Alex's Birkie Report

Here is Alex's birkie report.  If you want to see her photos and read her blog go HERE

I skied out of the second wave last year, so this year I got to start in the elite women's wave, since I'd finished 23rd last year.  I'd say my race strategy was probably a bit suicidal - go out hard and hang on until I couldn't anymore.  Its not actually that suicidal if you look at who was in the race, it is a much deeper field than in NE, but I can ski with most of those girls over shorter distances (well, ok, not Rebecca Dussault and Taz Mannix...), so it reasons that over a longer distance maybe I'd even have a better chance at doing well. 

Unfortunately, I made a pretty rookie mistake and tightened my boot laces too tight on the start line, which meant that within 3k, I lost feeling in my foot and couldn't bend my leg at the ankle. Strangely enough, when you can't bend your leg at the ankle, skiing is hard.  I suffered along with the lead group of 8 or so for the first 6km, before I the pain in my lower leg and foot was too overwhelming, and I slowed down hoping that the slower pace would make things better.  It didn't, so at 12k I stopped, took off my poles and gloves, and loosened my boot.

During that hiatus from racing, the chase pack and a couple stragglers passed me by, but afterward, it was great, I could ski again and I didn't feel like crying anymore.  I picked up Kim Rudd, a Rossignol skier who had started conservatively, and we spent the next 38km working together picking off stragglers. 

The course was in great shape, super hard packed and wicked fast, my skis were probably the fastest out there, with the exception of two or three other girls, and I'm not exaggerating.  Around 40k you hit "bitch hill", and that was when my triceps decided to start spasming - ouch!  Luckily, my fast skis kept me in contact, and I straggled across the lake with Kim and another skier, Paulette Niemi, wishing I could stop at one of the many barbecue picnics going on next to the trail.  We hit main street and I've never been so unable to sprint before in my life - No matter how hard I tried, my tempo remained exactly the same as it had been for ~30k, with my triceps cramping at every pole.  Luckily, Kim and Paulette were equally dead, and I took second in the sprint, for 16th.  Its a little bittersweet, since I'd wanted top 15, but I'm willing to acknowledge that there was nothing I could do to move any faster down that trail at the end, and I skied a good race (boot issues aside).  Its a long race, but a good way to wrap up my ski season!

Alex