I arrived home from Ontario on Sunday, where the Canadian National Ski Championships were held in Duntroon from March 8-16th.
It was very interesting weather. During the week we were hit with every possible weather condition you can get at this time of year. From warm slushy weather, to rain, to freezing rain, to crazy gusts of wind, to dumping snow, to perfect sunny skies. Unfortunately the day we arrived was the day it rained. The 3 feet of snow Duntroon once had, quickly went down to about 10cm of ice. Luckily it snowed a few inches the night before the first race, coating the icy track with a bit of fresh powder.
Day before the first race
The first race was a 5km skate. This is very tricky distance to race. Basically its too long to full out sprint, but too short to hold back and pace yourself. I made sure I had a good warm up and went out as hard as I could off the start and up the first hill. I think that was a good strategy, because although I did slow down towards the end, the pace I kept up at the start was fast enough to place me in 8th spot overall, 4th Canadian, and 1st U23. My best result all week!
Next up was the 10km classic, which greeted us with HUGE gusts of wind and a slick icy track; making the down hills VERY sketchy. Unfortunately our wax team did not quite get the wax right that day, and that mixed with a poor choice of skis, made racing that day a tough one. I did the best I could and ended up 16th overall and 10th Canadian. Not too bad.
10km classic on one of the hardest corners of the course.
Friday the 13th... the dreaded classic sprints. On a good note, conditions were great. It dumped snow the day before and got nice and cold over night, making the tracks hard packed and solid. I skied the qualifier well and placed 18th. My first heat on the other hand did not go so well. I slipped quite a bit off the start and was unable to catch up to the group for the remainder of the heat. This put me back in 25th spot for the day.
During the Qualifier of the sprints
Finally Sunday arrived. 30km skate race. I have never raced anything over 15km before in my life, but I was excited because distance and skate skiing seem to be my best event. This was also the first event were I would take “feeds”(small shots of energy drink throughout the race in order to keep your body of fluids and electrolytes up and maintain your energy). I went out at a comfortable pace. The field quickly spread out on the first lap which put me in about 10th place, and for some reason I couldn’t seem to find a group of skiers to ski with so I just ended up skiing the rest of the race by myself. I did manage to gain on the skier in front of me, but I fell on the final lap on the downhill, and then when approaching the finish area I somehow got a little dazed and started to ski through the lap lane again. After about 50m I clued in and turned around to ski back to the finish lane. It was a little embarrassing as all the spectators were congregated in the stadium, but I didn’t lose any spots and finished 10th overall, and 6th Canadian.
Open Woman 30km Mass start
Now I am back at home recovering from nationals and trying to get over a bit of a cold. In two weeks I will be heading to Scandinavia to do some races. Everything is looking great! Thanks to everyone who has helped out towards this trip, and be sure to stay tuned for more updates.
