Mini-post: Antarctic Birkie, 2014 edition

A short post about my second Antarctic Birkie.

For those of you who weren't following me on my last adventure in the Antarctic, here is the link to my first Antarctic Birkie experience.

The morning of my Birkie (the day after the Birkie at home, since I have to work Saturdays), the weather was actually pretty similar to what was going on in Cable, WI on race day. Single digit temps and a nice wind.

Getting ready to go in my office at Crary

Racing suits aren't really made to stand up to 20 knot winds, so I dressed a little warmer than I normally would have for a race.
This close to winter, the only trails open for skiing are Castle Rock and the road to LDB, both of which are a hike from station, which means that my Birkie this year was more of a duathlon. I ran about four miles out to the snow road with my skis and poles in hand, boots in a pack on my back.

The one photo I was able to get before my camera died. Taken on the road to Scott base, during my run out to snow.

Once I got to snow, I traded my running shoes for my ski gear. The snow was okay for skiing, not great,  but not nearly the slog that it sounds like the real thing was back home. Most of the road was pretty icy or windblown, but if I stayed to the sides I could usually find some decent snow. Most of the way out to LDB was very slow since I was fighting the wind, but I flew on the way back. I kind of wish I'd had a kite or a sail. That would have been a lot of fun.
I got back to the gravel road and switched back to my running stuff and headed back to McMurdo. I will say that running with skis and poles is not my favorite thing, but it was definitely worth it to get to ski on Birkie day.