(
click on any photo to enlarge) Today was the Sierra Nordic Relay Race at Tahoe Donner. I had hoped to kill it as I have been training well and my form is finally coming around. We have had an uncommonly warm past ten days with highs in the 60's! I skied for three hours on Wednesday and my biggest concern was if I had enough sunscreen on. Well that came to an abrupt end last night when 16" of fresh Sierra Cement fell. The photo above is my view upon opening the garage door to load the truck for the race. So my first ski race of the year was last Monday. I raced the President's Cup 15km at Tahoe Donner. I have raced this race many times in the years past and know the course very well as it is held on the trails I train on. Since it was my first race I really tried to ski within myself and not tweak out and try to ski over my head. I skied decent but not stellar. I was 22nd Overall and 5th Master. So this weekend I wanted to ski faster and see If I had any 'Red Zone' fitness. The answer was a resounding NO! I skied like shit today. The Relays are three 5km legs with the first skier doing Classic Technique and the last two skiers doing Freestyle (Skating). I was the middle skier. During the hand off I got tangled with our Classic skier, Danny Buchanon, and fell. I felt like such a rookie. I got up quickly and took off too fast. After about 2km I was past the 'Red Zone' and into oxygen debt. I had no choice but to slow up a bit to try to get into a manageable rhythm. I skied well up the two hills on the course but felt like I was going backward on the windy, flat sections. I finally came into the stadium area and handed off to Jeremy Purdy, our anchor skier. He skied fantastic (as did Danny) and we managed to finish in 3rd Place, no thanks to me.
Lets just say I need to do more interval training! So I drove home with my tail between my legs and hung out with Christi and RB. They could care less if I ski fast or not. Thank goodness I have them at home to keep me sane. Friday I am going to the new Biathlon Range at Northstar to get certified for weapon safety so I can compete in the 10th Mountain Biathlon in late March. Biathlon is fun and unbelievably hard. You can't imagine how hard it is to hit a target the size of a silver dollar that is 50 meters away when you are completely gassed and breathing hard. I'm a far better skier than I am shooter so I'll end up skiing penalty laps (for every target you miss, you have to ski a 150 meter 'gerbil lap') Its fun and it keeps you fit, but I'll really need to work on my shooting if I want to do well! I'll teach at the final Rossignol Clinic of the season on Saturday at Tahoe XC outside of Tahoe City and than I'm racer boy for the month of March as I have no teaching commitments after Saturday. Lets hope I can pull my head out of my ass and start skiing fast! I'll keep you posted. Cheers.
(click on any photo to enlarge) Today was the Sierra Nordic Relay Race at Tahoe Donner. I had hoped to kill it as I have been training well and my form is finally coming around. We have had an uncommonly warm past ten days with highs in the 60's! I skied for three hours on Wednesday and my biggest concern was if I had enough sunscreen on. Well that came to an abrupt end last night when 16" of fresh Sierra Cement fell. The photo above is my view upon opening the garage door to load the truck for the race. So my first ski race of the year was last Monday. I raced the President's Cup 15km at Tahoe Donner. I have raced this race many times in the years past and know the course very well as it is held on the trails I train on. Since it was my first race I really tried to ski within myself and not tweak out and try to ski over my head. I skied decent but not stellar. I was 22nd Overall and 5th Master. So this weekend I wanted to ski faster and see If I had any 'Red Zone' fitness. The answer was a resounding NO! I skied like shit today. The Relays are three 5km legs with the first skier doing Classic Technique and the last two skiers doing Freestyle (Skating). I was the middle skier. During the hand off I got tangled with our Classic skier, Danny Buchanon, and fell. I felt like such a rookie. I got up quickly and took off too fast. After about 2km I was past the 'Red Zone' and into oxygen debt. I had no choice but to slow up a bit to try to get into a manageable rhythm. I skied well up the two hills on the course but felt like I was going backward on the windy, flat sections. I finally came into the stadium area and handed off to Jeremy Purdy, our anchor skier. He skied fantastic (as did Danny) and we managed to finish in 3rd Place, no thanks to me. 
Lets just say I need to do more interval training! So I drove home with my tail between my legs and hung out with Christi and RB. They could care less if I ski fast or not. Thank goodness I have them at home to keep me sane. Friday I am going to the new Biathlon Range at Northstar to get certified for weapon safety so I can compete in the 10th Mountain Biathlon in late March. Biathlon is fun and unbelievably hard. You can't imagine how hard it is to hit a target the size of a silver dollar that is 50 meters away when you are completely gassed and breathing hard. I'm a far better skier than I am shooter so I'll end up skiing penalty laps (for every target you miss, you have to ski a 150 meter 'gerbil lap') Its fun and it keeps you fit, but I'll really need to work on my shooting if I want to do well! I'll teach at the final Rossignol Clinic of the season on Saturday at Tahoe XC outside of Tahoe City and than I'm racer boy for the month of March as I have no teaching commitments after Saturday. Lets hope I can pull my head out of my ass and start skiing fast! I'll keep you posted. Cheers.
1 comment:
Look at all the snow! Crazy.....
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