February
3
I am slowly getting settled back in here in Park City. Slowly. I have
yet to unpack and on Friday I leave again to go to the Boulder Mountain
Tour in Sun Valley. But for today, Scott Loomis, Erik Stange, and
myself went to Mountain Dell golf course to do some on-snow video
with Torbjorn. None of us really skated very well in Rumford, so now
we are going to the tape to find out what we are doing wrong. Torbjorn
filmed us about 10 times each on various uphills. Each take was usually
about 20-30 seconds and varied from kind of hard to "your 5 seconds
down with 1K to go" hard. This evening we watched the tape. For me,
the main error was so obvious, it had me thinking, "How come I've
never noticed this before?!" In all skating techniques, and especially
in V1, I plant my poles too far back. I do not reach forward enough
with my shoulder and elbow and as a result, my pole plants next to
my boot rather than in front of it. I think the reason I haven't noticed
this until now is that when I am racing, my legs always tire very
quickly. Therefore, I assumed it was my leg technique and leg strength
that were lacking. While these areas do need improvement, I think
working on my poling will go a long way towards improving my technique
in general.
February
5
Sun Valley, ID
Today I did the drive from Park City to Sun Valley. Not usually a
bad drive, but this time I was travelling alone and the radio in my
truck is broken, making it a long five hours. I hadn't planned on
travelling alone, but my two teammates found out at the last minute
that they did not get their entries in on time. We returned from the
east on Monday and sent our entries then. Unfortunately, the seeding
for the Elite wave was done on Monday. I got lucky. I sent my entry
Overnight and snuck into the elite wave when someone cancelled (thank
you number 78, whoever you are!). Then, John Aalberg was nice enough
to pull some strings to get me on the front line, where I would have
been had I been on the ball in the first place. My teammates were
not as lucky. Despite lobbying from coaches, sponsors and others,
they were unable to get into the Elite wave and elected to stay home.
While I understand that elite skiers should be subject to the same
criteria as everyone else, its a shame when someone who finished on
the podium at this race last year can't get in. It not only depletes
the field, but it also dimishes the race itself when top skiers aren't
there. That said, is time to get on with the race.
February
6
Boulder Mountain Tour
Wax
of the Day: Solda F-20 Violet and S-30 covered with Solda Fluor
If you know anything about Solda wax, you know that the above combination
is bizarre. S-30 is for below zero temps, F-20 Violet is for 14-25
degrees, and Fluor is for 25 degrees +. To top it off, I raced on
the skis that I destroyed on the thin cover in Fairbanks earlier
this year. We had expected it to be much colder that the 25 degrees
it was at race time. Therefore, at the last minute, Torbjorn put
the layer of Fluor over the colder wax on my back-up pair of skis.
Amazingly it worked great! Right out of the start, you get a good
chance to assess your skis. After a slight uphill start, the course
does a U-turn and has a nice long downhill. Here you can get a good
idea of how your skis stack up against the other skiers around you.
In fact, as we headed down the hill, Carl Swenson turned to the
person next to him and said, "Glide test." Going down this hill
in a tuck I moved up from 8th to 3rd. This told me that my skis
were good to go. The first 10K of the course are rolling terrain,
with a little more down than up. For the first 2K the entire elite
wave was one long pack. Then, just after the road crossing, a Rossignol
skier tried to pass Ben Husaby, who was right next to me. There
wasn't enough room for 3 of us and Ben and the Rossi skier (I didn't
see who it was) got tangled up and went down. This held up the pack
and allowed eleven of us to get a small break. We put on a small
spurt, leaving the pack to listen to Ben voice his displeasure rather
loudly. We each took turns pulling for a while. Just after the 10K
point, Carl Swenson and Nathan Shultz made a break. Chris Blanchard
went with them and the three of them got away. They went so quickly
that I figured that I was now in a race for fourth. But a K or so
later, they slowed up and allowed the rest of us to catch up. From
hear on, we just cruised. I had never skied so easily in a race
before in my life. In fact we were going so easy that the chasing
pack almost caught us several times. Fortunately, our pack sped
up to sprint for the two Preems, and each time we regained our lead.
