By finishing her 30 km virtual Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot today, Susan Sugai joined her “Kneed to Ski” teammates Bill Husby and Byron Broda in completing the Sonot Kkaazoot hat trick (all three of the official 2021 virtual Sonot Kkaazoot courses). When Bill, Byron, and Susan skied in the 2015 Turkey Day Relays, “Kneed to Ski” had the oldest skiers with the youngest knees because all three skiers have had bilateral total knee replacements. (https://www.adn.com/commentary/article/kneed-ski-team/2015/11/28/)

When Bill and Byron completed the 10, 30, and 50 km virtual courses, some of them more than once, the pressure was on Mother SCUM to ski the 30 km this weekend. She skate skied the 30 km virtual Sonot Kkaazoot in two segments, 15+ km on Saturday and the remaining trails on the 6 deg snow this morning. Her combined time was 3:18:51.

On Saturday, temperatures warmed from 22 to 26 degs as Susan skied the start loop of the South Tower and Roller Coaster Bypass, then completed all the black loops, blue, Outhouse, Tower and Medevac trails:

On Sunday, temperatures were in the low single digits so Susan utilized some of Christina Turman’s power hour training to doublepole in the tracks when it was faster than skating on slow snow:

Norma Haubenstock, who wisely chose to classical ski, motivated me to ski faster and more efficiently so I wouldn’t lose the distance I gained on the downhills and graduals quite so quickly on the steep uphill sections. Watching younger skiers ahead of me pause on Heartrate Hill and in Moilanen Meadows convinced me that my pain was real.

However, once the finish line was in sight, I knew I could doublepole across it. The pain of having to doublepole and single stick uphill in subzero new snow at UAF in Christina’s power hour FXC Masters class made my finish today possible. My legs thank you Christina! (However, my wrist is complaining).