American Birkiebeiner Race Report

Birkie #4 is officially in the books. I am happy about how well it went on how little training I had under me. It was painful, which I knew it would be. Those hills destroyed me and I was cramping pretty bad by the end. But it was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, and I could feel my fingers! That is huge since last year I got pretty bad frostbite on a few fingers. There's nothing like waking up to 13 degrees compared to -13 from the year before. I knew it would be a great day, I wasn't expecting much from my body but I was able to push the pace a bit, of course I'm super competitive so I would have loved to beat some more people but I couldn't get my body to go any faster so can't really complain about that. I doubt I'll be able to move up a wave but hopefully that motivates me for next year to really get my butt in gear and train properly.
So now that the Birkie is done I'm excited to try my hand at swimming and triathlons. And of course there's the Tough Mudder, May 19 that I need to get running and strength training for. I hope to sign up for the Get in Gear 5 km with the family April 28.
So my official Birkie results are below, I wish I could have kept up the 4:39 pace over the middle kilometers but I was a hurting unit. This will give me motivation for next year.

Participant Details Event: Birkebeiner Skate Bib # 5527 Age: 30 Gender: F City, State, Nation WI, St Paul, USA 25 Percent Club: NO

Finish Line Results Finish Time: 3:57:31.5 Overall Place: 2399 out of 3738 in Birkebeiner Skate. Gender Overall Place: 348 out of 708 in Birkebeiner Skate Women Age Group Place: 32 out of 80 in Women 30 to 34 Overall Pace: 4:44 per K

Split Results
Split	Distance	Overall Place	Gender Division Place	Age Group Place	Time	Pace Min per K
Timber Trail	9K	2370	327	28	41:47.5	4:39
Double O	22.8K	2392	345	30	1:50:08.0	4:57
Mosquito Brook Rd	38.1K	2395	347	32	3:01:53.3	4:41

2 days till pain....

Well I've sucked at blogging much like I've sucked at skiing this month. My 3 times out since the City of Lakes isn't going to do me much good this Saturday. But not much I can do about that now. New goal, try not to die, or get hypothermia and frostbite (like last year.) At least I have a much more warmer day predicted this year, that will help, a lot.
I wish my family could go up with me to cheer, hopefully next year.
I'm excited to see all my college ski friends, this is the one time a year we get to see each other so we go all out. Should be a fun Saturday night (as long as I'm not still trying to make it too Hayward.)
It's going to be a painful 50 km but I'm pumped. It's the Birkie. It's hard not to feel the fever and excitement, even if it's a slow and painful trip it's worth it just to ski up main street with all those cheering people helping you make it to the finish.

City of Lakes Loppet Race Report

Sunday I raced in the City of Lakes Loppet 17 K freestyle ski race. It normally is 35 K and finishes in Uptown. But because of our serious lack of snow and winter they had to shorten the race to the 3.5 K snowmaking loop at Wirth Park. We did 5 laps. At first I was not at all excited to ski 5 laps, I quit track in high school because I get so bored running around in circles.
However it turned out to be a lot of fun. Tony and the girls were able to see me at least 2 times a lap which was so great. Just seeing there smiling faces cheering me on gave me so much energy to ski another loop.
The snow was pretty terrible. I shouldn't complain because at least there was snow,  I'm very happy about that.
It was pretty much sugary, mash potatoes, 80% of the course, and the rest it was pure ice where skiers had either snow plowed down hills or there skis slip out on the uphills.
I had to really focus on being light on my feet and quick up the hills. I witnessed a lot of crashes but I was lucky to stay on my feet.  I've gotten so much better and more confident at downhills since high school. Now I just go for it full speed ahead. No fear.
It also helped that there was always someone to chase. I was attempted to stay with a guy I knew that was always just up around the next corner. I never got him but I did chase down a U of M skier that I skied pretty much behind for the last 3 laps. I like to beat boys!
So all in all it was a great day. I didn't really have high expectations since I haven't been getting much training in and considering how much beer I drank Friday night and how crappy I felt Saturday (all correlated of course.)
I'm happy with it. I think I'll be running and roller skiing for the next two weeks before the Birkie since there's no snow in the forecast. Such a bummer! At least the Birkie trails seem to have enough snow, I hope that it stays cold enough up there so we don't have to worry about another race getting cancelled or shortened. That would seriously bum me out.
So my stats:
time: 1:05:16
pace: 3:51/k (i was hoping for under 4.)
place: 370 out of 597, 58 out of 143 females, 9 out of 18 in division (30-34)

Now bring on the Birkie!