My adventures in Norway!
Sorry this is so long, I couldn't write blog updates since my
computer broke, and there is much to tell, so here is the whole trip
report!
I had an amazing experience at U18's this year in Norway the
past two weeks. For those who don't know what it is, it is the top 6 boys and
girls from Norway, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, and USA that are U18 who race
against each other for 3 days (the races this year were also open so anyone else
can race). I went on the trip last year to Estonia so I knew what to expect to an
extent. My first day started off pretty interesting. I use a nebulizer (an
inhaler machine) for my breathing problems and on the first day before our
workout in the morning, I plugged it in and turned it on. 20 seconds later smoke
came out of the sides so I unplugged it and threw it in the bathroom. Luckily,
the smoke detector did not go off and the smoking stopped after a while, although
it left a toxic smell in our room for a day. It was an obstacle I had to overcome
on the first day, and decided I did not need it, and that I would be fine without
it. The first 3 days were race prep days. We skied at the race venue, trying to
guess what the course would be since they hadn't marked it yet, and adjusting to
the time change as well. In those days of prep, I went on runs and walks
with teammates through the big city, Trondheim. We got beautiful views of the
fjord and of many sunrises and sunsets, since the sun rises very late and sets
very early there in the winter, due to how far north it is. The night before
our race, we went bowling for some team bonding. Who knew that I would be any
good at bowling, I ended up being the 3rd best bowler.
Then the first race day came, the night sprint. We had to wait
around all day while the nerves built up. Once we got to the race venue, they had
some sweet American music playing, which set me in a good mood. I skied the
course many times in my warm up, trying out all the tricky turns. The race was a
short classic sprint. My prelim went pretty smoothly and I was happy with it, but
I did not let myself go to see the results because my coaches told me I made heats
so the place did not matter to me. Sadly, in the quarter final I fell on an ice
patch I did not see in a turn, eliminating me. Once I saw that I got 7th in the
prelim (03:05,7 and 6 sec behind the best time), that brought up my mood from how
down I was feeling about my crash, but hey, that is how sprints go! I was happy
that Heidi had a really good day finishing 5th overall as the top US girl. We
had a short recovery time from the late night sprints to the race the next
morning at 10am. It was a 5km skate distance race, where we did 2 laps of 2.5km.
My first lap I had a super fast split where I was right with the top ten, but the
hill in the beginning of the second lap killed me. I ended up 23 including all
skiers (remember this year the racers were open races meaning many more Norwegian
skiers) and got a glass as an award for getting 11 for the U17 category.
Katherine had a great race and placed 7th overall, killing the hills. She started
out right behind me so it was fun to ski with her. I had a solid race and learned
a lot from it as well. I as flatlander have to train many more hills, "Mount
Weston" on our golf course does not cut it! That night, we went to the awards
ceremony at the hotel where all the other teams were staying and they announced
the results and gave out awards.
Quickly, the relay day came! It was changed to all skate where
women raced 3x3km. I was the scramble leg, then Katharine Ogden, and then Heidi
Halvorsen. My doublepole start was strong, but the girl next to me boxed me out.
I decided just to stay in my place up the first hill and then start making passes
once it was more spread out. One girl fell in front of me, almost causing me to
tangle up, but I managed to get around her. I felt really good on the next
uphills, so I worked my way up to 6th, with 3 girls in a pack including me and
the two Norwegians with a little gap ahead who somehow managed to not get stuck
at the start. I passed two girls and stuck with the two in front of me, while
closing the gap to the Norwegians. I tagged off to Katharine about 6sec off the
leader and right with the 2nd and 3rd place girls. Katharine kept the same
position,skiing a strong leg and tagging off to Heidi the same way. Heidi
passed the two girls right after the tag off and finished 2nd, just 8 seconds
behind Norway 1! This was the first time ever on a J1 trip where the US had a
podium. The coaches were super excited! I thought the course was a blast, with
the suspense of other people around to battle with as well. The relay is
my favorite event, fighting it out together with your teammates head to head
with the other teams. Heidi, Katherine and I ended up with split times within a
few seconds of each other, and it was a very special feeling to share the podium
with my teammates for a medal for America. I was happy with my contribution to
the team tagging only 6 seconds behind the Norwegian girl Tiril Udnes Weng who
won the 5 km skate sprint the day before. By the way, the relay of Norway 1 skied
with the 3 skiers who were 1-3 the day before! That night, we had fun and
watched some Sirkus Northug (TV show all about Northug)! We also watched the relay
going on in the World Cup right after our race and some biathlon as well (it is
normal to see XC skiing on TV).
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| PODIUM!!!! |
