Ski racing lessons (Running)

Wednesday 04 February 2009 10:36PM

1. Standing around in a lycra skinsuit at 8am in the morning in the alps is pretty chilly.

2. Falling over in powder in a lycra skinsuit is pretty chilly.

3. Getting skins to stick to skis after 5 on/off cycles can be problematic.

4. Skiing downhill on skinny skis with your legs full of lactic acid is quite difficult.

So my first ski racing weekend went pretty well. Or at least it was a lot of fun and I learnt a lot.

In the uphill only race I went off way too fast and after 5 minutes of doing well spent the rest of the race at a nauseaus crawl, so more than a little apprehensive about the following days team race.

The following day in the team race Nick and I had a great time but some major skin problems, with Nick’s skins falling off several times on the second climb (out of 6). Thankfully we had some spare skins so were able to finish, but lost a lot of time. In a way this was good as it took away the pressure of racing and we were able to relax and enjoy the day. Amusingly, because I had failed to get a full license before the race, we also won a prize – 3rd place in the open race! Sounds impressive but there were actually only 4 teams in this category! Toby also won a prize for being 3rd in the open solo competitors (as apposed to the team race).

A great weekend which has left me wanting to do more and get much better. Looking forward to next weekend’s TSF Millet race. Lots to learn!