Today was the first day of racing for our two sprint teams: Maya and Lisle, Ben and Sean.
The 4 racers woke up earlier this morning and the rest of the team drove out on time to watch and cheer them on. Conditions started off cold as the sun rose on the other side of the mountain. The course was gorgeous, packed within an inch of its life and extremely scenic. But by the time Maya hit the start line, the course had been chewed up considerably by the university races. The 700 meter course was getting sloppy, especially the lone hill. After a messy start, the girls fought valiantly from the back. At times leaping over other racers, they rose as high as 4th on their way to a 6th place finish in a tough heat.
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| Maya leading a small group |
In the hour between the girls race and ours, the sun crested the mountain, and the temperature rose 5 degrees in very short order. After dropping layer after layer through warm up, our race time came around, and Sean took to the line. Following the longest "set" command ever, Sean rocketed off the line, and after the first lap we were running 4th place. I proceeded to drop 3 spots, and some more places went missing in the madness of transition. At the end of a very fun race, we finished in 8th from 14 in our heat. Given it was my first team race, and Sean and I had practiced our transitions for 45 minutes the day before, we were quite pleased.
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| One of the six exchanges |
Meanwhile, the non-racers that day had found a great spot to relax... joined here after the race by the rest of the team.
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| getting our suntan on... |
The course for tomorrow is very exciting and quite hilly. The 5km loop exits the stadium, climbs, re-enters the stadium, climbs out again, and continues on like that. Most of it follows the Olympic course. Our pre-ski was fast, as all the trails are, but still quite warm. Highs here are reaching about 5 on the course. Tomorrow, however, is supposed to remain around one degree.
Other developments of the day: Hysterics at Alex's imitation of Elora, Levi's birthday celebrated in style and complete with cake, and a high stakes bet between Sean and Lisle as to whether or not she can last a day without her phone. If Lisle accesses her phone before 9 pm tomorrow, she will be scraping the inevitable klister off everybody's skis. If she does not, this formidable task will be Sean's. So patrol the social networks, folks, keep her honest.
Some photos:
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| nice rack... |
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| a moment of quiet for corey |
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| clearing snow off the roof of our wax trailer |
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| "step right up, girls and boys, to the best seats in the house..." |
Recovery is on the schedule for the rest of the evening, and I need to join in that effort. So from beautiful Whistler and the 2013 Ski Nationals, goodnight!
-Ben Dearing
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