Sprint day

It was balmy Saturday morning, 5 degrees! The women started at 10, and it was definitely still a little dark. Good times. I got in a good warmup, but once I took my jacket and vest off I knew I needed another layer, I was chilled by the time I started. I'd also warmed up in boot covers, and when I took them off, my boots felt too loose, but I didn't have time to change that. I felt clumsy up the first hill, skis slamming into the snow, trying to swing my arms up faster and just failing at it. Then I freaked out on the downhill - I'm not sure whats up with me and downhills lately, they're scaring me and I can't seem to relax - I started out stepping, on the line I wanted to follow, and then freaked out, and slid the rest, basically killed my momentum and my legs felt locked straight. I tried to power around the rest, but I just felt stiff and awkward, not at all fluid or loose like I'd felt yesterday. My legs were pretty flooded with lactic acid by the time I hit the finish, I couldn't get moving very fast, and then the lung burning began when I finished - that is a long, hard sprint course, and I probably should have paced myself a bit better. Damn. I wasn't smiling at the end, it didn't feel good, or fluid, or fast. I am disappointed with that race, still searching for something positive to bring from it, but its the first of four, so I'm putting it behind me as best I can.

Janice took this picture - bright sun during the qualifiers, eh?


This was the view when I started my warmup.

The sun rose as I did my cooldown, I'm glad I had my camera!