Moved to the Western Slope of Colorado last year, and did a handful of days of classic skiing up on the Grand Mesa - supposed to be world class, but at 10-11k feet.
Decided to hop into a local race this past weekend. Too high in elevation for an official sanctioned race. Homemade nachos and Supercross watching the night before, and packed and ready to go. Woke up at 7:45, had a bowl of old fashioned oats with a small handful of pecans, a banana, and a spoonful of honey, plus an egg over easy, and coffee.
27*F when we got there at 10:15 for the 11:00 start, but forecast of 41 with a real-feel near 50 and bright sun/no clouds, so we weren’t terribly sure on clothing. Went with 2xu compression running shorts under rei running pants, wool socks, pearl Izumi long sleeve base layer under a castelli fleece LS jersey. lightweight neck gaiter and toque (no hair up top so wanted something). Nathan running hydration backpack (1.5L). Nike running glove liners under Smart Wool lightweight fleece-lined gloves (battling Reynauds and cold hands up there all winter).
3/4 of a pack of Honey Stinger caffeinated cola chews 45-15 mins before start, one SIS gel caffeinated at mile 2, and probably 1/2 to 3/4 of a bottle of Fruit Punch Skratch during.
10k, Garmin says 460 feet of elevation but it felt like the whole dang thing was uphill!
Splits were 12:10, 12:50, 13:19 (crashed and then walked down the steep twisty hill), 9:53, 10:23, 12:40. Total 1:12. Winner was 36. Humbling. Wasn’t last. Was next to last. Beat one old dude. 25 racers; 4 broke 40 mins, 9 between 40 and 50 mins, and another 7 under an hour. For reference I am shooting for 24 mins for a flat 5k here at home at 4700 feet in a few weeks. Will be 41 this year. Used to be kinda fast but got over it. (Moving to elevation from sea level last year hasn’t helped).
Felt like I paced well. Back started talking to me about 4.5 miles in but not bad, just hello I am here. Same with the abs on some of the longer double-poling sections.
Definitely got sweaty around 4 miles when we broke out of the woods/shade into direct sun, but just went with it as there wasn’t much time left.
Had fun, would do another. There are 2 left this year, a 15k and either a 20k or 5k. Will at least do the 5k; not sure if I want to tackle 15 or 20.
Questions for the experts. Fischer Superlite Crown fish scale skis. Felt like I wasn’t getting much kick/propulsion. Did have the skis waxed for free at REI; not sure if they waxed the whole ski including the kick zone, or if it would matter. Good glide, just not much kick. How handicapped am I with waxless skis? Did I bring a huffy to a bike race? Is there such a thing as kick wax for a fish scale?
Downhills - getting more comfortable with moderate downhills in the tracks, but struggling with steeper downhills without tracks. other than doing the pizza/wedge and hoping for the best, any tricks or tips?
This has got to be good training for Tri and bike races later in the year. And if nothing else it’s a heck of a lot of fun, and the dog loves going with us.