Gatineau Loppet - Classic Race Report

1 down, 1 to go.

I've got to say that it's a good thing the race was shortened from 53km to 49.  Another 4 km would have killed me I think. 

Now, anyone who knows me understands that I'm a glass have empty kind of person, so I'll break the trend and start with the positive.  Strange but true.

My skis were killer fast.  Awesome.  In the tracks quite possibly the fastest skis I've ever had.  It was remarkable.

On the longer downhills, when I didn't get stuck behind someone less awesome than me, I would rocket away from those behind me.  I could easily make up 100 m on the downhills, on a couple of the longer ones it was closer to 200 m. 

Unfortunately I got caught behind people 3 or 4 times on long downhills. Trying to pass outside of the tracks was completely impossible and when I tried I lost massive amounts of momentum, but caught back up when I got back in the track.

The wax easily bought me 5 minutes over the last half...

But today wasn't about the glide wax.  It never is in classic races.

Last night was fine, the usual stuff.  Waxing skis, chatting with Norwegians. Trying to find some carbs to hammer down.  I went for Indian.  Lets just say not the best idea, but no disasters.

I popped into Peccos, the local ski shop, where the guy working the desk had little clue as to what the kick wax of the day would be.  So I bought a couple options.  Maybe that was his plan. 

The consensus, the day before, and the morning of, was Swix VR45.  So on it went 5-6 layers.

The start was as I remember it.  Limbs and skis flailing around, and a choke point 400m from the start.  Someday the organizers are going to fix that. Like maybe by 2017.  But, everyone was pretty civilized and sorted into 4 tracks, and then 2 tracks pretty quick.

I got super scared after the first km.  My skis had no grip what-so-ever.  I swear when I am scared.

Fortunately the groomed tracks up the first hills were made of more new snow and I managed to get some purchase. It didn't appear to be as good as those around me, but lets just blame my technique and move on.

I'll have to download my hr file and look at it in more detail but the first half played out pretty much as I had planned.

Km 0-10, I pushed a little to keep with the pace of everyone in my wave which was a bit faster than it should have been.

Km 10-20 I felt pretty good, skiing well within myself and backing off when the HR climbed to the high 160s.

Km 20-30 I started to pass a few people, particularly on the small downhills but also on the shallow uphills.  I had to do a lot of herringbone when others didn't but skied my own race and kept steady.

It was starting to get pretty lonely as the pack thinned out.

I knew something was wrong when a fairly fat guy passed me up a long uphill... And then another one.  I had to go find a less skied in track to get any grip. Mr Fat 1 and Mr Fat 2 skied away with apparent ease. I knew I was in trouble.

Trying to get grip really started to hurt my back, and all the slipping was hurting the hamstrings.  But the Refresh and the Carboom were doing their job and preventing any bonking.

Km 30-40 The uphills were brutal at this point.  I was alternating double poling and running in the soft snow. The downhills where fun however.  When I passed by 40km I checked my watch and saw it was going to be very close to get in under 4 hours.

Km 40-47 There were a few long gradual uphills.  I hate them. People were blowing by me.  I tried to run up the hills and then gave in, said, "Screw the Back" and put out the best double poling I could muster. Uphill, downhill, flats, and I managed to pass the bastards who had just passed me.  Well, most of them anyway.

Km 47-Finish Yay for flats.  My back, suffering.  My legs, sore.  Eyes, crossed.  I picked a guy about 100m ahead of me and let loose.  Sure I was mid pack, but I can't stand to cruise over the line.

I hammered as best I could, the bear unleashed.  I probably looked like a flailing idiot but I don't care.  I was making a lot of grunting noises, which my wife would strongly disapprove of.

I went by my target and shot for the line.  By this time I was actually in tears, and not just small ones.  But big OMFG this hurts tears.

And so it ended.

The end result:

           Cad.  Categ.  Gender           @    @         
Place   Temp   km/h  Plce/Tot Plce/Tot  Categorie    Huron  Gamelin 

165   3:55:49.5 12.5 3520  17/30  141/292 Men 35 - 39  2:10:10 3:25:43 

I'm just about mid pack, almost on target, and a smidge better than the last time I did the race back in 1998. Not bad for a 12 year break.

I must say the the volunteers were very good, and much friendlier than what I remember. I just think that the race packages are very weak.  All you get is your bib and your chip. Kinda lame.

Anyway, now it's time to rest, eat, wax the skate skis, rest, eat, sleep and then try and pull out a decent time tomorrow in the much more crowded Skate race where everyone tries to ski over each others skis.

Comments

[T]

Good work man! I told you you were doing great! Now finish up with that skiing so I can hurt you out on the road.

[Rob]

Thats what I need right now.  Someone else to inflict pain on me!