This year was the year that the cross country Masters World Championships came to Idaho. The races are usually in Europe where cross country ski history is engrained in their culture. However, I do live in a state that is considered a mecca for cross country skiing. I picked up XC skiing as a training tool while living in Truckee CA. This sport has the steepest learning curve of anything I’ve ever tried. It’s also a better workout than anything else I’ve ever tried. To make a long story short, I’ve been cross country skiing for about 5 years and use it as my main training tool in the winter in Ketchum, Idaho. I’ve hooked up with some great ski buddies and also coach as part of a women’s cross country ski group.

My main strength in coaching is that I remember quite well what it’s like to try to learn this sport. It’s all pretty fresh in my memory and comes back to bite me quite often. I am, by no means, a technical master of the sport Although the Masters World Champs were creating a buzz since last winter, I was not planning on doing it and waited til after registration closed to weasel my way in. My training partner and ski buddy, Karoline Droege, and I drove over to McCall, Idaho for just one of the races in the week long event. We both signed up for the race as a fun experience and to get a hard workout. For me, nothing makes me work harder than lining up with a bunch of other people and hearing a gun go off. Our main goal was not to finish last. There were 1200 competitors from 23 nations. They were all split into different disciplines, distances and 5 year increments. Karoline and I were registered for the 15 km freestyle race. We hadn’t seen the course since we showed up late. We got a bit of a course description from our friend Muffy. Otherwise, it was a blind race for the both of us. Karoline led the race for 10 km with me just a few seconds behind her and about 4 other women knocking on the door. We were both sort of wondering where everyone was. It was pretty exciting hearing people cheer in different languages. At least I think they were cheering. I ended up passing Karoline with just about 4km to go. Another US woman was right on my tail. My competitive spirit kicked in and the title of World Champion started circling in my head. Since I didn’t know the course and I only had a few seconds lead, I was skiing like a complete spaz. My technique had gone out the window and I was slobbering all over myself like a horse. As I turned the corner and could see the finish line, I heard everyone screaming. I was dying to look behind me, because I couldn’t tell if they were cheering for me or because I was about to be passed. For the last straight-a-way, I focused hard on not tripping on the little flags marking the lanes or catching my ski pole between my legs and falling before the finish line. I held onto the win and was laughing in disbelief at the end. I nearly fell over after the finish line because I was seeing stars. I had won another world championship title and this time very accidentally. This one also took only 44 minutes and 58 seconds instead of 24 hours! Thanks to Salomon for the great skis and Suunto for helping me log the highest heart rates I have seen in a really long time.