No I'm not sponsored by Adidas, but this video is quality.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Haywood Nationals '08
Last week was Haywood Canadian Nationals in the Callaghan Valley in British Columbia, the site of the 2010 Olympics for cross country. It was amazing to ski on the Olympic trails. The courses were very challenging, with big climbs and technical downhills. The weather on the ther hand was less than breath taking. The temperatures consistently fluctuated around the freexing mark, which made for classic waxing very difficult.
I was very pleased with my classic team sprint with Mon Nordic teammate Jeff Ellis, placing 6th out of 35 teams. It set up the week nicely, knowing that I was feeling good and skiing well. The 10k classic race was a focus for me, so I was ready to go feeling good, and a dismal 41st place took a hard hit on the confidence. It started snowing fat heavy wet flakes 20m minutes before the start, our klister was icing bad so our coach and tech decided to race on ‘harries’ (just roughing up the kick pocket with sand paper) others used the same idea on chemical based skis. The chemical based skis seemed to hold onto the grip a little better, as our home made one made it through only the first lap of 3.3k. It was too bad, as the only skis I had at the site were klister skis, and my soft pair that could have worked better in harry conditions were left at the cabin. But it was interesting the top male skied on harries, and the second placed skied on a klister hard wax combo. So it was hit and miss, some had good skis, some not so much.
The skate race, I had little to no energy, warming up, I was worried as I felt like cement had filled my viens and arteries, and this has happened in other skate races too, I try to dig deeper and ski faster, knowing that I can but when called upon my legs just don’t have the juice. The track was really greasy with fresh wet compacted snow, so it made balance a major issue and the small shin muscles burn and seize.
The sprints were on par with my sprinting ability this year, slow.
And the final day, 50k classic. Again classic I prefer, so I was excited. Waxing again was a nightmare for our techs, with snow on and off, and warming temperature. The first two laps I had great skis, griping well, and fast on the downhills. I was sitting right were I wanted to be, relaxed, comfortable. Then the third lap with the warming conditions my skis started icing on the big climbs, I was running on stilts at the top, pulling off to the side to scrap off the snow and ice, before decending. After a lap of run, scrap, run, scrap, it warmed up enough that it wasn’t icing anymore, great…which meant now, no grip. I finished the race, I know it doesn’t seem like an accomplishment, but I was pleased that I fought through the decision point to quit, others dropped out, and maybe for ego and confidence, that might have been the better choice, but I feel commitment goes a long way in this game. The people who are successful in skiing got there in may different ways but the one trait they all share is that they are still skiing, still finishing the good and the bad races, still committed.
I’ve got some pretty major decisions to make with skiing, training, racing and work, but I’ve decided to commit, no one said this was going to be easy, and what fun would it be if it was, so I’ve got to take a look at what went well this year and what didn’t and try to pin point why, and then make some plans for the following year.
This week, the bunch of us have stuck around in Whistler to do some downhill skiing and snowboarding. So lets hope for some fresh powder and come clear days.
Thanks for everyone’s support this year, I really appreciate it.
I was very pleased with my classic team sprint with Mon Nordic teammate Jeff Ellis, placing 6th out of 35 teams. It set up the week nicely, knowing that I was feeling good and skiing well. The 10k classic race was a focus for me, so I was ready to go feeling good, and a dismal 41st place took a hard hit on the confidence. It started snowing fat heavy wet flakes 20m minutes before the start, our klister was icing bad so our coach and tech decided to race on ‘harries’ (just roughing up the kick pocket with sand paper) others used the same idea on chemical based skis. The chemical based skis seemed to hold onto the grip a little better, as our home made one made it through only the first lap of 3.3k. It was too bad, as the only skis I had at the site were klister skis, and my soft pair that could have worked better in harry conditions were left at the cabin. But it was interesting the top male skied on harries, and the second placed skied on a klister hard wax combo. So it was hit and miss, some had good skis, some not so much.
The skate race, I had little to no energy, warming up, I was worried as I felt like cement had filled my viens and arteries, and this has happened in other skate races too, I try to dig deeper and ski faster, knowing that I can but when called upon my legs just don’t have the juice. The track was really greasy with fresh wet compacted snow, so it made balance a major issue and the small shin muscles burn and seize.
The sprints were on par with my sprinting ability this year, slow.
And the final day, 50k classic. Again classic I prefer, so I was excited. Waxing again was a nightmare for our techs, with snow on and off, and warming temperature. The first two laps I had great skis, griping well, and fast on the downhills. I was sitting right were I wanted to be, relaxed, comfortable. Then the third lap with the warming conditions my skis started icing on the big climbs, I was running on stilts at the top, pulling off to the side to scrap off the snow and ice, before decending. After a lap of run, scrap, run, scrap, it warmed up enough that it wasn’t icing anymore, great…which meant now, no grip. I finished the race, I know it doesn’t seem like an accomplishment, but I was pleased that I fought through the decision point to quit, others dropped out, and maybe for ego and confidence, that might have been the better choice, but I feel commitment goes a long way in this game. The people who are successful in skiing got there in may different ways but the one trait they all share is that they are still skiing, still finishing the good and the bad races, still committed.
I’ve got some pretty major decisions to make with skiing, training, racing and work, but I’ve decided to commit, no one said this was going to be easy, and what fun would it be if it was, so I’ve got to take a look at what went well this year and what didn’t and try to pin point why, and then make some plans for the following year.
This week, the bunch of us have stuck around in Whistler to do some downhill skiing and snowboarding. So lets hope for some fresh powder and come clear days.
Thanks for everyone’s support this year, I really appreciate it.
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