Last year my best time on Short Swing road-to-road was 75 mins. I recruited Nate to the idea of trying it out. He and I did a run a few months ago of about the same exertion and had good pace with each other. Plus, I've been talking smack to him about how much faster I am than he is, and how he should train as much as he can beforehand so that I beat him by less when we race each other in the Powderkeg. He's a youngster. I'm trying to keep him in line. I'm planning on bringing him to his knees, puking in the snow.
At the start, less than a few minutes into the skinning, he is going for the pass. I push it to the next level to keep up, not knowing if I'll be able to sustain that rate for the steep uphill coming soon. I want to talk more smack, but I am gasping for air and know that I will fall further behind if I waste my breath choking out words that he won't hear anyway because of the headphones. Once we hit the uphill, one of his earbuds falls out, and I pass him, needlessly, since once I am past him he is right on me again. I let him pass. His pace is brutal, but that is what today is about. I hold back the vomit, and try not to let the pace slack as Nate gets a bit further and further ahead.
I won't bother with an explanation of the downhill, other than to say I probably looked like a drunk clown flopping through the aspens, as my legs couldn't operate normally. I met up with Nate at the road, he was a few minutes ahead of me, but my time was 58:04, seventeen minutes off of last year's best. I attribute that to the power of group dynamic and synergy, when you add one and one and get 2.3, or maybe even 2.4. Thanks for pulling me along Master Nater! I'm still going to kick your trash when it comes to a real race! (I was just holding back this time to boost your young ego!)
