I have a life goal of competing in the American Birkebeiner commonly referred to as The Birkie. Let me rephrase that as a goal to participate in The Birkie. The race is 43 kilometers cross county skiing in either classic or skate technique.
The Birkie rabbit hole led me to the Arrowhead 135. 135 miles across Northern Minnesota on foot, snow shoe, fat tire bike, or ski. In 2019, the race went on with temperatures dropping to -40. Forty below is where Celsius and Fahrenheit meet. Forty below is forty blow everywhere across the world. The race was cancelled with Covid this year.
I read a ton of blog posts by participants who finished and did not finish the race over the years. The tales are brutal. Equipment failure, frostbite, skin breakdown, moisture control problems and freezing all contributed to the DNF. Some athletes have attempted the race multiple times.
The most brutal blogs wrote about the racer’s self-talk. Thirteen miles into the race and their self-talk became vicious. “You are the worst person here. Quit now. Why do you do something you are obviously so awful at?” I thought I had some negative self-talk but these athletes are in a different league.
Why do I want to try cross country skiing? I did it a number of times when I was younger and had some great times out there with old equipment. One of the most memorable rides was at Grinnell College. I was out with a friend north of campus. There were solar flares that night creating the most amazing and visible northern lights ever seen at that latitude. People enveloped in the lights on campus had no clue that it was happening. We were out there for an hour and a half and I want to have that feeling again.
I need to choose a 10K cross country ski race and see how I do. If it goes well I will sign up for the 14K Prince Haakon race or 26K Kortelopet at The Birkie.
Can I transition from strength sports to skiing for four plus hours? It will be fun to give it a try. I started roller skiing in 2019 and have a long, long way to improve. I will tune up the roller skis in March and work them into the routine.
Here’s hoping that the world is in a better place and I can achieve my Birkie dream the next two years.