It was a very happy halloween up at Hatcher Pass this morning! HBrooks, Bjornsenator, Kikkanimal, Smythski and Ronski. Goofy girls psyched to have just done a 2.5hr SKI!Thanks to Mark for the great grooming (An H.Brooks pic from yesterday).The “Thing with Wings” Randall flying on her 1 pole drill. We all can’t wait to fly, really. The racing season is less than a month away. Bring it on!
Category: XCFeeds
A collection of live feeds from cross-country ski blogs around the web.
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Happy Halloween from Hatcher Pass
It was a very happy halloween up at Hatcher Pass this morning! HBrooks, Bjornsenator, Kikkanimal, Smythski and Ronski. Goofy girls psyched to have just done a 2.5hr SKI!Thanks to Mark for the great grooming (An H.Brooks pic from yesterday).The “Thing with Wings” Randall flying on her 1 pole drill. We all can’t wait to fly, really. The racing season is less than a month away. Bring it on!
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Nordic Team Coaches Wanted !
Wouldn’t you like to be part of this awesome group? MVNT is currently in need of coaches for the 2010-2011 season and beyond. If you have a few extra hours a week and love sharing Nordic skiing with kids, get in touch … annieb@methownet.com . Previous experience not necessary – just enthusiasm and a lively spirit. -
Nordic Team Coaches Wanted !
Wouldn’t you like to be part of this awesome group? MVNT is currently in need of coaches for the 2010-2011 season and beyond. If you have a few extra hours a week and love sharing Nordic skiing with kids, get in touch … annieb@methownet.com . Previous experience not necessary – just enthusiasm and a lively spirit. -
Nordic Team Coaches Wanted !
Wouldn’t you like to be part of this awesome group? MVNT is currently in need of coaches for the 2010-2011 season and beyond. If you have a few extra hours a week and love sharing Nordic skiing with kids, get in touch … annieb@methownet.com . Previous experience not necessary – just enthusiasm and a lively spirit. -
Nordic Team Coaches Wanted !
Wouldn’t you like to be part of this awesome group? MVNT is currently in need of coaches for the 2010-2011 season and beyond. If you have a few extra hours a week and love sharing Nordic skiing with kids, get in touch … annieb@methownet.com . Previous experience not necessary – just enthusiasm and a lively spirit. -
Halloween
Really creative post by Johnny Klister, I think. Wow. Really creative.
http://johnnyklister.com/2010/10/johnny-klister-halloween-costume-guide-put-down-the-lady-gaga-costume/ -
Fasterskier.com article!
Here is a link to an article written about me.
http://fasterskier.com/2010/09/pros-of-tomorrow-len-valjas/ -
Fasterskier.com article!
Here is a link to an article written about me.
http://fasterskier.com/2010/09/pros-of-tomorrow-len-valjas/ -
Fasterskier.com article!
Here is a link to an article written about me.
http://fasterskier.com/2010/09/pros-of-tomorrow-len-valjas/ -
Fasterskier.com article!
Here is a link to an article written about me.
http://fasterskier.com/2010/09/pros-of-tomorrow-len-valjas/ -
Fun things to do and see in Europe
I love to people watch. Absolutely love it. One of my favorite pastimes, without a doubt. Europe, as you can probably imagine, has proved to be an ever expanding collection of awesomeness for someone with my affinity for checking people out. During our layover in Paris, I spent the entire time posted up in front of one of the security lines with Matt, just watching the people come out. I don’t know exactly, but I’d say we spent at least two hours cracking jokes about everyone we saw. I loved every minute of it.
Here in Muonio I get to combine people watching with one of my other favorite activities: skiing. So far I’ve seen an Estonian who is a dead-ringer for Glenn Randall and a Swedish biathlon coach who strongly reminds me of my dear friend and former coach, Peter Graves. Every time I see Estonian Glenn Randall I wonder what will happen when American Glenn Randall gets here and they ski past each other. I imagine meeting your European doppelganger would be somewhat jarring.
Skiing laps on a 3.8k loop with dozens of other skiers has also given me time to come up with a few conclusions about Europe, which I will now share with you:
– Finns love Finnish-made equipment. I’m talking stuff that has never been seen in the US outside of Minnesota. Rex poles (notable because they are Robin Hood green), Peltonen skis, and the little-known Karhu racing ski (complete with a neon orange base and an awesome name: Volcans. I can only imagine they meant to call them Volcanos? Or maybe Vulcans?) are all represented in force here. I’ve got half a mind to try to trade for the Karhu drink belt I saw this morning.
