#mymw

[pokedi93]

Had such a fun day up at @mountwashington skiing for the very first time with @sharnakes ❤️😄⛷🎿 definitely want to do more skiing, and hopefully by next season, we can have our own gear! 😍 #mymw #mountwashington #skittip #firsttimeskiing #suchafuntime #sohappy #snowfun #snowadventures (at Mount Washington Alpine Resort) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bte6RUfDqrn/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1i5gj66wvgoya

[pokedi93]

SUPER excited for tomorrow! 😄 tomorrow @sharnakes and I are gonna go have some fun tomorrow up at mount Washington! 😄 cannot wait to go skiing have a good time with my amazing guy! ❤️🎿⛷ @mountwashington #mymw #skiing #snowadventures #cannotwait #firsttimeskiing #goodtimes #goodvibes #soexcited (at Mount Washington Alpine Resort) https://www.instagram.com/p/BtcH9A3jskF/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=mmkop4q06uvo

[grizzlybeeers-blog]

Snowy tops #mymw (at Mount Washington Alpine Resort)

[grizzlybeeers-blog]

mount washington, you are so beautiful #mymw (at Mount Washington Alpine Resort)

[grizzlybeeers-blog]

hey guys bit of a throwback but I'm a part of a snowboard photog contest over at @snowboardmag. please take a min and vote for my pic. link in profile. #mymw (at Mount Washington Alpine Resort)

[jesseschneider3]

Conditions were unreal today at Mount Washington

[jesseschneider3]

Shaping up to be a good day on the slopes! #mymw (at Mount Washington Alpine Resort)

[gillianblogmountwashington]

Pop it, drop it, & Loppet! A Mount Washington Loppet 'Race' Report!

So I did it! A Loppet!  What's a Loppet? I'm glad you asked! A couple years ago I'd be asking the same question. If you can cross country ski for a reasonable amount of time (I don't know, say an hour?) then you can do a loppet race (maaaybe not a super long one). Now, mind you, you are taking advice from someone who has never done one until just last week & didn't know what they were a year or two ago. But you know, that demographic may just encompass the greater majority of us. So read on if you're curious! The lesser minority of people may know what a loppet is. Those would be those sleek, technical fabric wearing fit-o's that hang out down at the Raven lodge.  Now, I'm not picking on them. They're my kind of people. I am those people. They are the Gran Fondo's of the snow.  They just haven't taken the world by storm yet. But I bet you they're coming. Maybe it's because we live in a warmer climate (hey, no digs about our slow start to the season, usually it is a rockin' early start!) that we don't focus on winter races. We bunker down, ski for Vitamin D's sake, and make it through the grey. But a lot of other communities (anything East of us and that stops somewhere in New Brunswick, basically), have embraced winter racing. There are ski marathons or 'loppets'.

Some people even do this race, as crazy (FUN?) as it sounds:

The Canadian Ski Marathon.

One day, I think, one day I want to tackle that race. But not quite yet.

Don't trust my opinion? Copied right out of CCCSki.com (Cross Country Canada Ski) is this their definition: "The Loppet means different things to participants.  For some it’s intense competition, for others it’s a relaxing way to spend a day outside, taking in the pristine beauty of the country side or wilderness, and enjoying the home grown entertainment and great food and drink at the rest stops along the trail."

Hot eats are right. I had hot Gatorade in the race! But I'm getting ahead of myself. I need to explain this race a little bit more. Because when I googled, "How to race a loppet", I came up with NADA.  ZILCH. I googled "loppet race reports" and came up with the big goose egg. What? Ok, if you google, "triathlon race report", you will be bowled over with information. So where's the loppet love? And that's why I'm writing down my thoughts on the race for you.  So you can google this before you race and know what's coming your way.  You still might be just as terrified, but at least you're be an informed terrified person. Nah, just kidding kids, don't be scared! Loppets are FUN!

I'll cut to the chase. Here's how they start. First you register. And in my opinion, these races are a great deal! I paid $1 per kilometer of racing, which I think is more than fair, and benefits our local economy & sports organizations.

Then you get a shirt bib (this is novel for a triathlon, we're given paper numbers & safety pins to jab our fingers and bellies with). You forgo a warmup because you're so sore from last week's 1/2 marathon that you're not even convinced you can finish. If you're also me, your warm up is really finding a washroom then feeding your 7.5 month old in your Westy Van (hippies UNITE).

