U23 World Champs

On the bus to the Oulu airport right now, realizing it’s been a long time since I made this drive in the other direction! It’s been about 2 weeks here, in a pretty isolated environment because of exposure to lots of new people. I’m excited to get back to the world cup team for our pre-world champs camp in (sunny, warm) Davos. We’ll have to continue isolation there to protect our teammates—which is a bummer— but I feel good about it with the biggest races looming. In hindsight, I think this U23 world champs felt a little flat because of so much time here: in cold weather that made quality training harder to accomplish. It was a really beautiful place with good skiing, I think I just missed a little edge in my preparation for these races.

Testing classic skis with coach Newell

Putting in some intensity/technique work with Jan (daily skier photo)

The first race for me was the classic sprint, but due to cold temps on the scheduled day, the race was pushed back a day. This kinda sucked because we had prepared the day before, and then had to wait most of the morning to find out whether we were racing. I’d like to say this didn’t impact my performance at all, and I think mentally I did a good job rolling with it, but physically I think I ended up missing something. That race went really badly for me result-wise, and I just didn’t feel very strong out on course. It was definitely a test of my confidence and ability to re-focus for the next day. I had to just tell myself over and over that tomorrow was a new day and I could turn things around, because I didn’t really trust that I was feeling that good. By the next day I was excited and more confident, hoping I’d feel better in the race. It was cold again, but not as bad as the day before. (The proof is that I warmed up fully outside, instead of partially inside like I did before the sprint).

Cool to race in a Protect our Winters bib! This week was a good time to address the difference between weather and climate… (just because it’s -10ºF doesn’t mean we’re safe from the crisis) (lurocreative.kuvat.fi)

In the skate race, I wanted to pace consistently, as the slow snow made each 3.75k lap a pretty consistent grind. That meant starting a little harder than normal, and just holding it. I did a good job at the beginning, staying within a few seconds of the leaders, right where I wanted to be. However, around halfway, when I usually begin to tell myself to start “turning the screw” (increasing effort), I wasn’t able to make any more speed, and started losing seconds over the gradual tops of all the hills. It was a weird race because I didn’t really feel like myself for this “crunch time”. On a good day, that second half is where I’d be able to close gaps and pour on the rest of my energy, but I already didn’t have much left to give. It ended up meaning I got passed by the race leader who started 30” behind me, and I just couldn’t hold on. I finished 9th, 53 seconds back to a guy I beat in the 15k skate in Falun. This definitely bummed me out, because I did everything I could, and gave everything I had, and just didn’t race like I know I can. I can find positives in (A) Knowing I pushed myself to my limit even when I wasn’t having that fast of a race, and (B) Working to find seconds where I could in the corners and gradual downhills. At the end of the day, I just had to look to the relay and to World Championships in Germany.

Skate 15k (lurocreative.kuvat.fi)

The next day I felt like it couldn’t be too much worse, and if anything the races were making me more ready to race a 5k in the mixed relay. I was glad to get the relay opportunity, because I knew our team had medal chances! A squad like Hailey Swirbul, me, Hunter Wonders, and Sophia Laukli is a squad you want to be on.

Hanging on! (lurocreative.kuvat.fi)

Hailey had a strong first leg, and came in dead even with team Norway, with the other teams falling off behind them. When I saw this happening, I knew I had to work together with Norway’s second leg, Jon Rolf Hope, and not let him get away! At the start, I took lead, but he was chilling in my draft, and went around pretty quickly and boosted the pace big time. I drifted back about 5-10 meters, and started to get really nervous about losing him. My kick was good, though, so I was able to bound back to his heels up the big sprint hill. I drifted back a couple more times on the gradual uphill double poling, and closed the gap up the striding hills again. In the finishing 1km, I ended up losing about 5 seconds, unfortunately tagging Hunter a little bit off of a great ride. He did a really good job holding off the strong chase pack, and not losing much time to Norway. In the end, Sophia fought in the chase pack, and ended up a close 5th. We were a little bummed just being so close to medals, but everyone skied a really solid leg and it made for exciting cheering!

