photo by Kris Dobie
Today was the second day of Nationals here in Rumford Maine- a 10 kilometer classic race. After walking around the dirt covered courses yesterday afternoon, I was incredibly surprised to see how much snow race organizers managed to get on those trails! Even with the limited snow, the 2.5 kilometer loops were lacking no challenge. What seemed like a course with one hill and lots of rest turned into a tough course that required you to stay on your toes and push every transition. I knew that in order to stand on that podium today I needed to be in a world of hurt, so I went from the gun and went like-a-hell, crossing the line in first place, 30 seconds ahead of my closest competitor, teammate, and roommate, Morgan Smyth. This is by far my best distance result, and to have that at Nationals is so fun! As a team we managed to take top two places in both the mens and womans field.. YEAAAHHHH! We also had many girls stacked in the top ten, throwing down a good showing.
It is incredibly fun to be part of this APU team. Any one of us could pop a good race and stand on the top for the day. I think that is what I enjoy best about it. When one person does well, it pushes the group to strive and reach to that same level. I have never been part of a team that functions so well together and gets along so well- I couldn't be more thankful I am part of it!
Thanks to the coaches for some bomb track skis and keeping us going!
Tomorrow is the 20k skate race, which I will sit out. Following that is the last race, a skate sprint on Saturday.. fun, fun!
Getting one of my first interviews :)