– Russians train really hard, all the time. There are tons of Russians here right now. Pepa said there were clubs from Moscow and Saint Petersburg, in addition to the national team, whose van says “Russian National Ski Team” in German on it (thumbs up for usage of the word “mannschaft,” always a crowd pleaser). The women in particular seem to be skiing wicked hard all the time. There’s a great clip of Matt being rolled up by a tiny Russian girl just hammering her brains out. Ask him about it. One girl I saw was wearing full warm-ups that she had sweat all the way through. She did not smell great. But, they are fast, so maybe there’s something to their methodology.
– Eastern European coaches hate skiing. Not the sport, but the actual physical act of skiing. So far I’ve seen national team coaches from Estonia, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and I think Latvia (in addition to numerous club coaches from Russia). None of these men ski. They stand around, often together, in big jackets, watching. Always watching. Sometimes they’ll whip out a video camera (the Estonian guy especially likes his camera). Often they’ll shout something at a passing athlete. But seldom do they move and even more seldom do they ski. Groups of them will congregate at trail intersections to chat, smoke cigarettes, and drink from thermoses. I like to think that it is a hold over from the days when the Soviets used to post up guys in the woods to keep athletes from defecting. Poor guys probably don’t know what to do with themselves anymore. Since they are so often in the same places, I’ve taken to nodding to them as I pass, hoping for a nod back. Most give it to me, but the Belorussians have been resisting. I’ll break them, though.
– Pepa is the most popular person on the trails. This should not surprise you. She’s a babe and the only female coach out there (I think the Swedish biathlon team has a few female staff members, but I can’t figure out exactly what they do). All the coaches like to chat with Pepa. It’s been especially great for Chelsea, because she’s scored a few choice interviews through Pepa’s connections. All I know is Pepa better watch out or she’s going to find herself beating off suitors like Odysseus’s wife Penelope.
That’s all I’ve got for now. Gotta get back to my tiny cabin to eat some duo spread (think cake frosting mixed with Nutella) and put my feet up.
Note: I’m just making a joke about the post-communist coaches. I’m sure those guys actually know a lot about skiing and are doing a good job. The difference between the way they conduct themselves on the trails and the ways American coaches act just begs the comparison. No offense meant to Eastern Europeans.
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Holmenkollen
a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Qy8LpbgYOag/TM3VV2NRllI/AAAAAAAAAcI/uq8BWAUYlWY/s1600/emailgrefsenkollen.jpg”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 127px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Qy8LpbgYOag/TM3VV2NRllI/AAAAAAAAAcI/uq8BWAUYlWY/s400/emailgrefsenkollen.jpg” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534314088413369938″ //abr /br /After landing in Oslo, my friend Tore Tajet met the MOD at the airport and whisked us away for a day in the city. Before checking out Holmenkollen – the home of the 2011 World Championships – we stopped by Tajet’s cityscape view from atop Grefsenkollen. Holmenkollen frames the city on the other side.div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2910103639238326543-2214506969637042542?l=methowolympicdevelopment.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
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What did you do this morning?
This is what the APU team did….
Hatcher’s this morning was our first time on snow since our week of skiing on Eagle Glacier in August. I felt awkward for approximately two minutes before the roller ski/snow ski adjustment set in. I suppose that is one of the many benefits of summer glacier skiing…… Here Sadie and Greta pose for an early morning shot as Jack (left) skis into the picture.
The sunshine slowly but surely creeps up over the mountain top. Hatchers in October is absolutely gorgeous if you can’t tell….
APU teammates skiing around one of the loops
“Team skiing!”
The trail conditions forum read “one inch of packed powder – bring your rock skis.” I’m going out with some good boards tomorrow! The trail forum report seemed to keep everyone else in town though… 🙂 Thank you very much to the Strabel family that makes this awesome skiing possible!
Me and Kikkan with coach, Erik Flora
This ski more than made up for the Friday afternoon double pole on black ice that I went on. I’m excited to get some quality sessions on snow before departing for West Yellowstone. Should provide some time to test new skis and gear as well!See you out there,Holly 🙂 -
Stripped down to bare steel…
… then building it back up again.
The old air-cooled bike might not yet quite be road-worthy, but the CB750 Tourer is no longer the oily, dirty rheumatoid tosser purchased earlier this fall. In the last days it’s become an avenging angel of misery; only of the prettiest kind.