Debriefing with Jan (lurocreative.kuvat.fi)

Dissipating some race tension by jumping in a frozen lake then coming back to a hot sauna!

I’m really thankful for a successfully organized event of this size in these times. For a lot of the people here, this is the only shot at big races they got this season, and it was the last year as a junior for a lot of them. This venue really came through and did a lot of work to make it happen, and that’s really impressive. Kiitos Vuokatti.

Long ski on the last day

Crazy trees

On the move! ———> Davos

Falun Roller Derby & First Days in Vuokatti

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.

Skate test (Jack Novak)

Staying relaxed and focused on applying smooth power

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

Evening jog beauty

And a cold pre-race meeting

And a pre-race morning run

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.

Post race cravings from Ian Torchia

Sunny, easy ski the next 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.

Played a lot of Catan in the cabin

Greasy face to protect from cold

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)

The main climb, near the stadium

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

Prettyyyyyyyyyyyyy pretty

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

Big team here, the speed is high

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.

Just perfect.

Seiser Alm -> Lahti -> Falun

Not too much to write about these days which is a nice change. Started school and came to Seiser Alm the day after the tour ended, so this week has been busy with stuff besides skiing. It’s been so nice to have a few one-workout (and non-workout) days, and just enjoy some sun and good food and just not doing much. Therefore, race writing is below, but here are pics.

Prepare to see those mountains a lot

Lots of sun, great meals, and chill time. And a haircut.

Stretching out those new straps

Pretty travel

Munich airport

It was hard to leave, but once I arrived in Lahti, I felt ready to hammer again. The weather wasn’t great, but I think that helped me get back into the race mindset. The first day I just skied long around the easy trails, which are super nice and wooded. The next day was already pre-race day for the skiathlon, so I tested skate and classic skis and did some intervals with gear transitions in the middle (the skiathlon is an event where you ski a classic course, switch skis and poles, and go immediately into the skate course. Ours was 15k of each technique). It was fun to practice this, and I felt good being back at sea level for the first time since Ruka in November!

Race day I started testing skis 90 minutes before my race, because my wax tech Karel needed time to prepare 2 pairs of skis. These guys work twice as hard on skiathlon days! Karel nailed the skis, and I was psyched to have confidence in them. I was lucky to be starting bib 12 (!) in this mass start, based on my World Cup distance points, so I had a good spot for the beginning of the mass start. In Lahti the courses have really steep climbs and descents, so big packs tend to “accordion” a lot where they spread out on downhills and bunch up at the beginning of the uphills. This makes it way easier to ski near the front versus the back. My main goal for the classic was to ski as relaxed as possible without losing the group, and the group mostly stayed together so this worked out well. I had to fight to keep my spot a little bit but generally it wasn’t too bad. 

I had a solid transition, nothing special, then the leaders put in a hot first skate lap. I wasn’t able to match that pace and fell back to the next pack. Scott Patterson and I then worked together to keep our pack moving. I didn’t have too much energy to really push our pace, but I spent some time up front. The finish was super fun, within our pack there were a few attacks, starting about 1.5km out. I ended up getting blocked a little on the last uphill, but made a good move into the Lahti corner to gain 2 spots. I was really happy with being able to ski strong and with good energy this whole race, and ended up only 1:40 behind the winner!

Too tired to be accurate with the knuckles

The next day was a 4x7.5km relay, and I went on leg 2 (classic). It was a lot of fun to get the Jessie treatment with face paint and socks, and do my first World Cup relay! Our team had a bit of bad luck with an ill-timed pole break on the first leg, so I got tagged 1:40 back, and skied mostly alone. However, it’s still fun to put on a bib, and relays are always a good time! 

