On Mar 1, 6:44*pm, rw wrote:

the XC skiing in the Olympics was interesting but dispiriting. They
skate my usual distance (about 9 km) in less than half the time I do.

Sounds about right for us average folk. This past fall I was in decent
jogging shape and my top sustainable pace was about 6-6.5mph, a little
less than half a top marathoner. World class athletes are something
else altogether, and really quite amazing to me, rather than
dispiriting.

Jon.