Time to start the race. You try to not be intimidated by the 8 year olds crushing you on the warm up path to the start. They're not allowed in your category (I did the 30km) so you breathe a sigh of relief. Then someone shouts something at the crowd, and you ask the people around you what that meant, and they explain that you have to double pole out of the stadium. You begin to freak out a little. This is a mass start, meaning everyone starts at the same time (I don't know how many people there were - 100, 200?). But it's ok, you're in tracks and if you're slow (I was) the people behind you will just have to grit their teeth and chillax. I gave them lots of opportunities to line up ahead of me.

Honk! Horn goes, double poling ensues. And then basically, after some bottle necking and people falling and stepping on skis and poles (it was a touch crowded and this ain't the Olympics) everything sorted itself out and we were all off skiing on course. Once that fear was over (approximately 7 minutes), then I had a joyous wave of satisfaction that I indeed, was in a ski race. My first ever!

Now without boring you, my race report goes like this: "I skied for 30 km".

But here are a few of the things I learned:

1. Hot Gatorade is AWESOME. They give you this at the aid station.  Which I was thinking, is no small feat, because the aid stations are in the middle of a wintry forest, and someone had to lug that big hot vat out there. I was truly thankful. Usually in triathlon, when handed a hot Gatorade, after taking a sip and feeling that hot sweet liquid hit your mouth, you throw it away in total disgust, making a fake gagging noise and then spitting on your own face. But here, it was like liquid hot melty gold.

2. Bring your own snacks. At least one. I brought no emergency snacks thinking the aid stations would be more regular like they are in triathlon and marathoning. Um, they weren't this time, so I was hitting a very hard and fast BONK town half way through the race. Lesson learned. I thought I saw a sasquatch, which is my go-to hallucination when I am super low blood sugar. 

3. It's totally ok to stop at the aid station and treat it like a Bonanza Buffet. I hunkered down and stopped for at least 3 minutes at the aid station (I have never done this in my life in racing!), explaining that I was quite hungry and could I please have 3 cups of hot Gatorade? I also explained I'm a breastfeeding mama, so calories were in well-deserved need. The aid station people helped a sister out in filling her face and I felt like a million bucks after.

4. You'll pass at least one uber fast person because they will break their ski skiing so darn fast (I passed 2). I felt bad for the skier because skis are not cheap. But then I felt secretly proud of being slow and posing no risk of ski breaking at my non-break neck speeds, and moving up one more position. Yes, I can be that petty and competitive.

5. You need to be ok with getting passed. It will happen. It's your first time doing this.  And it will probably be a old bald guy that does it.  Totally ok, because his head is way more aero than my braids. Plus I passed two guys on the Raven Hill (it's long) and felt justified that I am a half-way ok skier.

6. Conditions may change. Your perfect start weather may not change.  We started in the sun and finished into a driving blizzard.  It happens.  This is WINTER. Be prepared. Or at the very least, keep moving & stay warm.

7. It's peaceful out there. You're in the heart of winter, gliding along beautiful park trails. There are no cars driving by choking you out with exhaust (read: road running races), but there are also very few fans shouting encouragement when you are way out on the loops of the course. But it helps you focus on yourself. On what you are doing and why you are doing it. It strips away distractions and makes you come face to face with your feelings (Bonus: Loppets, also much cheaper than therapy!).

8. If you feel not so great about yourself, you work through it and find the positive, or at the very least, find the 'tough' and get going with it. My day wasn't all roses out there, but it's a very personal challenge. And those of us that take on challenges know why we do it - it needs no explanation. That I think really sums up my lessons learned. I had a lot of fun. I felt proud of myself for taking on something new.

As I've learned in life, taking on new challenges often leads to eye opening life changes (read: one day I signed up for my first triathlon, 3 years later I won Ironman Canada). Not to say I'm taking on the world of XC skiing, as it's not so much about the title as it is about all the stuff that happens in between - that's the stuff that really changes your life for the better. The lessons, the people, the challenges, the sacrifices and the rewards. Not to mention the humbleness and the honour that comes with being an athlete.

It's a great game. I'm going to stick with it. So I encourage you to try the Loppet next time it comes around. It was a very fun, low stress, not-too-intimidating way to have a fun day on skis, meet new friends, and support your local ski clubs & ski mountain. 

Everybody wins & you get hot Gatorade!  Yum.