Marathon Spring

Missing the Olympics freed up some space on my calendar. This spring I based out of Bozeman and took advantage of my fitness by signing up for four marathons in late Feb and early March.

Winning the Sun Valley Super Tour – 15km Classic – Last race of the Olympic selection period

There was almost an initial weight off my shoulder when the Olympic team was named and I was assigned as an alternate. Without the Olympic races to train and peak for, I just started joy skiing. I got to Bozeman and the conditions were super good so I was skiing minimally four hours a day and really enjoying it. The warm sun and nice walking trails in Bozeman also got me stoked for running even though summer was still far out. I started running quite a bit as well, which was a nice change of mindset.

Hard to beat that spring mountain west sunshine

I made plans to race the Boulder Mountain Tour (30km skate) in Sun Valley, The Sacagewea Classic (30km classic) in Bozeman, The American Birkie (50km skate) in Wisconsin, and the Tour of Anchorage (50km skate).

So good! Racing with Jessica after her Olympics and Ian who also did a spring of Marathons like me

I came into The Boulder and Sacagaea with several big weeks of training under my belt. I felt great in both races, but after those two races on back to back weekends I was wrecked. The Birkie was always on my calendar for this winter regardless of my World Cup or Olympic plans. So after the Sacagawea I took several easy days to just chill and get my legs under me before a final little prep for the Birkie. I also didn’t want to come into the Birkie tired because the Tour of Anchorage was the weekend after.

Ian and I in the Birkie. Race started cold then warmed up quickly. I was roasty toasty

Overall, the plan worked and I felt great in these spring races. I won all of them except the Birkie where I placed second by just boot. I kind of messed up my sprint into the finish and lost it, but it was a good effort and something I certainly learned from.

I cannot say I’m pleased about the Olympic selection, but DEFILA certainly made me a sweet custom suit to embrace the moment…. ‘Just Keep LIVIN’. This was a good spring for embracing the fact that failure is inevitable when chasing goals and its more about how you grow from failure then worrying about failing itself. Yup, thats the key!

Racing domestically is the funnest thing. So many awesome people on the circuit and great vibes