XC Skiing 3:16:40 [4] 50.0 km (3:56 / km)
slept:5.0 weight:187.5lbs
My third Birkie, and another one to remember.
Started the race tired, as I was up from 1-3AM again with Jetlag issues. But it did not seem to effect me on course if I had to guess.
Wave two start came pretty early, and given that I don't warm up for the Birkie, arriving 25 prior to my start time seemed to work just fine.
I went out in the middle of my wave, as I wanted to be careful not to go out too fast, as I likely did at the City of Lakes Loppet two weekends ago. I felt a bit trapped in. At one point, I did regret not going out a bit faster, but now in hindsight, it was likely the right call.
It felt fine but not great at the start and that general assessment lasted for a while, at least the first half of the race. I was skiing a strong pace, and some dudes around me at 00 had agreed that we were on pace for a 2:50-3:00 birkie. I think 3 hours-3:05 was likely more accurate.
I saw Kelly shortly after 00 and told her that I felt better than at COL, but not great. My quads were beginning to tire.
At the 39k club, my left quad began to twinge. I knew I needed to eat and drink a bunch to try to stave off the cramping. I slowed my pace slightly, most just on the climbs and made a mental effort to use my arms and abs more.
A few k passed, and although the cramping would go away for a short while, it would return, and worse each time.
My right leg began to cramp. My pace slowed again. Skiers from wave 1 that I had passed began to re-pass me. Despite the legs cramps, which were certainly a bummer, I actaully felt pretty good, and was able to enjoy the day.
As I climbed the HWY 77 hill, both quads were just shy of locked up. I was in trouble. The Salomon guys were handing up GU and some drink. I stopped for a while and finished an ENTIRE water bottle and GU.
The lake was aweful, both quads locking up. I double poled as I was not able to skate, but it did not seem to help, I was just double poling with locked up quads. I was survival warrior mode for the last 3k, getting passed by lots of people, but I got a across the line.
I felt pretty dissapointed by my 3:17 time, as I felt like I lost at least 15 minutes across the last 25k. EDIT: now that I've studied the splits, I lost about 10 minutes in the last half of the race, so not as bad as it felt.
On the bright side, the leaders were 19 minutes slower than last year, so arguably I skied better than last year, as I was about 12 minutes slower than last year.
So, I'll take it. No wave 1, but I could not expect it this year.
It was a very tough day, a bit reminiscent of my Grandma's marathon effort of 2003. Lots of cramping and suffering. But any Birkie is a good Birkie, and I am probably in the wrong to complain about what may be my most highly ranked Birkie to date.