I first entered the Nordic skiing community as a classic distance skier.  As a J2 at US Senior Nationals I had an amazing race and finished as one of the top juniors.  Only skiing for two years, I had picked up the classic stride fairly quickly and I knew how to use it to go fast.  I remember thinking how easy it was; I just focused on swinging everything forward. Skate or Classic? It was no question which race I would do better in. From this year on classic skiing was my technique.

This past week I traveled to Houghton, MI to race at nationals.  This was the biggest race of season so far, and unfortunately  it turned out to be something of a disaster.
Upon arriving to Houghton I was full of energy and drive.  The Scandinavian Cup trip has been a goal of mine that I have been working towards for quite a while.  This year I am a first year J1, but throughout the fall and early winter I have passed all of my set goals with flying colors, skiing far faster than I expected.

As far as all the races at Nationals, the only one I need to reminisce about is the 15k classic. I mean the 10k was great, don’t get me wrong, but I just spent the entire race pacing myself and trying not to hit the wall like I have done in so many skate races in the past. The sprint race was extraordinary, but all I really did there was qualify for the heats and be one of three people that didn’t crash in the quarters to move on. The classic race on the other hand was definitely worth remembering. Here is what I recall:

I did not leave Houghton with what I wanted (tickets to Poland), but instead left with a lesson learned. I had a good skate race, feeling strong and energetic, however, this was followed by a bad classic race, feeling off-tempo and distracted. Putting my past results behind me, I entered the sprint day relaxed and ready to go for it. That is exactly what I did, qualifying 13^th, a whole 19 places better than last year’s sprint. I was pleased with my result, but I still needed to perform in the heats. After the gun-shot, I started out fast and got into good position. A position that would have qualified me to World Juniors and might have advanced me to the next round, but nearing the stadium I found myself on my hands and knees with my hopes/dreams/goals thrown out the window. Gambling on a sprint is always risky business, unfortunately my week at nationals forced me to roll the dice.

Now that this Sun Valley Blog site thingy is up and running, I should probably start posting. As of right now, I am sitting in my room in Houghton, Michigan on Friday, January 4th 2008 attempting to recover from my 15k classic.

Senior Nationals 2008 has been extremely successful so far with a 26th (4th junior) in the 10k skate, and a 12th (2nd junior) in the 15k classic. I would have to say that I’m having my best senior nationals ever and I can’t wait for the sprint. I will write more about the individual races and my year of training up to this point later. Right now I’m going to veg out and watch America’s Next Top Model Marathon. . .