After a few days of stellar training at Trapps, and some New Year’s Eve festivities on campus, we loaded up the vans and trucked off to Rumford, Maine for US Nationals.
When we arrived, the only skiing open was the sprint loop and teams from all over the nation (and Canada!) were out in full force previewing and testing glide wax. If you were going to be poetic about it, you could say that the trails were ablaze with multi-colored spandex. We drove to Bethel to the Mill Hill Inn, our accommodations for the week. Many thanks to innkeeper Woody Hughes for helping to make it the most comfortable place that I have ever stayed in my travels for ski racing. The boys and girls each had master lofts, which were simple, but spacious and very convenient. Downstairs, Woody cooked us delicious meals and we used the dartboard and pool table for a significant amount of our downtime. If you're ever in Bethel, you seriously need to check this place out!
http://www.millhillinn.com/MillHillInn.html
On the eve of the first race, I awoke to the sound of rain on the roof- never a good sign- but hoped that maybe the venue was getting snow or that the manmade would hold up. As the girls were eating breakfast at 6:30 that morning, we heard the news that the race was cancelled and later postponed to the next day. It was kind of weird to have to put away the jitters, only to know that you were going to have to deal with them again a short 24 hours later. We went on a fun team jog on the paths through the Bethel Country Club and then the girls team went to lunch a short 5 minute walk away in downtown Bethel. It was pretty cool because when we sat down, we realized that on either side of us sat some pretty well respected (Legendary?) faces in the ski industry: Alaska Pacific University head coach Erik Flora (coach of World Cup skiers Kikkan Randall and Holly Brooks) and journalist Peter Graves (has announced many Olympics and other sporting events). Just as we were finishing, the Dartmouth women’s coach arrived and was followed a few minutes later by three-time Olympian Torin Koos. No biggie, I guess.
From that unexpected off day on, it was pretty much business time. I competed in three events, the freestyle sprint, 10k freestyle and 5k classic. None of them were incredible performances, but I learned a lot and gained valuable experience. It was pretty cool to be surrounded by the best skiers in the nation on the course, warming up on the road or just warming up in the lodge between races. Many thanks to Pete and Kate for fast skis, guidance and a great experience, and to my family, who made the long drive up to cheer me on.
Cheering
The organizers did a great job setting up the courses in VERY adverse conditions
Men's freestyle sprint
On the eve of the last race, NENSA and Gould Academy held a fabulous Fast and Female event. Fast and Female is an organization that promotes female empowerment through sport. Over 90 girls and 30 ambassadors came out for cheering, zumba and inspirational speeches; it was a great day!
Jenna and I getting 'glittered' by Caitlin Compton Gregg, 2010 Olympian, Fast & Female's resident glitter boss. Photo courtesy of Nensa.
Just as I arrived home Sunday night, my roommates were beginning to pack for their races (for which they would leave the next day) so we caught up as much as we could! It is crazy how much people come and go for races, but I’ve learned to capitalize on situations both when it is quiet and when all of my friends are around. We spent the week recovering and waking our bodies back up on some fantastic trails about 20 minutes away from campus, and on Friday we drove up to Farmington, Maine for that weekend’s Eastern Cups. We previewed the course, hit the grocery store, checked into our motel and tucked into some delicious Italian food before getting a good nights sleep.
The first race was a classic sprint and the course had little elevation and was very fast. I went after it and ended up with my best EC sprint result yet, but was a mere 2 seconds out of qualifying for the junior heats. I was a little frustrating to have gotten so close, but I am very pleased with the improvements I’m making. The next day was an even better one in the 10k skate. The course was 6 laps of a 1.5k course that briefly wound through the woods before climbing and descending a portion of an alpine trail. It was great fun, and with about 115 competitors starting every 30 seconds, there were many people on course to ski with. All of my teammates had great races and spirits were very high! Many thanks to Mr. Hill for ferrying us around and providing moral support!
After returning Sunday evening, I used yesterday for a recovery workout and caught my first ever alpine race (in person) up on the hill. All of the Burke racers RULED! I also took one of my ‘piner friends out for a birthday night ski on the soccer field, I was really impressed at how fast she was cruising around!
We are heading over to Stowe tomorrow to do some intensity with the GMVS crew and are taking off for Lake Placid and some out-of-region points races on Thursday. Busy busy!
Think Snow!
Em
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