US Champion :-)
Thursday, 14. August 2008, 12:03:17
I haven’t written anything since WOC, but lots has happened. It’s been somewhat difficult getting over the disappointment of running badly at WOC, but since then I have had some good races and regained some self-confidence. Directly after WOC, I traveled to Sweden to take part in the World Cup races at O-Ringen. This experience was fantastic, and since I was so burned out of putting pressure on myself, like I did at WOC, I actually ran well. Hum... a lesson for the future? We had a big team, 6 women and 5 men. That doesn’t happen much. 
Two newbee’s Kat Orekhova and Alison Crocker certainly enriched our team, and I hope to have them on a WOC team soon. I managed to get some of my first world cup points for this year, I was satisfied with my 38th place in the sprint and 39th in the long. I had some trouble with dehydration and hypoglycemia in the middle. I guess I didn’t recover from the long distance the day before, where I had felt physically really pretty good.
After the WOC and World cup trip, I spend a few days at home, before flying to my hometown, Colorado Springs to visit my brother and spend some time in the States. One of the reasons I went to the US was to participate in the 2 Day US Classic Championships in Wyoming, just a few hours away from Colorado Springs. There were several days of training before the US champs, and I enjoyed running in the open woods and camping with many friends that I haven’t seen in a long time.
The US classic Championships are a 2-day total event.
The “woods” were very interesting and challenging in it’s own way. Since the terrain is at about 8000 feet (2400 meter) high, the biggest challenge is the altitude and not running too fast since the terrain is open. It’s an interesting feeling to run hard at that altitude, basically I felt like I was running in 4th gear the whole time, but if I pushed harder my head would get foggy and dizzy. I managed to run races where I could push at a pace needed to run cleanly, but still fast enough to win. I won both days by about 2 minutes ahead of Samantha Saeger. I have never won a 2 day US Classic champs and was very happy to have finally achieved this goal. The results can be found here.
Maps:
Day 1
Day 2
I have put some pictures from the summer (WOC, World cup Sweden, and my trip to the US) up in the Photos section! Check them out!
Two newbee’s Kat Orekhova and Alison Crocker certainly enriched our team, and I hope to have them on a WOC team soon. I managed to get some of my first world cup points for this year, I was satisfied with my 38th place in the sprint and 39th in the long. I had some trouble with dehydration and hypoglycemia in the middle. I guess I didn’t recover from the long distance the day before, where I had felt physically really pretty good.
After the WOC and World cup trip, I spend a few days at home, before flying to my hometown, Colorado Springs to visit my brother and spend some time in the States. One of the reasons I went to the US was to participate in the 2 Day US Classic Championships in Wyoming, just a few hours away from Colorado Springs. There were several days of training before the US champs, and I enjoyed running in the open woods and camping with many friends that I haven’t seen in a long time.
The US classic Championships are a 2-day total event.
The “woods” were very interesting and challenging in it’s own way. Since the terrain is at about 8000 feet (2400 meter) high, the biggest challenge is the altitude and not running too fast since the terrain is open. It’s an interesting feeling to run hard at that altitude, basically I felt like I was running in 4th gear the whole time, but if I pushed harder my head would get foggy and dizzy. I managed to run races where I could push at a pace needed to run cleanly, but still fast enough to win. I won both days by about 2 minutes ahead of Samantha Saeger. I have never won a 2 day US Classic champs and was very happy to have finally achieved this goal. The results can be found here.Maps:
Day 1
Day 2
I have put some pictures from the summer (WOC, World cup Sweden, and my trip to the US) up in the Photos section! Check them out!
WIDGETIZE
Anonymous # 14. September 2008, 21:41
Hi Sandra
Congrats on your accomplishment. I am just now discovering this blog thing, hope you get this message! I didn't know you were in Wyoming, you probably drove right by Virginia Dale, hope everything looked in order! Your Norway pics were stunning, i never knew Norway was like that.
love
bonnie