Falun training and Falun racing were two very different beasts! The beginning of the week was cold and relaxing, with one good interval session, but mostly good ole cabin living. Once those races started, it was exciting and hectic! The first day was a skate interval start 15k, with another full World Cup field. It was about 10ºF, and the snow was old and fast. I started middle of the pack, (after warming up with too many clothes, trying to at least stay warm all the way to the start.) My goals for the day were similar to most interval starts in that I was mostly focused on good pacing, with a conservative first 3-4 minutes. However, this course had some key rest sections that I tried really hard to take advantage of, and therefore pushed myself harder over the tops of the hills leading into the rest. To dial this is, I did two full-length race visualization sessions, where I tried to focus on how I’d feel and what effort I’d be using at each part of the course. These took quite a while, but I think were super beneficial to me during the race. I think I did a good job using energy where I could in the first half, and then fighting in the second half. My other goal for this day was to finish with no energy left. Normally I don’t stress this, as I race hard every time, but this one I knew I was feeling fit and ready to push myself to my limit in the last couple km of the race. I did, and it felt good to know I had to dig deep a couple times out there. I think accomplishing these goals helped me have what I think was my best race performance this year (9th in a stacked field!), but I also just felt strong and resilient in the recoveries.

Staying relaxed and focused on applying smooth power

Looking up the biggest hill “Mordarbakken” (Murder hill…eye roll)

The next day was a 15km classic mass start on a different (easier) course. It used 2 different 2.5km loops, that didn’t involve the big hill. This was somewhat good, as it meant we didn’t have to ski the tight and fast corners coming off the top as a large group, but it also meant there was only one sustained hill where the pack could really break up. I started bib 14, so pretty near the front, and my goal was to try to stay around that position without expending too much energy, but I was into 35th at the first time check at 1.8km, so I wasn’t nearly aggressive enough. This lead to a lot of stop-and-go in the middle of the pack, and getting stepped on a couple times, one time losing me around 5-10 seconds. The whole race was tight, and there were a few big crashes, some of them really serious. Andrew Young from Britain fell going fast enough to crash through the wooden advertisement banners, and in that same crash, I narrowly avoided Erik Valnes in his process of standing up. Kinda scary stuff, we go fast! I ended up 28th, after expending a lot of energy in the middle of the pack, and just not having enough punch at the end. Only 17 seconds behind the winner, but I was frustrated with my inability to force a good position for myself. In the future, I’d be more aggressive about moving up when I can, and spend that energy, knowing I’d be able to conserve it more towards the front. Either way, I was happy with the day before, and happy to have not crashed, especially when hearing the horror stories after the race. (I think 3 or 4 of our men were involved in a pileup about 2 minutes into the race that put them way out of the running). I also hope they make this course harder for the next big mass start there!

No pictures from the race, but here’s the stadium looking very serene after a crazy day.

I didn’t get a sprint start, which was justifiable because I’m not the best at classic sprinting. It was super cool to go for a nice ski and then watch my friend Luke’s first World Cup! He missed the heats by 0.09 seconds, which suuuuuuucks, but we were all proud of him for a solid result. More to come there.

Watching JC flex his muscles in his quarterfinal

Got a sick new shirt thanks to Protect our Winters’ newest board member, Jessie Diggins!

Lots of cold skis to pack for World u23s!

Then it was time to go back to Finland for Junior/U23 World Champs. More cold weather ahead!

Pullin up to the new spot! Vuokatti, Finland

Enjoying some Alaska-like conditions! (daily skier photo)

If it looks cold, that’s because it is (0-5ºF)

Roomie Hunter, returning from Covid test

Coach Jan made it! It’s so nice to have him here. We’ve been talking about every 3 days this season, and now it can be in person

Always gotta remind you guys that I am still doing homework. This is physics 2. I’m doing a good job so far.

It’s been nice here so far. It’s a little nerve-wracking moving from a pretty constant World Cup “bubble” to a mostly new group of people, so we’re being really careful, all eating separately in our rooms and seeing each other outside training. The other obstacle is the cold, which I haven’t had too much of in central Europe, but I’m getting used to it and enjoying it again. And it makes things really pretty! (see below) One week until the races start. Until then, homework, easy skiing, and Netflix (Kevin recommended “Mindhunter” to me…it’s good)

This place has a ski tunnel! It’s crazy because it’s actually warmer in there right now, but they keep it cold all summer so the athletes here can ski year-round.