The Canada Winter Games have arrived! Well, they actually started last week… but cross country skiing competitions take place in the second week of the Games – which we head out for tomorrow. The CWG only take place every four years, and is restricted to Under23 athletes for cross country skiing, so this is my one and only kick at the can.

The excitement of the trip has been steadily building, especially once I was informed that my force majeure appeal had been approved. When I fractured my fibula in mid-December, I was unable to compete in the designated qualification events but the selection/high performance committee for Ontario decided that I would be named to the team based on my results from last season. It was a big relief to be named to the team, and an even bigger motivator to recover well and be ready to race at the Games!

Racing at Easterns in a “mostly recovered” state, I was feeling quite good about my fitness but was still struggling with my classic skiing. Fortunately, after a few more visits with our IST (Integrated Support/Super Team) the scar tissue around where the break was loosened up and I have since been able to classic ski without any discomfort. It’s great to be able to train and not feel held back by my injury anymore! Here are a couple pictures from Easterns, just after Ryan won his classic mass start race

A big win deserves a big hug! Or hold, like, hold him up.

Post-race family picture

It’s also my birthday today! Thank you everyone for the well-wishes and “congratulations on the double-decade”, it’s been a great day. We had a late start to training because it was quite cold over night, so when I woke up I got a note from Erin saying to wake her and Katherine up before I ate breakfast. Okay, a bit strange, but okay… This was when I initially woke up at 6:30, and not wanting to be obnoxious, I decided to work on my lab in bed for a bit before waking them up. Turns out they had gotten me a cake, and insisted that we eat it for breakfast! No complaints here, I often eat desserts for breakfast (which is probably why they wanted to do this.) It was a good start to the day.

We went out to Lappe for a zone4 intensity workout today. It was quite mild (only -17!) and snowing lightly – a super nice day. The birthday intensity went okay for me. Even though I’ve recovered from my injury, I’m still missing the sharp reactiveness I usually have (not that there’s much, I’m pretty sure I’m all slow-twitch and a little anxious-twitch). It’s coming back though. With a week of shorter races at the Games I think I’ll be coming in to good form for the big races of the year at Nationals! I’d also like to mention that I skied 20km on Feb 20th for my 20th birthday today. I thought it was cool.

After training we all went home and grabbed quick showers and tidied up before going out for a team sushi lunch. I like going for team sushi, except for when we over-order and leave completely bloated and feeling gross. I didn’t over eat (too much) this time, which required a lot of discipline and pacing…

Well, I need to gather my final miscellaneous items up and head off to bed. We fly down to Toronto tomorrow morning on an Air Canada flight, and then take a charter in the evening out to Prince George along with the other week 2 Ontario teams. We have to wear our red Ontario shirt, dark pants, and either our red parka or black jacket to travel. There are lots of rules for the Canada Winter Games, hopefully I don’t forget or accidentally break any. In between the flights I am going to visit my grandparents in aunt who live in Toronto, and maybe catch some of the World Championship Skiathlon!

More blogs (and pictures, promise) to come throughout the Games – stay tuned for updates hopefully everyday and if not, hopefully every other day! The women’s races for the Games are as follows (I think):

Monday – 7.5km Classic Individual Start
Tuesday – 1.3km Classic Sprints
Thursday – 10km Skate Mass Start
Saturday – 4×3.75km Relay (2 classic 2 skate)

Thanks again for the birthday wishes! And thank you to Brenda Airlines for their continued support on my quest to be good at things.

JennOUT