Well I am now at Ovianki International Center, ready for the briefing and an early start tomorrow when we will head out by coach to the start near the Russian border.
I have seen Alfred - he looks good for someone of 73 who is now doing this trek for the 21st time. I would be ecstatic if I could still do this at 73. But then again, cross country skiing (classic style, not the skating style) is actually a good aetobic workout and if you do it gently, not like my "bull in a china shop" approach, it is fairly low impact on the joints.
I am certainly around the same times, or even slightly faster for certainly less effort, and for that I must thank my coach, Wolfgang. I really did not expect that I would make enough improvements in such a short time. I still have not quite mastered the art of releasing the poles unless I am consciously thinking about it. It is as he says - a block in the mind.
The hotel Sokos were as helpful as ever, letting me have a late checkout, so that I could get a full morning of training in. I also discovered a new way of drying clothes, which I would not want to do in many hotels. The bathroom floor has underfloor heating, so I discovered that after washing things and hanging them for an hour or two, so that they are then just damp, they will then dry more quickly if you spread them out on the bathroom floor. In the Sokos it is, like most of Finland, spotlessly clean. They also make it easy to work from their - the rooms have wired internet in every room, which is more reliable and secure than wireless, and a guest PC near reception with a printer. This saved me big time, as I had to print out a contract and mail it back.
A quick 5km on my new skis - not enough to wear the wax off, but enough to make sure there are no problems with them, before doing my Kuusamo town loop in the opposite direction for a change.
The Kuusamo town loop is a good test - it is 18.2km and undulating, with quite a bit of taking skis off to cross roads. The new training regime is working, because I can actually bend down to release my skis without wishing I was 30 years younger each time. Without trying, today was a few minutes faster again.
On the RR, distance to go is posted occasionally - usually at 20km intervals. So with the distraction, time and effort crossing roads on the Kuusamo town loop, I think of every 20km interval as a Kuusamo town loop, which takes me about 2h 15m. This enables me to focus when covering the long distances - I just think of one circuit at a time. Divide and conquer, or one step at a time. This seems to be the technique used by many successful people at the limits of endurance.
Must go now to wax my skis, before the experts get here and have a good laugh. Stay posted for "Zen and the art of ski waxing". I feel for one of the people on this year's RR as I can guess the joke they will hear from everyone when waxing skis - we have a Brazilian competitor this year.
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