Training Log Archive: iansmith

C • NAOC 5

Holy cow, I am slow. More later.

I was hugely disappointed by my sprint result, which despite some mistakes, was more a consequence of being really slow rather than technical accuracy. I was eager for another crack at it, and I was very happy to be selected for the sprint relay teams. My team was Kseniya, me, Wyatt, and Angelica. Kseniya came in quickly, a minute back of Alex. I started just behind Damian, Boris, and Schirm. The course wasn't overly technical. Everyone immediately split up for their forks, and I settled into running my own course; I was alone for 1-3. I saw Boris punch my 4 just ahead of me, and tried to reel him in on 5-6. We had separate 7s, and he disappeared, only to reappear just behind me as we ran into the field to 8. We again had different 8s, and soon he, a Canuck (Trevor Bray?) and I were bashing down the beach to 9. I bobbled 13 by about 5 seconds and Boris pulled ahead, but I ran him down in the chute and we finished together.

Overall, I'm satisfied with my effort; I was clean and solid on all controls. I lost 5s on 13, and perhaps 15s from hesitation on 5-6. While there are people who are faster than I, I believe I justify my selection by being very solid and reliable. US team 7 finished 4 minutes behind the lead Canadian Team; ignoring forkings, Kseniya and Angelica finished about 40s ahead of Tori and Kerstin. This of course implies that Wyatt and I lost almost five minutes to Damian and Will over 6 km. This is totally unacceptable. I must get faster.

C • . 3

Sprint - Course 5a - Splits