The past three weeks has been very difficult for me.  I went from having a very positive National Championships to a devastating poor and painful performance at the Whistler world cups.  The races in Whistler were so painful that I suspected that I once again had compartment syndrome in my shins.  Three surgical consultations later that diagnosis was confirmed.  The pressures in my anterior shin compartments are roughly double what they should be.  My focus has had to change from racing to surgery.  I have scheduled surgery for March 3rd, four days after the end of World Championships.  In short I have been depressed and frustrated.

Yesterday the perfect skiing at the Craftsbruy marathon cheered me up and served as a reminder why I love this sport and why a second surgery will be worth every painful moment.  The dual tracks on the 25k loop snaked through the serene New England woods with a perfect flow and rhythm.  The wax was extra blue and the sun came out after a brief snow squall.  Skiing doesn’t get any better.

I led the race from about 3k to the finish.  Up until 12k the lead pack had six skiers in it.  At that point I hit a climb pretty hard and my brother was the only skier in the group that could match the pace.  I worked for Justin to keep him clear of the pack for the next 25k and I built a five minute lead over 3rd place.  Then I hit the last 10ks hard and dropped Justin who held second postion easily.   I haven’t raced near my home in many years and it was refreshing after what has been a very difficult time for me.  Thanks Craftsbury!

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 1st, 2009 at 10:42 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.