Marathon Season

So its been awhile since I updated, par for the course it seems this winter. I have spent very few days at home since Jan 1. I think my longest stint at home is 6 days, I had that luxury twice. The rest of my home time has been in one to two day blocks. I've been away so much that home feels away now. I don't really remember how to cook for myself and its hard to figure out what to buy when I go to the grocery store... It must be March.

Last time I updated this thing I was in Aspen, right before the Owl Creek Chase. The OCC is a tough race, really tough. Its at 9000ft and the first 8k are uphill... and that uphill is not the hardest part of the course. The field was tough this year but the guys who were the real 'contenders' did not win. We got our butts kicked by a couple young local guys who were home training and preparing for World Junior/ U23 World Championships. Racing at 9000 ft is a different sport and racing at sea level... Its like skiing underwater while breathing through a straw... Being from 6000ft myself, I am pretty good at it. However, the difference between 6000 and 9000 is huge, and in fact, the marginal decrease in oxygen is much greater from 6000 to 9000 than it is from 3000 to 6000... if that makes any sense... Bottom line, its hard up there.

So the race was ok but by no means good. I skied tactically smart and that was important because pretty much no one else did. Once the young guys got off the front I cut my losses and started racing for 3rd. I sat in, let the suckers do the work and put the wood to them at the end. And that, folks, is marathon racing.

After Aspen is was time to get ready for the World Championships of Wisconsin, aka The American Birkebeiner. I happened to win the Birkie last year and as such, the pressure was heavy going into the race this year. I knew exactly what to expect of the weekend and have known for the previous 364 days. Everyone in Wisconsin asked me if I was going to defend my title again and 'how the Birkie was gonna go this year'. I stole a line from Adam Swank and said 'North to South, same as always'.

Leading up to the race I had been feeling good. With help from my buddy Justin Carlstrom at the US Ski Team, I did some very specific interval training on a rollerski treadmill... This treadmill is about 10 feet wide and maybe another 10 feet long... its big... the week before the Birkie I felt as good as I have in quite some time. I was ready. I wanted to win again. And not only just to win but to validate last year's victory.

As the race started I felt great. I hung in about 6th place, far enough forward to stay out of trouble and cover any moves off the front but far enough back not to have to work too hard. Not working too hard turned out to be not much of a problem as the pace was ultra pedestrian. The pack was roughly 30 deep and that means slow. really slow. but thats fine for me, if anyone wants a 50k to come down to a sprint its me. Sign me up... So, again, I hung in there, covered some moves pretty easily. Babikov, ultimately the winner, made a few surges off the front that strung the field out a bit. I never found it overly difficult to go with him, the same was true for only 2 or 3 others in the field, but his surges never lasted too long and eventually the field came back together... With only about 5k to go, i could not believe that Babikov had not put the heat on. Right about the time that though crossed my mind, I got tag-teamed by a couple of slower guys and was hung out to dry as Ivan skied straight away from the field. Had I been there to go with him I don't think I could have hung on until the finish but I do think I could have distanced myself from the pack without much problem... too late for that... time to sprint, bring it on. We crossed the lake and I held in about 5th in the group, just out of the wind. As we moved towards Main St of Hayward, I bit and scratched my way to 2nd in the group and as we rounded the final corner I let the lions roar. It only took a few strides before I had breathing room and for the last 200m it was just about holding my ground.

After the Birkie I had one week before travelling to Switzerland for the Engadin Ski Marathon, the biggest skate marathon in the world. Roughly 11,000 racers in the field. Its quite a show and a real circus. To top it off, its in St Moritz, which is probably one of the most beautiful places in the world.

At the Engadin I had great support from my ski sponsor, Rossignol. They took care of my registration and provided me with their technicians to take care of my skis. It was also very comforting to know that I was sharing a tech with Tor Arne Hetland and Eldar Ronning, two of the best skiers in Norway and the World. Tor Arne is currently in 3rd in the overall world cup standings. In addition to just wax help, Rossignol had people all along the course with spare poles and water bottles to feed us through the race... This is extremely important when you are just one guy flying solo in a pack full of the worlds best skiers.

At the race start I tucked in next to the italian team. They had plenty of man power, rolling about 8 deep, and felt like if anyone could pull be to the front it would be them... And they did... I scrapped up to about 15th place through the first 15km. When we hit the first and only big hill the pace was extremely high. I just put my head down and hammered like I was a few k from the finish. As I made my way up the hill I realized that there were only about 6 guys left in front of me and behind me, i had opened up some space on mattias fredriksson, winner of the overall world cup about 4 years ago.

I made it through the major hills without any issue. It wasn't easy but I was there and from the looks on the face around me, it wasn't easy for them either. As myself and Eldar Ronning took a feed cresting a downhill a small gap opened in front of us. We had to close it immediately or we would have lost the pack for good. Eldar took a pull but began to flail a bit so I pulled through and charged forward to get back on the leaders. It only took about a minute or so of really hard skiing to get there. When I did, I looked back and had actually dropped Eldar, Mattias (again), Anders Aukland (leading the FIS Marathon Cup), Markus Hasler (world cup skier) and Jorgen Aukland (guy who won the Vasaloppet the week earlier - the biggest ski race in the world)... At that moment I knew that I was having a good one.

For the next 10k I did my best to conserve energy, though with a strong tailwind, it was impossible. Everyone in the pack had to work hard to stay there. No one got a free ride. With 10k to go there was a preem sprint and I felt certain that someone was going to sprint for the preem and keep going. I made the decision to move to the front. I got into 4th through the preem line and as we tucked down the next hill, drafted up into first. I was actually leading with 8 or 9 k to go. I quickly got back into the draft of some other skiers and for the next 5k fought to hold my position. From 5k to go to the finish, the heat was on. The course goes from flat to rolling and each consecutive uphill was a mad sprint. Each one as fast as everyone could ski trying to lose people off the back. When we passed under the 1k to go banner, we were skiing in 3 or 4 rows, 5 skiers wide. I was sitting directly behind Zorzi, who i figured was one of the 'guys to beat' down the home stretch... Into the stadium we hit a switchback turn on the final downhill and I moved from ~10th to 20th when the Italian dude on my inside stumbled and blocked a few of us out. As soon as I got around him I started sprinting, I moved up a few spots but tired down the last 100m and lost another couple spots, finally landing in 21st. 19 seconds out of first place... I was really happy about how I skied throughout the race but was still a little disappointed in my finish. Usually the last kilometer is my strongest point, I know how I can ski and that just did not match up with how I did ski... Another day and I know I can be right there until the last 100m.

The past few months have really meant a lot for me, personally. In the past few seasons I have been fairly dominant in the marathon scene. The 'marathon season' happens to coincide with world championships and olympics, which I have failed to qualify for. I know that while I am here in the US winning marathons, there are plenty of people looking at the results thinking that the only reason i am winning is because the 'top' guys weren't there. I never really felt that way and thought to myself that the truth was that I just have a talent for marathons. This year, with no world championships, the fields have been strong and i have continued to rise to the top of each race. Most importantly, I skied the biggest skate marathon in the world and finished with what was said to be the most competitive lead pack the Engadin has seen in many years. As far as marathons go, I now feel confident that I can ski with just about anyone. Its not a matter of who is or isn't there...

Moving forward, the real key is to figure out how to turn this marathon speed into world cup 15k speed. With data from lactate testing on the treadmill, I know that one of the main reasons I am good at the long races is because of my efficiency under threshold. The reason I can't successfully compete in a 15k on the world cup is because I am not equally efficient over threshold.

The easy part is figuring out what the problem is, the hard part is fixing it...