Birkie Fever I’m Eager
as a Beaver, Get me to the start line, I’m ready to GOOOOO!!!
This is one of the top
songs from the Birkie album and very apropos for my race this year!
I will paraphrase the
early parts of our trip to the land of Cheese and snow (lots of it this year)
since the pre-race prep was nearly identical to last year once we landed in the
Midwest. We did have a change of arrival
venue and sprung for a ride all the way to Minneapolis instead of our usual
Milwaukee, WI stop. This allowed us a
wonderful night visiting my sister, Marcia, in their newly remodeled home all
done by their own hands. We took an
extra trip back to the airport to
retrieve our youngest son’s backpack, which he left next to the vending. By
this point, the multi-striped pack full of legos and cute stuffed animals, was
in the hands of the airport Fuzz for inspection. Thankfully, the litter critters were spared
being blown up and made it safely back into Kyler’s possession. On to the beginning of carbo and beer loading
that night, then up early the next morning
for an UP tempo ski with my sister and brother in law, Leif. Boy, I was working the hills that day and
wondered if I had trained enough for the Powerline monsters on the Birkie
course. I chalked it up to jetlag and the pre-trip stress of dealing with one pesky
pine tree pulled down onto our new Honda Odyssey during the BKL festival the
Sunday before. The week preceding the
Birkie was spent with several hours on the phone trying to track down the
responsible party, then figure out our airport transport. But , the car troubles were erased once we
got out on that beautiful SNOW right outside my Marcia’s door. Minneapolis is gorgeous in winter. Perfectly
groomed trails around every lake and on every bike path-a skier’s paradise.
Onto Middleton,WI that
afternoon for time with Terry’s parents where we got to see our niece, Sydney
and Terry’s brother, Steve and did some
boot skating on the little pond. We also
participated in indoor mini golf, a Madison Capitol tour and some skiing on a
man- made loop at a small downhill area and many hours of eating! Wednesday we headed up to Hayward, WI to
check out a new house for our Birkie family reunion this year. Thursday brought
the Barnebirkie for Kyler who wore #5 proudly in the 3K(only b/c I was
competitive and got on-line early to register him). He finished with a smile
and in about 20th place.
Cookies and Hot chocolate were followed by a delicious lunch at the new
Brewery in town, The Hungry Minnow, complete with 2 orders of the “best fried
cheese curds we have ever had”. Then, we went to the Expo and as is tradition,
ran into Tom and Emma Simon also purchasing Birkie souvenirs.
Thursday night brought
the arrival of Marcia and Leif and also Lars, our 20 year old nephew. Later, with an extra 90 minutes of driving
due to an unsolicited detour to Wausau, arrived the other cousins, Anika and
Maureen and little Travis (a 4 month old Australian sheep dog) and Teya (a 10
year old mixed breed). They were loads of fun! Several pre-race games of Apples
to Apples and Sequence were played. The competitive nature of the group was
coming out!!
Friday dawned and it
was snowing!! Beautiful flakes kept coming down en masse. Up to 5 inches by the
end of the day, pretty but not so fast! Terry and I had a great ski from
Mosquito Brook (see photo taken by a friendly Midwestern skier) with Carson and
Lucy up “B” hill. Boy, it seems even smaller than Mount Weston when you haven’t
pounded yourself for 40K already. On Friday afternoon, the eating and planning
commenced and for Terry, the waxing! Our
house this year was a bit far out so we had to be serious about our pre-dawn
plans on race day. Finally after several rehashes and deliberations, it was
decided that we would leave the house by 5:45 AM in 2 cars and arrive at Como
parking field by about 6:45. That should
put us in the start zone by 7:30.
Carson, Lucy and cousin, Anika
would ski the 12k so they would be transported by Grandma and Grandpa Keeney,
my parents, to the start zone. The last family member, my Niece’s fiancé Peter,
arrived in his tiny rental car, barely making it to the house, getting stuck in
the driveway due to all the snow! Happy to see him, the dogs and everyone got
reenergized! Strategy discussed. My lofty goal was a top 100 position
among the women, a place that I had
flirted with for a few years now. To do this, I needed to try a more aggressive
start (which I dreaded, I really dislike the sprinting with your skis and poles
in hand, the elbowing etc) and also better energy consumption during the race.
I made sure I had a GU available for the latter Ks. Bags packed, skis waxed (thank you, Terry),
coffee ready for morning brewing, post-race chocolate packed and try to
sleep. 5:00 AM alarm sounds off early,
but was preceded by dog woofing anyway.
Guzzle coffee, make some oatmeal, get dressed and on our way. Always
some pole stress by the Carlson crew, this time Peter had to use some old skate
poles without any grips for his 54k classic ski. But he always steps up to the
challenge with a smile.
