Loppet 2019 Recap

Classic Team Sprints

Temps warmed to a balmy couple degrees below zero for Thursday’s sprints. It still felt cold, especially because it was dark. The initial details of the event were a bit vague other than mentioning ABAB format of 1 km with an $800 purse but finally a few hours before the race it was posted that there would only be one heat for each category (ie. each age group and sex).

I had intended to arrive at Wirth a bit early to catch some skiing on natural snow in the waning daylight and to get in a good warm-up on the course even though our official start time wasn’t until 6:45 pm. My plans were foiled when my car wouldn’t start. I eventually made it to Wirth but had trouble finding a parking spot in the old chalet lot. The lot was crazy and people were parked haphazardly everywhere so I followed suit. By now it was dark but I still had plenty of time before my race.

I began my warmup at 6 pm. It quickly became apparent that the races were behind schedule (juniors went first) and so I skied for nearly an hour back and forth over the new bridge by the Trailhead and then ran and jumped for 10 minutes prior to the race.

I raced with my Vakava teammate Kathleen and was our A skier. We lined up and were given directions and then I don’t even remember much of a “Ready, set, go.” Instead the starter just said “Start.” It was a classic sprint but they started us in the exchange zone so there weren’t any tracks. The snow was slow as it was new and had been cold and in addition there was freshly falling snow. I planned to stride off the line which is what just about all the other women did but my pole got stepped on and just like that everyone got away.

I think I was the last one trailing into the first corner. I changed tracks twice on my way up to Coach’s Corner and managed to pass 2 women and make ground on a couple others. Mind you, these were not pretty lane changes and I didn’t do much pretty striding- the snow was too slow for much glide. I felt way behind coming into the first exchange.

The air was cold and despite what I thought was a decent warm-up I was not prepared for that intensity in the cold! It took me much of Kathleen’s lap to recover.

I was stoked when Kathleen came back into the exchange zone in 3rd place!!!

She gave me a super nice push but I was striding because the snow was so slow I couldn’t use it too much. I was by myself on that second lap. I did notice I was able to double pole farther up the hill to Coach’s Corner on my second lap. I skied as fast as I could and had good energy and was able to maintain our 3rd place.

After I put my warm-ups back on, I headed to the finish to cheer in Kathleen. She brought us into second! We were a long way off first, but those girls are pros so not really in our league anyway.

And that $800 purse was for real. In addition to getting another earring holder, we got a big check (OK, literally the check was big in size, not monetary value). Since I’ve made a whopping $50 in prize money at ski racing (and incurred infinitely more times that in expenses) in the past 12 years since I graduated college, I don’t think I’ll be quitting my day job anytime soon:)

Kathleen and I with our big check! Photo: Spencer Davis

Sunday’s Long Skate

And we’re swinging!

That’s the term I came up with a couple years ago when looking at NOAA’s hourly weather graph when the high fluctuates by more than 30 degrees within a couple of days.

What I mean here is going from a predicted high of -4 ℉ on Thursday to 36 ℉ by Saturday.

OK, I failed to screen shot the 48 hour swing but here's a much more minor swing of almost 30 degrees between the day's low and high.

The trail reports from the Loppet were promising for a point-to-point race on Sunday but I remained skeptical knowing that we didn’t have a ton of snow and we were about to swing to highs in the upper 30’s.

Late afternoon on Friday we skied at Hiawatha Golf Course. I made the mistake of using my B skis when rock skis were clearly in order. Hmmmm, “I wonder if all those Loppet shoveling parties have worked miracles?”

The Loppet officially recommended B skis for Saturday’s classic race.

Typically I wax my skis two days before a race so I can do more resting the day before. Given the trail reports were in flux and I was holding out for the course to be switched to the man-made loop at Wirth (where I could just use my good skis and focus on skiing hard and fast- not grass and rock dodging), I waited to wax my skis. Finally on Saturday morning I put a layer of high fluoro wax on both my A and B skis.

