My CSM was an interesting experience to say the least.
I arrived Friday night staking a spot in the gym where I would sleep in close quarters with about 100 others for two nights. No one around me spoke much; they were all focused on setting up their temporary home or were already sleeping.
We woke up around 3am. We ate breakfast, packed up and piled on the bus. We arrived 40 min before the start. It was very cold. I made a rookie mistake of checking in right away before realizing I was locked in the start area. I couldn't leave so I couldn't visit the porta potty. I would regret this for the next two hours.
Finally, while it was still dark, the Coureur Des Bois Gold started. They are amazing doing this 80km ski with big packs. Tobin and Rick: I have even more respect for you after doing this event. Hats off to you both. Ten minutes later, silver left and at 6am finally it was our turn. Go!
Everyone took off trying to gain position. For the next half an hour it was quite crowded and you often had to wait in line going up or down the hills. Eventually things spread out and you could go your own pace. I felt okay at this point although I had to pee really bad.
This was an issue the whole day. It was very difficult to go anywhere except the checkpoints because if you went off the trail you were up to your waist in snow. If you went on the trail you had a big audience. So for the first half of the day I only went at the checkpoints. By the end of the day, I didn't care anymore and just went anywhere because I was tired of constantly holding it.
When I got to checkpoint 1 I took care of business. The relief was short lived though. During section 2, a new problem arose. I suddenly felt really ill. I wasn't enjoying things at all. I plugged along for another two hours and ate more food at checkpoint 2 which somehow settled my stomach. Finally. Everything was sorted.
Wait. I guess that's not true. There was also the pain my body was in. Skiing fast is taxing on the body, at least on my body it is. Every stride was painful after three hours in. I realized that I probably should have trained more in the track rather than back country to get used to my stride (Note: but that wouldn't have been any fun so scratch that)
Looking back I had a lot of issues, eh? Maybe I should have just sucked it up and stopped dwelling on them.
Section 3 was my favourite. There was a lot of climbing but that also meant a lot of crazy downhills where you were constantly dogging the carnage along the side of the trail where people had fallen. I fell twice trying not to run over the people ahead of me. I came out of that section on a bit of a high.
Checkpoint 3 was exciting because I saw Sophia and James, Tanya and Ray, Tobin, Rick and a bunch of friends working at the MEC tent. Chatting with them fed my good mood. This was key because the next checkpoint was the cutoff and I had a lot of work to do to make it in time.
Section four was a long grind. I had about 3 hours to make it to checkpoint four by the 3:15 cutoff or they wouldn't let me finish the last section of the race.
So I skied very hard in this section. It wasn't easy. A few hours later when I finally saw the 5km to go sign and looked at my watch, I realized I was in trouble. I had a little more than half an hour to go. I had already been skiing quickly but I took it up a notch to a speed I didn't know was in me. I sprinted that last 35 minutes, repeatedly telling myself you can do it. Just keep going. I was panting the whole time, heart rate racing. Twenty minutes left and I saw Sophia and James again. Asked were we going to make it? James said he didn't know, it would be close. Sophia's head was down; she was focused and determined. This gave me strength. I continued my high pace; fueled by adrenalin and will. The hills kept coming and I thought it was never going to end.
3:12. I see the checkpoint! Ray is waiting at the checkpoint and says keep going and check in to the next section. You aren't in yet. There is a big line up. I still don't know if they will take us all but I stand in line and hope.
They let me through!! I made it. I was so relieved, almost teary with elation. I'd worked so hard to get there. However, I am soon dismayed to find out that by checking into the next section I am unable to go back into the checkpoint area and eat. wtf. That was my only complaint with the organization. The back of the packers who probably need it the most were unable to eat for the last section. We still had a few hours of skiing to go!
Anyway I ate my dates (so.sick.of.dates.) but was longing for more. We rested a bit and applied some klister because it had been raining.
I skied the last section with Beth. I can't believe I haven't mentioned her up to now. She was a fixture in my day. We met while waiting for the bus in the wee hours of the morning. She commented on my ski pants and then we had some girl talk about them. We basically stuck together the rest of the day. Not intentionally but we happened to be the exact same pace. She was never more than 20 yards ahead or behind me the entire day. It was uncanny.
We took the last section very easily. We were both exhausted and hurting. It was fun because we chatted and relaxed a bit which we were unable to do all day because we were skiing so hard. Finally at 6pm, twelve hours after we started, we pulled up to the finish line. It was dark out just like when we'd began.
Yay! Celebration! We did it.
When I got back to the gym I ate a big meal, packed up and went right to bed. I couldn't believe I had to repeat the same thing the next day.
Woke up at about 1am deathly ill. Oh no! I spent the new few hours getting familiar with the ladies room, not getting any sleep. I slowly came to terms with the fact that I would not be skiing on Sunday. I was way too sick. I couldn't be 50 feet from the washroom so I certainly couldn't ski. I went home at about 5am and slept the whole day.
I'm disappointed but I know there is nothing I can do about it. I didn't get my bronze this year. But I still had a crazy epic ski and did my very best.
