Racing Baby!!

Well, the plan says come January i need to get quality intensity in at least once a week...no better way than pinning on a number and bellying up to the start line. I was excited to not have to worry about anything except racing this weekend after our near meltdown last weekend at Como where i was helping organize....racing is so much easier. That said, kudos to John and his entire team for pulling off a first class event - thanks!
I'll have to admit, i was a bit bummed looking a the forecast calling for single digit temps with huge winds...fun? But come Sunday a.m. with the bright sunshine and excitement of the first race in some time, all seemed fine. After a quick breakfast with the kids and a BIG cup of joe, I slipped into my new suit for the first time- very nice - thanks Hidden Bay for the custom cut - they shortened the arms and legs for my stubby limbs and for the first time i have a suit that actually fits! It was great to be a local citizen race again, see familiar faces, and catch up with folks you only seem to run into on race day.
Since i had gotten the "family pass" for the morning, I was hoping to get a good long ski in, but by the time i got registered and finished chit-chating, it was already nearly 9. I headed up the hill the Loppet starts on and got to ski the snow-making loop for the first time - wow, very nice! It was also nice to see how the race was going to finish -it was revealed we were going to have to climb one extra hill than i would have thought....i'm glad i knew this! I finally made it over to the start, got a few hard efforts in and was ready as ever(boy it now seemed a bit cold taking off the warm ups!). The snow seemed pretty quick and i was excited to get it rolling.
i usually start off hard, but having ridden 5hrs on the bike the day before, and this being the first real hard effort in sometime, i decided to "follow wheels" for a bit. Bad idea! Man, skiing back in traffic sucks! Being out front can be hard, but you have "clean air" and trying to avoid poles and miss other skiers can take lots of energy...well, too late. We got to Wirth lake an i was finally able to move up to 2nd or 3rd and was finally skiing comfortably. The pace seemed quite easy as the lead skier was heading into a stiff head wind so riding the slipstream up front was perfect- no extra traffic, but all the benefits of a nice draft. i thought a few times about lifting the pace, but the wind and fear of the bigger climbs at Wirth were in the back of my mind - and with surely less race fitness than some of the college kids around me, i decided playing it conservative was the way to go.
We made it to the park in no time and the climbing began. By the top of the first climb it was a group of 7. We all managed to stay together until the 2nd to last climb when a huge surge came from Nathan and Eric. They, along with John quickly gaped the rest of us and i knew there was no way i was going to hang with the pace so quickly backed off, knowing a 2nd climb followed. I settled in, suffered up the last climb and skied to the finish with Zack. Good, good, good stuff.
Goal: fun, high intensity training session. Objective complete!
Thanks Bruce (www.skinnyski.com) for the great photos, race coverage and as usual support.