What a week to be a North American cross country ski fan. Once again I was humbled by the support of our ski community. One that has enabled me continuously throughout my career. It has given me the opportunity to compete in the NCAA while simultaneously pursuing an academic degree. Its generosity was the catalyst to the formation, and is the fuel to sustaining the BSF PRO team and the dreams of me and my teammates.
The Canmore and Minneapolis World Cups were not only a show case of the highest level of the sport, but a testament to the power of this community. The many incredible performances, and in particular of Gus Schumacher and Jessie Diggins on Sunday, were a product of these individuals’ fortitude and work ethic that was fostered by the emotional and financial generosity of people who share a passion for this sport. Opportunities like Junior Nationals, and college ski racing drive the individual growth necessary to make the milestones we witnessed possible, and only exist with this community support. I was never more proud to be a part of this community than on Sunday. As Jessie and Gus skied with such technical prowess and strength, urged on by the roars of twenty thousand, I was brought to tears as our ski community and the power it possesses seemed to come full circle.
February, is always an interesting time as domestic cross country ski racer fighting for world cup starts. The trajectory of the race season is largely dictated from performances from December and early January. With the Super Tour largely on hiatus during this period, if you did not qualify for world cups like me, you must look elsewhere for racing opportunities. Luckily, theAmerican Birkibeiner is the perfect carrot. The break in racing is also a great opportunity to perform a training block and receive a stimulus to prepare for the race that you wouldn’t otherwise get from racing continuously.
The last two weeks have been dedicated to a bit more volume and longer aerobic threshold training. Ideally this should help raise the entire power curve. The Birkie necessitates maximum power output over around two hours, and subsequently an efficient and high powered aerobic system. Additionally, this boost provides a bigger foundation to the curve for us to train the anaerobic system upon, and together develop a steeper power curve over shorter duration race efforts. Over the past two weeks I did four intensity sessions of this archetype, two classic and two skate. I felt I managed to achieve good quality in each one, and skiing better technically and more efficiently at similar speed by the end of the block.
Although the Birkie looks slightly different this year, I am in awe of what they have managed to pull together. If I haven’t already praised the ski community for what its done enough in this blog, here is yet another example. Erin, Hannah, Anders, Willson, Reid, Andy, and I will all be competing in the five lap 50 km on Saturday. I am confident in my own preparations and excited to toe the line with a stacked field. Hope to see you in the Northwoods!
Simon
