There you have it! Impromptu BMT weekend in the books. A week well spent! Turns out a few days super chill was just what I needed to bring things around and get pointed in the right direction. We made the drive from Bozeman to Sun Valley on Monday and I took the day completely off. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I went for a nice ski in the sun, checking out portions of the 34km course, and Friday, I revved the body with a hardy race prep to wake up after a few days of being in slumber mode. On Wednesday, we went to a naturally occurring hot springs which was super cool, and a good recovery modality to go from the hot spring to the cold creek that the spring sprang into. Indeed a highlight of the trip.
On race day, despite the large amount of overnight snow, the race was permitted to start, and we were off on the early morning shuttle up to Galena. I had envisioned having to race through 5-6” of powder, but they did a tremendous job of grooming and the trail was reasonably firm with only an inch or two of fresh snow covering the corderoy. I got off to a good start and within the first few Km’s, I found my way to the front. Myself, and the eventual winner, Joe Davies, made a solid pace, swapping turns at the front, and fairly quickly reduced the group to 3. Once the 3 of us were away, Joe and I kept swapping turns for a while. I took a long pull at the front thinking there was a sprint preem at a certain point, which there wasn’t, (an unfortunate mistake) and after that, Joe came around and took up the pace. Over the next couple km’s of gradual climbing, Joe was able to put some distance between Reid and I, as I was going through a bit of a rough patch, and trying to manage energy. We hit a small 10 second downhill shortly thereafter and I hit a second wind. I pulled Reid for a while, and somewhere around 10-15km to go, I was able to make a bit of a gap, and with a sustained pace, snap the elastic to Reid and TT my way to 2nd place. The last 10k was all about energy management as I didn’t consume any fuel during the race. In a normal BMT year, the race would take 70-75 minutes which is easier to get away with not taking a feed, this year however took 90 minutes. Coming into the last 5k I could feel the energy reserves coming down, but luckily I had created enough of a gap to Reid in 3rd that I didn't have to change the pace. In the end it was a fun race, the body responded well to the input, and the Madshus’s with Toko wax were skiing well on the day.
Fun fact and a testament to how literally God will sustain you, I slept about 90 minutes the night before the race. Not normal for me, even when I’m excited. If you know me, you know I don’t usually do so well on hampered sleep even just as a functioning human. Long story short, in my asking to sleep, plans to hinder that were allowed, but to show me how much and how literally I can lean on Him who sustains me. Needless to say, the night after the race I slept like a rock. For more on that look into Psalms 3:5, 54:4, 63:1, Isaiah 46:4.
Now, I’m headed back to CO for a short training block before heading out to the Birkie in Cable, WI. Looks like the sun should be shining, and the skiing should be terrific. Stay tuned for Birkie week info and updates.
God bless,
Garrett
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