Sovereign Lake

 Hey guys!

I officially spent 13 days in B.C. on a lil training camp. It was a bit of rough going out there with some sketchy snow conditions and securing rides up and down the mountain from Vernon, but overall a great opportunity.

I flew into Kelowna on the 21st of November, making that almost 18 years since I was born there, which was a bit weird because for some unknown reason, I remember nothing of it. I took the bus from there to Vernon and honestly, it was a miracle I made it with all of my bags, skis and my track record with buses (I got lost going home from Hamilton one time - long story). Got picked up by the family friend I was staying with and drove to their house, lovely people. I loved staying with them, everyone was so nice and welcoming, I'm going to miss them.

On the first day of skiing, I was expecting some horrors, but it actually wasn't too bad just a couple of rocky sections that were avoidable and some sticks, I even got a ride down from someone who worked there which was nice. Day 2 I spent the whole day up there, even napping on one of the benches downstairs, snow conditions were dwindling a bit and those rocky sections were getting bigger and spreading further which was not good news. Then I got stranded up at Sovereign without a ride down because the people who said they could take me suddenly couldn't (something about stupid rules ???) The rest of the time was interesting, there was a lot of solo skiing on questionable conditions and me getting up at random times and getting rides with lots of different people. I even made it to a gym in Vernon which was beautiful, with so many facilities, I was astounded by their treadmills (that never happens). The family that I was staying with was so wonderful, they were so accommodating and I even made some new European friends who we had dinner with several times.

Due to the snow conditions the races were changed and altered so many times we really had no idea what was happening, they ended up switching the races around i.e. starting Saturday with a 10k skate, which to their shock and amazing planning skills ended up happening in about 10cm of fresh powder (great planning guys). The course was very technical and hilly which was challenging, but doable. The issue for me personally was the transitions, I felt so slow going into one skate omg. I ended up 12th in U20, which I wasn't too happy with, but what can ya do? (Ski faster obviously!) Race day #2 was also up in the air a bit, first, they wanted just a classic qualifier, then only a quarterfinal for the Open/U20 categories and everything was so complicated, but they ended up running the full Classic sprint (which ig was nice if you made it all the way through idk?). I came 21st in the Open Women qualifier which meant I made it into the quarterfinals, it definitely wasn't a strong qualifier and I was expecting a better result, but hey first sprint of the season right? I didn't move on from the quarterfinal, but I did move up in the results ending up 15th overall, 8th U20 (which is a step up 🎉).

There was lots of amazing cheering which I am super thankful for and honestly wasn't even expecting, but Hannes and Zdenek came out for the skate and really got me through those flats and "little" hills, and I had Goran and Dushanka there for the sprints the next day which was also very nice. Of course, my dad was there cheering me on every glide of the way as always, thank you!!! Also a big shoutout to Jake of Hollyburn Ski Club in BC for waxing my skis, super fast both days and good grip too!!

I ended the trip with a delicious early birthday dinner and free cheesecake?!?! I could barely eat for days afterwards I was so full! It was such an amazing trip/training camp and a decent start to the racing season. I'm hoping it goes up from here!

Thank you again so much to everyone who supports me and ig stay tuned for when I decide to post about the Candy Cane Cup!

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https://www.strava.com/athletes/ajaklova