On Saturday we headed to Wirth for the Orienteering race. Erik raced and I volunteered. Afterwards I classic skied for a bit on the Front 9 and then over to JD Gardens, on Wirth Lake, and Jar Hill. Conditions on Wirth Lake were good but everywhere else snow coverage was really thin with frequent bare spots. I used my B classic skis which were fine for going slow and picking my way through things, but I would have wanted to race on my rocks skis.

Erik in the Ski-Orienteering race. But wait,  you can't see him in that camouflage suit! Photo: MNOC

As trail reports on Saturday continued to propose a point-to-point course for Sunday, I was frustrated. I knew the conditions would be less than ideal and wanted to use my rock skis. But my rock skis really suck- the bases are falling off, they are way too soft, etc. So I knew if I wanted to actually race, I would have to use my B skis. I also had a thought of running the course carrying my boots and skis:)

Anyone who remembers back to the 2005 Loppet probably wasn’t too surprised to wake up Sunday morning and learn all the events had been moved to Wirth:):):) I was relieved to learn we’d just be skiing man-made. It did mean that I had to wax up my good skis so used that hour start delay to do so. I put on another high fluor layer and then should note that Erik is our “top coat guy.” He does the rilling (which I’m glad we did for the race) and pure fluoros.

My "top coat guy" (left) skiing with our college friend Travis. Photo: Bruce Adelsman

I saw the man-made course had been changed a bit and got to the start in time to ski the new course. Some parts were freshly groomed and just about perfect (although with all the skiers things would get soft) and a few places hadn’t been groomed recently and were rock solid. The Drevil’s Drop hill was a bit slow. If conditions are really fast I don’t tuck on that hill but it was a slow day so I noted to tuck in the race. I was a bit disappointed to learn we would only be skiing 3 laps for a distance around 20 km. It would make for a short race and not ideal training for the Birkie.

There were a lot of skiers in the Best of the Loppet Wave and things were quite congested at the start. I was glad to see there were many women around my speed and that I would probably have company for the race, unlike last year. We started and those of us in the back had an extra long double pole and things didn’t really get settled until we got around the Twin Lakes Loop and started climbing to Coach’s Corner. Everyone was considerate though and nobody stepped on my poles or skis.

The Best of the Loppet Wave starting. I was way in the back. Photo: Bruce Adelsman

On that hill to Coach’s Corner I found my pack of Stephani Johnson and Nicole Harvey. We skied mostly together for the remainder of the short race. My skis were pretty fast thanks to my top coat guy:) Maybe not the fastest, but I definitely passed some people with slower skis. The whole race went by super fast. I wasn’t sprinting but felt like I was skiing my 5 km pace the whole time. My strength is distance and I just kinda have one speed. I never felt relaxed but for the most part could think about my technique. At one point on some of the V-1 hills (yeah, OK, you fast people out there might say there aren’t any V-1 hills:) I had to remind myself to glide longer on my poling ski. There’s just so many fun transitions on the course that I never really thought about being tired or that I was breathing too hard.

Skiing the hill coming off the Twin Lakes Loop. Man, I think my downhill skills are relatively good but I don't look like it in this photo. Makes me realize I need to be even more aggressive on the downhills! Photo: Bruce Adelsman

By the start of the third lap we were lapping some skiers. They mostly skied on one side of the trail and passing was never difficult. It never felt congested and the course held up well. I did feel a bit bad passing some of these skier who still had 1.5 laps left when I only had 0.5 but I tried to cheer them on whenever I wasn’t too out of breath from going uphill.

Putting in a couple V-1's over the bridge by the Trailhead. I was doing a lot of V-2 out there and should've V-2'd this bump as you can see Stephani doing behind me. Photo: Bruce Adelsman

Overall I felt strong and did good on the downhills- all except the new left hander heading to the new bridge by the Trailhead. That hill was hard packed and almost every time down I curbed way too much speed snowplowing down the first part of the hill (I stepped turned by the bottom every time). I guess it’s good to have something to improve on:)

Well, at least I wasn't the only one snowplowing this downhill. Note, I'm not actually in this photo by Bruce Adelsman.

