The Waiting Game
Posted by Zach Caldwell on November 29th, 2007I met Kris on his way to breakfast this morning. I was on my way back up from the wax cabin and I joined him for another cup of coffee before we went skiing. He sounded terrible - worse than I’ve heard yet. He claimed that he was feeling better and naturally I assumed that he was simply trying to convince himself that he was improving in-spite of obvious evidence to the contrary. Then we went skiing.
I think Kris had overslept. He must have just woken up when I first saw him. He talked most of the frogs out of his throat over breakfast and proceeded to kick my butt skiing (as well he should). His heart rate was down a huge amount from yesterday, and he had some pop in his stride.
So, the door is still open for racing Sunday, but at this point Kris has decided not to start the Sprint event on Saturday. He doesn’t need the stress of race-preparation a day early. He’s done no speed preparation for the sprint, and his chances of qualifying are slim. The best case scenario for the sprint event is that he qualifies for the heats, at which point it turns into a very long day with serious blood sugar management challenges.
The major goal for the remainder of the first period is to have at least one representative race effort in a World Cup start. We need that to evaluate his fitness and make plans for the January races. He will not start Sunday if we feel there is a chance that he could set himself back further in the lead-up to Davos. But as of now I’m optimistic that he’ll race Sunday. I’m not expecting the world - I still think the race comes a couple of days too soon. But things are on the upswing in any case!
November 29th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Why did he race last weekend if he was feeling sick? It would seem at that level you need to be 100% for a good result and after racing less 100% last weekend it looks like he will miss 2 weekends instead of 1.
November 29th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
Good question. Kris felt that he was fighting something starting Tuesday before the races last week. However,as of Friday he felt that he had successfully held illness at bay. He has traveled to Europe for four World Cup starts on this trip, and he was not eager to skip one.
Since waking up Sunday with clear cold symptoms he has been asking himself the same question you have just posed. It’s very easy to second-guess decisions in hindsight. However, I’ve asked him whether he would have made a different decision given the same information, and he conceded that he would probably make the same decision again. Caution is warranted, but one can be too cautious. If you never race because you “might” be sick you’re liable to miss a lot of good race opportunities. Kris has generally been very healthy - only one illness prior to this in the last year. In this case he chose wrong, but that’s only apparent in hindsight.
Maybe he needs better advisers. Are you available?
November 30th, 2007 at 1:38 am
Just so we are all clear….even though my name is Roger, I’m not Roger….got it Z?
November 30th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
I got is Suge. This thing tells me more than you’d think about who’s posting…
December 2nd, 2007 at 7:03 am
Just checked the results. Nicely done (Sunday’s race). Thanks.
December 2nd, 2007 at 7:18 am
im reading too Z. FYI.
December 2nd, 2007 at 10:17 am
wow 5th!
December 2nd, 2007 at 12:36 pm
Congratulations on a great race in Kuusamo Kris!!!
Looks to me like this race wasn’t too early at all. Now it looks like Kris was a good pick for my fantasy team.
December 2nd, 2007 at 3:10 pm
I guess the wait was worth it!!! Awesome result today!! You proved my motto, “Ski… and Kick Butt!!!” Boy did you do that today!!
Your NYSEF fan
(my brother and I helped with the feed station at the Whiteface Rollerski Race)
December 3rd, 2007 at 7:58 am
5th!!? Shazaam!!
Terrific race, Kris.
It’s especially nice for we New Hampshire-ites, who very much appreciate the time Kris puts back into the sport locally, and can see that even skiers of his caliber can do quite well with off-season training and racing in the Granite State.
Best for a terrific season ahead.
December 5th, 2007 at 11:38 am
I have trained all over the worldl. New England and particularly central vermont and new hampshire are the best places in the world to train. There is no better rollerkiing anywhere.