Sovereign Noram 15k skate

It felt good that the first race was finally upon us. On the plate was a 15km individual start skate race. We couldn't warm up on the course, so I ended up going back and forth along what was available while dodging recreational skiers. They didn't have a lot of snow, but the organizers along with others spent a lot of time picking rocks off the course. We would be skiing 2 laps of 7.5k, including the upper 5k loop, which had never been used before.
I had a good start and my skis felt good as I left the stadium. Then my left ski grabbed on the first downhill and I knew I had hit a rock. My ski seemed to squeak as it landed after that, or it might have been something with the binding that I hadn't noticed before. The snow seemed slow on the uphills, but I tried to just ski technically well and take whatever glide I could get. Butler caught me (for 30 seconds) at 11k and opted to draft for a couple ks before launching past with about 2k to go. I fought hard but he had that extra spring you get when you are going for the podium. He ended up 3rd and me 13th in 40:26.5, 2:07.9 back. Full results.

Bow Corridor Invitational: decent start

A good start to the race, but just an ok result by the end. It was a short race, closer to 8km than 10km. We did 4 laps of the lower roller ski loop. I was running 4th and within striking distance at the half way mark, but I couldn't quite sustain the pace. I skied on my new NIS2 skis and they seemed to be going well. The strong headwinds made it tough, especially going into the finish, when it felt like I was barely moving.
Results are available here.

Getting ready for first timetrial of the year

First "race" will be individual start 10k skate on a 2.5 km loop at the Nordic Centre. It should be fun, entries from FNSC, BSR, CNSC, NST and RMR!