It made no sense to make a move this early. The last half of the
course is almost entirely flat and today it had a strong headwind.
Anyone on a solo break would quickly get reeled back in. So we just
cruised. I figured Carl or Chris would make a move with four or
five K's to go. But no one did. It wasn't until the final two K's
that the horses could smell the stable and we all took off. I was
in good position with a K to go, I had moved up to fourth and was
hammering. Unfortunately, I didn't have quite enough to hold it.
Frosty Whitworth, Jon Engen, and two other went by me. I jumped
in behind and with 200m to go, I thought I could get Frosty and
maybe a couple others. But it didn't happen. Carl Swenson took the
win in convincing fashion. Frosty Whitworth, who edged Chris Blanchard
by a toenail, took second by passing at least 4 people in the final
200m. I was eighth. It all happened so fast. It was a very fun race,
but now I know what Torbjorn meant when he said beforehand, "When
you sprint, its ALL OUT, not 95%." I thought I was going very hard
for the last two K, but in the back of my mind I think I was saving
something for the last 100 meters. By that time it was too late.
But it was a good race for me. I was only a few seconds out and
with 500m to go I was even with the person who took second. I just
need to work on my sprint strategy.
BOULDER MOUNTAIN
TOUR - 30K FREESTYLE MASS START
February
18
Well I'm back after a little break. After doing 10 races in 24 days
in January, then rushing back west for the Boulder Mountain Tour,
I took a much needed break. Last week I skied for fun more than
for training. I also went tele-skiing, snowboarding, and did other
various winter activities. I kept busy, but go my mind off racing
for a bit. But now I am back in race mode and looking forward to
the second half of the season.
February
20
The University of Utah is holding its Invitational races this weekend.
They were supposed to be held in January but lacking snow conditions
and other tragic circumstances caused the races to be postponed. Though
this was an NCAA race, they were willing to let some of us post-grads
enter as well. I decided that it would be good to get my butt kicked
by a some Norwegian college kids, so I entered. Unfortunately today
I got my butt kicked by more than just Norwegians today. I have never
had race skis as slow as mine were today. The weather forecast I heard
said a low of 12 degrees last night with a high of 35 today. Since
we were racing at 9 am, I figured that Solda F-20 Violet (14-25 degrees)
would be a good bet. Well, it actually got down to 0 last night and
the snow was only 6 degrees at race time. As a general rule, it is
much better to use a wax that is too cold for the snow conditions,
rather than one that is too warm. All the college teams were frantically
re-waxing minutes before the mass start. Since I didn't have a team,
I didn't have that luxury. I was screwed and I knew it, but I put
on my best game face and went to the start. Because I was a "guest"
I had to start behind 5 rows of people. When the gun went off, I skated
like mad to get to the front. By the top of the first hill, at 1 km,
I was in 15th place, having passed about half the field. But going
down the other side of the hill it all fell apart. Eventhough I was
in a tuck and trying to draft off the person in front of me, at least
six people glided past me. I felt like a child who had worked so hard
to build a beautiful sandcastle, only to watch helplessly as the tide
wash it away before it is finished. There was nothing I could do to
stay with the lead pack. I was crushed mentally and began to drop
like a lead weight. It was only the embarrassment of being passed
by 10-15 people that motivated me to pick it up again. I skied hard
for the rest of the race, but the usual fire was gone and I finished
way back. I apoligize for not having results here, but I didn't stick
around to see them and I can't find them anywhere on the web. I hadn't
planned to race in the 10K classic race tomorrow, but I need to redeem
myself so I'll give it a go.
February
21
I was determined not to have another waxing fiasco today, so I waited
until this morning to wax my skis. It was about 32 degrees, snowing,
and very windy. While this made the glide waxing very easy (Solda
F-20 White), it was a nightmare for kick waxing. To make matters worse,
I was not on the start list for some reason, so I had to convince
the race organisers that I really wasn't an imposter. Then I had to
make my own race bib with a magic marker and an old used bib. This
left me with no time for a warm up and little time to wax. Even the
college teams, with 12 people to test waxes, were having trouble finding
"the" wax. I did my best to eavesdrop on their wax discussions, but
I ended up just putting on about 5 waxes and hoping one of them would
work. That combination didn't work great, so at the last minute (literally
a minute before I started) I slapped on a layer of Toko Dibloc Yellow.
