Sorry for the lack of photos this time but I had my hands full.br /br /Could Tom Petty have been any more prescient when he penned these words long before Cross Country skiing even had a sprint race? I think not. I have long waited to hear his catchy tune playing over the stadium loud speakers as the heats are run at a sprint race.br /br /However, in this case I am not referring to the advancement of Torin as lucky loser during today’s sprint in another Norway Cup. But more on that later. I am actually referring to my, only moderate, skill as a waxer. But today I pretty much nailed it and for a change Torin had as good a skis as anyone on the course. While I’d like to take some credit it may have been more luck than skill. The chemists at Toko had as much to do with our success today as I did.br /br /Temps were very cold and the start was postponed 3 times before finally getting off at 11, after the TD held the thermometer in his armpit and was able to read -17.5C. I was psyched when they decided not cancel because I knew we finally had good skis.br /br /Torin’s qualifier was still not up to snuff again today and he finished 11th. The good news is that the speed and endurance are both there in good measure as demonstrated in all three sprints so far on this Scando tour. His ability to ski with, or out ski, the fastest qualifier of the day has been in evidence during each race. In Beito he managed to make a big move from 5th to come even with the fastest qualifier and eventual winner, Dahl, before getting pinched into 3rd in the last corners to the finish. Last weekend in Finland he out skied the fastest qualifier in two heats and only in the final with a change in strategy did he get boxed into 4th. Today, the fastest qualifier (a disappointing 7.7 seconds ahead of Torin) and race winner was in each of Torin’s three heats. Torin won the 1/4 and was 2 meters back in second place in the semi and only 6″ back in final. We’re working on it, Honest!br /br /Today’s 1/4 and semi final heats contained all the lucky losers of the day and time wise they were faster than the qualifier. So, nobody as dogging it in these heats. The speed is there in head to head competition but we acknowledge we are still trying to find some more relaxed speed for the all important (points wise) qualifier.br /br /To give some idea of the speed being skied in these races, today’s very intelligent course was 1848 meters and the typical time per km of the qualifier and heats was 1 minute and 36 seconds per kilometer. That’s right: 1:36/km!br /br /Gotta get your speed on!div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2910103639238326543-5072644824471815671?l=methowolympicdevelopment.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
