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 Post race
Warm down: Met up with the rest of the group. Ate yummy hot soup and caught the bus back down to the parking area. Went back to the condo and drank beer. Wandered around Ketchum for awhile, had a nice dinner at another Italian restaurant then back to the condo to watch a movie. We were all pretty beat. Stretching somewhere in there would have been a good idea. What limited your ability to perform faster: Inexperience. Event comments: This was a really positive fun experience. The weather was so perfect and the half distance course was just right for a beginner like me. Checked the results at the end of the weekend when I got home and could not believe that I finished as well as I did. I was completely prepared to be dead last, not knowing that lots of people go out and ski just for fun. I was expecting it to be all super hard core athletes. The full distance was definitely more intense, but I think with a bit more experience I could even finish the whole thing. I just might plan on it next year. I may have found a new winter sport. Last updated: 2010-02-08 12:00 AM
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United States
25F / -4C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 19/129
Age Group = Females
Age Group Rank = 8/79
Got talked into participating in my first cross country skate ski race at the last minute despite not really knowing how to ski and not having skate skied in two weeks. Drove a caravan of Subarus to Sun Valley, ID with Mandy, Andy, Joe, Sherry and Jerry. Mandy had reserved a cozy condo right at the base of Bald Mountain. I had never spent time in Sun Valley before. It's a pretty cool little resort town. Got in Friday night. Went to the YMCA to pick up race packets and to see if Andy and I could register at the last minute - which we did. Had awesome eggplant parmesan at a busy colorful Italian restaurant. Then back to the condo for waxing skis, stretching and restless sleep.
Woke up a little before 7:00. The clouds lifted overnight and it was a beautiful sunny blue day. Breakfast of cranberry oatmeal, english muffin with peanut butter and lots of water. Drove to the bus pickup area. Everyone else was skiing the full 32k distance and I was skiing the half so I had to wait to take a slightly later bus. I was feeling fairly anxious about being able to complete the distance, but felt better when I boarded the bus and everyone doing the half distance seemed pretty low key. There were lots of kids and families. Got to the start area over an hour before the start so skated around to warm up a bit. About half an hour before our start the elite men and women started skiing by. It was so awesome to watch! Ate 3 shot blocks and a bit of hammer gel at 10:45, shed my layers and lined up for the start at 11:00.
Course: 15 km flat/slightly downhill wide groomed fast ski course along the Big Wood River through Sun Valley with beautiful views of the Boulder and Smoky Mountains.
Started out near the back of the pack. It was a mass start merging into traffic doing the full distance which was a little chaotic with poles and skis flying in all directions. Tried to stay out of people's way and not get tangled up. Decided I wasn't going to push it and just try to finish and have fun. Ended up pushing a bit more at the start than I anticipated and passed lots of people, mostly kids and families. Before I knew it I passed a sign saying there was only 10k left. I couldn't believe how easy it seemed. I had never skied more than 5 or 10 minutes straight without stopping before. Was really enjoying the sun and skiing and the whole atmosphere and never really elevated my heartrate or breathing. Must have been skiing with my head down because I didn't see the 5k or 2k signs and suddenly saw the sign that there was only 1k left! I couldn't believe it was over so quickly and was a little upset that I hadn't started to push it into the finish sooner.