Hello Cruel World

I held out pre-registering for the Ozbaldy 50-k because I am still scarred from the '07 Kongskerger Stampede there at Cabin Creek when the fresh snow amounted to skiing on 8 inches of mush. I hated that and vowed never to do it again. History repeats itself. Especially the history of stupid things.

Not being pre-registered was my opportunity to bail should the conditions be warm and/or soft and/or deep. Watching the weather for days I was prepared to skip the race as a wet trend was expected, but with months of anticipation I just couldn't resist going up there on Sunday to "see" how things were looking. Huge snow coming down on the way up: no way would I race in this stuff. Racers milling about, the pre-race energy and electricity in the air, it seemed that it was only me who was concerned that there was 4" of fresh snow on the trails and more piling up every moment. "You wuss, just do it", somebody said -- my inner voice is so hard on me. I paid the $5 penalty for not pre-reging, I suited up and then went out for a warm up: are you kidding me? 50-km in this stuff? But the reality of the situation still didn't register fully and I failed to consider the effects.

At the starting line I noticed that EVERYONE else had a water bottle, but remember 3 years before that there had been neutral feeds of water and powergels which would be enough... why weigh myself down.

The race started pretty slow but I took the cautious approach and kept myself inside the top-5: "start at the front, stay at the front", my longtime motto, and just as in a bike race there is less danger at the front. After lap-1 the race was already whittled down to about 10 skiers, and about midway through lap-2 the first explosions started.

Time to whine:
--Snow was deep: no tracks for easy descents or double-poling so it was like doing a 100-miles on a fixed gear bike; snow filled up the baskets on my poles which was probably my biggest downfall -- couldn't pole and my arms went out by the 2nd lap.
--No food or water: I lie, I had 3-dixie cups of water in 3-hours. No food.
--Bindings ill adjusted and so my tips dived into the snow, had to lift my legs even higher.
--Bone spur on left foot ached entire race; right foot cramped final 10-km; left elbow tendinitis flared up. Fortunately the pain kept my mind off the race and the shitty deep snow.
--The snow on the outside and the tears on the inside had my glasses fogged the whole day.

I could have/should have done better, but I am damn proud right now to say that I even finished that SOB of a race. I heard that over 30% pulled out.

I was racing for 4th with 20-km to go but slipped back fast and lost a few spots, but I could care less about that. This was definitely one of those PV races (personal victories), and to overcome while staring in the face of the beast is what its all about. I flinched, but wasn't mortally wounded, and so will be reborn into a greater being for the next time.

Nordic racing is over for the season and now its ski for FUN (don't let me fool you, its all fun) and transition to the bike!