However, the real excitement didn't start until after the podium ceremony when I over-hydrated in anticipation of the post-race drug test and gave myself a splitting headache, flickering vision, and pretty extreme nausea. I made it through the test and back to our rental house before vomiting up a copious amount of liquid in the driveway which left me feeling only marginally better. I spent the rest of the day in bed and awoke the next morning feeling much improved and quite ravenous. Upon emerging from my room I was greeted by Ollie who exclaimed, "it is alive!" After a substantial breakfast (laced with salt), I was ready to get back on my skis! 

Enjoying the narrow winding trails
in Chassell before flying home

We're back in Craftsbury now and it's good to be home. The skiing is fantastic and it's nice to be reunited with some of our other teammates. We'll be in the east for a few weeks racing the Lake Placid and Stowe SuperTours before we head off in various directions for more racing. Based on results from Nationals, Heather earned a spot on the U23 Worlds team and will be racing in Romania come February, Caitlin is now the overall SuperTour leader thus earning start spots for the Period III World Cups in Europe, and both Caitlin and I earned Nation's Group start spots in the World Cup Canadian Tour in March. If you had told me that in my second year as a post-collegiate skier I would have earned a World Cup start, I wouldn't have believed you. Just goes to show you never know what can happen! However, I do know it couldn't have happened without the caring support of my family, coaches, wax techs, friends, and teammates.

Thanks for reading and I'll try to update slightly more regularly so as to avoid marathon-length posts such as this one...