It started with a sunset run on Friday, possibly one of my favorite activities other than sunrise runs (that means you don't have to finish in the dark). I love Hale reservation-- its not that big, but once you're in it it feels huge, like you're actually out of the city. Except that you can see it still. But that is cool in its own right.
Saturday was the "Formula One" race at Gunstock. They have loads of snow, so they'll probably just keep hosting races until it all runs out. I think Igor came up with this one just to get his kids having fun on snow. Mass start. 800m skate loop. Switch to classic skis. 800m classic loop. Five loops of each technique. First there was a "qualifying" round, to determine the order in the mass start, which was only two lanes wide and after about 10 feet did a 180 into the slalom course. WOOO!
I qualified fourth, ahead of all the highschool boys (goal: beat all highschool boys). That put me pretty far up in the mass start, and I skittered around the first corner terrified I'd get run over by the overzealous and uncontrolled highschool skiers. There was no jump first lap, that came on the second lap. By the bottom of the hill I was in 7th or 8th, but luckily I can transition fast and I know how to classic ski, so by the end of the classic lap I was back in 5th, more or less holding even with a highschooler I'd seen racing at EHS last weekend. Each lap, Igor would change the jumps after the slalom somehow-- second skate lap, there were three jumps spaced pretty closely. Third skate lap, the jumps were wider. Fourth lap, Igor was standing after the three jumps holding more bamboo that I ducked under (Maybe I was supposed to jump it?). Fifth lap he was holding the bamboo even lower (jump it, you idiot), so I barely squeaked underneath it. I think he was changing around the jumps depending on who was coming down the hill. Luckily the classic laps were just normal, giving me a chance to catch back up to the highschooler who probably didn't know how to use klister based on how much he was slipping, and recover a little. I ended up in fifth, ahead of all the highschoolers. This felt like a cross race! To make it even better, we got chocolate as prizes.
The BKL skiers on the slalom course.
Practicing jumping over the foam things before Igor replaced that with three bamboo jumps.
I need to be on that top step because without it Linnea would be taller... at least I didn't start eating my chocolate while on the podium, like Colin did.
Sunday Callie came down and we went mountain biking. Restoring the balance in Alex's world.
Callie explaining something...
A good day.
2 comments:
Aw you guys are so cute.
And nice technique on that jump. They should put style points in our races you know. You could like grind on the sides of the trails or do backflips... or something.
Great post. As I said over at Colin's place, that race sounds like a ton of fun - the perfect way to put the winter's fitness to use.
I see that knickers are now unisex garb. Interesting. That's not a trend that's trickled out to Minnesota. Maybe I can earn some points by introducing them here!
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