Yesterday I checked one goal off my long list... I raced my first European World Cup! 0.57 seconds was all that separated me from meeting another goal: qualifying for the heats in a World Cup sprint. I am happy with my 33rd place finish but I would have been ecstatic if I had found that extra oomph that would have put me in the heats. That race fueled my determination to do well next weekend in the U23 sprint! Out of curiosity I looked up my time behind the winner from the 2 other World Cup classic sprints that I have done: in 2008 (Canmore) I was 52nd, 28sec off; and in 2009 (Whistler) I was 39th, 17sec back. This year I was 33rd and only 10sec behind. It is really encouraging to see the progression!
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| Racing in the qualifier. Thanks to Joze Sparovec at Bliz for the awesome new visor! |
Dasha had an impressive morning finishing in 8th spot, her best ever individual World Cup finish! Lenny Valjas came 31st, only 0.02 seconds off 30th. Chandra was 27th, Heidi Widmer was 50th, Jess Cockney 61st, Michael Somppi 66th and Graeme Killick was 69th.
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| Dasha waiting at the gate |
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| The start of Dasha's semi final |
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| Watching parts of the race on the big screen |
We switched hotels after the race and are now staying at a converted farmhouse. We have the whole place to ourselves and it is very cozy and feel kind of like a bed and breakfast. The rest of the team came from Finland yesterday night so the team has been reunited.
Now that the World Cup weekend is over we are refocusing on World U23s/Jrs. My first race will be a 10km skate on Thursday, then classic sprint on Saturday and the 15km pursuit on Monday.
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