Trials

The last couple of weeks have been a busy mix of racing and traveling. With two sets of Nor Am races two weekends in a row and a 10 hour drive in between the two venues there hasn’t been much time to sit down and reflect. It’s been a while so I’ll take it from the start.

After two weeks at home over the Christmas holidays I was back in Canmore to prepare for what are probably the most important races of the year. Though the three races in Whistler were regular Nor Am cups they were also being used as the selection races for Junior and U23 world championships.

 The first race at what is known as “trials” was a 30km skiathlon, a race I was a bit nervous about because I had only done one 30km before in my life (last year at nationals) and it had not gone very well. This time however things were different. I had a decent classic leg and got to the exchange zone in 14^th. I had a very good skate leg (traditionally my weaker technique) and managed to gain one position to finish in 13^th as the 6^th under 23 skier.

Men's pack going up the first hill in the 30km skiathlon
Photo credit: Angus Cockney

Me during the classic leg of the skiathlon
Photo Credit: Angus Cockney

The next race was a skate sprint and although Mother Nature had been kind to us so far, we knew that in Whistler, it was unlikely to last and on sprint day we woke up to 15cm of fresh snow with more coming down throughout the day. Despite the conditions I managed one of my better skate sprint qualifiers setting the 12^th fastest time of the open men (I got beat by a few juniors). In my quarter I got off to a bad start and since the snow was still falling I ended up having to ski wide in the deep powder to make my way through he group. Still, by the end of my heat I managed to move myself up into 2^nd place gaining a spot in the semifinals. I my semifinal I again got off to a bad start (I still need to work on those) and again had to move through the field in the deeper powder on the side. By the end I had moved myself up into 3^rd position which meant I had to wait and see if I had gotten one of two lucky loser spots in the final. In the end it wasn't to be and I was put I the B final were my legs finally started to give way. I held on for 3^rd putting me in 9^th on the day as the 4^th under 23.

My quarter final on sprint day. I'm in 3rd with bib 312.
Photo credit: Angus Cockney

After two good but not outstanding races I needed to find something special the next day in the 15km individual classic if I stood a chance of making U23’s. I tried to start hard knowing that it would be my only chance yet halfway through it was clear that the first couple of races had taken their toll and in the last half of the race I was running on fumes. I ended up 17^th on the day (8^th U23) not a terrible result but far from what I had hoped for and needed.

Running on fumes in the 15km classic
Photo Credit: Angus Cockney 

So I’ll have to wait one more year to test myself against the best under 23 skiers in the world. Yes I’m disappointing, yet I can honestly say that I did my best. The races in whistler were the hardest ones of my life and there is no one thing that I can point to as being the difference between qualifying and not qualifying. I simply raced as hard as I could and in the end it wasn’t good enough. As they say it’s much easier to live with defeat than to live with regret and I regret nothing. In 12 months I will come back hungrier than ever and hopefully then it will be a different story.

Lastly I would like to congratulate both my sisters Emilie and Katherine who both raced amazingly well in Whistler. Emilie qualified for her first world juniors and Katherine was pretty close. So although I will not be representing Canada this year there will a Stewart-Jones on the trip to Turkey.

I’ll have an update on the western Canadian championships in a few days. That’s all for now though.

Patrick 

Early Season Update

As I sit here writing this I am back in snowless Chelsea for Christmas wondering why I was too stubborn to bring my rollerskis with me. The last few weeks have been a busy mix of traveling and racing. As is usual with ski racing there have been ups and downs. It’s been a while so I’ll take it from the top.

Kootenay cup Golden BC, November 26^th and 27^th

Although it was low key, these were the first real races of the year. The weekend started off with a skate sprint on Saturday. It was a long day with the final ending under the cover of darkness with floodlights illuminating the course. It was a great Day for me. I won the qualifier (unofficially as the organizers never did get proper results from that one), skied conservatively through the heats and skied away in the final. The course suited me perfectly with lots of steep climbs and fast descents.

The next day was a 15km classic individual. Conditions were tricky (zero degrees and snow) I decided to race on a pair of waxless skis just before the race and didn’t have time to get them glide waxed. The result was lots of grip with little glide (most people were in the same boat). This combined with a tired body made for a subpar day. Nevertheless I was happy to get my first distance race of the season out of the way.

Alberta Cup Canmore, December 3^rd

Because of the heavy race schedule I only did the sprint race at the Alberta cup. I was looking forward to testing my skate sprinting against a staked field including many national team members.  After a mediocre qualifier I won my quarterfinal and finished 3^rd in my semi gaining a lucky looser spot in the Final. In the final I was definitely out classed by the big guns of Canadian sprinting and finished 5^th. Overall I was happy with my day and felt ready for Nor Ams in Sovereign Lakes the next weekend.

