Falun Scandinavian Cup

The DSA E-cup that was held just after my last post showed a positive result and despite a tiring lead into that 20km Skiathlon, I felt surprisingly energetic and able to maintain power. More importantly was that my classic leg was actually quite reasonable with only a small amount of discomfort under my ribs. The conditions were tough, with rain over night causing the man-made snow to set rock hard but it was a great feeling of accomplishment knowing that I was able to get through it with a 5th place result at the end!

Similar to other races this season however, I didn’t exactly pull up too well afterwards. It seems like I am able to push myself to the same level as last year (even harder maybe), however I am feeling the toll of the effort far greater. I continued with the training block as planned after this, but was forced to take it a little easier two days after when I developed quite a rough cough and amazingly low energy levels. I’m still not convinced that I was sick, but certainly quite run down. With only a few days before the Scandi Cup to be held here in Falun, I was losing confidence I was going to bounce back in time to even compete! On one of the easier days it was nice to get out for an easy ‘långfärdsskridskor’ (Ice skate) on a pretty beautiful day! Becoming a little more mentally refreshed is always a good place to start when trying to re-boost energy levels.

Luckily on Thursday, my energy levels improved and managed to belt out a few good pre-race efforts. As I started Friday’s 15km Skate I knew I wasn’t quite 100% still. I had no top gear and started appallingly losing a lot of time in the first 2.5km’s. The skier behind me who was having a good one caught me and I held with him for about 2km before blowing up majorly. For a good 5mins I felt like I was crawling, feeling completely flooded and losing even more time. The urge to pull out was pretty tempting to be honest, but luckily my body finally decided it wasn’t a worn out old tractor from the late 80’s and allowed me to ski quite a fast second half of the race. With so much time lost in the first half though, the result was average, placing 106th in a strong and large field, 3min 23s back (just under 10% the winner with 93 points). Realistically this is not a bad result by any means. With the top guys here also at the top of the World Cup, this is a good percentage, however I just know my body felt absolutely terrible and is capable of so much more.

Sunday’s 30km skiathlon was rather similar, but maybe even further impacted by the lack of a good warm up due to the delays and difficulties in testing skis. Right from the start I felt uncomfortable, having to work for the grip and struggling to stay relaxed as a result. It was even more disastrous than the start of Friday’s race. Gradually my body began to feel better and better. By the time the skate leg came around I felt like I was almost firing on all cylinders and skied a solid final 15km making up more than 15 places. The end result; very similar to Friday’s race, placing 88th and just less than 10% behind once again.

The negatives; many. The positives however are also there which is important to always consider also. I know I have the aerobic capacity and strength back to where I need it to be to perform well. Thinking back to a few months ago – this was my greatest concern. Additionally, I made it through two classic legs of each Skiathlons with manageable chest discomfort. For this next period I just need to focus on the identified weaknesses and luckily they are mostly relatively easy fixes!

Next up, thanks to the recent storms, we finally have some quality training to get done on some big loops around Falun before we head to World University Games on the 22nd!

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