1st Race

We'll we finally got enough snow to race on. Having been on my back for 3 weeks in the middle of race season sucks. So when it came to the Jan 27th race at Osceola, I wasn't sure if that would be too much. But if I didn't go, that would mean no Empire State Games points. I don't think I'm going to make it this year because of the strickter qualification standards, but hey, if you don't try....

So I pack up all my stuff - biathlon can be a real pain: food, clothing for different weather conditions, rifle, spotting scope, couple pairs of skis - it's a lot of stuff to hustle around! So I get there late which means even more hustle. Register. Grab rifle and head to range to zero. Can't zero with out skis on. Back to car and grab ski cloths and head to lodge. Lodge is locked because Huge is out grooming. Back to car and change in car. Back to range and zero. Zero doesn't go so great because I can't see the hits on the target through the spotting scope - something about the target paper and what their mounted on. Back to lodge to get some food.

Now this race is a little different because I'm trying to be more careful about food. Been reading this book called The Paleo Diet for Athletes. The big take away is that carb load the day of the race is more important than carb loading the days leading up to the race. Also special attention to glycemic index/load of foods so blood sugar doesn't spike too soon. Overall I think it helped, but I'm not getting enough calories - something all have to work on.

Was I complaining about how I had been sick? Well, I run into Jim - great guy and a great athlete. I first noticed Jim when he blew past me in a summer biathlon race. He's 20 years older than me. Come to find out Jim had fallen off his mountain bike in November and landed his chest square on a stump - major ouch! Turns out he's been in and out of the hospital - feel'n pretty sour on race day.

Back to the hustle: go to the pre race meeting and realize that I'm #3 to start (this is a sprint so each skier starts at 60 sec increments) - so less time to get ready. That'll teach me to register early! Back to the car and grab skis and rifle and load my clips and hustle back. Realize I still have wind pants off. Skier #2 on the start line. Hustle, hustle!!

On the line and I'm off. Today I'm focusing on technique and heart rate. I'm keeping the heart rate down to 180 to 188 for pacing. The course today is longer than usual, 11.2km. This is a good course long gradual up hills, a few short steep hills and no killer down hills (steep hills with sharp turns and the bottom). One good thing: the wax on my skis is just right - good glide. First loop goes really well. First loop is always strange because of being late I didn't get a chance to ski it, so I don't know exactly what's coming around the next bend, so I tend to ski more conservatively. Finish the first loop and ski into the range. And miss all 5 shots. And that means 5 penelty loops. Second loop and I'm feeling pretty good - pace is good and technique is adequate. Skate skiing is still new to me, even after 3 years - biggest issue is just getting out and doing it more (snow being kind of key here...). Jim goes blowing by me! If only I can perform like that at his age... Come into the range and miss first three targets, but get last two - *whew*. Last loop is shorter than first two and catches me off guard - suddenly realize I'm more than half way through loop and have a lot left in the tank!

Got this book called The Triathlete's Guide to Mental Training- really interesting book. Breaks down the whole mental thing going on before and during races. Realize that I'm doing way too much negative talk to myself during races. Yeah I've got lots of stuff to work on and I'm in this for the long haul, but need to change the negative thing. During this race was able to control it a lot better.

So overall I felt really good about pace, technique is getting better. Shooting was really really bad - too slow, too many misses. Nutrionaly learned some stuff. So not bad for the first race of the season.