Canada Winter Games

I forgot to mention that the NorAms in Rossland were also the qualifying races for Team BC for the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax. The team was announced today and it is posted here. This will be my 3rd CWG and I'm excited to go to Nova Scotia for the first time. It looks like BC will have a strong cross country team!

Rossland Mini-Tour

It was a week later than planned but I just finished my first NorAm races of the season. Canada decided to try out a new mini-tour format and it turned out to be a fun addition to the race series. Europeans have been doing mini-tours for quite a few years and I actually have done mini-tours the last two years on the OPA tour in Italy but this was the first one on Canadian soil.

Friday was a skate sprint and Saturday was a 5km skate interval start. The last race was 10km classic with a handicap start based on the results from the previous two days. The first person to cross the finish line Sunday was the overall winner of the tour. Most of the top American teams came to the races so the field was a lot deeper than the average NorAm.

It was an interesting weekend, because you would expect to be pretty tired by the last race but my best race ended up being on Sunday. My cold and the 4 days with no training that went along with it made me feel flat and my body needed 2 races before it felt good again.

The skate sprints went okay for me. I qualified in 9th (5th Canadian). My body didn't feel very good in the heats and I dropped back on the long initial climb but luckily I was able to make up time on some of the downhills and technical corners. I just missed making the A-final and was 2nd in the B-final, finishing 8th overall (4th Canadian).

Saturday my legs were heavy and unresponsive and it was a tough day. I finished in 26th spot.

Based on the previous results I started Sunday's race in 17th spot, 1:48 behind the leader. I felt really strong and passed 6 people, finishing in 11th overall (3rd Canadian). I also had the 9th fastest time of the day (2nd Canadian). It was a fun race because there was always someone in front of me to chase. It was great to get my legs back and to feel strong and it was a nice to end the weekend with a good race!

My mom came to Rossland to watch the races so I went straight home to Salmon Arm with her yesterday afternoon. I get to spend about a week at home then I'll go back to Canmore to prepare for World U23 Championship trials in Thunder Bay.

Racing in the sprint qualifier (Photo Eleanor Marshall)

My quarter-final heat - I'm bib #9 (Photo: Eleanor Marshall)

Racing Again!

The first races are done and my 2010/2011 race season has officially begun! I raced in two Alberta Cup races last weekend in Canmore. Though they were low profile races, there was a strong senior field because of all the skiers who are based in Canmore. Saturday was a 1km skate sprint race. The day started at 9:30 with the qualifying round. Despite some heavy legs I qualified in 3rd spot, 3.33 seconds behind winner Perianne. After an extended break the heats started at 4:00 in the afternoon. I won my quarter and semi-final heats and raced the A-final. I had a good start and was in second place. I wasn't able to stick with Perianne in the middle section so I finished in 2nd spot.

Sunday was a 9km classic individual start race. It was a decent race and I finished in 4th spot, about a minute and a half behind the leader. Overall it was a successful weekend. After a bad season last year it's awesome to feel fit and fast and have my body respond in races.

Unfortunately the good news ended after the weekend. I woke up Wednesday morning with a sore throat which has turned into a head cold. I decided not to travel with the team to Silver Star for the NorAms this weekend. I waited one more day, then caught a ride to my parents' house in Salmon Arm yesterday. I am laying low at their house, hoping to kick this thing! I really want to race this weekend but logically I know that I need to get over it fast so it doesn't affect the rest of the season, and in the big picture these NorAms aren't that important. It is very disappointing to get sick after feeling so good last weekend but c'est la vie. Maybe this will give me immunity so I don't get sick before more important races later in the season. Meanwhile, I'm getting lots of sleep, drinking litres of tea with lemon juice, eating garlic (I have very bad breath!) and taking cold-fx, echinacea and vitamin C - anything to get my immune system going!

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend!

Alysson