Merino Muster Race Recap

After a day exploring Melbourne, which included visiting the National Gallery of Victoria, seeing penguins at St. Kilda Pier, getting stuck in an elevator, and eating some delicious Iraqi food, my dad and I hopped on a plane to New Zealand. 

(left) Enjoying a beer at the beach! (right) Getting stuck in an elevator for 10 minutes wasn't on my bucket list for the trip, but I made a new friend and got some chocolate so net positive experience. 

We arrived in Queenstown as the sun was setting over the mountains, and there was a comforting familiarity in the soft light of the alpen glow. We made the short drive to Wānaka in the dark, trying to imagine what the landscape around us might reveal in the morning. We were certainly not disappointed. Our first day at the snow farm was incredible, with a spotless blue sky and pleasantly cold temps. It was dream skiing, and there was lots of it. 

There was only one small hitch. That pesky cold I picked up on the flight was persistent, and since we were traveling, driving, and living in the same space, my dad inevitably came down with it too. If anything, I seemed to become even more ill a week in rather than less. Perhaps it was the whole “racing and traveling while sick” that hindered recovery. Considering that, my plan to ski most of the morning, then run in the mountains around Wānaka in the afternoon was thwarted. I’ll be honest that being sick had me a bit down for a few days, mostly because it's not fun at all, and because I felt like I was leaving so much undone and unexplored. I don’t get sick often, so when I do it’s jarring, but, we can’t choose when we get sick, and there’s not much to dobesides take good care of ourselves and find the silver lining. My silver lining included lots of afternoon walks by the lake, visiting many cafes, window shopping, and going to bed unabashedly at 9:00pm. 

Famous Wanaka Willow Tree. 

After three of some of the most beautiful sunny days I’ve ever seen (as an Idaho girl that's saying something), thin wispy cirrus clouds drifted into the flawless blue, signalling an unfortunate change in the weather. As predicted, the wind started to pick up, and bigger, more ominous clouds gathered around the peaks of the nearby Aspiring Range. Race day was shaping up to be very windy, and potentially very wet. 

White caps on Lake Wanaka: a completely different lake than the night before. 

I’ve gotten some flack in the past about 'glorifying' hard and punishing race day conditions, but I can’t help that I’m drawn to the days that challenge not just your physical fitness, but also your mental toughness, and emotional durability. I genuinely enjoy the days that throw you curve balls, partially because I think they bend the odds in my favor. That's not to say they aren't hard. I wouldn’t say that when I woke up at 6am and drove to the start in the dark that I was relishing the idea of 42 kilometers of racing in less than ideal weather and with a lingering illness. As with most races, once the gun goes off, my brain reboots into race mode and settles into what it knows how to do. 

I was able to hang with the lead group (4 guys and 2 gals) for about 5km until a strong gust of wind blew my pole between my legs and I tripped (but didn’t fall!). The wind was so strong that was all it took to get disconnected from the group, and even though I got pretty close to reeling them in around 10km, I just couldn’t quite do it. So it was just me vs. the wind; and I was genuinely having a blast. Similar to the Hoppet, the wind added an element to the race that made it impossible to disengage mentally. Whether I was grinding head down directly into a 40km/h gust (24mph), or navigating keeping my equipment straight in a crosswind, or relishing the jet blast of a tailwind, there was always something to keep me occupied. Beyond all reason, I found that I felt better when I was skiing directly into the wind, maybe because I have slightly psychotic delight in such conditions. 

Even though I was alone out there, and pretty far ahead of third, I was racing hard, being aggressive, and pushing myself. I ended up second on the day, and it was a race and an effort I felt proud of. And that's all we can ask of ourselves on any given day; to give our best effort no matter the circumstances. 

Podium: (1st) Anastasia Kuzmina (2nd) Annika Landis (3rd) Linnea Magnusson 

Full Results Here 

Whether it was a good week of relative rest, or the Sudafed, I felt healthy-ish for the first time in a while, and I trusted that my body could handle going hard. By the end of the race, I was exhausted from fighting a headwind for 40km, but delighted that I had a good race. Time for one of New Zealand's famous craft beers and a good rest!