Nationals - Day 3

Today, the racing began in earnest. The first full day of racing saw Alex and Corey leaving early for the race site to begin waxing. Alex raced at 10:00, followed by Ben and I at 11:22 and 11:24 respectively. Levi started soon after, while the girls arrived later for start times around noon.

some of Megan's motivational posters, plastered around the hotel room

the drive to W.O.P

The Junior Boys and Junior Men raced a 10 km interval start skate today, while the Levi and the girls raced a 5 km. The course was fairly challenging, with two very long uphill sections and some very technical downhills mixed in with five or six other smaller climbs and some flatter rolling sections. Team Manitoba was equal to the challenge however, with strong performances from the majority of the team.

fueling up...

I'm not sure who this is, actually...

 (a disclaimer before I continue - this is only my observations on the racing for the most part. The athletes will probably tell you different.)

Maya and Anna had strong races, climbing very well and looking great technically, from what I saw. Both seemed relaxed and focused, and Anna had a giant smile on her face come the finish.

Lisle and Elora finished in the top half of the race, with Lisle breaking into the top twenty. Even on the last long climb, both were turning it over and pushing hard, picking off girls all the way to the finish.

Levi landed just outside the top twenty, placing twenty first. Says Levi, "It was pretty good. My legs kind of blew up on that last hill, but it was good."

Ben had a great race, as the course suited his strengths well. He climbed like a demon, ending up 45th, three minutes behind the leader. 

Neither Alex or I skied as well as we'd like today. Alex had an absolutely blistering first lap, looking very strong on the climbs and on the false flats especially. Unfortunately, he ran into back problems just before the lap lane, which slowed him down for the second lap. On my part, I was suffering the after-effects of being sick and the team sprint the day before, feeling like I was recovering from anaerobic bursts twice as slow as normal. I finished 68th, four minutes thirty behind the winner.

just chillin'

After coming home and crashing for a while, a few of us set out to run some errands in the town. I needed some ear plugs, as Alex's snoring had risen to cacophonous crescendos (Alex protests, saying they reached mezzo piano at most...) the night before, and Levi and I wanted to find some decent green tea. Ben came along as well, hoping to find some nicer racing sunglasses.

After dinner, the whole team walked through the town to the bottom of the ski slopes, where we witnessed the "fire and ice" show, which consisted of some daring snowboarders and skiers tricking off a jump through a ring of fire, accompanied by fireworks.

Hark! A picture of Megan!

goofing around before the "fire and ice" thing

nice view...

fireworks, as seen from the roof of the ski lift building. (totally wasn't my idea...)

the aforementioned ring of fire

The team is looking forward to the rest day tomorrow, hoping for a bit of a sleep in and the chance to scope out the classic trails for the coming races. I'm hoping to hit the pillow minutes after this post goes up.

Goodnight from Whistler!

- SEAN