Racing
season has started… sort of. On October 27th 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 15th. 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 27th 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 4th
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 10th and 11th
in Sovereign Lakes.
That’s all for now.