Bus from Stockholm to Falun- watched some Django

Today I did a speed/interval session to get ready for the distance races Friday and Saturday. It was a short L3 warm up, then 2 sets of 6x15-15, 4x30-30, and 2x60-60 (being seconds hard and seconds off). Then I did a 5’ L3 cool down to clear some lactate. It felt good and fast and I’m looking forward to the weekend! The video of it is under the “links” tab in the navigation bar up top.

In Falun we’re staying in cute little cabins with bunk beds, and weather and snow is great!

Tour de Ski!!

Thanks for being patient on this one, I was busy enough during the tour to not write anything down, and just started school again, so it’s taken a bit to get on top of the blog. However, I know how cool of an experience the tour is (and seems to be from the outside) so I want to do it justice here. I’m just going to start with pictures and a run through of the week, kinda journal style, then put some better thoughts at the end. :)

Welcome to the show. Val Mustair, Switzerland. 2 days before the first race.

View from the room. Watching some old World Cup racing.

Pre-skate sprint testing. Sunny and cold!

Distance course check

New Year’s Eve! And Tour de Ski Eve

Time to fight!!

Video screenshot from the first race (skate sprint)

Ended up 31st in this qualifier, less than half a second behind my teammate/roomate Kevin Bolger. Had to let him have it, poor guy is used to being in sprint finals now. Wasn’t bummed with it, I think I did a good job in my race execution. Also I may have been a little bit excited to not race again, because I got to save that much energy for the rest of the tour. Whoopsie!

Dr. Greg came! (as team doctor for the tour)

Walking the streets of our little village

A little too tight for some vehicles

Lapping in the pursuit

Video screenshot from the final 1km of the skate pursuit in Val Mustair

Didn’t get many pictures from the race days, they tend to feel like there’s not much time to waste. Especially early in the tour, when our team is extra focused on limiting time on skis/outside/at the venue. A big part of success in the tour is not spending energy where you don’t need to, so we tried hard to spend as much time as possible chilling.

The first weekend of races didn’t go super well for me. The sprint started fine, then I really blew up on the 3rd of 4 laps in the classic mass start. The pack stayed together for the first half, and I started accelerating when everyone else did, but I just didn’t have enough to hold the pace. I also was too focused on the action around me, and not focused enough on my own effort, and realized I was over my limit a few seconds too late. I was able to fight through that last lap for 36th, but it felt bad to drop through the field. In the pursuit, I was able to move up to 32nd in the tour with a 28th time of day, so I salvaged it a little bit. The difference was a stronger attention to my physical red flags (heart rate and muscle feelings). Overall, the grinding courses at 5,500ft in Val Mustair seemed to not serve me that well, but I was happy to have only 2 days before another fresh start!

Sunrise in Toblach!

Classic testing on a perfect day with Karel!

Looking up the main climb

Feeling really lucky to be able to see all these amazing places, even if I have to ski as hard as I can for most of my stay at some of them.

Stadium view

AND I get to have my dad here????!!?!

Ready to FIRE

FIRING. Helped along by big yells out of Dr. Greg

The first day in Toblach (stage 4) was a skate 15km individual start. My focus for the race to was to start easier than I thought I should (up the first main climb) and then try to sustain and build pace at the end. It went well, and I neared the top of the climb feeling relaxed, but got a split that I was tied for first, so I knew it was a good day! I kept it steady through the next 5km, and then the eventual 2nd place finisher, Denis Spitsov (Russia), caught me and the other guy I was leading, so I got a good ride from him to finish the second lap. On his second lap (my last lap), he skied very fast up the hills, and really helped me push into the finish. I crossed the line in 2nd (no leader’s chair…yet), feeling like I had done a great job using my energy where I could and finishing feeling perfectly spent! I started my cool down before the race was over, so I didn’t know how I was doing at all, except that it was at least a solid race. When I came back to the wax truck, Matt Whitcomb was stoked and gave me a big hug, but I still didn’t know exactly how I did. Fun to hear my time held up well!

