And just like that… there are only 3 major race events left
this season.
I left you off just before Norwegian Nationals in January;
lets talk about that. Norwegian Nationals may have been one of the coolest
experiences of my life. When you hear about Norwegian ski culture and how they
are crazy about this sport, this is what they are talking about. We arrived at
the site the night before the first race and the place looked as though they
were preparing for a major World Cup event. The first race day was the classic
sprint, and even in the prologue the trails were lined with spectators, and as
the day went on they really flooded in. After the prologue we went out to
pre-ski the distance course for the next day; and there were hundreds of kids
sprinting through the forest alongside of the trail cheering us on (as we
hobbled along at a pedestrian zone1 pace). It was really surreal to see so many
people that were so crazy about skiing. I love it.
The following day was the 15km skate. This was a really
strong race for me until the final 3km. I was on track to ski myself to a top
80/90 result, and felt strong, controlled, but I knew I was just riding the
edge. In the first two major climbs of my final lap I completely fell apart – I
just remember skiing with both of my legs completely locked with lactate and my
upper body was like a wet noodle. I managed to lose nearly a minute on the
group I was skiing with in the last 3km. I am still quite happy with this
performance, I went out at a pace that was too fast for me, and I paid the
price. But that is a great learning experience, I now know what that level of
pace feels like and I know that I am capable of it. This time I bonked at 12km,
maybe the next race I hold the pace until 13km, then 14km, and so on.
I know I have said this 1000 times before, but the variety
of levels here in Norway is absolutely priceless. Getting to compare yourself
against the best, and against everyone in between you and them. I cannot even
begin to explain how helpful this has been when it comes to learning, planning,
and executing my plan to improve as a skier.
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| TV time at Norwegian Nationals |
The next day was the 30km skiathlon. Since the beginning of
the year I was quite excited for this race. I was seeded 86th of 130
or so racers; from my position, it looked like I was trying to get home from
Toronto during rush hour. The gun went off and I sprinted with everything I had
to gain some ‘easy’ positions before the bottleneck. The fun thing about racing
in Norway, is that after the initial starting sprint it doesn’t settle to a
controlled pace like it does back in Canada. After the start, everyone keeps
hammering, everyone if trying to hold on pace with someone that is slightly
faster than them. I managed to ski myself into a good position at the end of
the classic leg, and it was time for the next 15km of skating. By the
20km mark I felt my muscles starting to go into survival mode, completely
locked out and was pushing as hard as I could just to stay with the group I was
with. I just have a vivid memory of suffering up one of the last climbs of the
lap, my body full of lactate, wheezing, getting a nice strong whiff of beer and
cigarette from the spectators as they screamed at us top of their lungs at us.
It was awesome.
I ended up 72nd place on the day, less than 7
minutes of the winner (Sundby). I am proud of this race. Last year in
Beitostølen, I was nearly 7 minutes off in a 15km; I was 6:55 off in this 30km.
I am getting faster.
The final day of Nationals was the relay – one of the
craziest things I have ever seen and experienced. Now you would think since
it’s a relay, the mass start would be a little less crazy, right? Wrong. There
were nearly 150 teams on the start line. I was the lead classic leg for Asker
Team #3. It was a 3x10km relay, 1 leg classic, and two legs skate. I felt
absolutely wrecked this race. My muscles burned up right out of the start, I
felt like I was having a terrible run. I was purely fighting just to lose the
least amount of seconds for my teammates (I actually ended up having a decent
result, moving from 83rd position to tagging off in 44th,
90s off the lead). My team ended up 28th place on the day – super
cool to be amongst the top 30 in a race like this. Even cooler, Team Asker #4
also moved up the ranks to 61st position, Team Asker #2 finished 13th
place, and Team Asker #1 claimed the bronze medal. I remember watching our #1
team on the big screen, seeing our teammates Erland and Harald racing with
World Cup athletes. It was so crazy. Maks and I watched Harald barrel down the
finishing straight with Emil Iverson and Simen Krueger (who both have won world
cups this season, and one is now an Olympic champion), and we nodded and said,
“Well, I think we picked the right team”.
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| Asker Team 3: Sjur, Ola, Me (photo: Coach Ola) |
This weekend of racing really ignited my motivation for
skiing. Not that I was unmotivated, it just was a really cool realization of
how cool this sport is. Just to be a part of something that this country is so
passionate about, I really respect and appreciate that. I know I am nowhere
near that level right now, and that’s okay. But just to be amongst a huge group
of people chasing down that level of excellence with so much passion is a
privilege.
Following Nationals I rested hard for a couple days, and
decided to try and make a decent push of training until the next Norwegian Cup
(3.5 weeks after). Two weeks in I absolutely cracked. The training I had done
wasn’t crazy, but it was enough to push me over the edge. After having a few
rather poor intensity workouts & local races, I completely took the foot
off the gas 9 days out from the Norwegian Cup in Åsen. This was pretty tough
mentally for me. I know that if I take the pressure off too much before racing,
I get really flat and tend to race rather poorly. But I was in the hole, and my
only option was to rest and recover from it.
I was able to pull off some of my best results yet this
season. Cracking the top 70 in the 30km classic (interval start) and top 80 in
the 15km skate. This is decent progression, but I still know I am capable of
more. In the 30km my double pole technique completely collapsed after 10km. I
know if I can get to the point where I can hold it together for the entirety of
the race I can go minutes faster over the course of 30km, or however long the
race is. I skied a full lap with a skier who ended up in the top 30. No, I
wasn’t able to hold that pace, but I know what it feels like, I was close, I
can get there.
And finally being able to show that my skate skiing is on
par with my classic skiing was a big confidence booster as well. I know I can
skate ski at a high level, there are just more variables that can ruin skate
races for me when it comes to feet, shin and groin pain.
Every race here in Norway I am learning, finding ways to
become better. I can’t see myself not racing here in the future. (I will write
a more in depth blog post on this at the end of the season).
So that takes us until now, currently writing from Trondheim
for a Scandinavian Cup. Should be a fun weekend. Following that I am flying
back to Canada next weekend to and will be competing at Canadian Nationals. I
am super excited for that. It will be interesting to see how I can stack up
against the Senior field back home, I know I have gotten faster, but so has
everyone on the Canadian circuit. Of course it’d be nice to go home and be a
super star skier that got insanely fast after 1 year in Norway; but I know that
isn’t the reality of it. My investment in Norway goes years down the road. My
approach to it is that when I am 24, 25, 26, my time and work put in here will
show. That is when I expect to see the biggest progression.
But like I say all of the time, my goal is to be my best. Of
course I like seeing progression with my times, results and seeing those goals
through … but I made a promise to myself years ago that at the core of it is this
pursuit of becoming the best me I can be. And so far I am doing that justice,
always working on something to become a better skier, and person. So with that
said, I look forward to competing this weekend, and to race with my fellow
Canucks back home. I look forward to giving it my all.
Thanks for stopping by. Until next time,
Rj
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