Throughout the week of racing of WUG the ever-looming race
for the men’s field was the 30km. The race was skate technique and consisted of
8 Laps around a brutal 3.75km loop. The loop contained two major climbs and was
easily the hardest loop, around that distance, I have ever skied for a race. Towards the beginning of the week we
had a decent sized crew considering doing the race. Unfortunately, as the week
wore on sickness and lack of desire to do the race wore down on many of our
athletes as well as skiers across the entire field. The morning of the race the
entire South Korean team scratched. To be fair, the conditions were such that you
had to be a little nuts to want to do the race. When you never race 30km, the
course is super challenging, the field is ultra elite and you have already done
a week of hard racing it is not a very appealing option. By Saturday night, the
night prior to the race, only Will and myself remained the only ones even
considering racing. There was a lot to consider when weighing the pros and cons
of this race. With nationals only a month away, this kind of race has a
significant impact on training and has a huge potential to make you sick even
without all the traveling for over thrity hours following the race. After much
deliberation and talking with Coaches I made the call to do the race the night
prior. Will decided to make the call during warm-up the next day as he had been
sick the few days leading up to the event.
I didn’t sleep very well the night prior to the race. While
I never sleep will prior to racing that night was especially bad. It was some
strange combination of nerves and excitement that started rushing through my
body as soon as I committed to the race. Breakfast opened at 6:30am. Will and I
descended to the dinning area, which was surprisingly empty. The plan was to
eat as much as we could muster without having a heavy stomach. I was able to
eat a surprising amount considering the pre-race nerves. I can’t say exactly
why my nerves were so intense for this race. It was probably some combination of the intense field of
skiers or maybe just the knowledge that his was going to hurt. Either way, I
hadn’t felt this way in ages and I took it as a good sign.
The day prior it had snowed around a foot and the track had
gone from scary fast to very slow. As we skied around the 3.75km loop for our warm-up,
I was pleased to see the weather was much nicer than the day before. The snow
was still slow but the track had firmed up nicely and the temperature was -8
Celsius. Best of all, the sun was
out for one of the first times in the week. We could not have asked for a more
perfect day. Will made the call he was racing halfway through our warm up. I
was relieved to have a teammate out there with me. We each tested between our
two pairs of skis and went with our soft tack variants. It was 10 minutes to
race start and I quickly realized I had not done any pickups other than some
level two and three when hill climbing. It did not bother me excessively as I
ran over to the starting pen knowing we would have plenty of racing to do.
As I stepped up on the box and had my timing chips put on, I
took a second to enjoy the moment. No mater how the following series of events
would transpire, I was doing what I loved, ski racing. Inside the pen seemed
almost dream like and you could tell everyone was super relaxed yet ready to
begin. We ran out to the start and got in the chevron. The tense stillness
settled in and the gun went off. I was keenly aware this race was not going to
be won in the first 2 Km and relaxed as Will and I took our planned positions in
the back of the group. My body readied as we started our first climb. I took it
nice and slow just as planned and saw a pack form in front of me. I accelerated
up and over the top of the hill and latched on. On the downhill I focused
completely on relaxing and breathing into my legs. This would become my focus
for the following 7 laps. I felt good on the second climb but decided not to
push it with so much racing left to do. Down the big decent I felt myself focus
completely into race mode. Energy seemed to pulse through my body and I knew
that this would be a good day. Leading our pack was an Italian looking string
and relaxed. As we moved around the lap I moved in behind him and planned to
stick with him as long as I could or as long as he was aggressive. As I gazed
back Will was right on my tails.
The first target became a pack of Mongolians and a Norwegian
who had hammered out of the. Every hill became an attack and every downhill a
recovery. By lap three we had caught and passed the Mongolians and we making
ground on a Turkish skier who had fallen of his pack. At this point the race
became a blur. Every uphill was a little uncomfortable and Will and a Mongolian
slowly dropped off. It was just the Italian and I chasing the Turk. By the
middle of lap four or five, I couldn’t tell you the difference now, we caught
and passed him. Feeling extra energetic I lead the attack on a climb hoping to
drop the Italian and the Turkish skiers. I raced up the hill passing a group of
my teammates cheering me on. Individual words gave way to a dull roar but it
mattered not as I felt my teammates helping pull me up the hill. I vaguely
noticed tears flowing down my face and looked back to see the two skiers right
on my tail. I took a more conservative approach in the up flat and let the
Turkish skier take the lead into the long down hill. We hammered the first hill
after the recovery and I felt nauseous for the first time as I crested the
short but steep climb. The group slowed and I was able to recover just in time
to get my feed down, I had been feeding every lap. I was a bit shaken by the
nausea but was determined to keep with the two skiers. We hammered the first
big climb on the loop and the cheers of Elise and Catherine Pulled me up the
hill as I Wedged myself between the two skiers. On the downhill I was passed by
the Turk and fell to the back of our line. The Italian must have seen this and
took his chance. He attacked the hill like I had not seen yet, V2ing half the
climb. The Turkish skier could not keep up and before I knew it he had put on a
significant gap. I passed the Turkish skier in frustration giving chase but the
knot had been broken.
The remainder of the laps became a struggle. My legs began
to feel extremely stiff with increasing lactic acid levels on every climb.
Every down hill I would hit my legs and shake out my arms to try and clear out
the lactic acid that was building up. I could feel Will and the Mongolian
catching up and, by the end of lap 6, they had made up significant time. As we
entered the stadium area, the lead group had closed in and was about to lap me.
I knew they were coming from the increased amount of noise on the sidelines. At
my feed, I chanced a glance back and knew it was time to make my way to the
edge of the track. On an uphill bump the pack flew by. I tried to catch a ride
but the skiers were so strong that I simply didn’t stand a chance. After the
lead pack passed, I looked back to see Will and the Mongolian closer than ever
and about to tie a knot. Knowing that I could not out run them alone for the
rest of the race, I slowed just enough to recover a lot more but still be a
race pace. By the beginning of the 8th and final lap they caught me
and I fell into line matching their pace. I knew they were at least as tired as
me and planned my final attack. As we begun the second to last climb, Will
increased the pace and I went with him. As we crested the hill, I chanced a
glance back to see that we had dropped the Mongolian. Will and I skied
aggressively into the recovery and I took a second to rest and recover before
our final major climb. I planned the climb as an acceleration and began to put
every ounce of energy I had left into my attack. As I crested the hill I had
put a gap on Will but felt like I could puke right then and their. The final
two kilometers were simply survival as I tried to keep my legs moving and keep
my breakfast in my stomach. As I entered the finishing stretch I glanced back
and realized I could comfortably coast in. Will finished shortly after me. We had
not only survived the 30k but we had raced it well.
Looking back on this race I am very happy with the result.
While I wish I could have kept pace with the Italian, I am very excited that I
was able to ski aggressively for so long. This is by far the longest distances
have raced this hard and to know that I can do this makes sorter races in the
15km and 20km mentally easier to push on. I also learned what areas of my body
failed first and what happened to my technique when I did get tired. This is
essential knowledge for future training. For the week ahead we get a few days
of rest and recovery and then it is off to Crested Butte for a 21km and a 5k
next weekend. This time of year, the fun never stops!
A view from the back half of the course
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