2007 US National Championships
Houghton, MI
10km Individual Skate

Racing action continues... Day two at the 2007 US National Championships. After a few days on classic boards, we put away the kick wax and made the quick shift over to the skate equipment. The womenÕs field got to race first again, which was nice because with over 200 men skiing three laps each, it would have been messy! The team was in high spirits as we headed out to the race venue at 8:30am.

Upon arrival, our first item on the agenda was ski testing. I grabbed three pairs, each with a slightly different structure on the bottom of the ski, and took a few laps around the first kilometer of the course. Immediately there was one pair that felt the fastest and I handed the skis off to the coaches for the race wax. For my warm-up I skied the course, checking the best line and the conditions on the downhill. Although it had been warm again during the night, the course was in good shape. I got in a few minutes of race-pace skiing to get the body nice and warm.

With fifteen minutes to go until start, I changed into my race top and ran over to the wax trailer to pick up my skis. The coaches were madly trying to finish up the final coats of wax. ÒOne minute,Ó Frode yelled to me from underneath his breathing mask. So I nervously jogged around and stretched to stay loose. With ten minutes to go, my skis were ready. Erik handed them to me with a smile and I rushed off to the start.

I just had time to strip off my warm-ups, to have a timing device strapped to my ankle, and to have my skis marked. Then a couple short sprints back and forth in the start pen, and onto the start line. Count down from five...four...three...two...one...outta here!

The course for todayÕs 10km race was two laps of the 5km loop from yesterdayÕs classic race, with the first kilometer being almost totally flat. I took off onto the course with a powerful V2. The trail cruised straight down a wide corridor and then took a swing to the left. The terrain leading up to the one kilometer sign began to descend slightly and I switched to V2-alternate. I noticed the trail was firmer to the outside so I moved over to the right and felt my skis accelerate. I had a lot of speed coming into a tight right hand turn and I had to step turn hard to make it around.

Over the next section, I free-skated smoothly, carrying good momentum. As I came into the first long downhill, I focused on catching the skiers ahead. Descending down through the S-turns, I took a tight line to the inside and stayed in a low tuck. By the bottom of the hill, several skiers were in sight. I settled into a quick V1 to get up and over the first hump. The course then climbed upward for the next kilometer. I skied a hard but controlled pace and glanced at my heart rate monitor over the top. I was well within my race pace zone confirming a good pace. Next there was a short downhill rest and then the climb back up to the stadium. Midway up the climb Erik was there yelling encouragement. His comments helped me find a good rhythm that carried me up the rest of the hill.

As I took the turn into the stadium to head out for my second lap, I was starting to get fired up. Making my way down the long, straight corridor, I focused on quick impulses in my V2. Coming down the next section I looked for the fast track to the outside again. Although the terrain coming into the 7km mark was slightly downhill I did not drop into a tuck to rest. I used a quick free-skate to keep the speed going and pushed over a short rise into the long downhill.

This time coming up the big middle climbing section I picked up the pace. I caught Liz Stephens near the bottom and followed her quick tempo halfway up the hill. Knowing I was running out of time on the course, I took a sharp inside line on a corner, got around Liz, and continued hammering to the top of the hill. This time, as I went into the last downhill, I had more fight in my body than the day before. I took a short rest in a tuck, negotiated the turns as tightly as I could and then readied for the final kilometer.

I knew the race was tight and so I tried to ski as quickly and as powerfully as I could. When I felt my V2 bog down at the bottom of the hill I switched to a frenzied V1. The course continued climbing for a few more pitches and I had to really focus to keep up a good tempo. Coming around the horse shoe loop in the last 500m of the course my legs were a little wobbly but I held on. Then the last rise to the finish. I pumped back and forth with my arms and legs trying to drop my body weight down on each pole plant, all the way to the line, and then I slid my foot across. Done!

I took a few moments on my poles to catch my breath and then exited the finish area. As I put my warm-ups on the results flashed up on the scoreboard. Second place again, by nine seconds again! Dough! This time, Sun Valley skier Alexa Turzian was the winner. Rossingnol skier Karin Camenisch was third and my APU teammate Taz Mannix was fourth. After a quick flower ceremony, the other athletes and I were escorted to the USADA headquarters for drug testing. Unfortunately we were all a little dehydrated from racing and it took a while to produce a sufficient sample. Two hours later I finally got to head back home with my team.

Two days of distance racing, two second places, not too bad. We get a day off tomorrow and then a classic sprint Saturday and a freestyle team sprint on Sunday, both of which I am really looking forward to! Weather continues to be less than ideal but I have full confidence these race organizers will pull off a couple more races!

Stay tuned!

Cheers,
Kikkan :)