Well, it was quite the memorable Birkie week for myself. I had been looking forward to, and training for, the Birkie for the past month. Do not get me wrong, I did not overlook any of my races leading up to the Birkie, but I always had my eye on the Birkie as I was training. The weeks leading up to the Birkie were going really well for me as far as racing and training goes; however, as I hit the Monday before the big race on Saturday I was hit with a sickness. This was not just my annual, “Birkie fever,” this was something more like a sore throat and stuffed up head.
There was no time to panic, simply hope that I would be healthy by race time. I ended up staying inside, resting, drinking a ton of tea, and eating as much vitamin C as I could until Thursday. On Thursday I tried to ski off my sickness. I skated for an hour and fifteen minutes and by the end I was feeling okay, which was nice considering at the start of the ski on the power lines I almost had to stop at the top of one of the hills because I was breathing so hard. On Friday, Maria and I headed up to OO to test our skis. I skied for about an hour and ten minutes and did some three minute level 3 pick ups to see if I was going to be able to race well at all. I felt okay during these intervals so I convinced myself that I might be able to pull off a good race.
I spent a good portion of the evening eating as much pasta as I could muster, and I finished dinner and had a bowl of cereal right before bed. I headed to bed around 11 p.m. and felt the best I had all week. Right before falling asleep I thought that there was a good possibility I would wake up and feel almost 100% and be able to fight for a top finish. Then…
I woke up around 1:30 a.m. and I had a horrible toothache. I had a toothache earlier this year, which was quickly followed by a root canal so I knew what was happening. This was much worse than my first one though. I do not know why it hit the night before the Birkie, but I think it might have had something to do with me being sick all week and this was bad. For awhile I contemplated getting up and asking my parents if I should go to the hospital or dentist because the pain was intense. This would have totally ruined my chances at racing, so I decided to take two advil and hope it would just go away. I sat in bed waiting for the advil to kick in and the intense throbbing to go away and it was painful. There was no position I could sit, stand, or lay that would make the pain any less. Now I was really worried, not because I could not sleep, but because I thought my Birkie was in jeopardy from a stupid toothache after getting fairly healthy in a week. By a stroke of luck, or the advil, I was able to finally fall asleep around 3:00 a.m. My Birkie was saved.
I woke up to warm temperatures, no toothache, and hopes that my toothache would not kick in again around 30km, or any kilometer for that matter. I headed down to the start line around 7 a.m. and took off at 8:20 a.m. with the rest of the Elite wave and had a blast. I felt good the entire way and was able to help our team score a 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 6th in the men’s race! The feeling of sprinting up main street was amazing, and it was even better having Matt waiting for me at the finish line after skiing an incredible race for the victory. Matt really deserved the win after working so hard all race and taking off with about 20km to go. I followed a move by another great racer Dan Roycroft from Canada with a little less than 20km to go, and we skied the rest of the way together before I was able to sprint in for 2nd. I really cannot describe what it was like to sprint up main street, because it was pretty much a blur for me. The atmosphere is so incredible on main street thanks to the crowd of excited spectators. It was also special to see Brian Gregg sprint in for 4th and Andre for 6th, because we were able to celebrate together at the finish line. Not to mention the excitment that followed when fellow teammate Gus Kaeding out sprinted the King of Cross-Country skiing Bjorn Daehlie. This was the crowning moment that the team had hoped for, a double victory and serious celebration after Gus crossed the line and we greeted him.
It was an incredible day, and I want to thank my family, teammates, coaching staff for extremely fast skis, and network of supporters for allowing me to pursue my dreams as a skier. This is just one of my goals as a skier and I look forward to many more coming up!
Sprinting up Main Street for 2nd.