Attitude matters
This weekend I had one goal which was to ski 40k in prep for next weekend's Mora Vasaloppet and then the upcoming Birkie. In attempt to conserve money Dave and I were just planning to ski around home (what with our big blizzard it's not like we're short on snow here in Madison). One of the closest places is Mirror Lake and we hadn't skied there this year so it seemed like a solid plan.
But some days just don't go the way you had hoped/planned and attitude is everything. I think the problem started with the fact that I had originally wanted to ski elsewhere. Then the first trails we skied had beautiful tracks that were completely full of leaves. Then I couldn't seem to find the right kick wax. Then I started to have a total melt down. Poor Dave - he tried different kick waxes on his skis, trying to find the perfect one and didn't even complain when I kept switching skis. It's weird that I felt great at the Noque but all this week I feel like I've completely forgotten how to ski. And as we all know, being frustrated just makes it worse.
The first 10k were true misery as I let all these things get to me and really just wanted to give up and go home and try again the next day. However, I also know myself well enough to know that if my plan was to ski 40k on Saturday then if I left without doing that I would be miserable much longer. More miserable than just making myself do it.
In the end I switched to my waxless classic skis so I didn't have to worry about the right kick wax or jumping in and out of the track endlessly to avoid leaves. That improved my mood and I slowly turned the day around once I got into more of a rhythm. I must have recovered as Dave skied the next 15k with me even when I told him he should leave me on my own.
And yes I know that attitude is everything but it's a great area of opportunity for me. I'm going to keep working on that one.
And yikes 40k hurt! It didn't help that I wasted a lot of energy hating skiing that first 10k but still - ouch. It reminded me why I don't ski a lot of marathons, ride a lot of centuries, etc. Long distances just aren't my thing . . . give me 40 minutes of cyclocross or a nice half marathon ski race. Next weekend I've got the 42k Mora Vasaloppet and then at the end of February the 54k Birkie.
Funny story - after both my ski races this year I would think of what I would do to improve both at the race and in my training leading up to the season. Then after thinking of some great ideas I would realize that next year cyclocross season goes into January and I suddenly remember that my inability to focus on one over the other is going to mean that I have a totally schizophrenic traing that leaves me unprepared for either.
But some days just don't go the way you had hoped/planned and attitude is everything. I think the problem started with the fact that I had originally wanted to ski elsewhere. Then the first trails we skied had beautiful tracks that were completely full of leaves. Then I couldn't seem to find the right kick wax. Then I started to have a total melt down. Poor Dave - he tried different kick waxes on his skis, trying to find the perfect one and didn't even complain when I kept switching skis. It's weird that I felt great at the Noque but all this week I feel like I've completely forgotten how to ski. And as we all know, being frustrated just makes it worse.
The first 10k were true misery as I let all these things get to me and really just wanted to give up and go home and try again the next day. However, I also know myself well enough to know that if my plan was to ski 40k on Saturday then if I left without doing that I would be miserable much longer. More miserable than just making myself do it.
In the end I switched to my waxless classic skis so I didn't have to worry about the right kick wax or jumping in and out of the track endlessly to avoid leaves. That improved my mood and I slowly turned the day around once I got into more of a rhythm. I must have recovered as Dave skied the next 15k with me even when I told him he should leave me on my own.
And yes I know that attitude is everything but it's a great area of opportunity for me. I'm going to keep working on that one.
And yikes 40k hurt! It didn't help that I wasted a lot of energy hating skiing that first 10k but still - ouch. It reminded me why I don't ski a lot of marathons, ride a lot of centuries, etc. Long distances just aren't my thing . . . give me 40 minutes of cyclocross or a nice half marathon ski race. Next weekend I've got the 42k Mora Vasaloppet and then at the end of February the 54k Birkie.
Funny story - after both my ski races this year I would think of what I would do to improve both at the race and in my training leading up to the season. Then after thinking of some great ideas I would realize that next year cyclocross season goes into January and I suddenly remember that my inability to focus on one over the other is going to mean that I have a totally schizophrenic traing that leaves me unprepared for either.
posted by MadCross at 2:04 PM
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