Thursday, January 28, 2010

Notchview Duathlon XC Ski Race

Our local Berkshire Trails XC Ski Club put on a cool 10k ski race this past Sunday morning at Notchview. The format of this race is one of my favorites - a duathlon.  5K classic, then switch to skating skis and poles for another 5K. It's a great opportunity to race both techniques in the same race. My only problem is that I haven't classic skied all year. The day before I opted to skate because I knew if I skied classic I'd be sore for the race. Might as well wait for after the race to pay the price not during (haha - and I'm paying for that now).

Sunday was a warm day with temps in the upper 20's at 9am. I waxed both my classic and skate race skis with Swix HF7 the night before and prepped my classics with a green kick wax base. For the race I used Star Flouro Blue. I bought this set of wax over 15 years ago and I still think it's the best kick wax out there. It gave me pretty good kick, and very fast.

A few local racers showed up, including an old friend Kurt - the fast man of the Berkshires. I'll always remember that one time I beat Kurt in a time trial bike race about 20 years ago as a junior! At the start of the race, I noticed he had his classic boots on and was planning on changing boots at the transition. Although I questioned him - he thought it was a good tactic. I opted to use my skate boots, just kept them loose at the top. A little stiff for classic, but I did this type of race once before last year and it wasn't a problem then.

I was a little nervous for the classic race as my only training was about 2km just before the start. At the start, I settled in behind Kurt and Ed - both fast master skiers. I knew Ed was magical at classic, and Kurt would probably win this thing. I felt comfortable behind them double poling, with some kicking and striding. I could tell Kurt was struggling a bit with his technique, but that didn't slow him down. The man is strong. The first 2km had one small uphill but mostly downhill and flat. We put a sizable gap on the others. I was happy to keep up with them - that is until we hit the uphills. I dropped instantly and held my own for a little while. Soon after (probably at 3km) Robert and Dave passed me. Both are fast skiers, and I know Rob is one of the fastest classic skiers around. I kept them in sight for a while and noticed that my skis were definitely faster than Rob's as I would start to catch him on the downhills only to be distanced on the long uphill on Shaw Road.

At the transition, Dave was just leaving so I realized I must have only been 20 seconds or so behind. Not too bad for no classic training! I quickly switched to my skate skis and poles and headed out skating hard. I do have some conditioning skating (I'm a weekend warrior) and felt like I was starting a new race even though I was still exhausted from the classic leg. I worked hard to catch Rob and Dave skiing a fast V2 and caught up to them at the shack (about 1km in). In the woods I passed Rob, and I think Dave as well. At that point my effort to catch Rob and Dave caught up to me - I was tired. Bruce passed me like a bat out of hell. He had a teamate, Maggie, who skied the classic leg obviously pretty fast. Bruce had the advantage of fresh legs, and a lot more time on the snow than me. I tried to match Bruce's pace but quickly realized I couldn't. Dave also took off and I was dying on the hill. I gave Rob a couple opportunities to pass me but he just stayed behind. Shaw road was a long and steady climb and I kept thinking Rob was going to pass me. Once we got to the rolling hills, my technique gave me the advantage and I put a few seconds on him before the finish.

Final top 5 results of the people I mentioned were:

1st: Kurt 21:57 classic, 17:25 skate, 39:22 overall
2nd Ed 20:58 classic, 19:45 skate, 40:43 overall
Maggie/Bruce 23:16 classic, 18:17 skate, 41:32 overall
3rd Dave 22:28 classic, 19:10 skate, 41:38 overall
4th Bill (me) 22:49 classic, 19:22 skate, 42:11 overall
5th Robert 22:29 classic, 19:46 skate, 42:15 overall

I have to say, this was one of the most fun races I've ever entered. I forget how much I enjoy classic skiing in good conditions on a nice set of tracks. However I was right about being sore. I'm writing this over 4 days later and my legs are STILL sore from the classic leg of the race!

After the race, I got to hear stories of Kurt swearing while he struggled to change his boots in the transition, then enjoyed his Brat and Sauerkraut afterwords.

I volunteered to pick up the flags at the end of the race, met up with my wife and kids, then went on to coach the young Bill Koch skiers how to skate. Unfortunately I managed to break my skate pole while I was instructing. Remind me not to stand backwards at the edge of a trail in a mound of snow without looking behind me at the 2 foot drop.

This epic day ended with me heading to Berkshire Outfitters to replace my pole - luckily Steve had an exact match - then driving over three hours in freezing rain home after waiting for the Rt 9 to reopen. Ahh well - still a great day.

My next race is the Lake Placid Loppet next Saturday. I plan on racing the 25km event. However I have to deal with a business trip to San Antonio next week. I think I'll bring rollerskis with me. It's an executive summit - I can only imagine the funny looks I will get from the golf course!

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