I didn’t have an extraordinary race but wasn’t expecting that. I finished about where I lined up in the start area. It was fun to have some other women around me and not feel like I was last. Now I’m looking forward to some longer races.

Thanks to everyone who came out to cheer!

Crossroads #5: How Much to Chase and The Happiness Equation

 I’m your classic Type A overachiever. Despite knowing this for some time, I only recently discovered that I am goal-oriented by nature. Previously, I’ve called this “planning.” A couple of my long-term (but not lifetime goals as I would actually like to wrap these up by age 50 or so) include climbing all the state high points and canoeing all of the designated water trails in Minnesota. 

The state high points Erik and I have done together so far in red.

This past summer I was trying to figure out where to do a day paddle. I was really set on checking off a box and canoeing part of a designated water trail, but that route didn’t make sense based on where we were staying and where we were trying to go. It made way more sense to canoe across a lake and down a creek even if these aren’t designated waterways. Slowly I’m learning that life is about more than checking off boxes; it’s about the journey. And once I check off these boxes I’m left with less to explore and less direction in my life.

And the waterways we've done so far in my favorite color.

By the way, if you’re wondering why I want to be done with these feats by age 50, it’s because I’ve recently established a goal of paddling 50 miles in each of the 50 states in my 50s. While it may seem ludicrous that I’ve already made this plan (I guess this proves I am goal-oriented) it also gives me some purpose for my life and gives me something to look forward to. I did somewhat steal this idea from my high school vice principal who peddled 50 miles in all 50 states in her 50s.

So how does this relate to racing? Well, I get to choose what races I do and what my goals are for races. In particular, I’m going to focus on a decision about trying to run a Boston Qualifying time for a marathon.*

For us normal blokes (for whom an Olympic Trials Qualifying Time will never happen in this lifetime), qualifying for the Boston Marathon is a common goal. Given this, I kind of want to try for a Boston Qualifying time. This means I have to run 8:11 per mile for an entire marathon. I’ve ran two marathons previously. My first was slow at 4:16 (9:47 per mile). My second was a dream with a big PR time of 3:44 (8:34 per mile). That’s still 10 minutes slower than a Boston Qualifier marathon. Last year I trained really well and was able to average 7:56 per mile for a 16.75 mile race. I was really really pushing my limits at that time and the marathon is almost 10 miles longer. So could the combination of improved fitness and slowing my pace by 15 seconds per mile be enough to run a Boston Qualifying marathon?

Do I want to try?

I know if I tried and got this goal I would be so incredibly satisfied. And if I tried and failed I would be so disappointed. My last marathon was almost so perfect (except for the hip pain and not being able to walk down stairs for two days afterwards) that I’m not sure I want to even run another.

Crossing the finish in my last almost so perfect marathon.

So I know I would be happy if in the end I reach the goal, but if I don’t, would I still be happy. It comes down to the lead up to the race and the training. Would this make me happy?

For my Type A personality to run a fast marathon I need to first prove to myself in practice that I can get close to the pacing I want. Lots of runners are like this (Miles to the Trials). Meanwhile Erik is a Type B personality. He follows the motto of my friend Anna Tibstra from high school: “I like to save something for the races.” This means he is OK with subpar training and can even believe in himself despite sub-par training. When he ran his Boston Qualifier race, his training did not support the effort he put forth.

Marathon training involves long runs, tempo runs, and intervals. With this greater mileage the injury potential increases. Last marathon training cycle it seemed like every other long run caused some weird pain. Meanwhile, last summer I trained to run a PR mile completely pain free! And during all this marathon training is the doubt, worrying, and fixating on whether or not I’ll make my goal for months prior to the race.

