The lack of snow continued in January and so we skied round and round on the manufactured snow loops. The 5 km loop at Hyland takes me 20 minutes and Wirth’s 7 km loop even longer. So it’s not that bad. On the couple weekends I didn’t race, I did some intervals. Well, actually, it was just one set of intervals. I heard that instead of doing 30-30s, APU does 2 minutes on followed by 1 minute off for an hour for an L3 workout. I did this with Erik and kept up a blistering pace with him. It was intense! I don’t get tired very often but this workout was both difficult to complete and made me extra sleepy.
Despite the lack of snow, we’ve certainly had our share of cold weather. I’ve admittedly become a “cold baby.” At least that’s the term we used back in the day for our friends who didn’t ski when it was below zero. My hunch is that I’ve spent too much time at cold temps improperly dressed. That and with Raynaud’s I’ve simply frost-nipped and even frost-bit my fingers (and thumbs) one too many times. Hence they seem all the more sensitive, the tips of my pinkies permanently numb, and not wanting to injure them more, I’ve started to avoid skiing, or at least skiing so much, when it’s cold. I really struggle to keep my hands warm. Often they initially get cold, will warm up for awhile and then get sweaty, and then around an hour or so start getting cold again. It’s super frustrating.
Last year Erik bought me some heated socks to help with the feet. I got heated gloves a few years ago and was not a fan (the best I could understand was that they were to be used when it was 30 degrees ABOVE zero) but these heated socks have been a game changer. I’m pretty sure they are designed for alpine because the socks are very tall (like up to my knees) and the batters are ridiculously large. They do keep my feet warm though and that’s important.
I’ve also succumbed to wearing more layers, especially for Vakava practice at 6:30 pm which correlates with a time of day when my body temperature is lower (I always get cold around dinner, then get hot from 8-9 pm). I’ve learned when I need more windproofing on my legs and to wear a buff and hat even in the teens, and to dress in multiple layers.
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| A very cold Vakava group ski on a sunny Sunday. Hard to tell who everyone is with so much face coverings! Photo: Ben |
Some days though, I’m perfectly content to just go for a walk. Ideally I would run more but my posterior tibial tendonitis has flared again. Plus, the major benefit to walking is that I don’t get sweaty. That and I can keep my fingers all tucked inside my mega mitts. Skiing is hard for me in cold temps when my fingers freeze and then when I get sweaty and go down a hill at 30 miles per hour….well, that is just cold and I think I only have so much tolerance for that.
Alas, I’ve mixed things up with some races. The first was what I still like to call the Pre-Loppet. I did something kind of dumb and didn’t wax my skis for the race since it was a “training” race and I’d skied three hours the day before and they had been plenty fast just about every other time I’ve been out this year on the manufactured snow but there was an inch or two of new snow and my skis were super slow! I think the body felt reasonable but I probably tired myself out too much holding onto some pride to beat a couple teammates and it made the race feel really rough. It was interesting though, where a couple weeks prior I’d been skid turning into La Squadra to control my speed, during the race my skis were so slow I was free skating.
The next race was the Founders Classic sponsored by the Mora Ski Club. After local races the week before got cancelled, this one popped up on my radar as a good training race for the Mora Vasaloppet. A bunch of other Vakers headed to Mora for this one as well. I love a good double pole course and that’s exactly what I got in Mora, going round and round, mostly with coach Dave, trying to chase down the small pack of men ahead of me (that got harder once teammate Paul jumped in the race and decided to shake things up some). Anyway, I still won for women and got some great perishable prizes (maple syrup and a giant cookie!). And I got in a good double poling workout that will hopefully help prepare my back for the classic race at the Mora Vasaloppet.
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| A good chunk of Vakava skiers for the Founders Classic. Photo: Brock's wife |
Then the first weekend in February it was time for the City of Lakes Loppet Skate Race. It was a five lap race (ok, four laps last weekend, five laps this weekend, back to four laps next weekend…be sure to remember and count them all!). I was worried about the trail conditions given it hadn’t gotten below freezing overnight. And after not racing the skate race for a few years, I was relegated to Wave 2 and was worried about a lot of trail congestion (usually I ski off the back of the first wave).
My fears were largely put at bay though. I managed to get a front row starting position in Wave 2, accelerated off the line to at least keep up with the men until the double pole zone ended, and then was never impeded by traffic. I got into my racing zone quickly, pushing my pace but not suffering. I had a brief thought that maybe I’d gone out too hard but I quickly put that to rest and just skied on, trying to mark the other women in Wave 2, hoping to win my wave for the ladies.
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| Me on the far left, off to a good start in Wave 2 of the City of Lakes Loppet. |
The downhill conditions were markedly better than I’d anticipated. I have this problem though that I’m usually only confident if I can take an outside line. This year I’ve been working on this some, sometimes purposely going inside when I do feel confident, to practice. I’ve just had bad experiences in the past when I’ve gone inside, hit ice, and lost control. Slush and ice both make me tense up and lose my cool completely. I took the pace fast heading down into La Squadra every time and there’s part of me that can’t believe I actually do this because in a sense, it’s terrifying to edge in my skis to make those turns at such high speeds. It’s also thrilling. I can only do it when I have 100% confidence. And as the race progressed, it became a quad burner as well.
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| Erik demonstrating how to ski downhill. |
There were a couple short mashed potato hills that I struggled on and tried to just ski up. The couple weeks before I’d been playing with my V-1 technique, as that seems to be the technique when everyone skis away from me. I tried to stay lower overall and keep my feet wider instead of bringing my legs in close. It seemed faster (and I even practiced this on my January 30th rollerski) but was hard to do in the mashed potatoes. There were also places on course where the snow felt slow, like new snow condensing. Kinda weird conditions but likely because it was manufactured snow made when it was cold and this was the first time it was warming up so it hadn’t totally transformed yet.
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| Laura crushing it per usual (on a warm day!) |
Anyway, I was leading Wave 2 for the women on the fourth lap when I couldn’t take my outside line on the downhill coming by The Trailhead. I freaked, snowplowed, got knocked backwards, and fell down:( I got back up quickly enough and skied on but lost a few places. At least my confidence wasn’t shaken on the downhills and my final time down that hill my outside lane was clear again and I took it full speed. I didn’t win my wave but I mostly felt good out there, appreciated some cheering, and was able to push my body well. I can’t ask for much more than that.
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| Craigger racing the Loppet. |
Now I’ll look forward to some classic races.
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