Now I am in the airport in Chicago after thoroughly enjoying the US version of customs (which took twice as long as Zurich’s customs).  After paying $7 for 2 hours of internet (another great thing about Chicago O’ Hare), I wanted to write something up about the last few days of the trip, which were a huge blast.

 

My pursuit race was actually pretty good, contrary to what the results might imply.  I did end up in my worst finish of the week, and I did die a little bit, but I felt really good, and felt like I was competitive in the field.  I actually felt the most competent in the pursuit out of any of my three races.  I did manage to fall twice, and flood my legs on the 2nd lap of the classic leg, but that second lap was really something so I felt okay about it.  I have a whole list of what-ifs that would have led to a more favorable end result, including an all classic race and not falling, etc.  But what-ifs never seem to get anyone anywhere.  I do think that if I had felt more like this, aggressive and capable, throughout the classic 10k earlier in the week I would have had an excellent race.

 

Now writing from Canmore:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is our pro cheering crowd for the pursuit day, we were yelling so loud, I was definitely getting funny looks.  I like to think it helped the boys out though. If nothing else, it was definitely a good time.  Cheering for the juniors the next day was equally as intense.  I found a way to see each girl twice, requiring a sprint through the woods in a narrow path in 4 foot snow (don’t step off the path!).  For the boys race, I could see each boy twice each lap, so four times total.  That was eight sprints up a 200m hill, and by the end of it I felt like had done some serious intervals.  However, I was able to yell really loud for the boys 16 times throughout the course, so that’s a place or two improvement for them anyway.  Plus it was pretty fun.

 

Now I am in Canmore, soaking up the world cup scene.  It is pretty intense.  I LOVE it.  If you had to pick a race circuit to be on, the world cup would be a pretty good option I think.  There are people walking around that I have watched in world cup videos, and getting to ski next to them (briefly) is very cool.  I am actually not as starry-eyed as I could be, I don’t think I follow world cup ski racing quite as closely as Reese, for example.  But it is still fairly thrilling to get on a bus to the venue and have them walk by!  I hope that I am able to put in a solid performance here and continue to absorb the experience.  This is my chance to do some spectating because I won’t be able to go watch the olympics, but all of those people are here so I get kind of a sneak preview!