Sunday, April 4, 2010

Winter season

If anybody had told me in 2007 that in 2010 I would be writing a blog post about cross country ski races, I would have probably smiled and walked away. Up to 2007 my experience with snow was very limited, mostly snow was something that belonged to the Andes in Chile and that you never had to worry about.
Well, the fact that in 2010 I joined two ski races speaks for itself. It is even more impressive if one considers that my first cross country ski trip was during December 2008, after receiving a "theoretical description" of how I was supposed to use my cross country skis. After that winter season I decided to take the next step since I realized that I missed to have an activity that was important for me and not related to work. During 2009 I trained and thanks to my colleagues I got a pair of rollerskis, which I used to practice during summer. In November 2009 I took a technique course to improve my "marka teknikk" and learn proper racing technique. I spent most of the 2010 winter training and I took a second technique course during January 2010. The result is astonishing. I finished the Oslo skimarathon (41kms) in 3:46 and even more impressive, I finished Öppet Spår, the open race of Vasaloppet (90kms) in 8:05. Is that something or what?
Since I really enjoy this for 2011 I have even bigger plans, I plan to participate in two races in the Czech Republic, the Oslo Skimarathon, Vasaloppet and Birkebeiner again.