No One Likes a Tease-Anchorage 2009

It's just a tad after nine in the morning and we will be leaving for Kincaid Park in an hour and half for a race that will most likely not happen at all; however, that really is the story of the week. We're currently 1 for 4 and after this afternoon might just be 1 for 5, that would be 5 attempts to hold a race in this arctic temperatures and only one success. The organizers are great, the volunteers are awesome, but I can see how alot of people might be sitting in hotel rooms or wax trailers a little frustrated right now. We wake up every morning, jog, eat breakfast with the hopes of racing dancing through our heads and then we check the weather and watch those very same dreams trickle away... Every day we check what the temperature high is predicted to be and from that we know what the probability of us actually toeing the start line is. High for today, -10, likely hood of racing...not good. Blurg!?!?!?!?!?
Going into Senior Nationals I knew making the World Juniors team would be a long shot but I also knew that it was another opportunity for me to race with the best girls in the country, and that I was looking forward to. Well we were given one opportunity in a shortened, cold, 5k skate race earlier this week. It was cold and miserable and far from my best showing. We were each presented with a challenge when we stood on the start line that day and instead of stepping up to the plate I struggled immensely. It wasn't one of those races where I felt fast or in control, it was almost as if I took everything I knew about skiing, started out of the gate in an attempt to go fast and immediately forget everything I knew. Instead of powering up the hills and flying around the corners I floundered and flailed all over the place for a solid 5k. It wasn't my worst race and it was far from my best, and even farther from where I would like to be, but that's alright. A few steps and a bound through some frustration later I am ready to get back onto a course, back onto some fast skis, and ready to push myself.
Game on.