Putting on the kick wax.
Heading down to the start/finish area.
Chatting with JT in the woods yesterday.
My race on saturday was proof positive that if you do something often enough, and for long enough you'll eventually get better at it (at least a little bit anyway). It's been exactly three years since I did my first nordic ski race, and I'm still amazed at how many more little things there are to learn as far as technique and waxing are concerned. It's fascinating. Now that I'm more comfortable on my skis and in the whole racing situation I can actually start to concentrate on them as well, which has really made a difference this year. My result on saturday wasn't off the charts or anything, but I was very pleased none the less: 34 km in 2hr.30min. for 33rd overall. My time was 23 min. faster than last year and I moved up from 45th overall in last years race. This sport has got me hooked for good now, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to find myself devoting most of my training to it starting in the early fall this year. I know that will mean less time on the bike and more time doing pull-ups or dragging tires up hills, but I've had such a great time this winter I want to keep improving next winter.
In bike related news: The new 29er should be done soon, and I'm going to be giving Scott a call this afternoon to finalize the parts and paint. I took the day off of training yesterday and just went backcountry skiing with JT and Sarah, but I will be jumping headlong into bike training starting today. I've got to do an hour and a half on the bike this afternoon, and since it's snowing right now that means it will be an indoor ride. My training volume in March has been ratcheted up to an all time high with a few 12 hour weeks building up to 14 hours by the last week. As long as it's unsafe to ride outdoors, at least a third of these hours are going to be on the skis still (I simply cannot bring myself to ride that many hours indoors). But once the roads are safe, if it's over 35 I'll be outside. Get your bike tuned up and ready to go. We'll be riding outside before you now it.
1 comment:
Congratulations on the ski race. It's been exciting to see you doing so well. The hard work is definately paying off. Good luck this summer on the mtn. bike racing scene, I'm sure that your hard work during the ski season will pay dividends this summer during your mtn. bike races.
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