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National Masters 30k
View from the rear......
First of all, hats off to the National Masters organizing committee. You guys did an amazing job, on short notice, you moved the venue, and groomed/prepped a good course, and hosted a great race. Cheers! I had the feeling from the time I woke up, that I missed the wax. The overnight temps in St. Cloud did not get as cold as predicted the evening before. The feeling got worse when I arrived on site, and heard the hiss of torches from people klistering their skis. Temps were already in the upper 20's and would be at or near freezing by the time the race was done. Panic waxing several layers of Swix violet seemed to be the thing to do, kick was good, but glide was a little funny until things smoothed out (10k or so). The course was an interesting mix of terrain. The trail center is on the site of the old farm that supported the St. Cloud prison (prison cells in the barn....freaky), with a mix of low rolling hills, fields, orchards, gullies, and ravines. The race course used two of the 5k trails, the "Orchard", and "Hilltop", done back-to-back to make one 10k loop. "Orchard" was ideal for speed. The long winding trails, with gentle ups and downs lent itself nicely to lots of easy KDP. "Hilltop" on the other hand, was very similar to some parts of the trail system at Battle Creek park (the original venue) with quite a bit of elevation change, some fun downhills, and some good climbs. Racers were started by waves according to their age in 10 minute intervals beginning at 10 a.m. The mens 25-40 groups were collapsed into one start wave. The Women's 20k started at 11, following the same format. My goals going in were simple (did I mention this was my first time doing this??): 1. finish in under 3 hours. 2. stay out of the way so no-one gets hurt. I did both successfully. I crossed the line in 2:45:11 (dead last, but under my own power), and avoided getting run over by the leaders as I was getting lapped. My wax finally worked itself in at around 10k, and my glide improved to the point where I could KDP pretty well on the flats, with my second lap being significantly faster than my first. Temps were on the warm side, as was the humidity, it was comfortable to be outside, and by 20k there were quite a few discarded hats on the side of the trail. The big issue with me anyways, was dehydration. With the humidity as high as it was, there was very little evaporation, I was sopping wet by the 15k mark, and getting chilled by 20. I had 2 bottles of accllerade with me, and I sucked down fluids at every stop (both Heed and water were provided at each 5k feed station), but by the 26k mark, I could feel the onset of some leg cramping, I couldn't get enough water in me. It was a good day, I finished the race, I hit my time goal, and I had a good time doing it. It was fun to watch the leaders go by, and it was a complete blast to participate in. What a neat introduction to the world of citizen racing. Results he http://www.xcskiworld.com/events/NM/NM_results.htm Pictures he http://www.skinnyski.com/racing/results/current/ Vasaloppet in 2 weeks....can't wait. Eric |
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