This past weekend featured the opening World Cup races of the 2016-17 season in Ruka, Finland and now the season is officially underway. Both races were in classic technique and both days included some tough classic conditions after several inches of new snow fell through the day Saturday. I had a great workout on the sprint course on Friday in hard and fast tracks but the new snow got the best of me and I struggled technically to really get full efforts out of myself.
My results were pretty disappointing and not the start I had hoped for. However, I recognize that I am in unchartered territory as I navigate this return back to racing after having a baby. I could feel that the right ingredients are in my body and now I just need to sharpen my race gears with more hard efforts.
I will be the alternate for this weekend’s World Cup mini tour in Lillehammer. While I am definitely bummed not to be able to race, I am proud that our girls have become so strong that just making our team is a tough challenge. I look forward to a good week of training and hopefully another chance to test my race gears next week in Davos.