Today we kicked off the first ski orienteering world champs outside of Europe with the sprint race. The start was remote, which meant that we all got bused up to someplace else and finished in the usual finish area. This was also a downhill sprint, losing 100m of elevation and only gaining 40m over the whole course. So it was fast, with fast skis and a 1:5k map - this meant that I always felt that it was just coming at me too fast to keep up with, mentally. I can't show you the maps because they don't let us see them until after all the races are done, just in case teams wanted to memorize the trail network or something. I skied well, for what its worth in a downhill race, and I didn't make any mistakes in the navigation. That was the more important part. It just felt too fast, though, and my brain still doesn't feel caught up with my body. I ended up in 22nd, which is definitely my best sprint result ever, and beats my 24th place in the long in Russia two years ago. Hopefully this is a sign of better things to come. Tomorrow is the long race, which is typically my forte. We have 675m (I think) of climbing, over 16km, which is A LOT. I like that, for some strange reason.
If you want to follow the race live tomorrow, here is the link to the main website, and you should just be able to click on the button that says "live results". Also, if you're a big nerd, you can check out the splits, to see where I lose or gain time on my competitors.
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3 comments:
Nice race! My favorite breakfast in Japan was corn flakes, and a little bowl of rice with some raw fish thrown in there for kicks.
Congrats! Sounds like you had a great race. Keep up the good work, and good luck tomorrow.
Had to comment - after I posted my last comment, the new word verification came out to be "wahsabi". I think it's a sign ;)
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