Yesterday, I completed my first race of the season! It was a sprint race, however, it was only the prologue/qualifier section of the sprint race so all we did was 1 1.4km race. The course was also point to point which made it harder as it took out much of the flat that a stadium typically has. Conditions changed quickly overnight and were much different than everyone had expected. It was COLD and dry making the snow pretty fast and the downhill corners icy and a bit terrifying. My legs were feeling a bit dull from the training this week, but I was very nervous and ready to go. I had thought so much about this race as it was so short, yet very important, but once I got out of the gate, my body did just as it does in every race and that racing subconscious took over so I did all the worrying for nothing, my body certainly knew best! The icy downhill corners took me by surprise causing me to do the dreaded snowplow that I am endlessly fighting, but all I could think about was getting my left ski caught in a rut and tearing the rest of the ligaments in my knee. Fortunately, I survived, and skied on to the finish. I ended up 8th place, and 5th American which I was quite pleased with. I felt that I could have gone much harder as when I finished, I felt like I could have skied a bit longer, but I got the job done and got the first race jitters out of the way! Tomorrow we have a 10k Skate and then Saturday a 5k Classic. Happy Thanksgiving!!!
(here's the link to full results: http://summittiming.com/races/race_results.php)