That’s all the motorcycle is, a system of concepts worked out in steel. ~Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
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VT State Meet
a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMy3laoPglI/AAAAAAAAFCQ/sMAVS4DrIJk/s1600/IMG_9159.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMy3laoPglI/AAAAAAAAFCQ/sMAVS4DrIJk/s400/IMG_9159.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533999895562650194″ //aWe had our cross country State Meet today in Thetford. Thanks to all of the parents and friends who came out to cheer.br /Special thanks to Herve Pelletier, Lilly and Austin for sharing their pictures.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMy3MhjA9rI/AAAAAAAAFCI/xpZ0Pmze8vw/s1600/IMG_9165.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMy3MhjA9rI/AAAAAAAAFCI/xpZ0Pmze8vw/s400/IMG_9165.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533999467923044018″ //aIt was a cool, damp day. Not bad for running, but not great for spectating.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMy26YAH0ZI/AAAAAAAAFCA/jYXyvf9zzMg/s1600/IMG_9166.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMy26YAH0ZI/AAAAAAAAFCA/jYXyvf9zzMg/s400/IMG_9166.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533999156123128210″ //aOur team runs in the large school division even though we only have 100 students. This is actually very good for us because it provides us with plenty of competition and helps us try to figure out how to run faster. br /All of our kids made some significant improvements this fall, but we still are not great runners. To do better, we will have to run more during the spring and summer so that we have a good platform to work off of during the fall.br /Our girls placed 3rd overall as a team this year. Last year they placed second. Does this mean we were slower? Heck no, we were quite a bit faster, but a couple of teams up north (CVU and Essex) improved even more than we did. I take this as a good sign for VT running in general, the runners are getting faster and that is great.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMy6VQYloFI/AAAAAAAAFCo/_nlkVj6hoqg/s1600/DSC_0077.jpg”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMy6VQYloFI/AAAAAAAAFCo/_nlkVj6hoqg/s400/DSC_0077.jpg” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534002916469612626″ //aPaddy mixes it up in the start. He went from 30th at 1 km, to 23rd at 2 kms, to 8th at the finish. Nice going!br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMy6N7xybeI/AAAAAAAAFCg/c0B-sgquJAA/s1600/DSC_0092.jpg”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMy6N7xybeI/AAAAAAAAFCg/c0B-sgquJAA/s400/DSC_0092.jpg” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534002790679080418″ //aTyler (above) and Mac (below) each set course PR’s today.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMy6DRGF-pI/AAAAAAAAFCY/NCwcOMNJLH0/s1600/DSC_0097.jpg”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMy6DRGF-pI/AAAAAAAAFCY/NCwcOMNJLH0/s400/DSC_0097.jpg” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534002607422831250″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMy0S7EvKoI/AAAAAAAAFBo/sHugMgQwFhs/s1600/Crowd_1553.jpg”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMy0S7EvKoI/AAAAAAAAFBo/sHugMgQwFhs/s400/Crowd_1553.jpg” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533996279319702146″ //aThe girls D1 race. br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMy11H1BQUI/AAAAAAAAFB4/0bopOXjit0w/s1600/IMG_9168.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMy11H1BQUI/AAAAAAAAFB4/0bopOXjit0w/s400/IMG_9168.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533997966370619714″ //aTess had a good race in the Challenge (JV) event. br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMy1UwILNOI/AAAAAAAAFBw/KWi_nqcmDqU/s1600/IMG_9183.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMy1UwILNOI/AAAAAAAAFBw/KWi_nqcmDqU/s400/IMG_9183.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533997410252698850″ //aOur snowboard runner, Pheobe, improved in each race this fall and ended with an excellent effort today.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMyz7BCp4kI/AAAAAAAAFBg/x4EpliGRFCQ/s1600/Rachel_1628.jpg”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 218px; height: 400px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMyz7BCp4kI/AAAAAAAAFBg/x4EpliGRFCQ/s400/Rachel_1628.jpg” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533995868604719682″ //aRachel was 30th at 2 km, but then she started her move and she finished in 8th.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMyzsXjFWFI/AAAAAAAAFBY/x-dd_Gi70wQ/s1600/Issy_1632.jpg”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMyzsXjFWFI/AAAAAAAAFBY/x-dd_Gi70wQ/s400/Issy_1632.jpg” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533995616948279378″ //aIssy P navigates the trail. She had an excellent race and finished 12th.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMyziRHwHKI/AAAAAAAAFBQ/hcoNv_h9ij0/s1600/Heather_1571.jpg”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMyziRHwHKI/AAAAAAAAFBQ/hcoNv_h9ij0/s400/Heather_1571.jpg” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533995443424337058″ //aHeather storms the last hill.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMy7oxbUwjI/AAAAAAAAFCw/mqSp1tGAGM4/s1600/Cam_1608.jpg”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMy7oxbUwjI/AAAAAAAAFCw/mqSp1tGAGM4/s400/Cam_1608.jpg” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534004351268602418″ //aCam ran well and helped our girls place 5 in the top 30.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMyzKKfQtZI/AAAAAAAAFBI/KytQedspR4E/s1600/Hallie_1614.jpg”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMyzKKfQtZI/AAAAAAAAFBI/KytQedspR4E/s400/Hallie_1614.jpg” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533995029327033746″ //aHallie finished right behind Cam and set a course PR on a slippery, muddy day.