Final Team Sprint of the season
There's really only two things worth mentioning about the team sprint relay last night: The warm-up and my one pass. We had semis and then six teams in the final, each race consisted of two 1.1km laps for each skier, for four laps total.
I don't know how Compton warmed up for the semis, but I went down to the bottom of the course and cheered for the middleschool racers. I feel like I ski a lot and I never get to watch citizen or kids' races. So standing around felt like a better use of my time. And then to warm up for the final Compton and I hung out in the ski hut and watched from the window. We thought about going out to ski but it was wicked windy so we decided to stay warm inside and Compton sketched my face. I'm not sure if these were the most preferred warm-up methods, but they seemed to work since Compton and I won the race.
In Compton's first lap of the final, she got blocked a little and Dasha Gaiazova got a pretty good gap on the field. For the first time, I was a little concerned. Brittany Webster was skiing anchor for the Canadian team and I was pretty sure that I could outsprint her, but maybe not if I had to make up too much time on her first. So when Compton tagged me, I took off to chase Webster down with the goal of getting a gap on her so I would have less work to do on my second lap. Right when I was about to pass her she fell at the bottom of the downhill and I flew past. I skied the rest of that lap feeling a little guilty because she fell where no one was watching and I knew that everyone was going to be really impressed with how much time I had put into her and I didn't actually deserve it.
Compton also reminded me that she had to dodge a snowmobile during the semis. For some reason the groomer decided to do groom part of the race course in the middle of the race. So there were other eventful thing s going on. Afterwards there was a pasta feed and awards at the High School (we were racing on the High School's trail system). I thought it was pretty fun to be a part of a race where we weren't the big deal... sure our race was supposedly the main event, but everyone there cared way more about the middle school race than the elite race. I enjoyed just being a guest in the Aroostook ski community.
I don't know how Compton warmed up for the semis, but I went down to the bottom of the course and cheered for the middleschool racers. I feel like I ski a lot and I never get to watch citizen or kids' races. So standing around felt like a better use of my time. And then to warm up for the final Compton and I hung out in the ski hut and watched from the window. We thought about going out to ski but it was wicked windy so we decided to stay warm inside and Compton sketched my face. I'm not sure if these were the most preferred warm-up methods, but they seemed to work since Compton and I won the race.
In Compton's first lap of the final, she got blocked a little and Dasha Gaiazova got a pretty good gap on the field. For the first time, I was a little concerned. Brittany Webster was skiing anchor for the Canadian team and I was pretty sure that I could outsprint her, but maybe not if I had to make up too much time on her first. So when Compton tagged me, I took off to chase Webster down with the goal of getting a gap on her so I would have less work to do on my second lap. Right when I was about to pass her she fell at the bottom of the downhill and I flew past. I skied the rest of that lap feeling a little guilty because she fell where no one was watching and I knew that everyone was going to be really impressed with how much time I had put into her and I didn't actually deserve it.
Compton also reminded me that she had to dodge a snowmobile during the semis. For some reason the groomer decided to do groom part of the race course in the middle of the race. So there were other eventful thing s going on. Afterwards there was a pasta feed and awards at the High School (we were racing on the High School's trail system). I thought it was pretty fun to be a part of a race where we weren't the big deal... sure our race was supposedly the main event, but everyone there cared way more about the middle school race than the elite race. I enjoyed just being a guest in the Aroostook ski community.
posted by LAV at 07:00
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