2008 Birkie...Said and Done

It’s hard to believe that the end of the season is nearing! The Birkie is over and the last races of the season are approaching fast.

The Birkie was a huge success this year with nearly a record breaking 7,000 racers. Unlike last year, there was great snow and even some sun to awaken us the morning of the race. Despite the frigid temperatures at the start of the race, the conditions were nearly perfect and warmed up to a comfy 28 degrees by the end of the race.

The night before the race, I was quite nervous and yes a little scared to experience my first 50k starting in less than 12 hours. My goal was to stick with the lead pack of girls and hang on as long as I could. The race started at a comfortable pace as we climbed our way up the power line. I was in a good 8th position. This lasted for 17k until I found myself leading! “What, I’m leading?” I thought to myself. Although it was not my plan to lead at any point in the race, I decided it was okay because I would shortly receive a feed at 18.5k from Hallsey and I would most likely get passed. Well, as I approached Hallsey to take my feed, the rest of the pack slowed down as well and I ended up back in the lead. While I was a little frantic about leading more of the race I figured that if I was in the front, setting the pace for a while, I wouldn’t have to worry about getting dropped. My energy was good and I continued to ski at a comfortable pace. Around 30k I decided to finally let someone else pull the group. Despite a few sporadic surges to break up the pack, the women stayed close together. By 40k the pack finally broke up a bit. I did everything I could to bring up the rear and hang with the lead group of three women. The course became familiar to me as I had fortunately skied it the day before. I knew that the 3k stretch across the lake meant that the finish was quickly approaching. Evelyn, at this point had gapped Kristina Stranberg, Sarah Conrad and I. My skis were still running fast and I decided to lead across the lake, hoping to gap the girls behind me. Unfortunately, that did not happen and as soon as we turned the corner, with 100 meters to go along main street, the two girls made their sling-shot move and started sprinting. My reaction was just a little delayed and wasn’t enough to catch them at the end. I ended up fourth, 9/10th of a second out of 3rd. So close, yet so far!

I was quite pleased with my result. While it would have been exciting to stand on the podium with my teammate, Adam Swank who placed 3rd, I have to look at the positive and realize how far I’ve come. I guess this first 50k sets a pretty high standard for the next one.

I am back in Sun Valley for the next few weeks, getting ready for Canadian Nationals which will take place in Callaghan Valley, B.C. I am excited for these races! I will keep you posted on how things go! Cheers!

The Places You Go....

It's exciting being a skier racer and traveling to new places. Right now I am in Aspen, Colorado for the Super Tour Owl Creek Race. Coming from Sun Valley, one of Aspens rival ski towns, it is fun to compare the differences and similarties of both places. Yes, i would have to say they are both BEAUTIFUL!!! Aspen is definitely a little bigger than Sun Valley, but both ski towns have that up-scale feel. Its always fun to tell people that I live next door to Steve Miller and Tom Hanks and that I arrange flowers for Demi Moore. Then come to find out, Goldie Hawn has a house down the road from where I am staying in Aspen. It all seems unreal! Coming from Alaska, it is an entire new scene in this neck of the woods.

The view from our Aspen Host's House!

As for the skiing in Aspen, cross-country that is, the Aspen Valley Ski Club has done a fantastic job organizing the races. On Thursday, we competed on fun trails at Aspen High School. The women raced a 5k individual start classic while the men raced a 10k individual classic. We arrived at the venue in the morning with temperatures in the single digits, supposedly uncommon for this area. As I warmed up for the race, I reviwed in my mind how I wanted to ski the course...where I would push hard, where I would back off a little and where I needed to mentally stay tough! Racing at 8,000 feet is a little different than skiing at 6,000 feet and a whole lot different than skiing at sea level! Even in a short 5k race, you need to be careful not to start too hard. This is a common mistake and I have learned my lesson several times. I skied into the race with a quick pace but a pace that I knew I could hold onto. I started 30 seconds behind the girl in front of me and my goal was to keep her in sight the whole way. After 2k, I had already gained some time and distance on her and I focused on skiiing relaxed and smooth, with good technique to keep my gain. As I came into the final 500 meters of the finish, I was told that I was one second out of the lead. I knew I had to give it everything! Once I finished, I could hardly see or stand up straight. The lack of oxygen in air definitely made me feel light-headed. After catching my breath, I waited to hear the results as a few girls behind me were racing to the finish. I finished 2nd! I was pleased with my result but I was more pleased that I was able to control my pace and focus on skiing well. Ultimately, I think that is the key to good ski racing.

A podium finish

With one race down, I had another race to focus and prepare for. This time it was a 25k mass-start skate race. I had only heard rumors of how hard the race course was and how it was the toughest race many of my competors have ever raced. People told me that the course started on a golf course and then worked into a 3k climb up an alpine area. Whoa! That right there was enough to terrify me, not to mention that it gains 1,000 feet, as if 8,000 feet isn't bad enough. Without time to preview the entire course, I kept telling myself that it is probably best to race without knowing the profile of the course...that way I wouldn't know where to expect up-hills, where the tops of the climbs were and how far I had to go. As the saying goes, "ignorance is bliss." Well I can't say that the racing experience was blissful but I think I had prepared myself for something even harder than what the course ended up being. People like to exaggerate and the 3k up-hill that I was told about, was probably more like half a kilometer. Don't get me wrong, that was a tough race, but the horror stories I heard, mentally prepared me for a hardest race of my life.

The pack of leading girls broke up after 5k when the climbing began. I focused on staying with the girl in front of me. We stuck together all the way to the top of the climb. I took advantage of the long down-hill to replenish my body with energy in the form of a gue, but in the mean-time I lost a few seconds to the girl I was following. With 5k left in the race, I tried to catch back up to her but was unable to gain the time I lost on the down-hill. I finished 6th overall, satisfied, but already anticipating the race for next year. Now I know what to expect and I think that I can improve upon the performance I had today.

I am headed back to Sun Valley tomorrow. I will spend a week and half training there and then head to the American Birkebeiner in Hayward, Wisconsin. This race is the largest race in North America, with over 7,000 racers. I will keep you posted on how things go!