Bozeman SuperTour Recap from Gretta
7.5km Classic at Crosscut
Hellooo everyone! For those of you who don’t already know me my name is Gretta and I am a member of the Team Birkie continental team. I have been focusing and competing on the Super Tour circuit this winter and recently returned from the third set of Super Tour races in Bozeman MT.
Rather than fly, my teammate, Emma Stertz, and I chose to drive to Bozeman in the team van with Coach Jake. Though this was a longer trip it was a very fun adventure that also eliminated some of the exposure to germs posed by flying. We read Twilight aloud and stopped at many fun and interesting sights on our drive there and back to keep us entertained. These included: Wall Drug, the Corn Palace, Mount Rushmore, West Yellowstone, Teton National Park, Jackson WY, Devils Tower, the cemetery in SD where many of Emma’s family members are buried, and Wall Drug again.
Finished knitting mitten after sprint race and watching teammates crushing in Europe.
Once we arrived in Bozeman it was time to prepare for the three races: a 20k skate mass start, a skate sprint, and a 7.5k classic individual start! As the first race was a long skate race we did some skate ski testing and skate prerace. My usual prerace consists of ~30 minutes of L1 and L2 (this is the time I use to preview courses and test skis), 2 minutes of L3, 4-6 times 30 seconds of L4, and a cool down. Depending on the length of the race the next day I will alter the amount of 30-second speeds I do. Another thing I was focusing on was good recovery. Recovery is always super important, however, the Bozeman course is at altitude and we did not have the two weeks of acclimation time before. This means that it was extra important to focus on good fueling and hydrating the days before the race as the reduced oxygen makes your body work harder and use more energy thus dehydrating and exhausting you. Some of the things I find helpful to keep my body feeling good at altitude are electrolyte tablets, beet juice, coconut water, and making sure I have extra snacks! Another important element is rest, I tried to nap every day and had a lot of downtime between training and races, frequently partaking in my favorite nonactive hobby, knitting!!
Gorgeous ski in Teton National Park!
Look at those mountains!
Friday morning it was time to race! The Crosscut courses consist mainly of a series of many many hills with some steep climbs and fast downhills on some nice natural snow. I was most excited for the 20k race, as skate mass starts are probably my favorite type of race! Though it did not go entirely smoothly due to a dropped feed (whoops, need to work on that) and slower conditions with some fresh snow I had a good race, ripping skis, and lots of fun, getting to ski much of the race with my former Colby teammate Erin Bianco! The skate sprint was also lots of fun! I miss the western sun a lot in the winter and it was super nice to get to race heats on a gorgeous sunny day in the mountains! I, unfortunately, started feeling the altitude more and didn’t have a great race in the 7.5k classic. However, it was another bright sunny day, and since the women went first Emma and I, along with some of our friends from other teams, were able to cheer on our teammate Henry Snider and the other men which is always an excellent time!
Emma, Jake, and I then took a couple of extra days in the west for some crazy good skiing in West Yellowstone and Jackson WY before the long drive back to Minneapolis! Thanks for reading!!
