Evening Skimo race at Brighton.
You thought you were fit? You thought you were "bad ass" because you run mountain trails. Guess what? There is a reason a handful of guys around here have every FKT to the top of every steep trail around here. Those guys are ski mountaineers. They are the fittest guys around, by far. Their cardio fitness that is off the charts. Let me give you an example: The Thanksgiving morning race was on a short course consisting of a 10 minute climb and a quick ski down, then repeat loops. I was able to do three loops. The guy that did the most loops, Tom Goth, did seven. Skinning uphill on skis is twice as much (or more) work than running uphill. I was worked. The race Tuesday evening was on a longer course. The faster group did 3 laps; I did two. Some of the faster guys did 4 loops. My jaw dropped at how fast those guys are. When they move into competetive running, watch out. They will dominate. My desire is to pick up some of that skiing fitness and carry it with me into the next year.
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