Duntroon 30km

Results

It was a tough race today. I chose my skis based on the forecast that it would snow and I had good skis for the first lap of the race. On the first lap of 7.5k, I was losing a bit over the top of each hill, but I was able to get back on the train each time. It stopped snowing and as the course got skied over, we were skiing on colder, drier snow. My skis were not liking this, and they felt especially slow on the uphills. At about 11km I was dropped by the lead pack. I was on my own to push against the wind. I kept a decent pace, but on the 3rd lap my muscles were too tired to ski well and I started to lose a lot of time. Ellis passed me and I could not match his pace. In the last 4k, I got a bit more energy knowing I was almost done.

With the right skis, I would have had a much better race, but I'm not sure if it would have been enough for a great result. I didn't seem to have the legs to climb the steep hills, which you needed on that course. Thanks again to the Skielite waxers and David Z. for helping with feeds.

Noram skate sprints Duntroon

Results

After a clear night, the snow was very cold, and the air temperature was about -20 when we arrived. I though my qualifier went ok, but I ended up 16th, and 16 seconds back. It was not the deepest field, as I was 5 seconds out of 15th. In my heat I had #5(Ellis), #6(Touchette), #15(Luke V.) and two others. I had a decent start but wasn't aggressive enough to get a good position and left the stadium in 4th place. I tried to move up several times on the uphill to the top of the course, but Luke kept closing the door by moving over to block me. I tried again just before the big downhill, but the snow was too slow on the outside. On the bottom corner I managed to move up into 3rd, but that was short lived. Once we hit the hill going into the finish, the other guys accelerated away from and I finished 4th. That was enough to retain my ranking of 16th on the final results.

I was expecting a little better, since I had good energy, but I didn't really have the snappiness you need to sprint fast. It sounds a bit strange, but Duntroon is fairly low in terms of elevation and you actually have to ski faster than at altitude. I did gain some confidence for the next time I make the heats. At the very least I got in a good, hard workout the day before the 30k.

Big thanks to Luc and Jonathan of Skielite for helping us with the waxing!

Sovereign Lake Noram 16km Classic

Results

Yay, finally a classic race! We raced after sunset starting at 5pm on the lit trails. They needed some more climbing to create a race course, so they added two big hills using supplementary lighting. One of the generators died just before the start, so one of the swooping downhills corners was totally dark. I made it through that section in warmup by snowplowing, but I wondered how I could carry speed through there during the race. They ended up parking two snowmobiles so that their headlights illuminated the trail, and I easily got through there during the race.

Just before my start time, I went inside to get changed into the clothes I was going to race in. I used a borrowed Casco visor since I didn't have a clear lens for my glasses and it was snowing lightly. I had turned down the offer of a good quality headlamp, thinking that it would be uncomfortable and would only help a little bit. But, in a quick decision, I grabbed my Tikka 3-LED headlamp and wore that for the race. It was useful since there were some dark sections and it also helped me see the track better. The track was not very solid, and as more skiers stumbled around in the dark it only got worse.

My first two laps of 3.9km went exactly as planned, except for the starter sending me early. My start time was 5:45:15, but the starter began his countdown at :05; 5,4,3,2,1,GO! I hesitated slightly since the clock was showing 5:45:10, but then figured I might as well go. I heard the starter say "oh, I started that guy early". He might have been thrown off slightly since the guy in front of me did not show up. Half way up the first climb, I got a split that I was the leader, which was no surprise given that I started 5 seconds early! I was still the leader at the next split station and soon I was through the traffic of early starters that were a lap ahead of me. I had started controlled, which is exactly what I wanted to do.

At 6k I got a split that I was 14 seconds off the lead and in 3rd place. But, a lap later, at 10km, I got that down to 9 seconds and I pushed a little harder up the next hill. Unfortunately, I started to tire, and it really showed in the easier parts of the course. I didn't carry my speed as well and I started losing time to the others. The last lap I had a good push up the hills, but was wobbly on the downhills and fell on a tricky corner in the last kilometer. I probably lost about 10-15 seconds, but I still managed to finish ahead of a group of guys by only a few seconds.

Overall it was my best distance race so far and showed signs of good things to come in classic races. Two minutes behind the winner in 11th place was a decent showing.