So this morning was the first race of the season.  And let me tell you… it was every bit as rusty as I expected.

I know I’ve only been on my skis for a whopping 7 hours.

I know I haven’t skied a single race since last…. March?  Really?!

I know a week ago I was doing rollerski intervals on a treadmill.  …Talk about desperate!

I know that I am unfortunately in better cycling and running shape right now than anything else.  Duathlon maybe?  Too bad.

Now that I’ve rehashed all that.  If not for you but for me, lets move on.  And so instead of the string of expletives I would rather type lets do a little race recap instead.

Nerves aside I was ready to have a little fun this morning.  Do what I know how to do.  And if need be… be that kid sticking her tongue out at the people counting my penalty loops. (thank you for humoring my antics as I skied around and around the ‘bad place’)   For my limited time on skis I was actually pretty happy with how skiing felt today.  I don’t remember flailing about… sure it might have happened but in my mind atleast I felt like I was doing a really good job skiing controlled.

Its taken me a long time to realize that moving my limbs faster does not directly translate to moving any faster on my skis.  Because of this enlightening revelation I’ve been focusing on skiing bigger and more powerfully and hey maybe actually utilizing my assets.  I’m not built like a fairy so why ski like one.

So for not being a terrible day on skis I really just had to mess it up on the range. (if its not one thing its another right?)  Making all sorts of really awesome rookie mistakes.  The wind had picked up since we zeroed.  I did take the time to acknowledge this as I skied into the range to shoot prone.  I even double checked the wind flags.  Heck I even thought to myself, “Self, those wind flags are DEFINITELY blowing harder than before we should take two or three clicks left.”  Genius self!  Genius!  And then for whatever reason I decided to NOT do that.  Yep.  I really have no explanation for it.  Wind flag denial maybe?  I don’t know.  But I was lucky I got any targets to go down.  With three penalties in prone, that was very much the end of my race as far as results are concerned.

I faired better in standing with only two penalties.  But lets face it… 50% shooting is bad.  If it was an exam, I wouldn’t have passed.

The good news?  I have another race tomorrow.  And then another race after that.

I never gave up on my skis.  I never cursed out loud.  And most importantly… although it was far from ideal it was better than I did this time last year.  I know I’m coming from behind.  I know it won’t be easy.  and I know I’m ok with that.  Today was a jumping off point.  Baby steps. One day… one race at a time.