Despite all kinds of second guessing and hesitation, I raced today.  I have spent too much time this week agonizing over silly questions like “do I have a sore throat”, and “am I sick” or “should I ski”.  Those things are important, I don’t want to dig myself into a hole and blow my racing for the rest of the trip, but I don’t want to have my first week in Europe seem like a waste.  Those reasons make it hard to decided from so close to the situation... but no one else can tell you how your body feels.  I finally answered ‘no’ to the first two and went for it today, to no unexpected result.

 

The start of the 5k mass start was just as nutso as I expected, although it was nutso in a very good way.  I had a ton of fun with the fast conditions and first kilometer of downhill, and was probably in the top ten until the first uphill.  The first uphill wasn’t very long, probably 20m, but I think I was passed by about ten people.  The whole sickness thing really caught up with me then, sapping my engine and keeping me from hanging on to my position.  I was off the back of the pack (I think I was honestly in last place, the field is pretty deep here and they all stayed together) until the last kilometer of downhill where I could pass some stragglers.  Honestly, I am pretty happy with this race because I was really in it at the start, and I had a moment in the middle when I knew that “normally, I can stay with these guys.  Just not today”.  I know that I need more time to recover from my cold, and will be able to stay in the mix.  I had a strong finish as well, so I know it’s in there somewhere.

 

Caitlin Compton was leading the race for a while after falling at the start and catching back up in half a kilometer.  I think she finished around 5th 12.3s back and Nicole DeYoung was right behind her.  Pretty sweet day for both of them!  Katie Ronsse was right in front of me, and I don’t know how the other girls ended up.  The boys looked like they were right in there, and I think that Noah Hoffman might have been in the top ten until he broke his pole.  At least he was in 11th for a while.  Brian Gregg was our first finisher, then Mikey Sinott, then Mike Hinckley.  I am not sure on places for any of them, because despite our best efforts we didn’t make it from the big hill to the finish in time.  I also am not going to vouch for absolute accuracy on my results here because that’s just what I remember and my memory can frequently be described as on the fritz.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have to say that the boys’ race on the first downhill corner, looked really cool.  Unfortunately I didn’t get any photos of that, these are just random ones from the guy’s race today.  On those first corners though, there were probably 50 people on skis going 20mph around a corner in a group no more than 20m front to back.  The snow was flying up and they just looked like the essence of awesome speedyness. I would describe it as a mix of short track speed skating and cycle-cross, combined with the tour de France peloton and ski-cross, with a hint of Nascar.  I wish I had a picture, although looking at the ones that I did get, the light was flatter than I thought.  Still, it was a good moment to remember why skiing is so wonderful.

 

Afterwards I was able to check out Feclaz a little bit and that was pretty sweet.  Literally.  I discovered a new pastry called a Framboise pavé.  It is basically the best pop-tart ever, on steroids.  Probably the precursor to the pop culture weak approximation.  Very yummy.

 

It’s been good to get out and about!  I get to ski tomorrow, and then Tuesday we drive to Slovenia.