Cross-country skiing

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This year, at age 64 and at the upper end of my age group, I decided to do some sporting events just for the experience. 

The Vasaloppet cross-country ski race in Sweden has been on my bucket list for a long time and now I have gone for it. It is the largest cross-country ski race in the world. 

It is also a special year 2022, since it is the 100 year jubilee since the first race 1902! 

The full race is 90 km (56 miles), but I worried this would be too much for me, so I signed up for half distance, 45 km (28 miles).

To prepare myself, I have rented a hut in Sweden for 4 weeks in a location close to the race and I bought equipment, skis, poles and shoes. I did a bit of cross-country skiing when I was young, so I had an idea how to get decent gear that fits my ski style, weight and height.

I have now been in Sweden almost two weeks and I am humbled. This is harder than I remember. My Strava segments are telling me the truth; I am slow, slow, slow. Not so impressive to be number 10217 on a segment... I am glad I went for half the race, it is obvious it will take many hours for me to complete. I have pushed so hard on the poles I have injured my right arm. I have fallen and got back ache. Nothing really serious, but its tough to cross country ski.  It is also a lot of fun.

To celebrate, a 100 year race was arranged last week, a few selected participants raced in original clothes and equipment. The winner took almost 7 hours, and most many hours more than that!





Winner of 100 year jubilee race on the course.

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