US Nats wrap up

The last two races at US Nationals were the 30k skate and the classic sprint. The 30k was on Thursday and the sprint was on Saturday.

A lot of the boys had been looking forward to the 30k. It is a brutally long race, taking an hour and a half sometimes, but long races are also a lot of fun. Sam and I were especially excited about the 30k because both of us favor long skate races. After racing for a total of three and a half minutes the previous race, we were happy to be doing something more substantial.

Generally speaking, when there are two distance races at an event, the longer is the mass start and the shorter is the interval start. This holds true almost all of the time. So at US Nationals the 30k was a mass start. I personally like mass starts more than intervals. In a mass start you know exactly where everyone is around you because everyone starts at the same time, so you know you are racing against everyone you are skiing with. In intervals starts if you get passed the guy could be a minute ahead, so you aren’t really racing together at that point.

The field at the start of the race. Photo from skinyski.com

The trails in Houghton work well for a mass start because they are so wide. For the first couple k the trail is wide enough to ski at least three or four abreast while skating, which makes the start so much less frustrating because you actually have room to move around and try to advance up the pack. However, the course on Thursday was designed such that after two k, there is a long, fast downhill, at the bottom of which there is a 180 degree hairpin corner and you head right back up. There was some nervousness about that corner before the race because the track was hard and icy and everyone knew that at that point in the race there would be no separation. The entire field of 90 skiers would hit the corner together.

The race was a three lap course around a 10k loop. Besides the one large climb at the beginning, the course is easy for the first third and then killer for the rest.

When the gun went off the pack headed out kind of fast but not a killer pace. I immediately wanted to move up in the field because I knew things would back up on the first climb, so I wanted to be towards the front at the base. Unfortunately I had a rough time moving up because everyone else had the same idea. Mass starts always have some carnage at the start and this race was no exception. There were a couple tumbles early but nothing major and I stayed out of trouble. When we hit the hairpin everyone took it really conservatively so there were no incidents. 

The field started to string out after four-ish k. I was still trying to move up in the field, so I skied the first half of the first lap pretty hard. I’d caught a group and settled in with them. However, I was a little winded at that point so I turned down the gas at that point because I still had 25k to go. The group had around ten skiers at this point, three of which were former teammates of mine. The four of us all skied for the same club when we were juniors. It was a lot of fun skiing with these guys, especially since they always beat me in high school, and now I can ski with them. I have improved every year since I entered college and am happy with where I look to be headed this year.

Around the end of the first lap I started getting worried I would have nothing left for the end so I slowed it down a little more. The group I had been skiing with started to string out, and I was on the back end of that. The second lap was pretty uneventful until we passed the feed where I could hear our coaches cheering on Sam, so I knew he was going to catch me pretty soon. I was still maintaining sight of the group I had been skiing with but the gap was getting pretty large. I ended up skiing behind one guy for a while, and then Sam caught up to me towards the end of the lap. We picked it up a little and caught up to the back half of the big group. As we started the third lap some of the guys moved to the front to push the pace on the flat section. I could feel the pace lift but had no problem matching it. I realized then that at this point in the race I was probably stronger than the rest of the group.

Early on the first lap. Photo from xmatic.com

As we started the big climb at the 2k mark Sam and I moved to the front to grind up the hill. Almost immediately we broke the group, and only one of the guys could stay with us. We continued to ski the lap at a pretty aggressive pace, switching off who was leading, and at the last feed with about 5k to go Rachel told us that there was a group just a little ways ahead. That got me motivated because I was feeling really good thanks to my slower skiing earlier. I really wanted to bridge the gap so on one of the bigger climbs I lifted the effort level. I started getting glimpses of the guys in front of me. I slowly put a gap on Sam and the other guy who had been skiing with us and I knew I was getting closer to the group in front.

With about 2k left I caught the group and went right around them. There were four guys in the group, and two of them latched on. I kept hammering and saw that there was another guy not too far in front. I really wanted to catch him. With about 500 meters to go I really pushed it, but one of the guys skiing behind me kept up. We caught the guy in front with 100 meters to go, but unfortunately both guys outsprinted me to the line. Sam came in a little behind me, and Taylor after him.

The last lap was really good for me. The group I caught at the end had a 40 second lead on me at the start of the lap, so I am happy I was able to catch them. I need to work on my sprinting so that I don’t lose those battles at the end every time.

Taylor repping UW colors of brown, gold, and neon green. Photo from xmatic.com

The sprint wasn’t our best day. Classic sprints are my least favorite event, but as a team we didn’t perform as well as we can. The course was the same as the skate sprint. We had weird conditions, some of the tracks were icy, and some weren’t. Some skiers elected to double pole the race. I went with classic skis but with very little wax, just enough to run up and over the hills but I knew I would double pole most of the course and I wanted to be fast on the downhills. I think we were pooped from the 30k and just fatigued from the week. As soon as all of the UW athletes finished we threw travel wax on our skis and were out of there.

All day Saturday and yesterday were spent driving back to Laramie. We got in late last night.

Up next for us is our first NCAA race in Bozeman. That happens next Sunday and Monday, and we’re leaving Friday. Results from US Nationals are posted here.