This race was big for me because it was a good support to my confidence, showing I could at least scrape the window of the top guys.

From the skate race cool down, knowing I did well but not my final place (sorry about the boogers and pro bar crumbs, gotta get that food in ya know!)

Part of the fun of the tour is that you always have another race to focus on, no matter how you did. I rode the fun feeling of 14th through the night, got a massage, and started visualizing for the next day.

Skiing in the second chase pack in the classic pursuit

The classic pursuit was extra fun because I got to start in a position with some really good skiers. I was able to work well with them just holding a pace. Helped push us along a little bit, maybe a little too much near the end. I didn’t have much energy to finish with and drifted towards the back of the group for the finish. Another fun race to ski tactically in a group!

Raced well enough to go to anti-doping!

Thankfully I had my trusty team doctor to keep me company

The only annoying part about anti-doping was that I had to wait for 2 hours after my cool down to get my blood drawn. The race was at 3:30pm, so that meant a later departure than was planned. It all worked out because I got to eat nutella/banana sandwiches all the way to Val di Fiemme, and talk about how to cook leftovers with our team nutritionist, Alan. (Thanks Alan, if you’re reading. The sandwiches and tips on old noodles were perfect.)

Val di Fiemme hotel arrival

Always fun to see an iconic venue for the first time (Val di Fiemme, World Champs 2013)

Really capitalizing on a much needed rest day. Sunny and perfect skiing!

In the tour, you get 2 rest days, and people take a lot of different approaches to them. The most common is probably to just ski easy for a little bit and test skis for the next day or few days. Some people also do almost nothing if they are really tired, but I found that it was most helpful for me to do some light intensity both days, to “keep the engine running”. I felt like a fully off day would make me feel sluggish and flat, so I kept the pressure on, so my body didn’t have time to really enter too much of a restful state. These days were still significantly less stress than race days, but just enough to keep me “awake”. That intensity was 2x4min at 30km race pace for the first day, and just 5min gradual downhill double pole the second day.

Getting some food and warmth between classic sprint qualifier and heats

The classic sprint was good for me, it was really fun to qualify and be able to race my second World Cup heat. Sprint heats are a great place to pick up tactics and just generally how fast skiers ski. I ended up in a mediocre position going into the last downhill and didn’t have the double pole finish speed to back it up but I still had a good time.

14km into the 15km classic mass start with the leaders in reach.

Thankfully I still had a good amount of energy going into the last 2 races, which really helped me feel confident in a generally slightly more tired field. This race, the 15km classic mass start, I started in the 7th row, bib 33, so my plan was to chill back there until the field started to spread out, allowing for easier passing. This ended up taking a lot longer than I though it would, with the main stretch-out starting at a time bonus on the 4th of 6 laps. I had been skiing pretty steadily between 40th-25th before that, but that opening allowed me to move up more. This race I was also reminiscent of my Val Mustair classic distance race, and was attentive to how I was feeling. This got exciting on the start of the last lap, because I did a little self-check and I was still feeling energetic and strong, and I knew even if the pace really heated up, I’d have some energy to respond. That’s basically what happened! On the longest climb, DeFabiani (Italy) started to push and I found myself shoulder-to-shoulder with Bolshunov with under 1.5km left! That was a crazy feeling, and as I got closer to the finish in 5th, I realized I needed to look ahead to the podium, which was a crazy feeling in a World Cup, and a feeling I haven’t had in racing yet this year. I ended up losing a couple spots in the end, but the feeling I got from being so close to the front of the field was enough to make me incredibly stoked! That was the kind of race that makes me love racing, and I’m really proud with my execution.