And it is the last part, the worrying and fixation, which would NOT make me happy. Maybe if I could find a way to not worry and fixate and spend so much time on this it would tip that happiness equation the other way but for now the answer is no, the preparation would not make me happy. Maybe if I could become Type B.

How we like to travel downstream- with a bike in the canoe for the shuttle! Here we are on the flooded Snake River Spring of 2019.

I’ve decided the potential happiness of achieving my goal is not worth the months of potential injury from training and mental anguish leading up to the race. Maybe someday I’ll be able to combat this but for now I’m focusing on shorter PR efforts- the mile, the 5 K, and maybe a 10 K, or half marathon. These distances require significantly less commitment than a full marathon. And training for them is making me happy.

The decision to race also occurs in skiing. Fortunately times aren’t such a thing in skiing owing to always changing conditions. And as much as I love the rigidity of locking into a running time, I also love that times are irrelevant in skiing. I suppose the closest thing we have in citizen skiing to a Boston Qualifying time is the Elite Wave at the Birkie. For the past few years I’ve felt comfortably inside the classic Elite Wave but this year I’m switching to the skate technique and we’ll see if I can also comfortably qualify.

So here’s my current rendition of the Happiness Equation:

Happiness = preparation for event + doing event + event outcome

When I decide what ski races to do I’ve been subconsciously using the above equation for years. The event outcome usually doesn’t factor in, unless I consider any special prizes, because times don’t matter and I can’t control who shows up to the race. Therefore everything boils down to preparation for the event and doing the event. I’m already doing the training (because I usually do some short races and a few marathons every year and as previously noted am locked into my February routine of City-Mora-Finlandia-Birkie so most of the preparation includes how much I’m willing to drive, be nervous, get up early, and wax my skis. If I like the event enough, I’m willing to do more preparation. Doing the event includes the course, technique offered, how if fits in with other plans, and extras like schwag.

I went through this equation when my Vakava teammate Kathleen invited me to do the City of Loppet Team Classic Sprint with her. The downsides in regard to the event preparation include waxing my skis, skiing in the evening rather than the daylight, and fighting rush hour traffic to get to the 6 PM race. On the flip side, I really like classic team sprints compared to skate team sprints and racing with a speedy teammate! The tipping point came when I looked up the race website which mentioned some potential prize money (it was a bit vague). Erik had been strongly encouraging me to do the Loppet Minne-Tour (which the thought of was NOT making me happy and so I bailed) as there aren’t many women who do the Minne-Tour so I decided doing the Team Classic Sprint was a bit of redemption.

Currently, I’m in debate about whether to do the Great Bear Chase this year. It aligns with a vacation I’m already planning so I would just need to take an extra half day off work, drive a couple extra hours, wax my skis, and put in a race effort for 3 hours. But this is a fun course, that is now offering cloth bibs, (I won’t lie, even though I have too many of these I still want more) AND THE BEST POST RACE FOOD!!! All these things combined tipped in the favor of happiness of doing the race. Then I had to decide which race to do. Doing the 50 km was a no-brainer and then I decided to do the classic because I'm not doing many classic races this year and maybe I can win. But mostly because it is the race which will make me the hungriest and therefore prepare me best for the post race food:)

I’m trying to not race as much and only do those races which make me truly happy. And this year I’m taking the “less is more” approach. I want to do things besides just work and ski.

This idea of happiness creeps into my life in my other pursuits. Above I mentioned this goal of climbing all the state high points. Some of these are really easy, but a few are quite difficult. I love being on top and looking down. I love challenges. But these challenges also make me nervous and fret. I can tell you which state high points are already making me anxious even if I don’t plan to climb them for a few years. When we go on vacation and do these high points I always like to get them “out of the way” early in the trip so I don’t have to worry about them.

