Busy, Busy and More Busy. And Some Ski Racing.

I apologize for taking so long to post an update to this blog. The past few weeks have been busy at times and completely overwhelming at others. The last time I posted, I was in West Yellowstone training after the first SuperTour races of the season... I stayed up there for five or six days, spending some quality time on snow and getting to know my new fleet of skis. It wasn't too long before I had to hit the road, no need to lose my mind in the second week of the season...

I headed back to Park City for a few days. Slept a few nights in my own bed. Trained on my own courses and got some much needed rest. I found out that the next races in Bozeman might be cancelled due to lack of snow and then, much like the Yellowstone series, found out that they got just enough snow to make it happen... and with very little time to spare. So we packed up and headed back to Montana.

The course in Bozeman was pretty sweet. It was not the most difficult I have skied but there were some sizable hills and the course flowed well... couple that with altitude and you have the perfect combination for me. I started the 15k skate race fairly conservatively and focused on skiing smoothly. I was receiving information from coaches that I was leading the race right away. I continued to ski steady for the next three of four laps and on the final time around, I really ramped up the pace. I managed to put a solid 30-40 seconds on the field on the last lap. When I crossed the line I actually thought I had won. I was very happy with my effort.... But come to find out a few minutes later, Garrot Kuzzy, who had started late in the field, was crushing my time on the first few laps. He put quite a bit of time into me early in the race and though I managed to get quite a big chunk of it back on my final lap, he still got me by a solid 20 seconds...

Team Rossignol - Not afraid of the color Orange...

After a solid effort in Bozeman, we travelled back to Park City. Knowing that I was in solid shape, there was no reason to risk anything in training before the next race, which was less than a week away on the Olympic trails in Midway, UT. And while training in those days went well, pretty much everything else in my life was doing its best to pull me in the opposite direction... I thought I was dealing with the stress as well as I could but come race day, last Sunday, I found that it was not to be... When I started the race my legs felt heavy. The early pace that should have been comfortable, felt brutal. I was not recovering on the downhill and I was not able to hold my place in the pack. It wasn't long before frustration took over and things got even worse. There is no way to ski fast when frustrated, at least for me... I finished the race in a less than stellar 12th place. The only good things about the effort were that i did not give up and that in terms of time-back from the winner, i did not get completely blown out of the water... Bottom line, I neglected to notice how much outside stressors were impacting me before the start of the race... Needless to say, I will be looking for more from myself at US Nationals next month.

Racing at SoHo. Too many people in front of me, not enough behind...

For the next two weeks I'll be home in Park City, taking care of the million things that I have been neglecting this past month and attempting to relocate the form that took me to 2nd place a week and a half ago...