Vasaloppet 90 km (56 miles) cross country ski race

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Vasaloppet, a lifelong ambition of mine has been completed! Last year, I practiced on half distance and this year I did the complete trail; 90 km (56 miles). This is the world's largest cross country ski race, or rather it is a collection of various races over 1 week. My race, had almost 8000 participants, starting in Berga By near the village of Sälen in Dalarna (Dalecarlia) Sweden. 

My group started at 7.40 am but my day began at 3.30 am when the alarm went. At 5 am, I took a bus from the town of Mora to the start. I felt good and excited. Weather was cool at about 14f, (-10C) but rose during the day to about 30f. (Just below 0C).

My ambition was to complete the race, and not to worry about placing or time. Just to have a steady and comfortable pace and last the distance. Before start, I stayed in a heated area a little bit too long and ended up at the very back of my starting group. After leaving the starting field, there is a 1-mile-long hill and with all the skiers in front of me, it was a slow climb. It did not matter too much that it was crowded, I had intended to take it easy up the hill anyway. The further I traveled in the race, the more space I got. 

The trail is going over wilderness areas passing small villages about every 10 km where hot drinks and light food was offered to the skiers. I drank at least two mugs at every checkpoint in order to keep going, but I only ate a half energy bar during the entire race. Traditionally, blueberry soup is also served, and I drank plenty of it, it is loaded with sugar.

It is a beautiful landscape. Every km is marked with a sign counting down to finish, so you have good control over how much is left. The first half felt quite easy, but around mid-day, temperatures rose, and my waxing was not perfect for that, I started to lose grip which was tiring. In the afternoon, temperatures got colder again, and the tracks became icy. I considered re waxing, but the wait time looked long, and I knew we had net downhill for the rest of the course, so I kept going. It was pure pole pushing the last 30 kms. I was glad for all the upper body strength training I had done for the purpose of this race.

I finished with a little sprint after 9 hours and 13 minutes on the course, still in decent shape. It was a great experience.

As usual, Volvo did a little promotional video.

Volvo video






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