City of Lakes Loppet Ski Race
It's been a pretty grim winter as far as skiing goes. We just haven't had enough snow to really get things going. This is my 3rd year skiing, and the 3rd time I've done this race. It's usually a point to point 33K race that winds through trails and golf course for ~20K before finishing on the chain of lakes through southwest Minneapolis. I think it's the only urban ski marathon in the country, and it attracts a pretty fast bunch of skiers. Due to lack of snow, this year the race was shortened and moved to just do laps on a manmade snow track, so it was 5 laps of 3.3K/lap. Here's how it went down:
LAP 1: I was in the middle wave. They started with the slower skiers at 10:30, my group at 11:30, and the fast folks at 12:30. Lined up about 6 rows back, and when the gun went off, like clockwork the guy right in front of me fell over. I managed to get around him and double poled until the first little climb. It was really crowded at this point, so had to just settle in and walk up the first hill with everyone else. The snow was basically 4-5 inches of sugar which was brutally tough to ski in. About halfway through the loop there's a big downhill, and people were really tentative going down. Sure enough an older guy right in front of me went down, and I went down trying to get around him. Managed to get up and get going pretty quickly, but definitely not happy. Going back up that hill the snow was again deep sugar, so really tough going. I ski this loop all the time, so I knew the hill well, and this was by far the toughest conditions we've had all year.
LAP 2: By the time we got back to the start finish, things were thinning out a bit, but still slow going up the hills. The second time going down the big hill, I hit deep snow, and one ski went left, the other went right, and I was down, flat on my face AGAIN! At this point I was really unhappy, and on the way back up, I thought, "why do this...it isn't any fun...this is stupid...I knew this would suck...". You know, the usual, "woe is me" crap we all go through in races sometimes. Anyway, I got back to the start finish and settled in with a couple other folks who seemed to be going about my pace
LAP 3-5: I finally felt like I was hitting my stride on the third lap. Made it down the big hill without any problem, and was picking people off pretty steadily on the downhills. I think having skied the course so much this year made it easier for me. I knew the track, knew the snow conditions, and was confident hitting the corners at full speed. I got tangled up a couple more times going up hills, but for the most part it was pretty uneventful...just skiing along. I passed several more folks on the last lap, and I was actually feeling pretty good. I think if the race had gone the full 33K that I would have finished higher, because it felt like folks were slowing down, and I was feeling pretty good. Who knows, though.
FINISH: Crossed with one other guy in 1:03:23, good for 338/596. I thought I would crack the top half, but didn't quite make it. If I had to do it again, I would try not to fall and go a bit easier on the first 2 laps. I think I pushed too hard on the big climb the first two times, and it left me really gassed for the flat part of the course where I could have made up some time on folks. Good lesson for next time!