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 14th. I had a very good skate leg (traditionally my weaker
technique) and managed to gain one position to finish in 13th as the
6th under 23 skier.
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| Men's pack going up the first hill in the 30km skiathlon Photo credit: Angus Cockney |
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| 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 12th
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 2nd 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 3rd 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 3rd putting me in 9th
on the day as the 4th under 23.
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| 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 17th on the day (8th
U23) not a terrible result but far from what I had hoped for and needed.
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| 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