I knew it would be slow, but I'd rather have kick that glide. I was
the 4th person out of the gate and I quickly caught the three in front
of me. I was very surprised to catch them so soon. My skis were not
good by any means, but they appeared to be as good as the other people
around me. The wind-blown snow made the tracks very slow and I had
to muscle my way around the course. Since all the good skiers started
at the end, I had no idea how I was doing. I was the first person
to finish by over a minute and then had to stand around and wait to
see how many people would better my time. As it turned out, only three
people did - all foreigners. In fact, there was only one other American
in the top ten after a strong American showing yesterday (two of the
top three). I was only six seconds from second after having bad skis
and no warm-up. I think I redeemed myself just fine. I don't have
to be embarrassed to go out in public. Again, sorry I don't have results.
I saw them posted after the race, but I didn't write them down. I'll
try to hunt them down. If anyone know a place to find western college
results, please let me know!
February
25 - A Mild Case of Birkie Fever
Off to the Birkie! I left Salt Lake City at 10:00 am this morning
on a flight to Minneapolis. I counted at least eight people on my
flight alone who were on their way to the race. In many ways, the
Birkie cracks me up. How did this race in the middle of Nowhere, Wisconsin
get to be so much bigger than any other in North America? Hardly any
other races have more than 1000 participants, and the Birkie has over
7000! This is over 3 times the population of Hayward, WI where the
race finishes! What makes it so special? Well, it is extremely well
organized and no other locale goes all out to produce a race the way
the Cable/Hayward WI area does (live coverage on the radio?!?). And
it has a whole week of activities leading up to the race. But it also
has its drawbacks. For instance, you are considered a nobody by the
race organizers until you have done the Birkie. Despite top finishes
in other marathons two years ago, I was not allowed to start any higher
than the 2nd wave that year because I was a Birkie rookie. This meant
that I had to essentially double pole the first half of the course,
passing thousands of skiers, before it thinned out and I had room
to skate. I ended up finishing 64th. Beating no only everyone in the
first and second waves, but most of the "elite" as well. Good thing
they wouldn't let me start in the elite wave. But this year I have
paid my dues and I am in the elite wave. To me this is honestly just
another marathon. Another chance to improve my skating and my long
distance racing. But it is a BIG deal for sponsors and virutally every
other skier out there, so I can't help getting both excited and nervous.
I arrived at the Minneapolis airport at 1:30 this afternoon. As I
was picking my skis up from the "Oversized Baggage" door a woman on
her way into the airport remarked, "You came here to ski? But there
is no snow! You should go to Utah, that's where we're going." Having
just stepped off the plane from Salt Lake City, this was not what
I wanted to hear. But I had heard recent reports of good snow on
the course, so I disregarded her comment. My dad and a friend of ours
are coming out from New Hampshire to do their first Birkies this year,
so I waited for them to arrive a couple hours after I did. Then it
was off to Cable, WI. We are staying at Garmisch USA which is a little
taste of Germany nestled by a small lake, and only 10 minutes from
the start! It is a very nice place and I began to enjoy it immediately
upon arrival, since I know I would never be able to stay in a place
like this on my income. After a late dinner, we called it a night.
Big weekend ahead of us.
February
26
We headed out to ski after breakfast today. A teammate of mine from
college who lives in the area recommended we try the Seely Hills ski
trails, since the Birkebeiner course is not open before the race.
