US Nationals Recap

Alrighty, US Nationals recap, coming right up!

First off, it was great to be back on a team trip and be in a fun environment with friends. The weather was quite nice, on most days, and despite there not being very much natural snow, they did a fantastic job of making snow to ensure good quality race courses and places to warm up, cool down, test skis, etc. As far as the racing went, well let's dive into that. 

Here are my results from the week. 

1/2 - 10km classic individual start: 16th overall, 10th American, 5th u23

1/4 - skate sprint: 67th overall

1/5 - 20km skate mass start: 17th overall, 13th American, 8th u23

1/7 - classic sprint: qualified 12th overall, 9th American, 5th u23 and ended 22nd overall, 16th american and 7th u23

The first race, 10k classic, was a 3 lap course. The first lap I felt good, in control, and by no means beyond a pace I could hold, yet the effort snuck up on me and I had to slow down quite a bit. The same thing happened in the 20k skate race. It was a 6 lap race and through lap 3 I felt  good but on lap 4 it took a turn, I couldn’t hang, and the rest of the race was survival. The skate sprint on the other hand was simply abysmal. My legs felt shot from the start of the race and just did not have the power that was needed. The strange thing was that I felt better in my warm up than I did in the race which has got to be a first for me. Not sure if I did a bit too much in the warm up and burnt a few too many matches or what? Nothing was new or different and has proven to be very effective before, so to be honest, I’m at a loss as to why it went so poorly. Luckily however, I was able to turn things around on the last race of the week, the classic sprint. Despite feeling the fatigue from the week of racing, and not feeling all that great, I was able to put down my best sprint qualifier at US Nationals ever! A very pleasant surprise, indeed! I didn’t quite have that extra bit of go that was necessary to make it on to the semi finals, but was very happy with the qualifier nonetheless. 

In conclusion, these races felt like the first races of the season. Over the past many seasons, I’ve noticed a trend where the first races of the season are close to being 100%, but for a variety of reasons, just lack that racing durability that allows you to push and push and push for an entire race. Altitude racing may magnify this trend as well. Fortunately, with the same trend, I do get to 100% after a few races. Unfortunately however, my season started off with a cold so now the timing has been pushed back. I know I can still have a very successful season, it’s just a bummer because there were a number of trips to qualify for and that qualification period is now largely over. If these were the results I had in Early December, I would’ve been more content. In reality, it is a solid way to start the season, and I know things will just get better from here. Likewise, it’s certainly a step in the right direction, post illness!

For now, I’ve got a short week at home to rest up and get prepped for the next phase of the season which will take place in New England. More on that to come so stay tuned!

Until next time,

Garrett