Lean In: U.S. Nationals 2015

As we’re all heading back to our training homelands, pretty physically, mentally, and emotionally drained after a hard and exhilarating week of racing, we get a chance to reflect on the whirlwind of a week we just experienced.

Our classic sprint heat heading into the finish stretch in th blizzard

You’ve probably all heard by now: nationals in Houghton, Michigan this year were no less than completely epic.  The temps averaged in the single digits (or below), the windchill dropped to the negative twenties, and it snowed over 27 inches from January 2 to January 10^th.  And yet through the barely race-legal temps, the gale-force winds, and snow-globe blizzards, the racing and training forged on.

This will be a year people remember. A year people talk about. We’ll ask each other, “Oh yeah, remember Houghton 2015? That was NUTS!” We’ll go skiing and joke about the balmy conditions and ability to just “nail” the wax in comparison to nationals in Houghton (that’s a lie, it’s basically impossible). We’ll nurse our frostbitten fingers, toes, cheeks, and noses, cringing in memory of the biting temperatures of Houghton 2015. And we’ll probably all have nightmares about getting lost in a whiteout blizzard.

KT Tape saved a lot of faces this week.

But we’ll also carry a small sense of pride about what we just accomplished. We fought through a week that demanded more grit, heart, and determination than we probably knew we had, and we’ve got epic photos, stories, results, and frostbite scars to prove it. It’s a rewarding sense of accomplishment: leaving Houghton behind knowing you handled a week that a lot of people would cower from.

(This is the part where I send a major shoutout to all of the race organizers, volunteers, groomers, and Michigan Tech staff.  The weather threw just as many challenges at them as it did us racers, and they handled the week with an unwavering sense of positivity, organization, efficiency, and professionalism.  This week was some of the best race management I have ever experienced as an athlete. Thank you all for your hard work.)

The athletes at Sun Valley are pretty lucky to have Rick Kapala as program director and coach.  If anybody reading this has ever met Rick, they’ll know that he has this amazing talent of crafting passion and drive in people. Before the races, Rick gave us a talk that really stuck with me.

He talked about how yes, the weather in Houghton was crazy. And many of us haven’t experienced anything like this before.  But in all reality, the races in Houghton were emulating the very origins of the sport we spend so much time training and living for.  The true (and sometimes not very glamorous) roots of Nordic Skiing lie in the experience of racing through the quiet, empty woods as fast as you can, battling the snow, the wind, the cold, and your own body and mind. Our sport may take us to some glorious places, but let’s not forget that it originated in the cold woods and windy fields.

And what better place and time to truly mimic the roots of our sport than in a blizzard in the middle of the woods at one of the most competitive domestic races of the year?

Rick told us that there were going to be two types of athletes on the line the next morning.  Some were going to be standing with their toes on the line, leaning into the wind and snow, excited and anticipating whatever the race threw at them. They might not be in contention for the win, but they’ll be thrilled to be there and to race hard. They can’t wait to see what will happen. Other athletes were going to be turned with their backs to the wind, hiding from the weather, letting it distract from their desire to race. They’ll be looking around at others, searching for a sign of empathy and commiseration, a mental way “out” of the situation.

Which athlete do you think will ski better? The athlete that leans in. 

And so, with that in mind, we leaned in to the 10/15k skate, the classic sprints, the 20/30k mass start, and the skate sprints: wind, snow, and cold in all. It was a pretty inspiring thing to be a part of. And I think, regardless of results, everybody that raced at nationals emerged a stronger skier than the one they arrived as. Thank you Rick for the inspiration. 

And we get to do it all again, in 352 days. But who’s counting. ;)

As for me, I finished off the week in qualifying position to race for the U.S. at U23 Worlds in Almaty, Kazakhstan! I feel so thrilled and proud to be able to represent the U.S. alongside of some incredibly talented skiers, and I cannot wait for the next adventure to begin. I leave the 26th of January! But for now, I get a couple of weeks on the home turf to get some rest, sunshine, and skiing in.

Thank you to Toko, Fischer, BeFAST, PlayHard GiveBack, Smith Optics, Finite Ski Tools, the SVSEF crew, and my friends and family for all of the love and support this week.

The U.S U23 Women's team: Joanne Reid, Annie Pokorny, Annie Hart, Deedra Irwin, and me!
(Not pictured: Cambria McDermott)

(In case you were wondering where on the globe Almaty is..)