Final exam: The cross-country ski race

I have really enjoyed training at the YMCA this fall and winter and especially have enjoyed all the different activities that I have been doing for this blog. These however have all been means to an end and the end is the 13 mile cross-country ski race in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan called SISU. This race brings together the top cross-country skiers in the midwest so this "Old Dog" finishes well back in the pack, but still relishes the opportunity to run with the big dogs. Last year I finished 120th out of 143 with a time of 2 hours and 44 minutes, but I hope to do a lot better this time around. Last year's conditions were brutal to say the least. The half-marathon started in a heavy snow in 15 degree weather and dropped to 8 degrees by the end of the race. Using Olympic-style skate skiing, the glide of the snow is crucial and the heavy snow made for very slow going as did the temperature. Temperature surprisingly affects the glide on the snow a lot with ideal being around 28-30 degrees and then it gets slower either warmer or cooler than this.

While I obviously haven't been able to train by skiing the Y has been wonderful for providing a variety of activities that hopefully will carry over to my favorite sport. I have spent hours in the weight room building up the muscles in my shoulders and legs and the personal training I received Karen have given me some specific exercises in this regard. To build my endurance, I swim 1/3 of a mile almost every day, plus work on the stepper and exercise bicycle. It is all the other additional activities however that lead me to feel confident that I can give my best effort. Yoga has been instrumental in helping my balance and breathing. Zumba has been awesome fun, but also has helped in coordination, balance and endurance. Every time I visit a new class I test my body in new and unique ways. Not only is variety the spice of life, it is a true building block to fitness.

I have no illusions of winning, or even placing in my age group with the quality of skiers that are in this race but I do feel confident that I can do my best. As such I have already met one of my fitness goals. The others will be determined when I try to skate-ski up one of those long finishing hills in this race.