Nor Am cup Sovereign lakes BC, December 10^th and 11^th

The Nor Am cups in Sovereign Lakes have always been an enigma for me. Although I have always had good sprints there they have always been accompanied by some of my worst Distance races. I have always struggled with the altitude and the demanding world cup courses. This year I was hoping that living at altitude in Canmore and having much more time on snow would be the solution to my Sovereign Lakes enigma.

 The week end started out with a classic sprint (my best event). I had a subpar qualifier where I struggled to find grip on the long demanding softish course. I ended up with bib 17 going into the heats. In my quarter things went much better. I stayed in 4^th place until the last climb where I attacked on the outside of the course and moving myself into 1^st and holding it to the line. In my semifinal, I Again, stayed at the back of the field until the final climb were I moved up into 3^rd earning  a spot In the A final in my first Nor am Cup as a senior racer. In the final I gave it my all trying not to be intimidated by the much more experienced skiers I was up against. In the end the best I could manage was 4^th. To finish 4^th in my first Nor Am cup as a senior racer was a pretty special experience.

Rounding a corner during the heats
Photo Credit: Dan Roycroft

On my way to a 4th place finish in my first Nor Am cup as a Senior
Photo Credit: Dan Roycroft

The next day was a 15 km classic Individual. Individual classic races were once my best event, yet the last couple of years I have had trouble with them. This year I really wanted to turn this around. I started relatively slow and tried to go faster as the race went on. I felt good and not nearly as tired as I thought I would be following such a hard day of sprinting. I ended up 15^th on the day 8^th Canadian. Although I was happy with the result I was even more happy that I had finally broken the Sovereign lakes enigma and had two good races back to back one sprint and one distance.

Nor Am Cup Rossland BC, 17^th and 18^th of December

After the all classic weekend in sovereign Lakes it was time dust off the skate skis for an all skate weekend in Rossland. Classic is generally my stronger technique but this year I have been  feeling really good on my skate skis and after possibly the best weekend of racing I have ever had In sovereign Lakes I was feeling confident going into Rossland. Unfortunately things did not go the way I wanted them to. On Saturday, I felt flat in the qualifier for the sprint. I hoped I would feel more energetic in my quarter final but it didn’t work out that way. I was never really involved in the fight for positions and crossed the line 5^th making me 23^rd on the day… Not the result I was looking for.

My quarter final in Rossland I'm number 23
Photo Credit: David Greer

The next day was the first mass start of the season, a 15 km skate on a demanding 3.75km loop. With Bib 36 I had a lot of traffic in front of me. At the start I stayed calm and tried to look for opportunities to pass people. I quickly realized that although I was feeling pretty good, I did not have very fast skis. This was not a case of bad wax (our team in general had fast skis), but a question of bad ski selection. Most of the race I could see the group in front of me that I wanted to be in, however every time I would get a bit closer to them on an uphill section of the course I would find myself a bit further behind after a downhill section. On the last lap I tied up a bit and crossed the line in 25^th, happy with my effort but a little disappointed with the result.  

All in all, however it has been a very good start to my season. 

Cool Shot taken during the 15km skate in Rossland
Photo Credit: Angus Cockney

The thing about racing is that not every day is going to be a great day, you have to learn from the good and the bad. Now I am enjoying a few well needed days off before I get back to training for the next part of the season.

Anything can happen in sprint racing Unfortunately two AWCA skiers were involved in this quarterfinal mishap
Photo Credit: David Greer

Fortunately no one was hurt
Photo Credit: David Greer

That’s all for now...

Racing Season has Started, Cold in Canmore and Movember

Racing season has started… sort of. On October 27^th I did my first race of the season (ok I realize this was over three weeks ago). Since then I have put in lots of hours on snow both in Canmore (now up to 4km of manmade snow) and Lake Louise (10km of natural snow). In fact, not to gloat to my fellow easterners, but I have not put on my rollerskis since arriving back in Canmore after thanksgiving on October 15^th. Back to that first race though.

Webcam of the Canmore Nordic Center on November 20th

Photo Credit:trailsports.ab.ca

The first race of the season on October 27^th was not actually a real race. Ok we had bibs and it was on snow (frozen thunder), but of course there were no awards or points to be had. Also only the top 16 qualified (as opposed to the top thirty) and we raced in four person heats (instead of the usual six). Still this race simulation definitely got all the nerves pumping in a way I had not experienced since last winter. It’s amazing what putting on a simple bib will do. It was also a classic sprint (my favorite event) so I was real looking forward to testing myself against a strong field which included world champ Devon Kershaw. My qualifier went amazingly well and I ended up with the third fastest time. I moved through the quarter and semi trying to ski smooth and out of trouble. In the final, when Devon Kershaw increased the pace, I could not keep up and ended up third. It’s important not to read too much into these early season races, yet if nothing else it was a huge confidence boost and got me even more motivated for training and the upcoming season.

