Sprint!

Yesterday was good day for me here in Estonia in the classic sprint. I finished in 12th spot overall and accomplished my goal of making it into the semi-finals.

My day started with the qualifier. I felt a little messy and didn't ski as smoothly as I had hoped but it was good enough for 14th position. I felt really strong and controlled in my quarter final and I moved into 2nd spot at the start of the double pole finish and stayed solidly in 2nd to the finish, which moved me on to the semi finals. My semi final was very tight and fast and we were all close coming down the finishing stretch. I tried to make a move at the start of the double pole section and switched to a different track but it was much slower with windblown snow and I had to switch back onto the train, wasting some energy in the process. Coming into the finish I was forced into a slower track and I didn't have the power I needed to catch the front girls. I ended up 6th in a lunge for the finish. There were only 1.3 seconds separating 1st from 6th in my heat and were 7 seconds faster than the other semi final heat. There was no B-final so places 7-12 were assigned. There were 3 possible ranking methods and my final placing could have been 8th (semi-final time), 11th (semi-final position then semi-final time) or 12th depending on the method. Unfortunately it was done based on finishing position in the semi-final then qualification time so I ended up in 12th.

I was excited to have a chance to race in the semi-finals this year since I had a bad experience at my last U23 champs sprint in France. Officially I came 12th that year but I was 13th on race day and I just missed making the semi finals. I was bumped into 12th place 6 months later when the winner was disqualified due to a doping infraction. At the same time, once I was in the semis of course I wanted to move through to the final so it was disappointing to miss out on the final in such a tight finish.

It was a successful day for the boys as Jess got lucky and got a place in the final due to a disqualification, finishing in 6th overall and Lenny got unlucky with a slow track and just missed the final, coming 7th. Emily was 22nd, Sara 30th, and Erin 31st.

Tomorrow I race the 15km pursuit then we are driving straight to Helsinki. We fly out of Helsinki Tuesday morning and arrive in Calgary early Wednesday morning. 

Thanks to Eric Bailey for the action photos!

Start of my quarter final

Start of my semi final

Thursday's skate race

Farmhouse where we are staying

First U23 race

My first and least favorite U23 Champs race was yesterday: the 10km individual skate. I had decent energy and focused on skiing strong and relaxed. The morning was reminiscent of trials in Thunder Bay with a temperature of -22 overnight and -18.5 at race time. My toes were not impressed by the cold weather and I felt like I had chunks of wood in my boots during the race despite 2 pairs of socks and bootwarmers.

I came 25th which is my best ever distance result at World U23s and World Jrs but it left me wanting more. It was a great day for the team with Kevin finishing 5th, Somppi 14th and Emily 16th. Jess was 27th, Sara 28th, Graeme 32nd and Erin 36th.

Yesterday was the first sunny day since I arrived in Europe. Everything looked so much prettier with sun instead of a grey cloud cover. I didn't get around to taking any pictures in the sun but hopefully there will be a another sunny day for photography!

Medal ceremony - cheering for Kevin!

The juniors are racing their qualifier as I write this. So far Janelle and Heidi have qualified for the heats and Andy is on the edge at 29th with 30 more men to go... hopefully he'll squeak into the heats! I'm getting excited for the U23 sprint tomorrow!!!

World Cup

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!

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.

Dasha waiting at the gate

The start of Dasha's semi final

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.

Otepaa

We waved goodbye to Finland and arrived in Otepaa, Estonia Thursday afternoon. The drive took about 8 hours with a 2 hour ferry ride over the Gulf of Finland to Tallinn, Estonia's capital city. Otepaa is about 3 hours southeast of Tallinn. We were welcomed by Dasha, Chandra and Lenny who got here a few days before us.

Passing our sister ferry as we headed to Tallinn

We are staying at an old hotel about 20 minutes from the race site. The rooms are okay but the food isn't very good and the lukewarm showers aren't much fun. The room we eat in is always cold so wear winter jackets and toques at meals. Apparently we are switching hotels tomorrow so fingers crossed that the next one will be better!

We have been skiing every day on the race courses. I really like the sprint course. There are two climbs at the start, a downhill, a little hill then a long double pole finish. The 5km course is very tough with a massive climb at the back of the course. Skiing with all the top racers has been very exciting!

5km course at the bottom of the big climb. The hill starts here below the base of the ski jump and climbs almost all the way to the top! 