The camera helicopter flying around before the start of the final climb

On the middle of an alpine hill (from Caitlin Patterson)

Gonna burst people’s bubble a little and say that the final climb wasn’t maybe as hard as everyone makes it out to be. This is only because you can only go so hard before your body shuts down, and I think I’m pretty good at getting there in any normal race. I will say it is a pretty absurd event though. There are some spots on that hill where you turn a corner and just look up and whimper. Ended up 19th in that one, and I was just happy to be done and to have accomplished such an iconic event in nordic skiing! If you told 12 year old me I was going to be finishing the tour this year, he would’ve absolutely believed you, but would’ve also been hyped.

The crew at the top!

I’m so thankful to and proud of this whole team in the tour. We had so many finishers, including 3 of the 10 EVER U.S. male finishers. And obviously we had an overall winner, just check the New York Times for info on that one. But it takes so much more than that— from our PTs, coaches, wax techs, nutritionist, doctor, and all of our supporters at home— our team has so much help to do our jobs, and we are incredibly thankful for everything. I hope we can return the favor now and every weekend by racing hard and doing well!

Podcast with Ian Harvey about the tour (48min)

Greg gets the loudest fan award

Thanks for walking back out to cheer us on, Jessie :)

And thankful for a great roomie

Kev treating himself to a tiny espresso

Seiser Alm walks!

Now we’re in Seiser Alm, Italy for an 8-day recovery camp, before moving on to the next World Cups. This place is amazing, and it’s giving me good time to start school and enjoy some of the prettiest skiing I’ve ever done. Hopefully we can regain some energy before Lahti in a little over a week…

:)

:)

:)

Slowwwwwww :)

:o

Might have to come back someday

Among all of this very race-focused action, it’s easy to feel disconnected from normal life, especially back at home. For me, especially, it can feel kind if ignorant to be focusing so hard on cross country ski racing when climate change, Covid, and American political issues continue to get worse. However, I think it is still worthwhile for me to continue doing the best I can with the amazing opportunities that I’ve earned, as I think I can do more good with a sport-elevated voice than I could without it. That, combined with the vocal support I get from people I both know and don’t know, makes me really believe that I’m doing the right things. Maybe this sounds like me trying to get rid of guilt but it really comes down to an appreciation of everyone that follows and supports me through this career, it truly does mean a lot. If I can give people some fun news and distractions, I’ll count it as a win!

So thank you for reading, and I hope I can provide some entertainment the rest of the winter!

Davos pt. 2 & Dresden

After the races in Davos last weekend I really didn’t feel like writing a blog. I was disappointed in my objective results in a weaker field (no scandinavians), and I thought I’d be able to do better after a good time trial the previous weekend. Basically, I didn’t do as well as I thought I would or could, and had a few days where that really weighed on me. I’m writing about it now because I think I cleared that mental hurdle really well, with a lot of help from my coaches and teammates. It will also help me to write my thoughts down here.

I was bummed after Saturday because I felt like I just didn’t have the top speed to hang onto the guys in my quarterfinal. (Didn’t really factor in the fall I had to jump over but I still felt too slow).

(dailyskier.com pic) Tired and 5th in my heat!

Doing everything I can do feel better Sunday

I was actually happy with my race Sunday until I saw results. I thought I paced really well and adjusted my technique to ski a grinding altitude course. Again I was just slower than I assumed I’d be and that was hard to deal with. After those races I definitely reached out a lot to my people, and heard a lot of the same things, mostly things which I already knew, but needed to hear from other people. A few days later I was able to talk myself into those mindsets, that allowed me to focus on future races and the things I can do better. A few of the statements are: it’s a long season and I might just need time to work into it; I haven’t raced high-level races before nationals in a long time; and, that I just have to be patient because I know I can race well. It also gave me the kick I needed to play around with some new technique stuff, including shortening my poles a little. After that really productive technique session, I felt better and started getting excited for Dresden. We spent a lot of time in Davos!

Ski to chill out a little

Matt saying his final goodbyes

And a beautiful final morning

The drive to Dresden was boring, I forgot to download any movies or anything, so all I had were some podcasts and music for 7 hours. Couldn’t even sleep much! We got there and walked around the old town and saw the course, such cool stuff.

boreeed

Course prepped up!

