Indiscriminate Beatdown

On Saturday I did a 10k ski race. This was the first ski race I'd done in 2 years, because I spent last year in exile in Florida. I finished the 2004-2005 season by winning 2 of the last 4 races I entered and placing a very respectable 9th at the Maine Sprint Championships.

What does this have to do with a ski race in 2006, you might ask?

Absolutely nothing.

I got beat down by men, women and children alike on Saturday. The top 4 women beat me. The top 7 juniors beat me. The top 4 45+ guys beat me.

And people my age and gender? They crushed me.

In the end I finished 23rd out of 47 men, just squeaking into the top half. The numbers don't look that bad compared to my cross results, but I've been doing this sport for my whole life, so I have slightly higher expectations. Unrealistically high, usually.

In any case, the winter is shaping up so terribly that I may not have to ski race again for quite some time. I'm not complaining about that -- it will give me some much needed time to hurt myself on rollerskis and try to get up to speed with the rest of the nordic community, which has been "training" or something while I raced cross.

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