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Here are some post-race comments from some of the top finishers in last weekend's Yellowstone SuperTour races: Wendy Wagner, Torin Koos, and Justin Freeman tell what it was like up at the front, and look ahead to the December World Cups.
</p><p><B>How did the qualifying go?</B></p><p>– Great! I didn’t expect to qualify first and my skis were frickin’ great, and that helped. But I think I’m starting to ski a lot better now too which is nice, after Anchorage. I honestly was very surprised to win the prelim. And that gives you a lot of confidence going into the heats. So I think that helped a lot to win the heats as well.</p><p><B>Were you going for a maximum workout or were you kind of being smart in the quarters and semis?</B></p><p>– Oh we definitely took it easy in the first two. Not easy, but the final was definitely my fastest, hardest out of all four. Well, the prelim was hard too. It’s a long course, you know usually [girls] race 900m to 1k, and this was a K and a half, so I think lots of people got tired towards the end that didn’t take it easy in the beginning. </p><p><B>Do you feel like this course was suited to you or not so much?</B></p><p>– It’s a hard course, but I think it’s a good course. I like it when the women race around 1000m though–it was a little long I felt. Because [the event organizers] changed it–now we do the 10k tomorrow, and that’s kind of a bummer because it tires you out for that. But it’s great, I love racing in West Yellowstone, it’s one of my favorite places to race. </p><p><BR><center><img src=)
Wendy keeps up with Alison Crocker in the Semifinal
How was the final?
– It was tough, I had a different tactic. I just tried to be in the lead at the bottom of the hill, and then I just went as hard as I could go for the rest of the race. My goal was to out-ski the field, not get lucky. That happened so I’m really pleased.
How are you feeling for tomorrow?
– Good…I’m pumped and a little bit tired but sometimes that helps you feel better the next day. I think it’ll go really well tomorrow.
Great. And where are you headed after this, back home?
– To Colorado for a week and then to the World Cup in Canada.
Good luck, thanks a lot!
</p><p><B>So how’d you feel in the qualifying round?</B></p><p>– You know, I think my legs were a little tired or something, I just couldn’t really get it going. I was kind of disappointed with it, all in all, you know it’s nice to always put up the fastest time or be right there and I was almost two seconds out today.</p><p>It was an interesting course—all V2 or tucking—it’s really a glider's kind of course, and it’s no secret that I’m a transition and V1 kind of guy. So it gives me something to work on when I do these kinds of races.</p><p><B>What was your strategy throughout the event?</B></p><p>– There was nothing to it, it was really to ski from the front–which is also not much of a surprise–but I didn’t want to ski too hard. I just wanted to control the races and pick it up in certain places just to play with speed a little bit, and then win it in the end. And it pretty much worked out until the Final, I had Newell and Leif coming up on me. Newell and I got a little tangled up and then Leif made a good move, and then we ended up just having a roller derby the last 150 meters. He was able to accelerate a little bit faster about 80 meters out, and got a meter on me and we just stuck really close to the end. I think at the finish it was probably 4 or 5 inches. But he deserved the win. He was obviously skiing really smooth today.</p><p><B>Where did you get tangled up?</B></p><p>– Just at the bottom of the hill there, on the second [lap], when we were really starting to push it.</p><p><BR><center><img src=)
The “roller derby” dash for the line, Men's Final
So are you racing tomorrow as well?
– I’ll be racing tomorrow, yep. Guess we’ll see how it has to go…it should be alright. My last distance race wasn’t too stellar, so [laughs]…so I’ve got that to build upon!
Are you encouraged by [sprint specialist] Tor Arne Hetland winning that [Beitostolen 15km] World Cup?
– Four of the top six guys in the last world cup were sprinters—pure sprinter–so I mean it can happen. I’m fit enough to do well in the distance races, it’s just am I not too tired.
What’s the plan after this camp here?
– Right after the race tomorrow, we’ll fly out Sunday morning and get ready for the World Cups up there. So [we’ll] back off the training a little bit…at least Newell and I have been keeping the volume up so we want to be good, everywhere. I think we’re going to back off and do a little more speed in the next week or two—try to get a little bit more in race shape.
Do you have any specific goals for the World Cup?
– Obviously I want to score points and get in the rounds, you want to mix it up with those guys, so that’s the number 1 goal.
Well good luck, thanks so much!
– Thanks for the interview!
JUSTIN FREEMAN (Winner of the 12km classic race, right after the awards ceremony where the U.S. Team was announced for the December World Cups in Canada.)
Justin Winning the 12km Classic in Yellowstone by 19 seconds
Was it tough with the soft track today?
– The track stood up remarkably well. It was soft, and it was tricky because you couldn’t get out of the track and get kick, the snow was just way too soft. But the course itself held up really well, it was just deep powder.
How was your training this year, were you mostly by yourself?
– Yeah. I’m in Park City, I’ve had a little help from the [U.S.] Ski Team with technique. They let me use the strength facility and give me some help with that; one of the guys there is helping me with my lower body strength preparation. So they’ve been helpful. But I’ve probably designed 90% of my own training. I worked a little with Zach Caldwell in Vermont—mostly by phone, I saw him one or two times this summer—and bounced ideas off him. He’s great because for most things he says “yeah that’s a good ideaâ€, and once in awhile he says no, so it’s a good system for me.
Were you focusing on any area in particular to get ready for these Olympics as far as your off-season training?
– I’ve really gone back to what worked for me 3 years ago for the World Championships, when I won this race and had some other good results. I put 103 hours in in a four-week period in August and September, then took some time easy, and then did four and a half weeks of three pretty hard intensity sessions a week, then I went over to Fairbanks. At this point I’m just listening to my body, and I’m feeling fast and feeling strong. I’ll probably just go back to Park City, do some volume, up to Silver Star, keep doing volume, maybe two mellow interval workouts and one hard interval workout before the World Cup and take it from there.
Great. Do you have a specific goal for those World Cups?
– It’s hard to say, I don’t know how big the field is going to be. Certainly at a minimum I want to get a top-30 in one of those races. I think that that’s a really realistic goal. If I get top-30 in the first race, I’m gonna be going for top-20 in the second, or more. But it’s a little hard to say just yet where I am.
Well good luck and thanks a lot for talking.
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