Beautiful pre-race day

The sprint day was good, we only got 10 minutes on course to test skis before the race (to preserve the snow for the whole day). Which was plenty to practice the corners a couple times and do some speeds on skis. Lots of people warmed up on roller skis, but I didn’t have any so I just ran with some exercises to get my arms and legs warmed up. I actually felt more warmed up than a lot of other lazy on-ski warmups. 

I didn’t qualify, missed it by a second or so. I wasn’t too bummed about it, I thought I skied as well as I could’ve, but just lacked the big, fast gear than I needed for really fast, flat, sea level skiing. 

Pre race testing…such a cool course (dailyskier.com)

From across the Elbe

How’d I do????? (dailyskier.com)

Better luck next year (dailyskier.com)

Even though I didn’t race much I’m so glad I went to Dresden! It was an experience unlike any other I’ve had so far and I had a ton of fun. Also big shoutout to FIS and the local organizers for making a really secure bubble for us (on Saturday every single athlete, coach, and tech tested negative!).

Seefeld by night

Looking forward to 10 days in Seefeld, Austria, doing some training and chilling in preparation for the Tour de Ski! I’m really excited to try that, and I’ll take it race by race to see if I want to keep going (8 races in 10 days may be a bit much). We’ll see!

Merry Christmas!!

Davos! pt.1 (pics mostly)

Our team traveled to Davos, Switzerland immediately after finishing up the Ruka weekend. We’ve been here for about 9 days now, and it’s been amazing! I didn’t update earlier because I had some finals early in the week. I still have one more after writing this but I’m giving myself a break from all the engineering stuff. Here’s the last 9 days in pictures!

Arrival at the Kulm

Followed by a starry shakeout jog

Moonlight!! also take note of how dry it is…that’s not going to last

Waking up to some amazing views!

…and a greeeaaat breakfast. The highlight for me is the honey here.

Arriving to the first ski.

Day 1: 4km man-made loop

Day 2: Snow!

Snow makes things better

Look good feel good?

Nighttime run + cool train

3rd or 4th morning? Some sun :)

When in Rome

Day 4 our coaches organized an international time trial on the same courses we’ll do for the race next weekend. Apparently a lot of people were interested, because we had some awesome competition! The guys got to race with Pellegrino, Bolshunov, Hediger, and lots of the best skiers from the Italian, Russian, Swiss, and German teams! It made for a super competitive race atmosphere, and helped teach us how these courses feel during a race, especially for those of us that haven’t raced here before.

faster skier write-up of the time trials:

https://fasterskier.com/2020/12/international-time-trial-in-davos-sharpens-american-world-cup-squad/

Starting the qualifier ahead of JC

Pellegrino checking to see if the serial numbers on our ski are close and they’re “brothers”. We skied on the same grind and flex for that day. We also tested one of each of our skis to see if anyone was breaking the no fluoro rule—good practice for next year.

Sprint Final! Ended up 3rd behind Pellegrino and Bolshy which made me feel really good about where I’m at in training.

Feeling friendly after a good day

Big fan of the hair on their heads

Tired boys after a sprint morning

The next day we did a 15km skate time trial with a lot fewer racers. That helped make it lower-key, which was good for me because I wasn’t looking for a maximum distance race effort. I also didn’t feel the best, so it felt good that there wasn’t much stress. Must’ve worked too hard the day before!

Doing some skiing with Francesco DeFabiani

& Jonas Baumann. Shoutout Matt Whitcomb for the sick pics both days

Unwinding with some FIFA while the snow comes

Day 6 (off day) sledding in a ton of new snow

can’t do anything in public but don’t want to spend a whole off day inside

being a good teammate and breaking trail. That’s a lot of snow in 2 days!

