World Cup 2007
4x5km Relay
Gallivare, Sweden

With the adrenaline of the seasonÕs first race having barely warn off, it was a quick turn around to race again today. I joined fellow North Americans Dasha Gaiazova, Chandra Crawford and Sarah Konrad to compete in the 4x5km relay. Conditions had changed dramatically from yesterday as temperatures warmed up and new snow had fallen overnight. Thankfully Sarah and I were doing the skate legs, so we didnÕt have to worry about selecting classic wax. We left that up to the Canadians!

The stadium was a buzz with life when we arrived at the venue this morning. As I skied a quick lap around the course with Grover, testing skis, it was hard to keep from skiing too hard. Today I tested the same two pairs of skis from yesterday, except this time the new V9Õs were the fastest. I love it when ski selection goes easy and the skis are inarguably fast!

My warmup went smooth. The first leg racers were out on the course so I was skiing on the warmup track. It was an out and back section, and on one cruise back down the hill I almost had a head on collision with Marit Bjorgen. That wouldnÕt have been good, for either of us! Yesterday I had cut my time almost too close in getting into the start pen. So today I took a few extra minutes to make sure to be there in time.

The lead teams came through the stadium to tag their anchor legs as I was pulling off my warmups. A few more teams came through and then Sarah appeared around the corner. I began double-poling down the tag zone as she pulled up along side me. She had good momentum and she gave me a big push. I went sprinting out of the stadium after the team ahead.

I jump skated hard up the first hill and felt amazingly fresh going over the top. I had already made ground on the skier ahead and I dropped into a low tuck around a few tight s-turns. The snow was faster today and I came flying around the last turn with so much momentum I just missed sailing off the course. It gave me a jolt of excitement and I skated hard into the next hill. Because I had skied more timidly yesterday I was determined to ski harder today. I jump skated up the hill, focusing on dancing on and off my feet with a quick tempo. The quick pace carried me up and over the hill and onto the tails of the skier ahead.

I followed the girl I had just caught for a short section before hammering into the next hill. As I came up alongside her she put up a fight for a few strides. That just spurred me on and I skated harder. I made my way around her and pushed hard over the top. There was a long downhill to recover but the snow was grabbing at my skis and it was a challenge to keep in a tight tuck. I came sailing around the tight right turn at the bottom and again barely stayed on course. Now the Chinese team was in sight and I V2 aggressively in chase.

I came up along side the Chinese girl just before a slanted turn to the left. She decided to challenge me as well and I had to ski harder to get by. The thrill of the chase was pumping through me. Over the next short flat section I used V2-alternate to carry momentum. My legs were starting to burn and I had to concentrate to stay in a low position. The next kilometer brought me alongside the stadium just as the top teams were finishing. Although the crowd was cheering loud I was focused on my next challenge, the Belarus team ahead.

Using a frantic mix of V2 and V1, I made up the gap over the top of the next hill and followed closely through another series of s-turns. As we approached a really tight turn at the bottom, the Belarussian girl started to snow plow. I knew that would be trouble so I took a line way to the outside and then cut in hard. I went sailing by her and carried momentum up over a short steep. 500m to go.

As I came up the last short climb before the stadium, I could see another team in sight. I skated hard to try and catch up but the course was coming to a close too quickly. I jump skated hard around the last turn and burst into the final stretch. I sprinted as quickly as I could, imagining myself in final stretch of a world cup sprint. Then I slid across the line and hung over my poles for a several seconds to catch my breath.

Justin, our US Ski Team sports physiologist, was just outside the finish pen to check post-race lactate values. Today I was able to get a much higher value,10.8mmol. My heart must have been pumping hard because it took a while for my finger to stop bleeding. I grabbed my warm-ups and took off with Sarah and Chandra to track down Dasha for a team photo. We had to ride the t-bar back up to the hotel to find her. We got a great shot and then took a few tele-turns back down to the course. I skied a short warm down, watched the menÕs race start and then headed back to the hotel for lunch.

I was very happy with my race today. I pushed harder out of the start, my body responded well and was able to sustain a fast pace. I felt more like a real racer today. It was fun to be able to catch a few teams on the way to the finish as well. Now I look forward to another solid week of training and more world cup action next week in Kuusamo, Finland with a classic sprint on Saturday and a 10km classic on Sunday.

Have a great week too and IÕll write you again soon!

Cheers,
Kikkan :)