Christmas, racing and everything in between.

Well its been way too long since I have sat down to write one of these. Actually that's not quite true, I had one written up but then forgot to save and lost it and its taken me over a week to find the motovation to write everything up again.

To continue where I left off, I was pleased with the way I raced in Silverstar/Soverign lakes but was also looking forward to a break over Christmas. I headed out east to Collingwood, ON to enjoy Christmas with my girlfriend and enjoyed some great skiing conditions at Highlands Nordic ski club. I have skied a lot at this facilitiy over the past few years and the tight knit community there always make me feel very welcome. Unfortunatly, on the night before Christmas.... it rained!!! a lot, washing away all of the snow. This was a huge dissapointment but luckily I got some fancy new ice skates for Christmas. These were well used with daily skates on the outdoor rink and the traditional boxing day hockey game.

[Skating with friends and old roomates in Collingwood]

Luckily the snow started to fall, hard right before the Canadian Selction races began at Highlands Nordic. The first race was a 30km skiathlon. This is normally my favourite race and I really enjoyed the day, racing tactically in the chase pack for most of the race and successfully moving up during the skating half. I finished in 16th spot, overall a solid finish in a tough discipline.

[Classic leg of the skiathlon. Photo credit: Brian Ball]

Next up was the sprint race. Never my favourite and this was no exception, finishing in 33rd spot, close but yet still missing out on the heats (top 30 skiers advance). There wasn't much time to dwell with the next race, a 15km individual scheduled for the next day.

[Classic Sprint. Photo Credit: Brian Ball]

I woke up feeling exhausted on the morning of the 15km individual and was unsure how I was going to handle the tough course. I was drawn as the last starter which made for a pretty lonely 15km race. Luckily the Highlands Trailblazers gave me an excellent pair of skis and these really helped me through to a 17th place finish. Thanks so much to Rick Dicky and the other amazing coaches at Highlands Trailblazers. They gave me excellent skis each leg of the trials races and some amazing hot apple cider at team meetings thanks to the Orhlings.

There was little time to rest as it was straight on a plane back to Canmore for the Western Canadian championships. These were held less than a week after the trials races and the fatigue was starting to get to me. The first race was a test event for the Tour of Canada world cup series which will be held in 2016. This unique race was held in Lake Louise on an 'old style' 10km loop of narrow trail through the woods around picturesque Lake Louise. While the scenery was stunning the course did lack any major climbs and was, unfortunately for me, essentially a double pole race. I still managed to compete well holding on for 18th spot. A pleasing result for a non double pole specalilst, my lanky runner arms obviously need a bit more work.

[Team Kiwi flying past the Boat house in Lake Louise. Photo Credit: CCC]

Next up was the skate sprint and once again I was dissapointed, just missing out on the heats. However, not racing the heats gave me some well needed recovery time after 2 weeks of hard racing.

The finial race at Westerns was the 20km mass start. I have always enjoyed the tactical side to mass starts and today was no exception. I made some big moves early on to ensure I was in the leading pack. Just after halfway, I was caught by the chase pack. Luckily, this pack was moving fast, we actually put time on the leaders during the last lap. I was able to fight hard to the end finishing in 12th less than 2mins behind the winner, the best result of my season so far!!

[Westerns masss start, spot the kiwi.... Photo Credit: CCC]

[Working with the Chase Pack mid way through the race. Photo Credit: CCC]

Overall, this season has been a huge success. I have raced 7 FIS distance races so far and managed to lower my FIS points to 83.11. This is the lowest my points have ever been suggesting I am in top form and racing as fast, if not faster than when I took a break from the sport one year ago. Its with this sort of momentum that I am pleased to announce I will be attending the World Championships in Sweden next month. Thanks to the overwhelming support of the Waiorau Nordic Sports Club and the extremely generous donations of its members, I am relieved to be able to have coach Alexi supporting me at the championships. This will mean that I should have great skis and be well prepared heading into the races there. I am forever in debt to the generosity of those who have supported my career and comeback this far. I hope you enjoy following it almost as much as I enjoy racing.

Look out for the next update.... from Europe!!!!

Andy Pohl