Morning 7: clear, cold, and snowy

Made for a perfect easy ski!

Postcard place- feeling very lucky to be here

Too much snow?

Jogging with Ian Torchia and Adam Martin

Thanks for checking in! I’ll post again after the races, maybe with more words next time. :) Everybody likes pictures, right?

THE Ruka Triple

Going into these first races of the season, I’ve had some doubts about my preparedness, as I haven’t raced big races before the new year in the last several years. I was still training quite a bit until recently, and felt like I didn’t have the time to get my body ready for racing. I managed these dismissals by reminding myself why I’m here and that I can complete the motions I need to race the best that I can, so that’s where my focus went for the weekend. I obviously still had result expectations in the back of my mind, but as I got closer to racing, my specific steps for racing took precedence as my main goals. These ended up being: 1. Dialing in my race routine (warm up intervals, pre race eating, ski testing. 2. Pacing, and 3. Relaxing in the middle of races. These are all some things that I end up feeling disconnected from in the summer with fewer and different types of race efforts. The pacing was my biggest source of nervousness for Saturday’s 15km interval start, especially as these courses had some hills with potential to really slow a bonked racer down. So after the race, when I realized I thought I’d paced it well, I was super happy! There was still a twinge of disappointment with the result, but I tried really hard to focus on that good pacing and the fun last lap I had skiing behind Sjur Roethe and then Klaebo, De Fabiani, and Kruger for the finish. After that, I was just excited for some tactics and group skiing on Sunday. I started 2 seconds behind Kruger, and 4 seconds ahead of the wave of 30 (😳). I just started fast, skied with Kruger for a few minutes, then got into the lead pack of the wave. It shuffled around a little, but I mostly skied with a group of Swiss and German skiers and Scott Patterson. In the last couple laps, I really started to dig deep, and that felt good to realize I can really push that hard again! Racing feels like it’s coming back to me pretty quickly, and I’m super excited to get another chance at World Cups in 2 weeks in Davos! Until then, our team will be there training and enjoying some more daylight. 

Classic sprint race prep

JC hours before being 1 sec from qualifying

Skate testing with Karel

The walk to the wax trucks

Warm up tent

The walk to the start

The post-race drained feeling

I’m GONNA get some cheese someday

Waiting for our burgers after the last race and seeing the local sights

And then we flew to Davos! The cross-country and nordic combined world cups both wanted to go to central europe, so FIS chartered a plane from Kuusamo to Munich. Kinda cool to be on just a regular plane but with only skiers. It made travel a lot less stressful, as we didn’t get exposed to as many new people. The drive to Davos was smooth, and we’re excited to be here!

Moonlight jog with Logs

They have about 4km of man-made snow here, but it’s been snowing all day today so hopefully we can ski more soon. Racing in 2 weeks!

Game time!

The last few days have felt pretty chill, but today felt real. All of the teams were here, and this morning the stadium and sprint course were filled with people testing fleets of skis and doing race prep intervals with their teams. I haven’t been too nervous yet, mostly just excited for my first European World Cups! I don’t have too many expectations for myself, especially this early in the season. My goal for tomorrow in the sprint is to ski smooth and not rush the bottoms of the hills and see where that takes me.

Chillin. See the homework in the bottom left!

Ruka from the jump landing

Welcome to Ruka :)

Testing with Karel and Clement

Pre race haircut. Look good, feel good.

We’re hyped to start the season! JC and I start bibs 46 and 49. I think technically Ruka won’t be broadcast live in the U.S., but a VPN or sly YouTube search might be able to yield some viewing.

Finland part chill

First off, it seems travel went well. Lots of surface wiping and not a lot of time without the mask (had to eat and drink unfortunately) made us feel pretty safe. Hopefully the test after 72 hours will confirm this.

PPE outfit goes hard. Big fan of the face shield telling everyone what it is.

Logan doing his wiping

JC about ready to take the mask off after 30-ish hours with it on. And first time seeing the wax truck!

