Post-Birkie

I made it! I finished my first ever 52km race and even walked away from the finish line all on my own! I was pretty excited about that. My first ever Birkie experience was a good one. I think I lucked out with beautiful sunny weather, fast skiing and great snow. I work hard to follow the only instructions I was given for the race; eat and drink early and often and ski in a pack!
I worked pretty hard the first few kilometers to stay with the front pack. After about six kilometers of that I started to get nervous that I was expending too much energy too early and would end up bonking. I really did not want to bonk. So I backed off a bit and ended up skiing with four other women who did the same as me. I felt pretty strong most of the race. I had a moment with about 18km to go where I thought I was going to hit a wall, but I worked through it and finished pretty strong. I maybe could have even picked it up a bit more towards the end, but again I was nervous I would start my surge to early and end up loosing time in the end.
I defiantly learned a lot throughout the race and feel that my second time around I can ski it even better. I'm happy with my eleventh place for now.
Cheers,
BethAnn