While we were out there, I attempted to glide test the four pairs
of skate skis I brought along, to see which ones I should wax for
the race tomorrow. Testing ended up being an hour-long ordeal. The
sun was beating down on the snow and it was softening quickly. The
short glide track I laid out got faster and faster each run, meaning
that I had to do at least 10 trial runs to break in the track before
I could actually test any skis. Invariably, just as the track was
ready for testing, the groomer would come by and wipe it out or a
skier would snowplow down the hill and do the same. Or, worse yet,
I would get halfway through my tests and someone skiing by would see
the ski ties I had left in the snow as glide markers and think they
had found the mother lode. I stopped them as they picked up the markers
and put them in their pockets, but the damage was done and the test
would have to restart yet again. It took over an hour to do a fifteen
minute test. Because of that, I only had time to ski for 20 minutes
afterwards. While I had hoped to ski for 45 minutes, I think I managed
to shake out any sluggishness from yesterday's day off and I felt
rested and ready for the race. After skiing, we headed to Hayward
to watch the citizen sprints on main street. For those unfamiliar
with the American Birkebeiner, the finish of the race is main street
in Hayward, which they cover with snow for the week. In addition to
the race finish they also hold ski sprints and other events on the
strip during the week. It is quite a spectacle. After watching numerous
skiers from ages 5 on up race the 200m out and back loop, we headed
over to the LOC Center for registration and to watch all the ski reps
hawk their respective products. That place was a zoo. All the major
ski, pole, and boot manufacturers were there, as well as countless
other companies. There were hundreds of masters skiers checking out
the latest equipment, hording the free samples, checking out the wax
recommendations, and talking shop about tomorrow. Honestly, it is
quite a funny scene. I said hi to my sponsor's reps (SHAMELESS SPONSOR
PLUG: Atomic, Exel, Salomon) and headed next door to the casino. Well,
not really, but it makes a better story. . . Before dinner I waxed
my skis. The glide test today told me next to nothing, except that
my new Beta skis were slow. This was extremely disappointing because
I really wanted to race on them. As I examined my ski bases as I waxed,
I noticed that the Betas had much less structure than the two fastest
pairs had. So I decided to add some more structure to the base with
the Swix rill bar and then waxed them along with the two faster pairs.
The weather today was very warm and humid. It is expected to stay
above freezing tonight and possibly rain a little bit. This is perfect
conditions for Solda F-30 Ivory covered with Solda Fluor. I put this
combination on two pairs of skis and waxed the third pair a little
colder (F-30 Orange and Fluor) just in case. I didn't need a repeat
of last weekend tomorrow. After waxing,
I continued to fuel up for the race with bananas and bagels and went
to bed at 9:30.
February
27
1999
Dyno American Birkebeiner
The alarm pierced my sound sleep at 5:15 this morning. The elite wave
of male racers starts at 8:20, so routine dictates that I needed to
get up three hours earlier. Ouch. I was a zombie all through breakfast,
forcing down two bowls of oatmeal, eventhough I was still full from
last night. After breakfast I slowly started to wake up and get nervous.
I figured that if I was at the start at 7:30 I would have plenty of
time to test skis, warm up, and be ready to race at 8:20. What I forgot,
however, is the nightmare of getting to the start. With a race of
7000 people everyone must be bused to the start from outlying parking
lots. This took forever and I didn't get to the start until 8:00.
With no time for a warm-up, I quickly tested two pairs of skis. I
couldn't tell any difference between the two pairs, so I decided to
go with the Betas and hope for the best. I barely had time to throw
my warm-ups in the shuttle to the finish line and get to the start
before the cannon went off. I was not very quick off the line and
had to dig myself out of a hole right from the start. There were about
three hundred people in my wave and I was behind almost half of them.
I did my best to double pole up the side of the trail and squeeze
by. By the end of the stadium I was probably 40th or so. At this point
I was right beside Frosty Whitworth and I thought to myself, "OK if
I can stay with Frosty, I'll have a good race." Then a few seconds
later, I thought,"No, I feel pretty good, I'm going to move up." So
I put on a burst and caught up to a pack that included Justin Freeman.
Then I thought,"This is good. If I stay with Justin I'll really be
doing well." That lasted about two minutes and then I got antsy and
took off again. A kilometer or so later I caught Factory Team member
Dave Chamberlain. He was leading the second group of skiers who were
about 20 seconds down to the lead group. I then began to wonder if
I could actually catch the lead group of 11 skiers. Normally, it is
extremely hard to bridge a gap like that alone, but the track was
very fast and so were my skis so I quickly decided to try it and just
hope that someone would follow me so we could work together to catch
up. I went immediately, but no one came with me. I was now skiing
in oblivion by myself (yes that's where the website title comes from).