I have to say, this
was the most relaxed pre-race I have ever had! We drove and parked and were in
the start zone by 7:20. Plenty of time to re-group, photo shoot with Terry, good
luck to Terry (skate wave 1) and Leif (Classic wave 2) pee, pee again, drink
various items, warm-up, strip down, drink and eat again (I was feeling quite
full by now) and calmly enter the start zone. I was questioning my pre-race
caffeine Starbucks double-shot, until I saw the trash can full of Mountain Dew,
Coke, all kinds of 12 hour energy etc.
My calm quickly evaporated as I realized the side entrance to the
staging zone opened last! On no, my plan of just behind front line might be
nixed! However, I ran to the far side of the area, and ended up in row 3-4,
coincidentally right next to nephew, Lars. How fun! We could sprint together 2x to hold our
positions until we could don skis and poles.
Successfully, we did manage to end up in row 3 or so despite hurdling
several dropped water bottles and a few falls by unlucky folks. People just
jumped over them, ruthless! This was
reminding me of the early 1990s-1000 plus skiers trying to run through mashed
potato snow on an uphill to get the coveted start positions-nightmare!
Good starting
position, adequate hydration and nutrition-get me to the start line, I’m ready
to GO!! Wave 2 is aggressive, but also concerned about equipment. The shouts of
“no broken poles", “watch your poles”, “keep your line” echoed nearly as loud
as the pre-race countdown! Only funny
outfits I saw were Cammo man and some kind of German looking short
outfit,?Lederhosen! And we were off!!
The early Ks flew by and I felt happy with my position. I hardly slowed at all through Power
Line. I looked up and Lars was right
beside me, skiing well. I decided to
follow him as he could deftly maneuver through other larger skiers (his High School
ski racing history had prepared him for this).
Feed 1 and I was determined to hydrate well. I nixed carrying my
personal bottle in favor of actually taking their feeds. I quickly regretted that decision as I poured
¾ of the cup of Heed onto my chest at the first stop and felt the icy cold
penetrate my ski suit. Well, at least it was a warm year, so I wouldn’t have
frozen ski suit stuck adhered to my skin. Terry later told me to squeeze the
cup carefully and delicately, must practice next year. On to Feed 2 where I actually stopped for a
stride and successfully engulfed ½ a cup of Heed. I didn’t see Lars at this
point but assumed he was on my tail, as he looked so strong early on. I just continued to push, but at some point
questioned my sanity and decision-making on being aggressive. I was really breathing hard and a heart rate
monitor would have been begging me to stop.
I did recall some recovery Ks after the highest point, but where was the
highest point? I always forget-soon I hope. Then I saw the sign around 12k and
breathed a sigh of relief. Less then ¼
of the race over and I was feeling a bit wiped.
Hmmm….and I was doing the per K math and we weren’t speeding up yet.
Looked like it could be a long day!
I kept my eye on red
suit man and also floral print tight girl. She was the only skier who spoke a
word the whole day I was on the trail. Mentioned something about almost dying
on a hill, then she took off!! Everyone seemed to be working extra hard this
year and breathing heavy, no chit chat!
I must say this mashed potatoey soft snow suits my V1 style well. I kept hydrating and taking 2 HEED feeds when
I could. After 00, I was feeling revived and steady. Then suddenly I was feeling a bit logey and
spacey. Keep pushing…but I knew I should save something for the 39K hill and
also “B” hill right after. Strategy-take
a GU at the 38K Mosquito Brook feed zone. I have to admit the only time I have
ever had a GU was in a bonkfest ½ marathon I did years and years ago. Didn’t
work out well. I was relying on the Feed
Zone GU as during my pre-race prep I realized I had no way of attaching my
packet to my bib. Didn’t seem to work
anyway as I saw several full packs on the trail. The only problem was, the GU feed was at the
end of the zone and I hadn’t grabbed any H20. I pressed on, hoping to see a
spectator with little cups like in a running race. Well, at 39k there was a big
crowd, cheering wildly and they had cups!
In my dazed state, I meandered to the right side of the trail, ready to
beg for drops of liquid. It was then that some sixth sense overcame me and I
looked carefully at the cups which read SHOTS on them, and it was obvious the
group had imbibed in a few already (it was after 10:30 AM by now and it is
Wisconsin!) That would have been interesting-shots
of vodka as a GU chaser!
I tried to wet my
whistle with saliva or something and just not think about it. Hammered up B hill (or I thought I did) but
then I heard a women’s voice behind me.
Surely I was not being caught, I edged over to the right a bit and a
Classic Wave 1 woman skier was striding past me on B hill!! I really wanted to
encourage her, but I couldn’t even make a sound. I did find her in the tent
after to tell her how amazing she skied. At the top there was someone dressed
as a leprechaun this year cheering us on, as opposed to the usual “Bs”. The
other folks must have been deemed “inappropriate and disallowed”-pity since
they were much more exciting that the little green person. Up and over B hill
and survive on dry mouth until the final feed. Terry had mentioned something
about super special pre-feed Solomon bottles of “power something”. I guess I
was early enough this year to snag one and gulped part of it down-sweet awesome
drink!! I was ready for the final 5k plus. I kept telling myself 2 more hills
then straight down and then the flat (but endless) lake. I could still see floral pant girl, but she
was very steady. I caught 2 fading women who looked a bit cooked. Lined up for the lake ski and just followed
red suit and a 3rd waver all the way in. Look up now and then. The longest 2K you can
imagine. Decided to pass on the Jagermeister shot at 1.5K to go! Certainly not as spunky as in years past, but
my early pace was making my quads burn.
