Getting 100% out of me

I was thinking about ranting about drug use in sport, the media emphasis on the economy, or Veltec not being able to deliver two frames I have had on order since October. Fortunately I went for a ski with Dr. Big Deal yesterday and have something positive to focus on. It was a great day up at Nickel Plate, and we made the most of it. Tom wanted to classic ski in preparation for the Loppet this weekend. That worked great for me because then we could actually ski together....yeah I was skate skiing. And yes he is still a bit faster than me on his classic skis. Over the years Tommy and I have spent many hours training together. However, in the last couple years my focus has drifted away from elite level fitness limiting our training time together. Fortunately with us both having the day off from work, Tommy and I have been getting out on the xc skis on Mondays. Since I met Tom out on ride about 8 years ago there have been countless competitions between us, mostly initiated by Tom. Whether it is sprinting to the top of a climb, strength challenges at the gym, or Meadow Matches on the xc skis Tom always seems to think taking it to limit is the best way to have fun. Yesterday was no exception and we had a couple races around the upper meadow...which added some very high intensity intervals to my longest ski of the year. After the second Meadow Match (probably 90 seconds of skiing flat-out) I was shaky and exhausted and still had about 5km of skiing to finish the planned 30km. In those last kilometers I had one really hard crash because my legs couldn't handle a couple ruts at the bottom of a descent and I was also in survival mode on the last couple climbs. I eventually reached the cabin knowing I had worked hard and gotten the most out of myself on that day. That has been a success of Tom's that he probably never intended, but he makes me get the most out of myself when we train together. And for those keeping score I won one and lost one Meadow Match yesterday.