West to East
The second half of January was spent racing at the Western Canadian Championships and Eastern Canadian Championships. Directly after the Duntroon NorAm, I headed off to Alberta for the next stop on the Tour in Lake Louise and Canmore, aka Westerns. The first race was a test event for next year’s “Ski Tour Canada 2016” at Lake Louise. Lake Louise will be hosting a stage for the 12-day, 8-race Ski Tour Canada. The tour will serve as World Cup Finals for the 2015/2016 World Cup season, so it’s a very big deal for skiing in general but also for skiing in Canada. Many of the world’s best skiers will in attendance and it’s certainly something I’m looking forward to racing. Schedule for the 2016 tour: Gatineau – March 1, 2016 Montréal – March 2, 2016 Québec – March 4 and 5, 2016 Canmore – March 8, 9, 2016 Lake Louise – March 11, 2016 Canmore – March 12, 2016 The Lake Louise race started and finished right on the frozen lake. The race course is 10km with very long gradual hills, the kind you’d find in a Loppet. I wasn’t used to racing on that kind of terrain and being a classic technique race, it was a toss up between double poling or going with grip wax. I went for some light grip wax and I was glad I did! Those long gradual hills are harder than they look. I wasn’t clearing lactate as well as I wanted to either, as I finished in 10th. Racing returned to the normal venue in Canmore (at the Nordic Centre) for the skate sprint and 20km skate mass start. My sprinting looked positive after winning the morning qualifier, but it was tight in the heats and I fell back to 5th at the end of the final missing 4th by 0.01 seconds. The 20km skate was really fun, but my distance form still wasn’t there and I finished 10th again.
Missing the lunge for 4th vs. Ian Murray Photo Cred: @Zone4System After two months on the road I had a week back in Thunder Bay after Westerns. I really focused on recharging during my week in T-bay, going to some massage, chiro and osteo appointments. I could tell my week back in T-bay really got the energy going so I was looking forward to a strong trio of races Eastern Canadian Champs in Ottawa. The first race stated off OK, I qualified 3rd in the skate sprint, but was feeling quite good in the afternoon for heats. I just missed winning the gold by 1/2 a second to my club mate Michael Somppi in a drag down the finishing straight, but claimed my first NorAm medal and first silver in two years. Lappe Nordic got it’s first 1-2 Senior Men's podium which is something we’ve been waiting for for awhile. It got really cold in Ottawa the day after the sprints, nearly cold enough to cancel the races. On the last day, race organizers shortened the 20km classic race to a 15km as a precaution. Luckily it was calm and sunny over the weekend so it felt much warmer than it actually was. On Saturday, I finished 4th in the 15km skate, and hit the podium again in the 15km classic mass start by making a decisive move in the last 1.5km to grab another 2nd place finish!
Sunday's Podium
I also got some press at Easterns:
http://skitrax.com/80497/?c http://cccski.com/Media/Haywood-Race-Report/Haywood-RACE-Report--Buff-Sprint-results-from-Hayw.aspx#.VNa3h0JtafQ http://skitrax.com/80593/?c http://cccski.com/Media/Haywood-Race-Report/Haywood-RACE-Report--Emily-Nishikawa-and-Kevin-San.aspx#.VNa3UUJtafQ
It felt great to have my form return after not really being there through the early part of the season. Things look promising and I feel positive about my upcoming races.
