Morning in Waterville Valley, NH
Sunday, February 24:
Again...another terrible early morning wakeup. I pretty much do the inverse of what the normal world does...sleep in during the week and get up early on weekends. Eff convention.
It was cold to start, but it warmed up quickly as the sun came into the valley. We got there about the same time as on Saturday, but this time we were greeted to an open conference room to stay warm in. I spent a few minutes stretching and trying to figure out how I was feeling that morning.
For the first time in a while, I actually got a good warm-up in. I managed to ski the entire course, which was almost more important for the tactical purpose than the practical, "you can't go from 60bpm to 180bpm in 10 seconds and not expect to lock up all your muscles" reason. This was definitely my kind of course, save one fast, but not very technical downhill. Everything else was pretty difficult uphill on firm, but not hard snow. It climbed for probably 3k, leveled off, shot down to the lowest point on the trail system, then climbed back up for a couple more kilometers before the downhill back into the village. I knew the final climb would make the difference in the results, due to its difficulty and relatively late position in the race. Before the start I told Jim (Clarkson's coach) that I was going to get 2nd place. I called it guarded optimism.
I started 2nd, which was great because it meant that I wouldn't have to contend with passing people on possibly narrow uphill sections. Also, the guy in front was Brendan from our team and he was more than willing to let me ski by without incident.
I started out quick, but with a careful pace in mind. The last climb would call for some discretion in starting effort. I quickly made the pass of Brendan and was by myself for the remainder of the race. Just me and empty trail ahead. I got into a really good v2 rhythm on a gradual uphill section that continued for several kilometers before some steeper gradients called for some high tempo v1. On the intermediate hills, I also incorporated some of the Bjoerndalen v2, where you slightly stagger your poling arms. Think v2 timing with alternating v1 arms. Unlike the classic race (which was just painful), this kind of hurting felt good. It was rather similar to the feeling I get during a climb in cycling. I know it's going to hurt, but I feel like (pretend?) I can hurt more than most others.
I quickly hit the apex of the course and began the long descent to the bottom. I handled the first several turns without scrubbing too much speed, but came into a sweeping right hander just a tad too hot(t). I tried to control the slide, but ended up going into a butt slide right to the outside of the turn. Luckily, the built up snow (New Hampshire had a TON) kept me on trail and actually sent me back toward the center. It was arguably the most uneventful and fortunate fall I've ever had during a race. I feel like I could have only lost 5 seconds, tops. I at least fared better than an Army skier who slid off trail and ended up in a frozen river.
Following the minor setback in an otherwise perfect race, I began the final climb along the power lines. At times it took some sharp switchbacks, kind of like Alpe D'Huez or any other European mountain pass, which made it a lot of "fun". My skis felt a little sticky in the sunny spots, but I kept the tempo high during the majority of the climb. As I came over the top, I put a few jumpskates in for good measure before transitioning to an arduous, but surprisingly effective v2. It's pretty easy to kill yourself on a climb when you're certain it's the last reasonable effort you'll have to put forth. After this point the race is pretty much over. The rest was just a matter of maintaining speed in the downhill section and most importantly...not falling.
So that was that. I did my best impression of a competent downhill skier and made it down without any incident. I really had no idea where my current state of fitness would put me, but I was definitely happy with the race. When most of your training consists of spinning on the rollers, how much can you really expect from a ski race? However, even with that in mind, I knew a poor placing would be still be a major letdown. Luckily the results confirmed my suspicions and I ended up taking 2nd- 49 seconds out of first place (Matt Delaney) and with a small gap of 9 seconds to third. w00000! Score one for the cyclists!
I think that was a great way to end a short, but fun ski season. Bring on the wheels!
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