Getting Mount Elbert (Colorado's highest peak) done early in our trip. Photo: some random stranger also on the summit

Adding to this is that Erik and I have successfully made EVERY summit we have ever attempted together. And we’ve climbed some substantial mountains. This is likely to end at some point but it’s a record I want to keep going. It reminds me of when I got an A- at the U of M Summer Honors College between junior and senior years of high school. I remember calling home my first semester of college at the U of M, completely distraught that my 4.0 was ruined.

“That professor did you a favor,” my mom calmly replied.

She was so right.

Wanting happiness is not unique to me and I think as we get older we start thinking about having more happiness in our lives and less unhappiness. When we were doing a backpacking trip in Montana last year that included the difficult state high point, our good friend Craig came up with a hiking game based on “happiness points.” 

One of my favorite all-time photos: me looking at our impossible-looking route up Granite (Montana's highest peak) from our tent the day before we climbed this thing in the exact place where Craig came up with his happiness points game. Photo: Erik

And my friend Emily always talks about making the choice that will maximize fun.

And is it coincidence that Jessie Diggins' last blog had "happy" in the title? And what about Chelsea Little who recently asked herself during a ski race "Is this fun? Why do I do this?"

I’m continuously balancing this Happiness Equation. The answers aren’t always self-evident but I’m enjoying the process of learning more about myself and what makes me happy.


*I first started this post when the qualifying time was sub 3:35 for women under age 35. Now that it has been lowered to 3:30 that is a bit more out of my reach. For the sake of my blog we’ll just say the time is sub 3:35.

November and December Ups and Downs

Now that we’re into the New Year, here’s a look back at some of my ups and downs over the past two months.

Up: The UP.

Unfortunately our Thanksgiving weekend ski trip to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (UP) corresponded with a big warm front and rain. For our Friday afternoon ski at Wolverine conditions were slushy as it was sunny and in the 40s. It took me 26 minutes to ski my first 2.2 miles. I was moving the whole time, albeit easy. I had no idea I could ski that SLOWLY!

Yeah- that slowly; 6.57 miles in an hour and twenty minutes. I can almost walk faster!

We spent the next two days at ABR. I’d say the trail reports posted on Skinnyski were quite optimistic. To me the conditions were comically awful. Of course we didn’t stay on the best trails so we had plenty of rock dodging and skiing through puddles and over small streams.

Usually these conditions make me incredibly frustrated but for some reason I just went with the flow. Maybe this is because I’ve been treating my B skis more like rock skis lately. Maybe because I thought of it more as an adventure. Maybe because even though conditions weren’t great, I still got in lots of easy training and time on snow and as far as I know there’s no downside to going easy. Maybe because we’re just getting used to the crappy conditions all the time. Maybe because it was nice to not have to ski any trail more than once on a 3 hour ski! Maybe it’s because with age I’m chilling out a bit. I’ve been taking a more Type B approach to my whole training this year and my ability to adapt to the conditions.

Craig caught me having a Type B moment (he was quick w/ his camera) while we were in Florida for Bjorn Batdorf's wedding.

Down: The Season Grind.

It took exactly one week of two nights in a row of skiing after work for me to exclaim “Make it stop!” This is because by the time I get home from work, I spend all my time packing for work and skiing the next day and this sends me into a tizzy. I love skiing, but not all the packing/unpacking/driving/waxing.


Up: Man-made Skiing.

Wirth and Elm Creek opened up really early this year, albeit with small loops. I’ve written about this previously and I know others disagree, but I love the man-made loops for a number of reasons: great opportunity to ski with friends (this is probably my absolute favorite), just get in a groove and go, not think about where to go during intervals, and play on the snow with skid turns and skating corners. And there have been some jumps on the Wirth course as they work to smooth out all the enormous piles of man-made snow. OK, I still need to work on getting good air but just jumping a bit is a plus for me.


Down: Still getting my butt creamed on skate intervals at Vakava practice.


Up: Not flailing during the Hoigaard’s Relays.


Down: Not flailing during the Hoigaard’s Relays because I only free skated without poles on the fast sections. Maybe someday my balance will be good enough for the high speed V-2!

