2024: Noquemanon Ski Marathon

To say that the 2023-24 Winter has been subpar (a result of El Niño) and has negatively impacted snow-dependent communities in the upper Midwest is an understatement. SISU Ski Fest (scheduled for the first weekend of January) and Wolf Tracks Rendezvous (scheduled for the first weekend of February) had already been canceled. A blizzard and accompanying treacherous driving conditions had ensured I stayed home to skip the Seeley Hills Classic in mid January. With mercury in retrograde (not the planet…

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2023: Marquette Marathon

Reflecting on the 2023 Grandma’s Marathon and discussing relevant portions of the training log with the family indicated some aspects I could retain and some others that needed a little tweaking to continue racing a marathon. Faith-ing in the fitness gained over the past several months and trusting the athletic process were a bit easier on this go around. So was leaving some more room for cream and letting a missed repetition go or rescheduling an activity as the training…

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2023: Grandma’s Marathon

It’s rarely ever a good sign when a healthy streak has fewer YESs than NOs. With three DNFs – 2021 Marquette Marathon, 2021 Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon and 2022 Marquette Marathon – in four tries (and far worse when DNSs were taken into consideration), such had become the nature of my streak of marathons in recent times. A review of my training log and discussions indicated few aspects that required some tweaking to race a marathon. Once I incorporated those tweaks, faith-ed…

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2023: American Birkebeiner

The 2022 edition involved skiing both the 29 km Kortelopet and the 55 km Birkie on back to back days with correct form, terrain-appropriate technique, situation-appropriate strategy, ease and peace (and not necessarily racing) as a tangible metric of improved fitness derived from a healthy lifestyle. The primary goal for the 2023 edition was to implement what I learned from additional lessons – skiing with better form, terrain-appropriate technique, situation-appropriate strategy, ease and peace – and race the 53 km…

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2023: Pre-Birkie and North End Classic

Last weekend’s racing opportunity shed light on things I hadn’t done well: paying careful attention to the wax recommendation (I had missed a glide wax layer) and nutrition before/during the race (I had forgotten the race day breakfast and had not carried my own gels). While they didn’t alter my result or experience in that shorter distance event, they had the potential to create a painful experience for longer distance events. I got a pair of opportunities to rehearse the…

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