I was hammering really hard up a series of good climbs, but no making
much progress towards the lead group. I began to get concerned that
I was wasting all my energy too early and would blow up very soon.
After a kilometer or two of skiing by myself, I knew I had to make
a decision. Either lay it all on the line and go flat out to catch
the leaders or let up and latch on to the chase group. I was still
feeling strong so I went for it. With the help of my very fast skis
on the downhills, I finally bridged the gap at about 9 or 10K. It
is much easier to ski in a pack, because of drafting, so I had a chance
to recover from my effort over the next 5 K, even though this was
probably the toughest part of the course. The further we went, the
stronger I felt. I was energized just to be in what I thought was
the lead pack. However, as we approached the halfway point a few spectators
yelled, "You're about 3 minutes behind." My first thought was, "Behind
who??" Then I noticed the solitary set of ski tracks in the course
ahead of us. I soon realized that someone, definitely a foreigner
[Johann Muelegg of Germany], had made a break very early on and were
now in a race for second. This was a bit depressing, but I became
excited again when we passed the halfway point and I was in 4th place.
I was in 4th place halfway through the Birkie! I had a huge smile
on my face and soaked in the atmosphere as much as I could when we
sped by. As I found out later, the halfway standings were announced
over the radio and my dad, who didn't start until 2 hours after me,
heard it while getting some last minute things from the car. While
this psyched him up, he also skied his whole race thinking I had a
chance to win. While I appreciate his confidence in me, I knew I was
kind of an imposter in this group and just wanted to hang on as long
as possible. Everyone else in our pack had a huge support team out
on the course to give them sports drinks, energy gels, etc. As an
Atomic skier, I was the only one in the group without that help. I
tried to get XL-1 drink at the feed stations, but I was not always
successful. I continued to feel strong through the 35K mark, but I
knew my lack of calorie intake would catch up sooner or later. At
about 38K, Carl Swenson, Ben Husaby, and a frenchman made a break.
The rest of us tried to go, but we were begining to tire and they
got away. A couple K's later, Ben began to die and we reeled him back
in. Without Ben to pull for them, the other two stayed in sight, though
we couldn't close the gap. At about 44K people started moving. Marc
Gilbertson and Jean Piquet made a move to chase Carl and that broke
up our train. Nathan Schultz tried to pursue, while Ben, Pete Vordenberg,
myself and two other foreigners struggled to maintain technique and
push through the last part of the race. At this point, my legs were
exhausted. To make matters worse, with about 4K to go we had to cross
an open field that had very dirty, slow snow and then cross a lake
that had very soggy, slow snow. I felt like I was skiing through cement.
The only thing that kept me going was the fact that I had dropped
Ben and one other Rossignol skier and was all by myself in 10th place.
Before the race my goal had been a top 25 finish. Now, the thought
of a top ten was begining to look possible and I wanted it badly.
As I came off the lake and onto the streets of downtown Hayward, I
knew I couldn't catch Pete, but I knew I could hold 10th. As I rounded
the turn and headed down main street, the cheers were deafening. It
was so overwhelming that I had goosebumps and a huge smile on my face,
despite the fact I could barely put one foot in front of the other.
If it hadn't been for Big Ben right behind me, I would have stopped
to absorb the moment just a little longer. But instead, I kept pushing
to the finish, the only energy I had being supplied by the thousands
of spectators. I know I said a few days ago that I don't really understand
what all the fuss is about the Birkie. I take it all back. Sure, I
finished 10th overall and first in my age group which was an excellent
race for me, but by the fans welcome at the finish, you'd have thought
I'd just won a gold medal. After changing clothes, getting some food,
and exchanging war stories with fellow elite wave racers, I headed
back out to the course to cheer on my dad and our friend. They both
finished strong and ahead of most people in their respective waves.
And the crowd was still cheering even though it had been hours since
the winner crossed the line. That is what the Birkie is all about.
You can get the results in all shapes and sizes at The
Official Birkie Web Site
