24 hours.
Twenty-four hours of x-c skiing isn't fast, and it isn't flashy. It isn't even terribly fun to watch your athlete struggle on the course and struggle more in the hotel room working up the whatever it is from deep inside that gets him/her back out on that cold, dark course for more torture. It isn't entirely fun to be that athlete either when you are trying to take in more calories and more liquids than any person should in a day. My guts hurt, my chest hurt (I tried to keep the face mask on in the cold air but could not and I’m still coughing), my head hurt, and my soul hurt because I believed during the race that I should have been able to put twice as many laps down. When all was said and done, my GF and parents were there to see me stand as the number one solo skier at the 24 hours of Telemark of 2009. There were three solo men out there for the whole 24 too and I beat the top man by 4 minutes. I put down 20 laps alone in temperature ranges from around -12f to 12f above. The last couple hours saw a solid coating of fresh snow that slowed things down even further, but those big fluffy flakes were beautiful dropping through the trailside cluster of white pines as the sun rose.

This is not a typical race, and it's hard for skier and non-skier alike to understand.

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As always, before a big race I get a little worried. The 24 hours of Telemark is this weekend and though I have done this race 3x before, I still get nervous. This time though I think I have my nerves bundled just about right.
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