Karl Saidla races for XC Ottawa www.xcottawa.ca He will be racing this week in the Canmore World Cup
Early this week I had the chance to spend a few minutes talking to both Sara Renner (Bronze medal in the Sprint at Sovereign Lake) and Phil Widmer ( Fourth fastest qualifying time at Sovereign Lake. Here is what Sara had to say! Phil's interview will be posted soon.
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<p><b>Did the Sovereign Lake races go about how you expected they would?</b></p>
<p>The races were a pleasant surprise. I didn’t feel particularly snappy at the Nor Am races in Canmore the week before and I know from experience that if you are not feeling good in a World Cup race you can be completely decimated. At the same time, I was very excited to race at home in Canada on courses that I am very familiar with.</p>
<p><b>Have you done anything special in terms of training this year that you think helped you to perform as well as you did?</b></p>
<p>I would say yes in that having the World Cups in Canada gave us something very positive to focus on. We considered it a card in our pocket that we would be racing at home and we believed that it gave us a certain advantage. That was a great feeling to have.</p>
<p><b>Was there anything that you think you did particularly well this weekend or anything that you would like to improve for the upcoming races?</b></p>
<p>I think that our set up in terms of training and living arrangements in Silver Star was a big plus. Beckie, Milaine and I all stayed together and we created the atmosphere that we were on holiday. I think that being relaxed and enjoying things this way really helped. In terms of things to improve I would have to say that I am always looking for a bit more from myself. I was a little bit disappointed in losing contact with the lead group in the pursuit so I will just try to be a bit tougher.</p>
<p><b>What are your (roughly) your plans in terms of training and travel between now and the Olympics?</b></p>
<p>After these World Cups some of the team will be heading to a backcountry lodge in the Kootenays called Nipika just to rest, relax and have fun for a few days. While my Christmas plans are a bit up in the air at this point I expect to be in Europe by about the 10th of January. After that I will follow roughly the same preparation plan that I used for Oberstdorf. This included a high altitude/high volume camp a couple of weeks before the Olympics.</p>
<p><b>Anything you would like to add?</b></p>
<p>Just that I am really proud of everyone who helped to organize and put on the races both at Sovereign Lake and at Canmore. The races last week were fantastic and I am sure the ones this week will be as well. I was also really impressed by the number of spectators that came out to watch. It was very helpful to have all that support.</p>
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