On Thursday and Friday we had great weather and great snow. We enjoyed being back on our skis and we very much enjoyed our lesson with Gunnar that I mentioned in previous posts. Having said that, it was not all about cross country skiing. We had time for a night out and also enjoy afterski on the Saturday (it is your guess who had the beer and who had the hot chocolate).
The day of the Vasaloppet we went up at 4.20am, had breakfast and was at the start at about 5.30 in the morning. Thousands and thousands of people lined up and as the sun went up we started to realise the magnitude of the task ahead. We were in the last start group of about 15,500 participants. Aerobic teachers helped us to warm up and soon were were on our way. Snow kept falling down and according to the commentators on TV this years race was amongst the toughest races ever recorded.
Martin took an early lead in the very first uphill section. The angel of the slope was worthy any downhill race. However as we started to ski properly I caught up with him and never looked back after that point. 9h and 2 min later, at 5.02pm in the afternoon I passed the finishing line. With me from the event I take the following experiences:
- I can do a solid 9 hour hard workout.
- I was ok with only eating energy gel and drinking the carb drink from Vitargo. I didnt feel the need to have any food with more substance.
- I need to improve my technique if I am ever going to do Vasaloppet again! I cant stand that women and men in my parents' age flew past me in the uphill section (since I had no grip on my skis).
The last few photos on the image above you can see a beautiful Swedish winter landscape. I can see why people love this part of the year and want to spend time up North in Sweden.
All in all, we have had a fantastic long weekend up in Salen, and I would definitely do the Vasaloppet again! Anyone out there that want to sign up for next year?
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