Yesterday I participated in the Round Valley Round Up 20k Nordic Race. The morning of the race I woke up to find that it was a complete blizzard, I thought that it was only going to snow for an hour or so so I didn't really worry about the snow so much. I jumped out of bed and put on my Nordic Gear and raced downstairs to have a nice breakfast consisting of Toast, and Oatmeal. I filled up my water pack and got my nutrition all stashed away in my pockets and put on my race bib and set off for the race. While in the car I got worried about the blizzard, it wasn't stopping and I was wondering how it would affect my wax which were waxed for a clear day. After waiting in the port-a-potty line for 10 minutes freezing my butt off I hurried to test out my skis. Immediately after putting my skis on I felt that they were not the fast slippery skis I had expected. I trudged along the trail with other racers to get a feel for the course, after a little while I turned around and headed back to the start. The start was a giant mass of people lined up inches away from each other. I quickly made my way to my wave and waited with anticipation for my start. The siren lets out its cry and we are off, all crowed onto the small track trying to get into position. Not even a minute passed when I hear "Skier down!" and have to quickly swerve around the skier to avoid causing a big pile up. Down the snow blown track I went following a lady who kept on bragging that this the race was so easy until she ran straight into a pole (to mark the track for groomer) and from then on I didn't hear one more complaint from then on. I passed the 5k cut off and found that my parents who were volunteering for the race cheering me on as I kept in the pack. Up a steep hill I went to find out that I was to climb up again for a few minutes! Panting as I reached the top I started to get really hot, so I took off my hat leaving me with my headband on to keep my ears warm so I stuff the hat in my long underwear, I thought to myself as I did this that people might think I had a tumor on my leg, but I didn't dwell on that to long for I had to avoid tripping over the person who fell in front of me. This part of the course ascended and descended so many times that I thought that I was on a boat being brought up and down by waves. I passed an aid station but I didn't stop because I already had water and all the nutrition I needed and I also didn't want to loose the pack I was in. After loosing some people I was the leader of the pack I had the full force of the wind on my small body, I could barely ski because it was blowing so hard, so I finally had to power up to the closest person so I could draft off them. You might be thinking that this is part of the course is flat right? Wrong, it was a very long uphill that continued up for 10-15 minutes until we came to the next hill that was steeper and windier than the one we had encountered. As I made the ascent up the hill I came upon people stopped on the side of the track taking water and resting, as I neared the top of the hill I tried to push ahead of my pack by doing the V2 Skate Technique. Little did I know that I had another big ascent up ahead and when I reached it I did my best to get to the top. As I neared the flats after completing the hill, some guy raced passed me and was skiing very fast. I did my best to keep my spot as the trail got steeper because I didn't want to get to far behind. Nearing the end of the ascent I sprinted to the downhill and made my way down, since my wax was all screwed up I couldn't glide down the hill as fast as I usually do, so I had to V2 down the hill to avoid being passed by the rest of the pack. I came to an aid station and took a Gatorade with pleasure, it was warm and it warmed up my cold body. For the next 15 minutes I did my best to complete the switch backs that were before me, until I stopped just before a hill to take a Gel and then continued up the hill with the rest of the group. This hill is the one that I hated the most because it is straight up and the wind is always blowing down it, a few minutes during the ascent I passed the guy who raced passed me earlier in the race and I laughed to myself because he thought he was so cool speeding away but in reality it did nothing but tire him. The top of the hill didn't come fast enough, and I let out a sigh of relief at my accomplishment. I raced down the next hill to an aid station and accept the water with pleasure. I took off down the trail with the full force of the blizzard blowing into my face, and every time I wiped my glasses they got even worse and I couldn't see. After following the same girl for a few minutes she warned me about the snow blown sides of the track that seemed to be tripping most of the skiers. I carefully skied out of it and kept on skiing. By then I was completely soaked and I was very cold. I drafted off the girl down the hill until we got to next set of switchbacks that are so blown over that we were skiing off course until we saw the track marker and continued along to point where I passed her so I could have a speedy finish.
I V2 as fast as I can to the finish and I felt really happy about my success! The finish was very mediocre because no one besides the finished racers and my parents were there, they didn't even have a clock! But I liked it because it wasn't to much of a stressful finish. My dad hands me my Probar and I hurry and eat it because I was so hungry! We hurried back to the car were my mom had a coat for me and we leave the race. In the car we talk about how windy and how snowy it was, I was so soaked that I could barely move without feeling uncomfortable. We drove to Starbucks and got a coffee to warm us up. We drive home and got dressed into warm clothing and make our way back to the race for awards. In the horse coral we listen to the race results, my two good friends Emma Garrard and Morgan Smyth both win and at that moment I was very happy for them. I didn't place because the age groups were 10-20 but I was still glad I did it! During the raffle I won a pair of Vibram Fivefinger shoes and I was really excited! This was the best race I had ever competed in, and I was very glad to have done it!
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Posted By Trailrunner to
Nick's Trail Adventures at 2/20/2011 06:43:00 PM
