The Olympics have been over for ten days and I owe you an update on the 50km. It has taken me so long because I am mentally and physically exhausted from the energy I used at the Olympics. I will touch on that later but first...the race. Being the last race of every major championship and a big one at that, the 50km can often be an ominous race to challenge. This year was different though. I have never felt so energized and ready to race as this past Olympics. Everyday I filled out my training log with comments like ‘felt great again' or ‘high energy'. I hit my peak just right and I really could feel it. Before the 50km was I was exited to hit the start line for one more chance at the perfect race. The 50km start was chaos as per usual and people were elbowing their way into position. I went with the flow and chose my places to move up in the field on an inside corner or coming into a hill. Soon I found myself at the front of the whole field and decided to ski my own stride and raise the pace just a little. Just a little turned into the better part of ten kilometers in the lead and I decided that was definitely enough time without a draft. Did I waste too much energy...maybe, but it felt right and I would do it again but perhaps only for 3-4km. Me leading the Olympic 50kmDevon lunges mere meters back.
The kilometers ticked by, the lead pack was dwindling, and I still felt relaxed, powerful, and confident that this was my race. I had some of the fastest skis in the pack thanks to our team of technicians and that made it all the more relaxing. Coming up to forty kilometers it was time to change skis (which we were allowed to do and I had done once already) to get on fresh klister and new glide wax. At that point there was about twenty-five skiers still racing with the lead pack. I changed my skis, left the transition area, and had about ten seconds to catch up to the front fifteen who did not change skis. Closing that gap was a feat that took me the next nine kilometers and way too much energy. I still question if I should have switched then. Would the thirty-five kilometer point been a better choice when I had a notch more energy to burst back to the leaders? With less than one kilometer to race I was just starting to link back up to the lead pack stragglers. At that point it was too late, I had used too much energy. The front was surging for the line and I had no choice but watch them power away with fresher legs than I. Devon had maintained contacted with the leaders and was battling for a medal in the final meters of the race. He ended up in fifth. A position that is amazing and heart wrenching at the same time, so close, so strong but no medal. I finished forty seconds later with a time of 2:06:18 in 18th place. This was another personal best for me in the 50km and I was happy, well, just about. It was the last race of the Olympics and at thirty-five kilometers I thought I was fast enough for a top ten, if not better. Nonetheless I had some of my best races on home soil, with home crowds, family, and friends. I am walking away from this Olympics with my head held high and my confidence and motivation also at an all time high. I raced great and my team raced amazing! Now I have one more race in the season and it is another 50km here in Norway. I definitely am not feeling the energy I had in Whistler but I am hoping that it comes up a few notches. The whole mental readiness and physical output of the Olympics has somewhat ‘sunk' me. Putting that much emphasis into two weeks of my life has left me temporarily drained and disoriented. It will be an Olympics that I reflect on for the rest of my life and I hope I never forget the feeling of that home Olympics and everything that went so well for our team. None of it could have been possible without the supporters in my hometown of Rossland, B.C, my friends who came to watch or watched on T.V, and my sponsors:Red Mountain ResortTeckCanadian Athletes Now Fund...and most important my family. Mom, Dad, Dan, Jess, all my family overseas, and my lighthouse in the storm...Lesley...THANK YOU.
Contributed by George Grey, www.georgegrey.ca
