Looking for a Challenge??

(More blog entries from sue)

<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">Two weeks from now we’ll hold our Great Glen Nordic 300. It’s a fairly unique event in skiing, where teams and solo skiers try to accumulate as many laps on a 5 km course in 300 minutes/5 hours of skiing. Teams can choose their strategy of how many laps to ski before tagging off to a teammate for a breather. The event is modeled after our 24 hour bike race, held in summer.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">Howie and I tried our hand (actually our whole bodies) at a time-defined event in early January in Cable, Wisconsin. The event was the 24 hours of Telemark (the name of the resort and ski area where it’s held). So far there are only two 24 hour xc ski events in the US, this one and one in West Yellowstone, Montana. I set my sights on it for a couple reasons—to do research on some one else’s time-defined event, and for the challenge of what I knew would result in a lot of skiing over 12 hours—the time category we chose to enter.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">These days the events that interest me most are ones that are challenging to complete, either because the course is exceptionally hard, or because the distance covered is pretty darn far. There is an intrinsic reward in finishing such a challenge, regardless of one’s standings on the result sheet.  I was very happy Howie was willing to team up with me, so we could do the 12 hour duo. There wasn’t a mixed gender class, only open, so we were competing against a lot of male-male teams. Besides wanting to take part, I really wanted to attend and ski the event with Howie. Of course he is my favorite teammate!</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">Skiing as a two person team was really hard. You just don’t get that much rest or time off. I knew we’d ski a long way if we kept going for the whole 12 hours. We finished having skied 107 miles between us (they put the results in miles for some unknown reason.) This converts to 173 kilometers, 34 laps on the course. We both set personal records for distance skate skied in a day.   It was as hard or harder than I expected and at one point, I felt our name should be “Who’s stupid idea was this?” rather than “What? My Turn Again?” (Yes, it was MY stupid idea.)</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">The race crew and many locals were super friendly to us coming from NH, being the team from farthest away. There’s a very strong community of xc ski racers in the Midwest, and lots of competitions in which to take part. Besides skiing all that way, we finished 2nd in our class, averaging just under 14.5 km/hour including all breaks. It was one of those events where there is great camaraderie and respect amongst all racers. You know how bad you’re hurting, so you can’t help but respect the other skiers who are out on course doing the same thing. It’s the spirit of “we’re all in this together,” and everyone is a winner for undertaking and completing such a challenge.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">So, if you’re considering doing the Nordic 300, I’d say “Go For It!” I can almost promise you a wonderful feeling of self satisfaction and pride when you make it to 5 hours and you’ve put in your solid skiing effort.</div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">Good luck!</div>

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