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February 3, 2008
Craftsbury Marathon - a humbling experience
FridayWe had an icy winter storm on Friday that brought lots of ice and messy roads. We did not get a lot of snow accumulation, maybe 2 inches or so. School let out early so I was able to take advantage of the free afternoon and head to the gym. At the gym I ran a four mile warm up and then lifted for a half hour. I then ran six miles at marathon pace on the treadmill (6.48) pace. I was happy that it felt surprisingly good and comfortable.
Saturday - Saturday was the Craftsbury Marathon and the conditions were exactly what I was dreading, fast and icy. I am a novice skier who has only given skiing an earnest effort this past year due to our great early winter snow in November and December. I favor the soft powdery snow that is slow. I use waxless skis and I avoid steep downhills as much as possible. I am comfortable with a rolling course and love long uphills. However, most downhills you will find me using the infamous snow plow technique to get to the bottom of the hill. When bravery sets in I will stand upright and keep my skis relatively close together. Friends who observe me still tell me I am as stiff as a board and doomed for a bad accident should I fall since I am so tense. In addition to all of this I have absolutely no rhythm when skiing. It is rare and unpredictable when I feel that I am gliding on the skis feeling effortless. With this novice background yesterday's condition had me nervous.
I almost quit the race before it even started. The Craftsbury Marathon is a huge event with over one thousand competitors. It is divided into four different starts, top male racers start first, followed fifteen minutes later by top female racers, followed by the rest of the racers fifteen minutes afterwards. Lastly, the 25k tour participants begin which is where I started. The marathon itself is 50k, Mark was entered in this event. I was at the start about two hours before I needed to be there. The event was very festive and nerve racking. There was plenty of food and drinks to keep us warm. We had coffee, cocoa, bagels, and terrific pastries available to us. Additionally there were tons of tables set up for waxing and tuning of the skis. All the talk was about wax. No one knew exactly what type of wax to use, klister wax or not, red or blue wax. I only heard tid-bits. I was thankful not to have to worry about it with my waxless skis. When I tested the snow for the first time I felt embarrassed and nervous. I was slipping all over the place. I told Mark I was worried about the downhills and he suggested if it gets hairy just take off the skis and run down the hill. This relieved me. I decided of course this is a viable option, I am not racing - I am simply touring the course.
The scene calmed down a lot once the serious racers were off. Included with the serious racers was Nikki Kimball. Her brother lives in my town so she was at the race to compete and catch up with her brother. Her flight was a nightmare with the terrible storms we received. I was hoping to catch up with her after the race but she was gone before I had a chance to catch up with her.
Around 11:45 I took off with the tour. I nervously began the tour. The course was really beautiful and amazingly well organized. I highly recommend the event to anyone who enjoys skiing. The course was very well marked, every kilometer was marked. Course monitors were at every road crossing and snow machine crossing. Every 5k there was an aid station with hot soup, hot beverages, and gourmet food. It was really impressive and fun. Other skiers in the tour were very friendly and did not judge my unconventional skiing techniques. The downhills were crazy - I stayed on my skis but did a downhill crunch technique were I sat down in a chair position so I could be closer to the ground to slow myself down. I felt embarrassed going down the hill in this manner but was pleased not to injure myself nor anyone else which were my two primary goals.
It took me three hours and fifteen minutes to finish 28.5 kilometers. This is the humbling bit because compared to running I was incredibly inefficient. At least 100 50k skiers finished ahead of me. I was really surprised. I did not think I was out there for that length of time and I thought I was skiing a bit faster than five miles an hour. I was quick at the aid stations for two reasons. I did not want to get cold and I wanted to tackle the next section of the trail by myself. I usually am more brave without an audience and tend to take more risk.
All in all despite my slowness and my worries I absolutely enjoyed the event and will make it a goal to do at least one tour a year, if it works out. I need to improve my downhill skis. However, yesterday was tough for even the most experienced skiers which made me feel better. Mark and many of the top skiers had to stop to rewax and change wax multiple times on the course due to changing snow conditions. The snow was grainy in some places, icy in some places, and trail covered in snow drifts in other places.
Following the race there was an awards ceremony. It was the first time I finished the race and walked into an awards ceremony which was half way over. I was really happy just to have finished because I was going to skip it all together when I saw all the pro skiers at the start. In addition to the awards they had a lottery of awards. Both Mark and I won awards - we got a ski bag and a racing vest. There was also a big lunch for all participants after the race.
Mark finished the 50k race in about 3 hours and fifteen minutes and was happy since he has been out of training for three months and only had three weeks preparation for this event. He finished in about the same time as me covering twice as much distance.
Something to look forward to is if I continue to do some skiing I can make huge improvements on this performance.
All in all I would gladly do this event again. I love the memory of being on the trail and seeing tons of skiers ahead and behind me all in a row enjoying the amazing scenery. Seeing the new trails and new vistas was amazing.
My hips are sore today but hopefully they will loosen up after my run.
Summary of Last Week
Sunday: 18 miles and yoga
Monday: 11 miles and lifting
Tuesday: 0.5 miles and lifting
Wednesday: 14 miles and lifting
Thursday: 9 miles
Friday: 10 miles and lifting
Saturday: 25k sking
Total: 62 miles
Sunday - The roads again were icy and filled with wet snow this morning. I was not sure how I would divide my run. Initially I was thinking half of my 18 mile run would be on the road and half on the treadmill but since the weather was mild (about 25 degrees) I stayed outside. I get nervous about the treadmill and don't want to over use it because two out of three times it is an endless journey on the treadmill and the minutes never seem to pass. One out of three times I surprise myself and don't even realize I am running and it feels effortless and I forget that I am running in a building.
Today I ran the first hour with my friend Jen on some parts of town that were decently plowed. We still had to balance on the icy side walks when cars would pass by. For the second hour and twenty minutes I ran up to some dirt roads that still had a good layer of snow over the ice layer. I felt really good for the second hour. During the last three miles my hip flexors were very sore. I don't know why but I attempted a pick up in the last 200 meters of my run and stopped the attempt after about four steps. I think I thought it might loosen me up. I finished with a half hour of lifting. I plan to take it really easy for two days - some easy running and biking to give my hip flexors a break. The time on my feet feels good. I just don't want to pull anything at this point in my training.
I won't think too much about the fact that I ran 18 miles today an hour faster than I skied 17 miles yesterday! Yikes! Talk about an inefficient skier! I guess that is why my main sport is running.
Posted by mary at February 3, 2008 8:24 AM