Erik, my Hoigaard's Relay partner in the race. Another down: missing our first relay exchange; completely 100% my fault. Photo: Bruce Adelsman

Up: 10,000 hours

Malcolm Gladwell has a theory that 10,000 hours of “deliberate practice” are needed to become world class in any field.

I spent 2+ hours almost solely double poling on my Saturday workout at ABR including up some decent hills. I thought for sure I’d be sore on Sunday. At least, had I done this workout in high school I would have been super sore. But I wasn’t sore at all. It makes me feel just a little invincible at age 33 and realize that with good training, my body can stay strong (and even get stronger) as I age and this is a hopeful thing.

A couple weeks later I reflected on one of my training days. I ran 5 miles to work and then followed that with an easy skate ski at Wirth in the evening. At the end of the day I didn’t feel like I’d done any exercise. My body is just used to this and I can run and ski easy at reasonable paces.

I’ve arrived.

I’m a well trained athlete. I’ll never have world class performances but I can at least train near a world class level.

I’m taking it as a sign that I’m on the cusp of those 10,000 hours!


Down: Forgetting about the rubber glove trick to prevent my hands from getting cold. I wrote about this last year but there’s lots of warm months between March and November and so I forgot about how I started using rubber gloves to keep my gloves dry while skiing. Erik reminded me of this on one of my last December skis and I’ve been using rubber gloves ever since.

A very wet glove after skiing:)

  
Up: Our trip to Bemidji to visit family over New Years corresponded with a big snowfall and so we got to ski on lots of good snow and with my bro!

Skiing w/ my bro at Bemidji State Park on real snow! Photo: Erik

And a New Years Eve ski w/ the hubby at Movil Maze. Photo: Erik

A Great Holiday Gift: The State Park Challenge

 

Last year for Christmas my little bro gave our family the State Park Challenge. He bought us each a State Park sticker and gave us a map with all the state parks and recreation areas. The challenge was for each family unit to visit as many of these parks and areas as possible in a year. I don’t recall if there was a prize for winning but it could be whatever you want or make the journey the prize.

So here’s some photos from the State Park Challenge over the past year:

We started with Bemidji State Park (since that was where we were celebrating Christmas). It was too cold to take any photos!

Skiing on Pike Island at Fort Snelling State Park after work. Photo: Erik

And skiing at William O-Brien State Park. Photo: Erik

What I think of taking pictures in front of signs, here at the St. Croix Boom site. Photo: Erik

The cool tunnel (full of colorful graffiti) below the St. Croix Boom Site. Photo: Erik

Doing some bouldering with our friends at Interstate State Park

A paddle on the Minnesota River at the Minnesota River State Recreation Area. Photo: Erik

High Falls at Tettegouche State Park.

The swinging bridge (on the Superior Hiking Trail) above High Falls at Tettegouche

Snowy, icy gorge at Temperance River State Park

The frozen spray everywhere at Cascade River State Park

The lower waterfall at Cascade River State Park

This weird thing behind us is a frozen waterfall at Judge CR Magney State Park. Photo: Erik (because his arms are longer and we're too cheap to buy a selfie stick:)

Playing on some ice that was incredibly grippy at Judge CR Magney State Park

One of the many, many waterfalls at Gooseberry Falls State Park. We did a hike that included every bridge in the state park- including the hwy 61 bridge twice- on top and on bottom! Photo: Erik

I had lots of fun bouncing on the swinging bridge at Jay Cooke State Park and was quite amazed by the granite in the river gorge. Photo: Erik

The Kettle River flows through Banning State Park. Someday we're gonna run these rapids. Current water levels were low. Photo: Erik

We climbed this fire tower at St. Croix State Park. Photo: Erik

And the view from the top. Photo: Craig

We stopped for a brief hike and some playground time at Nerstrand Big Woods.

We'll see if we can squeeze in a couple more state parks before the end of the year!