In the last month I have done 8 races in 4 countries. I am now at home in Canmore enjoying a much-needed break after almost two months on the road.
After the training camp in Seiser Alm we flew to Helsinki then drove to Lahti, Finland. I raced a 15km duathlon on Saturday. It was one of my better distance races but I was still nowhere near the top-30. Sunday was a classic sprint. I felt good but made a couple errors and finished in 37th, less than 2 seconds out of qualifying.
 |
| Looking down on the stadium from halfway up the sprint climb |
We flew to Oslo on Monday and settled in at our hotel at the famous Holmenkollen Park. I was really excited to experience Norway for the first time. The first morning we skied at a small ski area and I saw first-hand why Norway is the leader in cross country skiing. The stadium was filled with little kids bombing around on skis and having picnics in the snow. They all had good equipment and were having tons of fun!
Wednesday was a city sprint in Drammen. I did not have my usual pep and I wasn't close to qualifying. The atmosphere was amazing as lots of spectators braved the rain wearing yellow ponchos to cheer on the athletes. It was an great day for Canada as Lenny skied to his first ever World Cup podium, Chandra had her best ever classic sprint result in 5th and Dasha finished 8th.
The weekend after Drammen were the 30km and 50km mass start races at Holmenkollen. I didn't race but I soaked up as much of the atmosphere as I could while training. The Norwegian fans were incredible. They started setting up tents beside the race trail on Friday morning and they camped there the entire weekend. They partied all night and cheered all day, even when we skied by in zone 1.
Dasha and I made some new friends. Check out the hunk of cured elk meat the guy on the left is holding!
 |
| Photo: Chandra Crawford |
Jessie Diggins and I wandered in downtown Oslo one afternoon. There were lots of high-end, incredibly expensive home decor shops.
We checked out the harbor and downtown Oslo, and saw a woman walking by carrying xc skis and poles!
I watched the men's 50km from the top of the wax building and I had an incredible view of the stadium and the race.
After Oslo we flew to Stockholm for another mid-week city sprint and the start of the World Cup Finals. The World Cup finals are only open for the top 50 ranked World Cup skiers, the leaders of Continental Cup series (like me) and winners of the U23 Championships. Needless to say I was a little intimidated by the caliber of the athletes! I was also battling a cold that had taken hold in Oslo. I was still excited to sprint in downtown Stockholm, literally on the steps of the Royal Palace. I was fired up for the qualifier and qualified in 28th, finally accomplishing my season goal of a top-30 finish! I was so excited to race my first World Cup sprint heat and was in the mix for the first half before dropping off the back and finishing 6th in my heat.
 |
| My first WC heat!! Photo: Fasterskier.com |
Stockholm is a really fun city and would have loved to spend more time there. We stayed and raced right downtown and I did my cool-down run through narrow, cobblestone streets in the medieval part of the city.
 |
| Stockholm in the evening |
Despite my good result in Stockholm I was still quite sick. The World Cup Finals concluded with 3 days of racing in Falun. Friday was a 2.5km skate prologue. Normally this would be a decent format for me but I was completely drained and had nothing in the tank to get up the infamous Morderbacken (murder hill). I wanted to give it one more try so I started the 10km classic on Saturday. I felt even worse and my body was a wreck so I decided to drop out. It was not how I would have chosen to end my World Cup experience but I was sick and I just didn't have anything left.
This meant that I got to cheer instead of race on Sunday and boy, there was lots to cheer for! Devon finished 2nd and Alex finished 6th in the finale and Lenny started the day in 3rd after his bronze medal Stockholm and bronze medal in the distance race the day before. The North American girls all did awesome too so it was a fun day of cheering.
 |
| View of the stadium |
 |
| Intense Swedish fans! Skiing up Morderbacken was deafening. |
It was also exciting to watch the final overall World Cup awards being presented. Devon was 2nd in the overall and distance standings and Kikkan won the overall sprint Globe.
We left Falun at 1:30am Sunday night on a shuttle to Stockholm then flew straight to Quebec to catch the second half of Canadian Nationals. I arrived at the Academy house at midnight Monday night and raced the 10km skate the next afternoon. My plan was to see how I felt in my warm-up then decide whether or not to race. I felt okay warming up I decided to go for it. I started the race really relaxed then slowly ramped up the pace and ended up finishing in 2nd place, half a second behind Emily in first. My body felt way better than I expected but I was still shocked to place so well.
My body started going downhill after that. I barely hung on in the sprint and finished 6th overall, 3rd Canadian.
The final race was the 30km classic. I have never had a good 30km race and this was no exception. My body was bagged and I finished in 8th.
After a long season I was happy to get on a plane headed for Calgary on Monday morning. It has been so nice to sleep in my own bed, do laundry, wear different clothes and bake in my kitchen!
The season wasn't quite over after Nationals. I did one final race yesterday at the Sharkfest Alberta Cups. It was a 9km mass start and I just managed to sneak the win in front of Emily and Rosanna Crawford. It was a fun way to end the season! Now I am officially in April mode and I will work for a bit before heading to Salmon Arm to visit my family.
Thanks for reading this epic post! Happy spring!
