(Originally this was written earlier but due to internet problems, I could not post immediately)
On the bus to the start - close to the Russian border. A bit chilly this morning, somewhere -15C or below. I didn't sleep well last night - ended up with a bizarre dream trying to ski across Spain with no snow. Have no idea where that came from.
The first 4km are the ones I worry about most - twisty and steep, about a metre wide, winding through the forest, with only a bit of red tape to warn you of a steep drop on a tight bend not to ski over. Once round this safely, I can relax, as I now have a chance to make it to the end.
A few keen ones pushed their way through along this stage. Obviously first timers who think this is a race. A race is not what the RR is about.
With one less day of training in Kuusamo (not possible to get here on a Saturday), and the week I had in February in Norway seems a lifetime away, I wonder if the joints and stamina will hold out. Somehow, I feel less confident this time around than my previous trips. The first time I really didn't know what I was letting myself in for. The second time was OK. But this time round, I have noticed that extra year's aging seems to be making itself felt more acutely. Training has been hard since Christmas with four weeks away from home, and hotel gyms turning out to be pathetic.
But back to the RR. The sun is shining, nature has sculpted the snow beautifully. I find for the first time ever that I am sufficiently in control i.e. there are quite a few people behind me, that I have the leisure of stopping to take pictures.
[Picture to be posted later]
Around Ruka the tracks are busy. I wonder what those pottering around make of 60 or so people charging through. The hot soup at the rest stop is particularly welcome, then it is on down to Kuusamo and the final stop for drinks in a tiny schoolhouse. I drink my "energy shot" - considering it has very few calories, is a mixture of chemicals and caffeine, I do wonder about it - it tastes vile, but I suppose the caffeine has an effect. But I guess when you are up against it and feeling weary, you will try anything!
I trundle along the last few kilometers at a comfortable pace (remembering what happened when I pushed too hard in my first RR) and get in at a few minutes past 5pm. This is about half an hour faster than my first RR, and possibly about the same as last year. But the big surprise is that although I am tired, I am not shattered like on previous occasions. This at least allays my fears that my stamina is a lot less - it is holding up better than I ever hoped.
The good news is that we are staying in the hotel, rather than the cabins. Trekking backwards and forwards several hundred metres to the cabins after a long hard day was not my idea of post skiing fun, and this is a great improvements (it also means 2 sharing a bathroom instead of 6 or 8).
My evening's special entertainment was watching a master ski waxer at work. With no snow where I live in the UK, and even when there is some, it is rarely skiable, not only is training a problem, but also it means there is no opportunity to wax skis and see how they perform. And although I have most of the waxing gear, I have only ever stayed at one place where there was somewhere to wax skis. Properly waxing skis makes it look like you have attacked a candle with a cheese grater.
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