Sunshine Race

Been a long time.....

Been a long time....not since I've rock and rolled (Led Zepplin), but made a post.

Today we had the Sunshine 5000. So named for the vertical feet. It was a beautiful clear, cold (-8C) day. The family came out to watch and all in all it was a great day!

I was feeling a little pressure cuz in just over a week I'll be heading over to Italy for Skimo World Champs. I felt like I needed to show I was worthy of going. As it was I finished 8th. Last among the team guys going, but not too far out of the hunt. In this I felt I accomplished a bit of my goals on the day.

Not sure why, but just didn't feel energized. I went out hard, backed off a bit to try to race smart. Tried to ski a perfect race (that was my mantra in my head). Fast transitions, no wipe outs, even pace. For the most part I did these. First race ever I didn't fall on any downhills. Maybe could have skied a couple a bit more aggressively, but mostly did ok.

With a lot of new and blowing snow I elected for full length skins for the 2 major climbs. I had great kick and could relax on the steep switchbacks. Unfortunately, both of them had longish lead ups and my glide was pretty slow on these parts. Deb even noticed on one of them when I went by..."your skis seemed slow". I think I'll replace the full lengthers with my new Pomocas once they get broken in. I bought them a little wider (65mm) for full coverage under foot.

So....hopefully I'll be logging in a bit more regularly as my adventure heats up....off to Italy. Man! What a privilege. Representing your country in International competitions.

I'll keep ya posted .