Season opener

Because this blog sometimes goes weeks at a time without a post and because I really enjoyed blogging my races in Slovakia last year I have decided to take it upon myself to blog all my races this year.

This weekend marks my first two races of the season as I skipped the Holiday Hurrah two weeks ago. We are in Crested Butte, CO competing in Rocky Mountain Nordic’s Junior Nationals Qualifiers (not to be confused with Rocky Mountain Conference, our USCSA division, or Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association, our NCAA division). However, some of our friends in the RMISA from CU, DU, and New Mexico came down for the weekend as well, so that was exciting for us. Otherwise the field is mainly juniors in Colorado trying to qualify for Junior Nationals. The Colorado guys are pretty fast though, so we expected some good competition.

The Butte

This morning was a sprint race. Sprints kick off with everyone skiing an individual start doing one lap around the 1.3ish km loop. The top 30 fastest skiers then go into a bracket. Each heat in the bracket has six skiers, and in the first round the top two skiers in each heat move on to the semifinals, as well as two other skiers called “lucky losers.” These are determined either by fastest quarterfinal times or fastest qualifier times. In the semis the top three in each heat race the “A Final” and the next three in each heat race the “B Final.” The A Final determines 1-6 place and the B Final 7-12.

The course today was a solid sprint course but not a super difficult one. The start is about 200m of flat with a hard left pretty quick, then up a short but steep hill, a quick downhill followed by a longer and less steep hill, a long downhill, and then the last 100 or so meters is a flat finish.

I started the day with bib 18, meaning I was seeded as the 18^th fastest skier in the field of 45. This gave me some confidence going into the race because I feel like my USSA points, which determine seeding, tend to lowball me in seeding. So my goal today was to make it through the quarterfinals and into the semis.

I had a good qualifier. I could tell by the time the guy in front of me hit the first climb that I was gaining on him and I pulled pretty close by the top of the second climb. By the finishing lanes I had almost caught him and I just passed him before the finish line. We start at 15 second intervals and 15 seconds is a big margin in a sprint, so I figured I was in the bracket.

For the men, Taylor ended up qualifying in 10^th, me less than a second back from him in 12^th, Ben in 13^th just a few tenths of a second behind me, and Sindre just barely out of the bracket. It was a good showing from us, and we were right there with the NCAA guys. That’s a really good sign going into the season.

Normally in a sprint you are given new bibs after the qualifier based on where you finished. So the fastest qualifier gets bib 1, etc. Today we just hung onto our bibs, I guess for tomorrow, and were given paper bibs instead. Nobody likes paper bibs but we got by.

I was put in the fourth quarterfinal. Generally earlier heats are advantageous because you get a little more rest before the semis, so I was hoping to get into one of the early semis. But you don’t get to pick. I ended up in a heat with bib 2, a Steamboat guy, and bib 9, a New Mexico guy. 2 qualified a little ways in front of me but 9 was only about a second, so I figured I had a real good shot at getting in the top two for the guaranteed semi slot. A last second change from time determining lucky loser to bib number (based on qualifier time) meant a little change in strategy. When the gun went off I quickly moved into third. At the first climb I felt strong enough to move to the front but wasn’t able to get there because I was blocked off. I tried to make a move on the downhill but got cut off. Finally on the second climb I was able to move around the New Mexico guy into second but still couldn’t move my way to first. It was a little frustrating because I felt strong enough to take the lead but couldn’t get around. On the big downhill the UNM guy drafted me all the way down and then shot around me. Realizing second was now out of reach I coasted in to save energy. The three of us had dropped the rest of the heat. I now could only wait and pray that I got the lucky loser.

In second place on the second climb

Ben got second in his heat for the guaranteed spot, while Taylor had a mishap at his start and unfortunately didn’t make it past the quarters.

It took them a while to get the semi bracket up so I had to just continue as if I made it so I would be prepared. In sprints you usually get around an hour and a half after your qualifier but once it gets to the heats they start one every five minutes and go more or less straight from the quarters to the semis to the finals. So you get a ton of time from the qualifier to the quarters but hardly any in between heats. In between heats I just  try to stay moving and throw in a few really short pickups.

I ended up getting the second lucky loser, so I was moving on. The semi looked to be much tougher competition than the quarter was. Everyone was a college racer. When we started I quickly found myself in last. The group strung out, but I never lost contact. I got into fifth on the first climb but couldn’t get up to fourth. As soon as I realized I wasn’t getting top three I shut it off to save energy for the B Final. I got passed in the straight but didn’t fight for it because it really didn’t matter.

Both Ben and I raced the B Final. As soon as the gun went off Ben shot to the front, while I was in fifth. Going up the first climb the order stayed basically the same. I definitely wasn’t feeling the same explosiveness I felt earlier on the climbs, so I was just trying to hang on. But on the second climb I moved to fourth. Ben was still leading. We rounded the corner and headed down the hill, with Ben and second and third in a tight bunch, and me right behind. I gapped the two behind me. The two guys in front went around Ben in the finishing lanes, and I was catching him. I just about pulled even with him in the end and we lunged for the line, and I think he beat me by about an inch.

It was a good day for us. Ben and I got ninth and tenth in a pretty stong field. I am really happy with where my fitness is right now, and sprinting really is not my forte so it was fun to be skiing in the heats with some really fast skiers.

Ben and I in the B Final

Tomorrow we ski a 5k classic mass start. Athletes my age rarely ski 5k’s, and they are much too short for my liking. But a 5k is better for me than a sprint!

Results from today can be found here: http://www.fourcornerstiming.com/?page_id=3.