Snowshoes round 2!

After my near success in the snowshoe race the previous weekend, combined with the fact that reading week (a week of no school) had just started and all of my friends were training in California, I decided that it was time for me to go to Ottawa to train hard for 4 days, support my friends in their ski race, have fun in the city with friends, and try another snowshoe race. This time to win. Truthfully I had no plans of where to sleep, or how to get around, but I had a ride to Ottawa and a lot of friends in the city so I could make it work, right? It was too cold not to.

Friday night we got in and I stocked up on the necessary supplies for a weekend of training and unpredictable living situations.

Chocolate, tuna, bananas, rice. Yep, athlete's diet!

This whisky was delicious. 

The snowshoe and ski races were on Sunday, and this time I was taking things seriously and putting in a training block (lots of training in a short amount of time), so I got out to the trails twice on Saturday and familiarized myself with what I thought would be the course. I ended up doing a massive extra loop, but I did the course too, and upon reviewing the maps at home I was straightened out. The course started and finished in a windswept field then got into some pretty technical, twisty and hilly trail for about a kilometer or so. The course then went across another wind swept field and up a hill that got steeper as you went up (I remember very clearly). The next part of the course was pretty standard trails until a steep hill of about 60m elevation gain and a wild 1.5 km run out to the finish zone.

I got to the race start and after watching my buddies do a ski race in -36°C it was my turn to run 10km on snowshoes. And this time I wanted to win! It was hard to judge proper layering for this type of event, but I settled for 2 turtle necks, some wind proof tights, and a Gore-Tex shell. I was told that if I wanted to win I had to keep my eye on this older guy who was probably going to win. Didn't seem so bad, but here’s what I've been told about Dave McMahon: he was one an Olympic athlete in Biathlon (skiing and shooting is a pretty badass sport to be very good at), he has also married an olympic athlete, he trains about 3 hours a day, he runs a snowshoe race series and two snowshoe group workouts every week, he owns and runs multisport company, he coaches, and that he's a really nice guy.

It would be less embarrassing for me if you just muted this video..

I saw a big Gatorade water cooler right by the start line and decided to go get a drink, as any nervous athlete would right before a race. I swigged down cup in one gulp and there was something seriously wrong. It wasn't cold. It was salty. It was hot chicken broth. 

Surprisingly, it wasn't actually that offputting, but I didn't get more. 

I looked around at  some pretty intense people at this start line and asked the guy next to me whether he'd been in a snowshoe race before, the response was a little intimidating

"Yeah, I was 12th  at the world championships a couple of weeks ago! But my hamstring hurts today"

Oh. So that's how it is.

As one would expect, Dave went hard right from the start, positioning himself in first place through the technical bit, and I stayed right on his heels, thinking that to win, I'd have to stay in second position for the first bit at least, right?

Thanks Dave for posting this photo

Once we were out of the technical area the world championship guy blew by us and I was forced to make the same move; trying to stay in second place for as long as I could. As we crossed the windy field area, I noticed that this new pace  was getting us ahead of everyone else.

"Push a little harder and we won't have to worry about them again!" I yelled

I regretted that in about 2 minutes when I forced myself to slow down, unable to keep the pace up the next hill. Well shoot.

When the trail flattened out again, I was back with a vengeance, and by the bottom of the gradual downhill section I was leading the race. I had mixed feelings about this, maybe it was a bad move, it was pretty early to assert myself as the leader in a 10km race, especially with these world class competitors, but hey, I was feeling good. I had a few minutes of trying to suppress panic, even though I knew that I wasn't actually choking, the combination of the cold and the double turtle neck gave me the feeling that someone had their hands clenched around my throat, and I grabbed the shirt and held the neck out from my adam's apple to try to calm down. I did not however get passed.

The last time I raced with a turtleneck I just took it off... (Thanks Brad Jennings for this photo)

I maintained first place until we got pretty close to the start finish, when this guy just came blowing by me. I was pretty upset about this, the crowds were everywhere and this guy was taking my glory. The audacity. I figured that he probably just wanted to lead going into the second lap, and that he'd surely blow up at that pace, until he went straight for the finish line cheered on by the crowd. That jerk was only doing the 5k race. What a softie.

I led into the technical section and Dave was back on my heels, and we were just far enough down the trail that we could still look back and see 3rd place, (who was another guy, not the world championship guy), but I didn't think that he'd catch us. By the time we got to the big hill near the end of the lap, I was feeling confident, but not about to waste all of my energy on the uphill, which is where I was passed. I ran the rest of the race out and finished second place, beaten by a man who truly new how to race properly.

Proper podium gear. I do best in flannel! 

I asked for some advice after the podium from Dave, saying that I was thinking of doing more of these races, and he had some very encouraging words for me. Apparently I was quite fast down hills and on flat sections, and he described to me how to run up the hills properly (I had just been walking with long strides). He told me that I would "keep the pace" well. I asked what pace, expecting him to say his weekly snowshoe race series pace, but he told me that I would be competitive in a world cup. That was the first time anyone had ever said something like that to me, and I don't think that I'll ever forget it. All just because I tried a new sport and decided to give it a second chance!

Queen's University: varsity teams and new experiences!

Well I've been here at Queen's University for almost two months now and it's been a bit of an adjustment I guess. The people here aren't the same as the small town that I grew up, nor are they like my compadres over at U of Guelph. But if you know where to look in this private school of Canadian Universities, you can find some pretty cool people. So in my first week, naturally I did what I could never do at Guelph - I joined two varsity teams! Of course I was stoked to be a part of the cycling club, lead by none other than Patches O'Houlihan himself

This led to a get together in which I was having a drink with the captain of the ski team who happened to be going on a trip to Ottawa with the team and had an extra spot. He I said I'd come and that was that!

I've long known Bard at the races for being the guy with the best race expression

The weekend with the ski team was fantastic, and quite humbling - it turns out that I need more than just a motor to be a good nordic skier(I thought that I had been practicing it right though). I was chasing the ski team around all weekend "red lining" it and trying to pick myself out of the snowbank. I met some wonderful people who taught me to ski a bit better (nordic skiing is all about the technique), and as a bonus got to spend time learning to skate on the canal and seeing my little brother (the rocket scientist).

The second day of the training camp in Ottawa I was introduced to "skate skiing" which is one of the two techniques of nordic skiing, needless to say I wasn't great at it - but I tried! (unfortunately I can't share the video posted onto the nordic team on facebook where everybody is practicing but I keep falling)
The final day in Ottawa started with a race between Queen's and Carleton University - of course I wanted to be involved to my greatest potential. I would help with timing.
On the ride there however, I was convinced that through borrowing Brad's skis and using my shorter classic style poles, I'd be able to race. "Just use that big engine Chris!" they said. "Going to be fun!" They said. I was actually shocked to see that I was keeping pace with the race (or keeping the rear in sight). The ski race was one of the hardest things that I've done, but I'm really happy that I did put myself out there and gave it a try.

Following the weekend with the ski team was a weekend at the Forest City Velodrome. It turns out that our road cycling rivals MIT had been there the weekend before and wrote all about it - though we were told that we were much faster learners. Riding around a track is an exercise in pacing, control, and trust; we are riding bikes with neither gears nor brakes and on walls that would go up about 20 feet. The only way to stay on is to keep a clean line, and keep your speed up. I was very happy to see how well the team worked together and progressed over the weekend, and it was fun to be with the Queen's team not as a rival, but as a teammate.

Most recently, however we have just returned from a training camp in North Carolina, but in the interest of suspense you'll have to keep posted to find out about it!