I'm on the left finishing my semi final during the classic sprint race on Frozen Thunder

Photo Credit: Dan Roycroft

Since that first race training has been going well. Yesterday our team did our first on snow distance time trial a 15km individual skate. Individual skate races have always been my kryptonite. I have had good ones in the past but they are few and far between. Still after a few very solid weeks of training I was feeling unusually confident heading into yesterdays effort. I ended up with the 4^th fastest time and although I was over two minutes behind the time of the day (set by Pate Neumann who was quite literally on fire) I was really happy with how I skied and pushed hard the entire time. Also of note, it was -22 yesterday morning. Although it had warmed up to -16 by the time we were racing winter has definitely arrived in this part of the world, which is weird because there is still no natural snow on the ground in Canmore.

Interval training on natural snow at Lake Louise an hour drive from Canmore

Photo Credit: Mike Cavaliere 

For those who have made it this far, as I have just realized that this entire post is about skiing and racing, which I will concede, is not the most interesting of topics. Especially if you’re out east right now and all this talk about snow and skiing is getting on your nerves. This November I was convinced (mostly through peer pressure) to let the hair on my upper lip grow into something that vaguely resembles a moustache. Ok truth is most of the Guys on my team are attempting to grow moustaches for Movember to raise money for prostate cancer research. Having experienced the devastation that cancer can have on individuals and families first hand this is a cause that is very close to my heart. Since I have not really told anyone about this fundraising initiative yet I am lagging seriously behind in raising money. If you want to make a donation go to; http://ca.movember.com/donate/find-member/ and search my name. The team I am part of is called ACADEMOS so if you want you can make the donation to our team as a whole.

Day 20 of Movember

Lastly, now that racing season is upon us I am going to try to update this Blog more often. Next weekend I am off to Golden BC for a low key Kootenay cup race. After that it’s back to Canmore for an Alberta cup before the first NorAm of the season on December 10^th and 11^th in Sovereign Lakes.

That’s all for now.

Winter is Coming

Beautiful day in the Canadian Rockies high above Lake O'Hara

That’s right September is long gone and October is well under way. There are many clichés that can be attributed to this time of the year. The temperature is falling like the leaves on the trees, the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting colder. For me however this time of year means pumpkin and apple pies, turkey dinner and stacking wood. Over the last couple of weeks I have been able to indulge in most of these autumn traditions (seriously if there is anyone in Canmore that needs wood staked I will work for chocolate), yet I realize I haven’t written anything on this blog since the beginning of September so I should probably start from there.

September

Well at the beginning of September I was a teenager living far away from home yet under the roof of some good friends that were happy to feed me so long as I helped out with dishes. By the end of September I was an adult responsible for my own cooking, groceries and whatever else comes with living on your own (I’m still new to this and haven’t figured it all out yet). That’s right, less than a week after turning twenty and after four months of living with the Hicks family it was time for me to move in to my own place. I am now sharing a house with 2006 Olympian and owner of zone4.ca Dan Roycroft. So I guess you could say in September I grew up… or at least in theory. My Dad also came out west for a couple of weeks in September to visit me and some friends. We went on a short hiking trip at Lake O’Hara and stayed one night at Abbots Pass Hut which at nearly 3000 meters is the second highest permanent structure in Canada. If ever you are looking for great hiking in the Rockies Lake O'Hara is pretty ideal. Because the number of people who can visit is limited it's never crowded and the scenery is unbeatable. 

My Dad and I hiking around Lake O'Hara

Abbots pass hut built in 1922 long before the days of helicopters all the materials were brought up on foot via lake Louise and the Victoria glacier. You don't get an idea of how hard this was until you climb up the the hut.

October

During October I went home for a week. This was my first time being back home in the east since May. It was a bit of a last minute decision however it was great to see family and friends over thanksgiving. I did some great training with the Nakkertok crew and enjoyed the Indian summer (it was 25 degrees and sunny for thanksgiving). Now I am back in Canmore. The weather is beautiful and there is skiing at the Nordic center. That’s right every spring they make a huge pile of snow at the Nordic center and cover it with saw dust. Then, come mid October, they truck it out and make a short loop for skiing. So the day I got back to Canmore (October 15^th) I went for a ski. The track is a good combination of terrain that is easy enough to go for a long ski on yet hard enough for intervals.

Here is a link to a video on Frozen Thunder: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/video/video-skiers-get-head-start-with-stored-snow/article2205098/

Getting back on snow has reminded me of just how close racing season is. I will be lining up for my first race in less than a month and a half. Until then there are still many hours of training to be done however the shorter days and cooler nights are as sure of a sign as any that winter is coming.