The distance races were this morning and afternoon. Chandra, Heidi, Lenny and I were the only Canadians not racing so we went for a ski then watched the women's race after. The men started at 2:00 so I am watching their race on Eurosport as I type. It has been really exciting watching the races and the atmosphere at the site was amazing with all the enthusiastic Estonian fans. 

Emily in the start gate - bib #1!!

Dasha starting her race

Some of the ski trails

Another view of the ski jump

Tomorrow is the sprint and I'm stoked to get out there and race!

Alysson

Vierumaki training

Greeting from Finland! After 27 hours of traveling we arrived safely in Vierumaki, Finland. 4 movies and multiple naps made the flights go by quickly, though the 4hour layover in Toronto seemed very long. Aaron had a direct Calgary-Frankfurt flight and he beat us to Frankfurt despite leaving Calgary 5 1/2 hours after the rest of the team! Incredibly, all the luggage from the whole team arrived except for one ski bag. After collecting our bags in Helsinki we had a quick lunch (our first meal in Finland was at an American-style restaurant) and drove about 2hrs Northeast to Vierumaki. We are staying at the hotel Scandic which is a newly opened sport-focused hotel. It has a gym and sauna and a 200m walk brings us to the ski trails.

Unfortunately the sun hasn't shown its face yet here and it has been gloomy so far. It is quite warm (around zero) which is a nice change. My toes appreciate the temperature after 2 weeks of skiing in -20 degrees! We went for easy skis this morning and afternoon.

The girls skating this morning

We found a little lake this afternoon so we stopped to play!

Janelle on the rope swing

Annika practicing her alpine ski starts off the dock

Sweet clothing dryer in our room

Today ended with a Canadian-American bowling showdown in the 10-pin bowling alley in the basement of the hotel. It was a great way to keep ourselves awake until bedtime!

Hyvaa yota!

Alysson

Estonia!!!

The races that have been at the back of my mind since May are in the history books. Three days of racing each year determine who travels to Europe and competes against the best skiers in the world and who stays in Canada trying to find races to keep them occupied until Nationals. Thankfully everything worked in my favor this year and I qualified for the World U23 Championships in Otepaa, Estonia!! On top of that I also get a World Cup sprint start the week before the Champs at the same venue! This will be my first World Cup in Europe (I have had 4 starts in World Cups in Canada) so I am very excited!

Three NorAm races in Thunder Bay were used for the U23 team selection. Four girls can start each event at the U23 Championships and up to 5 girls can be chosen, although the selection committee usually decides to send only 2 or 3 girls. The winner of each event gets selected and the remainder of the team is chosen based on sprint and distance ranking lists from the races.

Thursday was the first test with a 15km pursuit event. I felt good in the 7.5km classic portion and went into the exchange in 6th spot. I faded a bit during the two skate laps, due mainly to two ridiculously long and steep uphills in the last kilometer of each lap. Despite my best attempts those hills killed me every time! I dropped one position in the skate portion and finished in 7th overall, 3rd U23. It was a frigid race with a temperature of around -19 plus wind chill. My toes went numb partway through the first classic lap. I rushed to the daylodge as soon as I crossed the finish line and was almost in tears, clutching my toes as they slowly thawed out.

Racing in the pursuit - a frosty morning! Photo: Martin Kaiser

Next up was the classic sprint on Saturday. I went into the race determined to get the U23 win so I could secure my spot on the Championships team. The qualifier went well and I was 4th overall, top U23. The race started early, on another icy morning, and I started my warmup in the dark. It was amazing how cold I got after a 3min race in that temperature! Brrrr! Luckily it warmed up by the time the heats started. I moved through my quarter and semi finals safely and made the A-final. I felt strong and pushed hard on the long climb and finished in 3rd spot and was the top U23! The U23 win earned me a spot on the team and getting my first NorAm medal as a senior was icing on the cake!

The finish of my semi-final (I'm #4) Photo: Martin Kaiser

The last race was a 10km skate. I felt good at the start of the race but my efforts the day before caught up with me and I had trouble keeping the pace on the two massive hills each lap. I finished in 7th overall, 2nd U23.

After multiple delayed flights I finally arrived back in Canmore just after 1 AM Monday morning. We have a few days of recovery and training here before leaving on Sunday. The plan is to train in Finland for a few days then go to Otepaa. I will race the World Cup classic sprint there then compete in the three races at the U23 World Champs. The full team selections are here - it was a impressive weekend for the Academy with 9 athletes chosen for World Juniors and World U23s out of the 19-person team! I think the team is very strong this year so it should be an awesome trip!