Canmore World Cup 15km skate

It was a beautiful day and the conditions were perfect. Some were saying the snow was slow, but compared to most other skate races this year, I found the glide suited my technique. I started #6, and was glad to hear that my relatives in Sweden were able to see me start. My skis felt like they were gliding really well right away. Unfortunately, I didn't feel as good as I had the day before. I couldn't ski explosively, and on the Olympic 5km you lose time the whole way if you are not pushing. My first split I was 3 seconds out of the lead and then 9 seconds. Nothing to worry about yet as I was skiing relaxed. As I lapped Koukal was just starting and Zimmerman (#7) went by me and followed Koukal (#32). I couldn't go this pace and it was becoming clear I was not moving nearly fast enough. Berger (#33) was the next one to go by and I couldn't hold his pace for more than a few strides. Eventually Robin (#8) caught me and helped me to push a bit. I was passed by Chernousov (#34) at some point but I forget where. On the 3rd lap, Devon (#35) passed Robin and I soon after the red group athletes on their first lap. Piller Cottrer (#60) and then Checchi (#61) went by early in the lap and Robin pulled away from me by a few seconds. On the whale tail, Perl (#36) went by looking strong. Then on the very last uphill Teichmann (#62) and Brian (#10) passed me and I followed them to the top. Then it was just a matter of pushing to the finish. Butler (#9) came in not long after. It was a bad day and on a good day I would have been reporting which guys I skied with rather which guys went flying by.

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.