The travel day was tiring enough that we were able to sleep through the whole first night, which set us up beautifully for the next day. We went on a boys run around the ski mountain. Lots of cool trails and cabins around here!

They said the trails weren’t ready to ski so we ran on them for a bit. Sorry groomers.

RukaVillage*

Spin biking with a glimpse of the ski jump. Big lights!

First night dinner…putting the hot sauce to use!

Getting psyched to ski after watching the groomer set up the track

+ a beautiful morning

and great skiing

Lots of poles. Organized though!

To give some context to these pictures, our team policy is to basically limit outdoor maskless interaction to men’s and women’s teams, with indoor interaction only with roommates. JC is my roommate so we’re around each other, but when around people not in training we’re wearing masks. Just in case one person tests positive, the team can sort of limit who has to quarantine. Hopefully we don’t have to deal with that but there’s always a risk. And cooking/eating is done in our rooms too, so not actually very much team interaction. It’s definitely a little bit of a bummer to be involved in this World Cup team and not get to really hang out, but it’s worth it to be able to race again! And we have a kitchen in our room to chef up some good lunches. Today was ramen, bow tie noodles yesterday, toasted sandwiches the day before.

Mask locked and loaded

balcony view with the race course down low

The boys skiing in some new snow

Also the skiing is super good! They rolled out man made snow on our second day, and new snow fell on the 3rd day to make it even better. The courses have some steep ups and downs, and some cruising flats in between. I’m excited to start skiing them fast with some intervals Tuesday, and racing starting Friday! Before then, I’m just working with my wax tech Karel to figure out lots of new skis. Next post might be before racing if enough cool pictures get taken.

Last days at home...

It’s been an interesting year for everybody, including myself, and it’s because of that that I’m extra grateful to have the opportunity to go race on World Cup, starting in Ruka, Finland. I know an international race circuit seems weird right now, but it’s something I’ve dreamed of for years, and I can’t be more excited to get my start on the full-winter World Cup. I feel confident in the protocols used by FIS and the U.S. Ski Team to prevent illness around the whole World Cup events, and I hope, with diligent following of the plan, we can get some fun racing in!

That said, the prospect of being away from home for possibly up to 5 months has made me really appreciate the little things that I love here, like skiing in the dark on the trails across the street, and napping with our dogs.

Skiing from the door!

Hard to get up from a nap like this

It’s also currently one of the best starts to the winter that we’ve ever had, so that also makes it hard to leave. Going to worse snow feels silly after so much perfect skiing thanks to Anchorage’s Nordic Ski Club (also I’ve seen more people skiing out there every night than I feel like I’ve ever seen—proud of my city!).

Impeccable.

Mountain skiing

Easy days are great for some different trails

Gonna miss the regular stuff

Also I know I’ve been bad about blogging much, or posting in general. School and training have been busy! My goal for the winter is a blog every week or two. I know as a kid I loved just seeing the day-to-day stuff from the World Cup, so I’m going to try to provide that through my lens. Plan to check in more often!

Zoom school (Fluid Mechanics)

Lil sneak peek at the new team poster…hope I don’t get in trouble for sharing it but I think it’s cool

August 2017 NNF camp

Also I want to get in an NNF plug on this post! The NNF is an organization that’s been supporting U.S. skiing, specifically developing skiers, for years. I have received a lot of support from them over the years, from camp to race support. The fact that they support these events makes it possible for more kids to extend themselves and be involved many months out of the year. They are a huge part of the current and upcoming success in American skiing. They aren’t some big business either, most of their funding comes from their annual fundraiser: the Drive for 25. It’s going on right now and I would be so thankful if even a single person that read this blog donated to them. The link to my page is below, but you can also donate by just searching “NNF Drive for 25”. Generations of skiers thank you!

My Drive for 25 fundraising page

Cherishing the final head pets

Gonna be hard to leave these two :(