Kept focusing on my goal, every second counts and you never know who
could come up behind you from the later waves.
I finished as strong as possible in the very mashed up snow coming down
Main street. I found floral gal and
congratulated her and she told me her name was also Sue! I didn’t have the brain cells left to ask her
where she got those cool flower print tights, though, darn! Staggered and
limped to my bag and there was Terry, all changed and souping it up. He shared
with me that his quads had burned up with about 5k to go. Not his strongest day
due to the soft conditions. I continued
to limp into the change tent(my left foot appeared to have lost function) and
found a spare chair. Occasional spasms as I changed my clothes, first in the
abdominal muscles, then the foot, then the quads. I managed to stand up without
help but caught a few concerned looks as I gimped out to the crowd. Post-race chocolate with Terry and we were
able to see my niece, Maureen, and Leif (her father) finish within 30 seconds of
one another, despite different techniques and wave starts, pretty cool. Leif
looked solid in his first Classic 54K race and Mo kept up the V2 tempo all the
way to the finish. Marcia finished
strongly a few minutes later. Computer
glitch, so I didn’t know my place for several hours, so I had to wait
patiently. Carson, Lucy and Anika along with G and G Keeney and Kyler arrived
from Cable, all smiles and happiness after their 12K Prince Haakon event. It
was so great to see them! The only bad news was that Lars had to drop at 00
after puking somewhere along the early hills.
I felt very badly for him. I had shared a shotblock and one sip of
double shot pre-race but maybe his stomach didn’t like that. Good news was that
he met Jamie Doucett at 00. Not so good news for Jamie since it meant he was
hanging out at Double 0 also not feeling well. They
realized quickly that they knew someone in common, the McNatts! Guess they bonded with the other medical
emergency folks. We ran into Lisa Doucett (strong Korte finish) and Jamie in the
finish area and they helped us with a family photo shoot (see pictures
attached).
Got the slip with my
place and I looked at it, cautious and disbelieving-86th
women!!! I had surpassed my goal. I celebrated quietly b/c it is possible to
drop a few places when the later waves come in. Not this year though! Next
year, hmmmm, in the top 75 women? Train
harder, technique work, more aggressive start, better feeds and practice the
HEED and GU consumption! Possible, maybe?
Got our car in Cable
and headed to the house for celebration of another Birkie family Reunion.
We heard the other race finish stories.
Peter, Mo’s fiancé, hammered in with his
brand new boots and a few blisters for a 5:40 Classic ski. Everyone relived the slow snow with hilarious
stories of the day. We are already
planning for 2014. I just don’t want to wait 359 days from now!! Thank you to our family for making it
possible. Thanks to the Birkie, the
greatest “Show on Snow”. Sign up is on
tax day this year!!! Don’t miss it!
Sue McNatt
Brett Rutledge:
Was
very pleased with my first Birke skiing out of wave 2. I started on the front
row as planned and felt comfortable for most of the race. I was happy with a
3:04 considering the very soft conditions for most of the race. I really
enjoyed the entire experience and will definitely be going back next year!-
Brett Rutledge
Bruce Brinkema:
Finished my 35th birkie Saturday. First in my age group (the ranks are real thin in my category) with a time of 4h 24 minutes. new snow made for a lot of high stepping going up the hills. Each year i forget the incredible amount of hills in the race as well as my promises to myself to spend more time on my bike during the off season. For the last two birkies i had boulder nordic wax my skis with good results; i was as fast as anyone on the downhills. having them do the servicing really eases the nerves the night before. Looking forward to a couple more good ski weeks at waterville before mud season.
I also had some offspring ski last week. grandson lars (8) skied in the junior birkie on friday; and grandson torsten (13) skied the junior birkie and his first korteloppet with a time of 1hr 24. Remiss in not mentioning that my daughter in law Maree also raced in the birkie. Forgot, probably because she beat me by 6 minutes. I'll
get her next year.
My son Corey got dropped from the elite wave with a tough race last year and started in the first wave last week. he finished with a 2:46, still presentable. the best part of him racing is that for the last several years, after his finish, he skis back with a waterbottle of classic coke (stirred, not shaken) and meets me just after bitch hill. it's the best lift you can imagine. the coca cola and the image of crowding in The Angler for brats and beer are the juice that gets me to the finish.
bruce brinkema
Alex's story and photos are on her blog at: http://alexjospe.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-birkie.html
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