Mid Season Re-calibration
15 races in 9 weeks in the books. Time to re-evaluate goals, recover, train and finish the season with high energy.
3 hours into a distance ski in -20 F
Happy Friday!
Wow! It has been 2 months since the last update and a lot has happened. In the last post, it was clear a version of race season was going to happen and in a blink of an eye, its now the mid season break. I’ve raced 15 races in the first 9 weeks of the season, competing in both FIS races and US Biathlon races, celebrated my 30th birthday, gotten lots of great race photos, waxed uncountable layers into my skis and finally taken the time to write this. Some of the races ended up being significantly scaled down while some ended up being similar to National Championships with large, very competitive fields. The most recent weekend of racing, Jan 30-31, ended with my personal best results of winning the 10km and placing 2nd in the sprint qualifier (no heats this season). Those races were National Ranking races here in Bozeman and showed me I am making solid gains in my skiing and can be a very competitive skier in the US despite having taken many years off and come out of retirement to race again.
This amount of racing has also continued the opportunity to experiment with different elements of racing, training and the amazingly complex being that is the human body and mind. With experimenting comes the fails as well, which unfortunately fell on the most competitive weekend of racing so far, in Soldier Hollow, UT, lending itself to my worst results of the season at arguably the most important races. Knowing the importance of the races I spent the week leading up to them resting as much as I could with a feeling of fatigue I was trying to shake. This led to racing in a sluggish state with my body in rest mode and never finding that high end speed competitive racing demands. And of course, gaining the knowledge that my older, diesel engine of a body needs to stay very warmed up leading into races with lots of intensity and speed work the leading week. Executing this new knowledge resulted in the great races in Bozeman at the end of January, but too late to be eyed for a chance to race in Europe.
With the race season in a lull and adapting my goals for the rest of the season as it comes into focus, my main post is about the “Mid Season Re-calibration” and dealing with all the race season can throw at me. Plus an excellent edit of Nordic skiing straight to the sauna in the Canadian Rockies from a Heli Hut trip a few years ago and a shooting bout from the biathlon races in Soldier Hollow, UT.
Nordic skiing the beautiful Canadian Rockies on a Heli Hut trip. All to earn a good sauna session.
Bout 3 in the Soldier Hollow pursuit race. Mid January.
Elements of Mid Season Re-calibration
Training: Race season is all about racing, right? Well maybe a shorter race season is all about racing, but I’ve learned, racing for 4.5 months straight (and recovering from races) leads to a loss of fitness. So using the February break from racing to re-visit traditional summer and fall style training is critical to maintaining the high fitness gained in the dry-land season. In particular training higher hours at lower heart rates and focusing on improving areas of weakness identified through evaluating the races. It is also important to take a step back mentally from the high level of focus racing demands. I kicked off the break from racing with a quick 5 day trip to Jackson with some amazing powder days, soaking in natural hot springs in the river, a bit of Nordic skiing for fun, and seeing friends; staying active and letting my mind unwind. Now I am ready for the next 2 weeks of training to be high quality and ready for more race focus.
Goals: Goals are one of those things everyone talks about but never mentions just how dynamic they need to be! I set a goal of making it to Europe this season and with the majority of the World Cup selection completed, I have not met that goal yet. There is still a chance of achieving it with a win at the American Birkie on February 27th, so my season outcome goal has evolved to winning the Birkie. While some goals shift subtly, such as improving skating on flatter terrain (still a goal, but working on different parts of it now), my shift to winning the Birkie is much bigger. Becoming comfortable with that is an on-going process for me. One goal shift I will never forget was watching my friend and former teammate Noah Hoffman racing the World Cup as a full US Ski Team member breaking his tibia in a crash. His goals went from top results on the World Cup to healing a broken leg while sitting back home in the states in 24 hours. A new goal of mine is to be more comfortable with changing plans…
Disappointment: To me, this has been closely related to shifting goals this past month. Not meeting a large outcome goal comes with a big mess of emotions and thoughts, especially in a international pandemic where selection to World Cups and other European races are completely based on discretion. My results this season have shown I am competitive against and sometimes faster than others chosen to race abroad leaving me to ride the dreaded bubble. It’s a dangerous rabbit hole to wonder if my best results had been at a different race or if this or that had happened… No matter the outcome, I still have another race to focus on and learn from. A large part of my re-calibration during the break in races has been transforming personal frustration into motivation and knowing I have more in me to keep racing, keep gaining, keep on becoming the fastest skier I can be. As my college coach used to say, “You can dwell on the race until you take your boots off for the day, then you are only looking forward to the next race.”
Excelling Forward: With more racing opportunities completed than was originally expected, an excellent mini vacation and mental break, some quality volume training happening now, goals evolved and disappointment transformed into motivation, there is only one thing left: to keep having fun. I came back to ski racing because I loved to ski. Keeping that passion and joy alive means the rest of the season will be a blast no matter the results. I believe my best results happen if I am loving what I am doing. There is nothing quite like ski racing and I can’t wait for the sunny, warmer days of early spring racing.
Thank you to everyone who has supported this season in so many ways. And a huge thank you to my coaches who have non-stop energy and support for our team, even when it means standing around taking technique video in -10 F weather this past week.
Plus! An excellent profile was written about my path back to ski racing by Jackson Hole Nordic. Check it out!
Racing the Sprint Qualifier in Soldier Hollow, UT. Early January.
Last second before the gun goes off in Soldier Hollow. Mid January.
Skiing to the win in Bozeman. End of January.
Skiing the penalty lap for a missed shot with a certified lap counter.