The Return of Racing

Hi SkiPost Community! I’m checking in from Cable, WI where the Gold Team is preparing for the second weekend of SuperTour racing. We’re all excited to be back on the national circuit, so here’s a quick recap from last weekend in Duluth and some things I like to keep in mind while we’re moving about between races.

Duluth's Skate Distance Race

Last weekend, Duluth and the staff at Spirit Mountain put in a lot of work to create the sprint and 2.2km distance loop of man-made snow. Nature wasn’t exactly on our side this year; as of now there is still no natural snow in Sun Valley, and there wasn’t skiable snow in Duluth outside of the man-made trails. Saturday’s skate sprint day only used a lower loop of the 2.2km and was a two-lap race, so the upper trails were available for warmup. On Sunday, however, most athletes did at least part of their warmups running. There was a small inner loop available for skiing, but this was a good reminder of how important it is to maintain some running during the winter! Variable snow conditions or distance races that use entire ski trail systems can leave running as the best option, so it’s good to keep a few jogs in the mix during training weeks in order to avoid tiring out the legs in an alternative warmup.

I also find a short jog to be helpful most days when I’m on the road. Before and/or after traveling to a venue, it can be really nice to shake things out and get some blood flow. In the days leading up to big race weekends when we aren’t skiing for very long in the morning, it’s also nice just to get outside and break up any cabin fever that might be building. Some days, however, you just need to lounge about and take the afternoon off - that’s important too!

Sarah Goble and I are keeping our feet nice and warm!

During all of the travel and with the physical and mental stress of racing, I always bring a little extra tea and vitamin C to help keep my immune system boosted. Keeping citrus fruits around for snacks helps as well. The easy afternoons provide nice chunks of time for stretching, rolling, or yoga sessions to stay loose and keep the body feeling good. Especially when the skiing is cold, I bring extra casual layers to wear when I’m indoors to help keep my body warm. This year, I’m traveling everywhere with my Biolines to keep my feet toasty!

A steep herringbone hill on the Cable sprint course

We got very lucky with our housing this week - we’re located right on the ski trails and get a great view of the groomers working hard to put together some great loops for the weekend. The beginning of the week saw temperatures below zero and in the single digits, but it looks like things are warming up for the weekend and will make for some great race days. Friday we have a mass start skate 15km race. We weren’t able to do mass start races last year, so I think everyone will be really excited for this. Saturday is a classic sprint and Sunday is a classic 10/15km individual start race. The courses have some really fast and fun downhills and some great kicker climbs. I’ve only been to Cable in the past for the Birkie, so I’m really looking forward to racing on the other great trails here.

Watching the groomers hard at work from our deck