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| Picture from Bruce Adelsman (www.skinnyski.com) |
It was good to hop in a race and just get a feel for how my fitness is and see where I still need to improve. Turns out my starts were one place where improvement is definitely needed, and my finishes might be another. It was a crowded start with over 300 racers and probably over 30 on the front line, which felt crowded with just 20 of us there for the Loppet last year. We were shoulder to shoulder, not even enough room to get elbows out. I tend to flap my arms a bit when poling, so this was not a great situation. I'm also not that aggressive of a racer, so pushing my way into position and moving through the crowds didn't happen fast. I eventually worked my way up to where things were thinning out and went to work. I moved up from probably 50th place at the 2k mark to 10th place by the 12k mark, and ended the day in 8th. The last few people I passed right before Wirth Lake all tucked in behind me and I had a train of Jon Miller, Chris Sachs, and Ben Popp following me around to Jar hill. Nate was just visible up ahead, but there was not near enough time to make up the gap to him. Jon pulled up along side me when we got back onto Wirth lake for the run to the finish, and we skied neck in neck across the lake before he finally got the edge on me in the final meters. He had a solid V2 going on, and I felt like I was flailing along with an open field, no way I could have held together a V2 at those speeds, so that is something else to work on. I felt like I was within myself the whole race though, and I skied another 25k or so after the race and didn't feel too depleted, so I'm looking forward to some longer races to really put the fitness to the test. Balsam Vinterfest 20k is this upcoming weekend. We'll see if the slightly longer distance and smaller field makes it any easier to work my way into the lead pack.
