The 2010 season is underway!  After traveling to Europe on Monday, I got in a few days of training before my first race, a classic sprint in Beitostolen, Norway.  While the race wasn’t an official World Cup, there were plenty of world class skiers in attendance.  I opened up with a strong qualifying round in 7th position.  I advanced through the quarterfinals.  In the midst of the semi-finals, I went for a daring move to the inside but was shut out of the track and lost my momentum.  I struggled to get back into the race and missed advancing to the final.  My overall result was 9th place.  A satisfying start.

Race #2 of the weekend was a 5km classic.  Warm weather moved in just before the race including rain.  I chose to go on my Fischer zeros (no-wax classic skis).  I started off at a steady pace and built through the race.  Midway through I passed the bib ahead of me and could tell I was having a good one.  I charged over the 2nd half of the course and crossed the finish line as the new leader by 25 seconds.  I got to sit in the leaders chair for several minutes (to my surprise) as several top names came in.  It wasn’t until the last 5 skiers that I finally got bumped out of the lead.  My time did stand for 4th place however, just 8 seconds off the podium.  With several World Cup pros in attendance, this was a very solid distance result for me and a great way to start the season with confidence in my fitness!!

I will remain in Beitostolen for the next week, preparing for the official start of the World Cup season on Saturday with a 10km freestyle race.

Additional thoughts:
Time Flies – It seems like a flash since I was packing by bags to head home from the final World Cup race of the 2009 season, and yet here I am again, at the start of a brand new year.  Over the last eight months I have logged over 450 hours of training in preparation for this Olympic season.  The last few weeks have been an anxious wait, putting on the final touches, and wondering where my fitness would stack up with the World’s best.  Now it’s time to find out!

Hey Coach – A benefit of racing in Norway is a chance to see my former coach Frode Lillifjell who is now coaching the elite Norwegian club team, Team Trondelog.  Frode was course-side during both the sprint and the 5km races this past weekend and it was great to be able to hear what his experience has been like with the elite athletes in Norway.

Freaky health things lead to good performances? – Upon arrival in Europe last week I developed a severe case of hives due to an allergic reaction.  A few days later I have solid performances in two races.  Last year at World Championships, only a few days before my silver medal performance, I was fighting a case of shingles.  And just before I discovered the blood clot in my leg in March of ‘08, I had just wrapped up a successful week of racing at the Canadian Championships.  So hear is hoping for an ear ache this weekend.

Brown cheese please – The food here in Norway has been pretty awesome.  One of my favorite Norwegian delights is brown cheese made from cow’s milk.  It has a slightly sweet taste and goes really well with jam and bread.  Other notable food items – fish paste that comes in a tube (tastes like smoked salmon) and bread that comes with a cross-country ski star on the bag!

Thanks for reading,

Kikkan

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