First and only xc ski test before the Border to Border event

With less than 2 weeks till the start of the Border to Border event I needed to try out my new xc ski equipment at least once.  Under usual circumstances I would have prepared much better than I have.  However, a partially torn calf muscle prevented me from getting on my skis until now.

Yesterday I took the train/ bus to Studen, SZ.  After getting my skis hot waxed, I set off xc skiing for the first time in over a year.  In fact it has been quite some years since I last did classic style, having been more focussed on skating style the last few seasons.

The first few hundred steps were rather unbalanced and slow.  Rather than cross country skiing I think it was more like walking on skis.  The kick and glide was not really present.  As time went on I started to get the hang of it a little more, but I still did not get to the point where I was transferring 100% of my weight from one leg onto the other.  This is something that I will have to practise when I arrive in Finland and something that I will have to learn to master quickly.  With the fact that I am leaving to St Petersburg next Thursday there is no further opportunity for me to practise before the Border to Border event.

Yesterday I covered 15km in 2 and a bit hours, and today a few of my muscles are aching a bit as a result.  It made me realise that 60km a day is going to be a serious initiation into the classic xc skiing world.  At this point I am really not sure whether I am capable of those kinds of distances day after day, but I guess we will see soon enough.  There is always the bus as a last resort.

I will be taking a GoPro Hero 3 action cam with me on the trip, so you will be able to share in the joys and pains of the Finnish xc ski experience upon my return.