The whole event kicked off on Monday night with a wild and exciting opening ceremony!! There was a lot of great singing, dancing and some great fireworks!! I would have to say that Schonach has put on the best opening ceremonies by far!!

 

The first race was contested on Tuesday with a 15k classic mass start for the women and a 30k classic mass start for the men. The rain held back and some sunshine broke through and the races went off without a glitch. I had to sit out the race due to a cold I picked up. So I used my energy to cheer on teammates Lindsey Weir, Tara Hamilton, Kristina Trystad-Saari and Jordan Seethaler. These ladies represented our country very well with a top 15 result and a top 30 result (Weir 14th, Hamilton 26th).

 

The slushy snow however made it difficult to ski consistently and I missed 2 or 3 pole plants before the top. Then it was down and around a wide curve, heading toward a bridge. I was bracing myself for a road crossing just ahead when I flew over a large hole, whew, that was close. The next challenge was two hills in a row. I was getting into my groove now, feeling pretty good and catching the Australian that started ahead of me. As I came into the next downhill however, my ski got caught in a pile of slush and I face-planted. I scrambled to get up and keep going but I had lost a lot of momentum. I stayed focused though and reminded myself that the fall had given me a nice rest and now I would be charged to really gun it over the top of the next hill, which I did. Going into the next downhill I found my legs to be a little rubbery.

The second day of racing concluded today with a 5k freestyle for the women and a 10k freestyle for the guys!! After a couple of good days of rest I decided to give it a go today. My morning started off well with a wakeup call from the local church bells at 7am and a random selection to have my blood tested for illegal substances. As I headed out on the course to warm up I was greeted by rain, slush, puddles and a very gusty wind. I was in high spirits though as I warmed up with some Canadian friends. Soon it was time for me to enter the start area but not without being stopped to have transponders (time reading devices) strapped to my ankles. Next it was on to ski marking and then to a 50m patch of slush where I spent the next 14 minutes running back and forth. At 10:19:30, when most of you were still asleep I headed out into the wind and onto the course. The first kilometer was mostly downhill and it gave me a nice slingshot into the first climb. I began to ski with a quick tempo, trying to relax. There after. Although I was frustrated that my race had not gone the way I planned, the good news of my teammate's 6th place finish (Kristina Trystad-Saari) made my spirits rise. Kris tight U-turn and skated hard into the next hill. I had caught the Australian now and cruised by my USA coaches. They told me that I was skiing in the top 10, right where I wanted to be. The next few climbs began to take there toll however, as I passed 2 kilometers and my legs began to feel like lead.

 

I managed a good tempo over the next hill but I knew I didn't have enough left. By 3 kilometers my legs were too heavy and I had to make a tough decision. With the sprint two days away I had to decide if it was worth it to expend all the energy I had left today to finish a race that had already turned bad. I decided to save my legs for the sprint on Saturday and began to just ski the rest of the course. As I went by my cheering teammates I felt terrible for not being able to give them something to cheer about. At 3.5 kilometers I fought through very dirty, slow snow and passed US coach Miles Minson. He could tell I had decided to save my legs for the sprint and encouraged my decision. Kistina's result is the best American distance finish (not including sprint results) ever!! It is exciting because it shows a lot, more than ever, promise for American skiing success in the future.

 

We cannot rest on our laurels or ponder on our defeats however!! There is still a relay ahead and history to be made.

Bye from Schonach for now!! 

 

Kikkan Randall

 

Well Kikkan and the entire U.S. Team is making history now.

 

Kikkan in Leader's Red Bib

 

Jissie Wins Prologue in Moscow

 

 

 

 

 

 

A reader wants us to ask the audience,

 

What are the recommended length for skate and classic racing poles?  And why are classic poles shorter than skate poles?  I do not see why classic poles are shorter than skate poles and I do not believe the pole recommendations are based on any true biomechanic study but rather just this coach said, or so in so uses this length...? GH

 

Dear GH

 

Start, who SkiPost works with, recommends skate poles to be at 90% of the skier height and classic poles to be at 83% of skier height. Start has come up with this recommendation based on biomechanical studies conducted by the Salzburg Sports Institute as well as extensive analysis and measurement of thousands of athletes. The simple answer is classic poles are shorter because when you are single sticking in classic you are only using one arm at a time and not as much of your upper body. 

 

But our reader does not like our answer so he asks for SkiPost reader answers.  If you have an opinion please email it to weanswer@SkiPost.com .

 

 

 

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