This weekend I raced in the first Rikert Grand Prix, a three-day race featuring a sprint, a 10k, and a hill climb. While the racing was awesome, the conditions were not so much. The snow was melting and icy since it had been raining – they even had to change the race course. As you can see, I was waxing and writing my pre-race goals outside in a t-shirt… Although this is not the most pressing climate-change-related issue, as a winter athlete, it’s sad to think that future race seasons may be cut short (and we are already seeing signs of that today).

This weekend I raced a 50k in Rangeley, ME. I have never raced a 50k before so I talked a lot with my coaches about prep, pacing, and fueling (pre-race and during the race). 

A few general takeaways:

Have a race day fueling plan - for me, that meant a water belt with GU ultra-endurance mix (with an extra bottle to swap out halfway) and GUs. 

Build into the race - if you go out too fast and cross the redline too early, you will not be happy. That being said, I spent the majority of the race in L3, I used the first couple of k to build into that pace. 

Carbs, carbs, carbs - I’ve always been very focused on fueling, but not as focused on carbs specifically. Per my coach’s advice, I carbo-loaded to the max the night before the race. I don’t attribute my race success to the cassava pasta, but I definitely feel like it contributed to my energy during the race. I felt better than I have in some shorter races, and my mom said I looked “zippy.”

Rangeley, Maine 50K - March 5, 2022

The Eastern Cup season is over :( We came straight to Craftsbury from Dublin for the final camp of the season with the goal of getting in some volume before the post-season. There was a lot more snow than there was in November, perfect for some long L1 skiing.

Bonjour! (I knew the six years of French would come in handy eventually). Over Winter break, I had ski camp in Quebec. It was my first time skiing at Mont Sainte Anne and it was amazing! There is so much terrain, and I really got to work on my downhills and technical skiing. Even when we weren’t working on it specifically, since the terrain was more difficult, I got more reps just by skiing. 

SNOW!! Over Thanksgiving break, my club team had camp in Craftsbury, VT. The main goals of Thanksgiving camp are to get used to skiing on snow (coming off of eight months of roller skiing) and to re-build some volume pre-race season. Craftsbury had about 2k of snow stored from last year they were able to roll out about 1k on November 20th. If you are just as confused as I was about how they store snow over the summer, check out this blog post by Craftsbury Outdoor Center.

Properly fueling allows you to get the most out of your training and access your full potential in races. On Fridays, I'll be back to share something I've been working on in the kitchen! Here is an Oat Banana Bread with Cauliflower from Rise and Run: Recipes, Rituals and Runs to Fuel Your Day: A Cookbook by Shalane Flanagan and Elyse Kopecky. I decided to try adding blueberries and while I’ve seen prettier results, research suggests that the antioxidants in blueberries are good for recovery by ward off muscle fatigue. Yum!