Word: lap
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Whatever confidence my shooting brought on quickly faded once I got back out on the course for lap four. Feeling my energy reserves dropping by the minute, I downshifted to "survival pace." Not designed to win races, or increase my self-esteem, or pass anyone or cut my 10k split, this tactic is designed to allow the completion of the race without a major physical breakdown...
...FULL STOP This maneuver inexplicably failed on the hill of lap four. As I came into the steep grade of the hill I stepped on my right foot and planted my right pole in the snow. Next I went to push with my right pole and step onto my left foot, thus moving myself forward. Instead of the expected motion forward, this reliable method of propelling myself on skis resulted in net zero progress. I've fallen down skiing countless times, I've stumbled, I've crumpled, I've flopped. I've jammed a pole into the snow between...
...time at the long sinister uphill that I know I have to do this time, and then once more, before I can take a right turn at the bottom of the hill and go toward the sign that says "Finish." (I don't consider crossing the finish line one lap short. I'd rather viewed as a quitter than as just plain dumb). If this were the last time up the hill, I know it would be different. The last time you have to do anything awful it usually goes pretty smoothly. We have an automatic "last time" circuit that...
...start down the descent, it slowly dawns on me that I'm home free. I've got some easy skiing, a shooting stop, and then it'll be my LAST LAP. My clever escape plan fades into the background, and I start thinking how I'll celebrate finishing. This reverses the negative cascade of thinking that has engulfed me for the last 10 minutes, and I start feeling positive and having fun. I don't shoot so well (hitting two out of five), but I have a much easier time on the last lap...
...format is also different, and from my standpoint psychologically favors the shooting component more. During the first race, every missed shot translated into a one-minute time penalty. This format provides an enormous incentive to shoot well, but does not really give the same mental boost as the penalty lap format used during the second race. In the penalty lap format, there is no time penalty, but you must ski an extra 150-meter loop for every shot missed. Since I am a better shooter than skier, the shooting range becomes my only place of potential glory in this kind...