February 6th, 2008
This past weekend I raced in the longest race that I’ve ever done. I was nervous going into the Boulder Mountain Tour. Not only is it three times longer than the most I’ve ever raced, but it is held in my home town. Being a Nordic skier growing up in Sun Valley it was a race that I always wanted to compete in, but was always busy with other, more important races. Finally old enough and free of JN qualifiers, I would get to race the Boulder, providing me with a time to tell people when asked about it (as it was commonly assumed that I had raced) and an opportunity to compete in my first marathon.
In the days leading up to the race I was constantly asking my fellow teammates questions. Such as: what to wear, how to warm up, how much to eat before, and whether or not to bring a water belt? I soon realized, that other than having my own water bottle, this race was not much different then any other race. I would still warm up the same, eat the same, and wear the same clothes. The strategy was even the same; I would try to stay with the lead pack as long as I could.
Off the start I got in a good position and was able to stay with the lead pack for the first 4k. I felt good, but when they started picking up the pace I just couldn’t match it. I knew that I needed to stay with them, so I really pushed hard, but was unable to maintain contact. I was soon picked up by two women and proceeded to ski with them for the next 15k. I was thrilled as I pasted the 10k sign; not only did I feel great, but I was on my way to completing this long race. I was even more excited when passing the 15k sign, for I was halfway there and had plenty of energy to spare.
I wanted to go faster, but I was afraid to go off by myself on the long, windy frost-bit flats. Fortunately, the leader of wave three came by and I was able to pull in behind him. He had a longer stride than me but he was great to draft behind, since his 6 foot frame blocked almost all of the wind. With his help I passed a few more people and made my way closer to the finish, still feeling great.
I had one more feed: coke. I rarely drink coke, probably a total of 2 times a year. Well this weekend I increased that count to 3 and it was the best tasting stuff I’ve ever had. In addition to giving me energy I thought the feeds were really exciting. I never had many other racers around, but I still got the experience of grabbing the bottle, taking a gulp, and throwing it off to the side, making my own brown splash on the snow.
Finishing the race was such a great feeling. Before the race I thought I would be hating life for about 20k, but instead it was only painfully hard for about 2k. I had just completed my first marathon! And I had reached my goal of being top ten. It didn’t matter how I had finished, it was a great accomplishment to have raced that far and to have so much fun. I’m hooked. Mali Noyes.
