The Plan is Always Changing

The season has officially started and it’s been a wild ride so far this winter! After wrapping up a great camp in Canmore, Alberta with my teammate Lina, we flew to the Midwest on Thanksgiving day to join my family on the Birkie trails in northern Wisconsin for more skiing.

No complaints here.

Lina and I had a really fun time in Canmore. We kept each other company around a 3k loop in town during the week. Over the weekend, we drove one hour north to Lake Louise where there was impeccable natural snow with over 30k of skiing and beautiful scenery! We got comfortable with skiing on snow again and hit a few hard intensity sessions in preparation for upcoming races. We wanted to make the most of our time in Canmore, without hitting it too hard considering we were jumping to altitude. In eight days we managed to get four interval sessions in, two strength sessions, and kept the overall volume of our camp at a reasonable level (about 18-20 hours).

Struggling to get the kick wax juuuuust right.

Lots of fun sking around Lake Louise and in the town of Canmore! We even ran into Lizzie Larkins, an ex-teammate from UVM :)

This productive camp allowed us to enjoy some rest over Thanksgiving weekend as we joined the Midwest crew for the Turkey Birkie. By the end of the week we were loaded up on stuffing and pie - just in time for our SMS teammates, Ian and Bill, to join us with Coach Pat.

Squad. L -> R: Pat, Alayna, Bill, Will, Lina, Ian.

We then traveled over to Duluth, MN for the first weekend of Supertour racing with a skate sprint and skate 5k. These races were really fun and a great way to flush out some pre-race jitters. After so few races last year, I felt a bit rusty when it came to details like dealing with pre-race nerves and warming up for races. I especially noted to myself how foreign sprint rounds were considering it had been just about two years since I had competed in any! (I sprinted a few times last year on the World Cup but never qualified for the rounds). I had an almost perfect weekend in Duluth, feeling like there were just a few pieces that didn’t click totally into place. Although I was pleased with the results and happy with how I felt racing, I also knew I was capable of more.

Coach Pat was working his magic on our skis between sprint rounds to get Bill and me into the finals!

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I wasted the week between supertour races at the family cabin in Cable, sitting around the fireplace, baking cookies and working from my computer during the afternoons. By Friday morning, I was refreshed and excited for more races! On tap, we had a 15k skate mass start, classic sprint and classic 10k individual start race. There was a pretty technical downhill with a 180 degree turn at the bottom that led you straight into a wall. After a minor crash on this turn during the 15k, I walked away pleased with my result and the way I skied there rest of the race, but still feeling like I could achieve more.

Trying my best to make up time after a crash in the mass start.

I brought confidence and calm energy into the classic sprint day. Although classic sprinting is my biggest weakness as a skier, I recognized that I had been working hard all year on my double pole and knew I could rely on it during the race. After a successful qualifier I did everything I could to rest between rounds and conserve as much energy as possible. I sat in my car, brought a chair out to our team wax bench, went inside for a few minutes, event spent a few extra minutes in the bathroom just to give my legs a break whenever I could! That same technical turn from my crash the day before was constantly in the back of my head, but through the rounds I remained calm and confident around the corner and was able to power my way to the finish line in first. Finally, all of the little variable had come together for me on the right day!

By Sunday morning I was feeling very tired from all of the racing. I told myself that everyone was feeling tired and that all I could do was give it whatever I had left. With that in mind, I went out hard and didn’t let up until I crossed that finish line. I had so many friends and family cheering for me during both weekends, but I really felt them get me through that 10k classic race. The race was tight through the end, but hearing my name and recognizing a familiar voice on just about every corner of the course pushed me around the course with enough speed to squeak out another victory.

Worked hard all hoping everything could come together on the right day.

With all of the cheering from the midwest ski community and the comfort of staying at my family’s cabin I know I had the best home-course advantage anyone could ask for. I took full advantage of this opportunity and felt so grateful for the support by everyone out there.

Lots of friends and family getting me through a tough and technical course.

Not once during the two weeks of racing did I add up, look at, or even think about the supertour points that I was accumulating. I knew that the supertour leader at the end of period 1 would be offered start spots on the World Cup, but my plan was to head to US Nationals after Christmas no matter what. I didn’t realize that going into the last 10k in Cable I was just one point behind the leader for overall points, I hadn’t even considered the thought. It didn’t matter to me. It wasn’t going to change the way I was going to race. I didn’t need more pressure or stress. All I could do in that moment was give each race everything I had and thinking about winning wasn’t going to help. My college coach at the University of Vermont, Patrick Weaver, once advised me that you can never expect to win, you have to want to win. On that day in Cable, I don’t think I even wanted to win. I wanted to challenge myself to race as hard as I could and I knew I’d be proud of the result no matter what.

Really loving the process these days, can't wait for more racing and skis with friends!

With all of that being said, I finished the racing as the supertour leader, meaning I was offered to race the Tour de Ski for USA. I recognized this, but still assumed I’d head to Utah. There is a whole slew of criteria for qualifying for the Olympics and going into the season I believed my best bet was to do so through races at Nationals. As I pondered this though, I realized that racing at Nationals might not be enough and that the Tour de Ski might be my only pathway. I also knew that the Tour was an incredible opportunity and has always been something I’ve wanted to compete in. After a solo run in the woods and a serious chat with my coach, I had booked a flight to Italy! As another one of my coaches, Ben Husaby, once said, ‘the plan is always changing.’

Training in Val di Fassa, Italy before I join the Tour de Ski.

I’ll be spending Christmas week skiing in Italy and Switzerland as I adjust to the elevation and time zone in Central Europe. I’m equally as nervous and I am excited for the opportunity to race in the Tour and am looking forward to what the rest of the season holds.

Not a bad place to get over jetlag.

After that last race in Cable I went for a cool down with my sister and brother-in-law and they asked me how I was feeling about everything. There are obviously big goals for this olympic year, which adds a lot of pressure and stress. However, I told them that I have a Plan A, B and C for the season, and I am truly equally excited about the idea of each one of them. Last year was a really tough season for me with so many unknowns and few rewards when it came to racing. This year, all I want to do is race. I feel like the races in Duluth and Cable rekindled a fire inside me that I had been searching for last year. I love racing and I can’t wait for more!

Feeling very grateful for my support crew.