SLU Carnival

Belated SLU Carnival recap - no internet access at our hotel in Placid these past few days. I was like Courtney without coffee. Friday's skate race was a tough slog - a couple inches of snow fell the night before, slowing things down considerably. Fast V2 alternate sections turned into grinding V2, and the limited climbing left skiers with limited rest opportunities. Everyone was exhausted by the time it was over. Walt gave a great effort and had our best finish, 18th - that would've been cause for celebration a couple years ago, but our expectations are higher now. Courtney was our top woman in 58th - not as many hills as she would've liked, but a good race nonetheless. Elissa raced for the first time this year - she's struggled with various health issues for the last few months. Aside from the camp time trial, she hadn't done any high-intensity training since November, so this weekend was a big jump for her. She'll get faster every week.

Saturday's classic was 15/20k, which meant 4 laps for women and 6 for men. There was just enough of Friday's snow over the icy base for hard wax with a binder - no klister, much to the coaches' relief. No big finishes on this day, but several good individual results. Sarah led the women in 59th, with Courtney close behind. Colman, John, and Niko were solid as our 2-3-4 skiers, all finishing in the mid-50s. Not our best weekend, but not bad. With a bit of a break before our next carnival, we can put in a couple weeks of solid training - we should be in a position to have some great races in February.

Thanks to Tim and Muriel Hall for setting up a tailgate lunch for us on Saturday - this was amazing. Not only was it great food, it also allowed us to get on the road much quicker, which was huge - time is precious when you're facing a 6+ hour drive home.

Nick was on the ball again with photos - here are a couple from Saturday's classic:

Another milestone for Grace - first 15k ever.

I hate to resort to stereotypes, but Sarah's from Alaska, which may explain the lack of gloves on a rather chilly day.