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMyy144Af6I/AAAAAAAAFBA/5OFhv-aAT4s/s1600/Paddy_1666.jpg”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 343px; height: 400px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMyy144Af6I/AAAAAAAAFBA/5OFhv-aAT4s/s400/Paddy_1666.jpg” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533994681001607074″ //aPaddy gets congratulated for placing in the top 10 and qualifying for the New England Championships.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMyx9IZZRHI/AAAAAAAAFA4/tQjGn47M0yk/s1600/Rachel2_1673.jpg”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 343px; height: 400px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMyx9IZZRHI/AAAAAAAAFA4/tQjGn47M0yk/s400/Rachel2_1673.jpg” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533993705915630706″ //aRachel gets her official handshake.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMyx3Y7esII/AAAAAAAAFAw/k6ZCBP1y_Y4/s1600/Rachel_Issy_1679.jpg”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 343px; height: 400px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TMyx3Y7esII/AAAAAAAAFAw/k6ZCBP1y_Y4/s400/Rachel_Issy_1679.jpg” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533993607274344578″ //abr /Rachel and Issy P with the VT team for the New England Championships. Our team finished 3rd overall and qualified to race at the New England Championships, but we decided to pass on the opportunity in order to do more specific ski training over the next couple of weeks.div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4680416899705879324-4868064773977736056?l=smsxc.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
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Matt’s Take
Hey all-
Here’s my story:
After the long trip over that you’ve all read about by now and a great night in a tiny bed, we all went skiing. There’s a fair amount of snow here (and more coming all the time) but they only had a 3.8k loop open on snow they had saved from last year. It was great. We skied for 2 hours, skating. It was cold and clear and it was skiing. I didn’t feel too good but I had figured it was probably jetlag. It wasn’t. By that night, I had come down with a cold. Runny nose, little bit of a sore throat, headache, that sort of stuff. That keeps me at a clean 50% success rate for traveling and getting sick. So here I was, all the way over (and up) here, and too sick to ski. First, I started eating as many vitamin C’s, D’s, and multivitamins as I could absorb. Like, so much vitamin C that I could practically see the CVS logos in my urine when I peed it out. I sat out the afternoon run, then the ski thursday morning, the run and strength thursday afternoon. I did go for a walk thursday afternoon which was nice but made me wish I could ski even more. I know nobody’s going to feel bad for me being in Finland and on snow in late October, but this was worse than not being near snow at all. I started feeling better Friday morning, but figured if I would ski at all it would be the afternoon 1 hour classic ski, not the morning 2 hour skate. So I sat out again. Actually, I lied out, on my bed, wishing I would get better. Maybe it’s because we’re so close to Santa up here, but my wish came true quicker than I thought. By the afternoon, I was ready to classic ski. And the next morning (this morning), I felt good enough to go again. And this afternoon, I felt better still. So I did miss a few sessions in there, but I’m back now, and even more thankful to be able to ski before halloween.
Aside from the sickness, everything else has been good or interesting. The food is a little funky, but really, liver paste and pickles on bread tastes pretty good. And cooking all our meals on a stovetop is a challenge, but one that we’re up to. And the whole bathroom floor doubling as the shower floor really isn’t that bad. And the dry sauna in every house for training clothes has been downright nice.
The only other interesting tidbit from here has been a new pair of skate boots that felt tight when I tried them on at home but turned out to be a little too tight. I wore them the first day for two hours and by the end my right big toenail had turned black. I’m pretty sure that’s a bad thing, so I’m working on ways to fix it. I tried putting the boots in the clothes sauna and putting them on, I tried skiing without insoles. Still working on the perfect fix. Maybe it’s a bigger pair of boots. But right now that’s not really an option so I’m getting creative.
That’s all from me. Keep your eyes peeled for a blog post from Dylan coming soon entitled: “Positive Hand Gestures: Which One’s Best? A study of the thumbs up, hook-em horns, surf’s up, and a-ok signs” **This may never happen. In fact, it almost definitely won’t.
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Matt’s Take
Hey all-
Here’s my story:
After the long trip over that you’ve all read about by now and a great night in a tiny bed, we all went skiing. There’s a fair amount of snow here (and more coming all the time) but they only had a 3.8k loop open on snow they had saved from last year. It was great. We skied for 2 hours, skating. It was cold and clear and it was skiing. I didn’t feel too good but I had figured it was probably jetlag. It wasn’t. By that night, I had come down with a cold. Runny nose, little bit of a sore throat, headache, that sort of stuff. That keeps me at a clean 50% success rate for traveling and getting sick. So here I was, all the way over (and up) here, and too sick to ski. First, I started eating as many vitamin C’s, D’s, and multivitamins as I could absorb. Like, so much vitamin C that I could practically see the CVS logos in my urine when I peed it out. I sat out the afternoon run, then the ski thursday morning, the run and strength thursday afternoon. I did go for a walk thursday afternoon which was nice but made me wish I could ski even more. I know nobody’s going to feel bad for me being in Finland and on snow in late October, but this was worse than not being near snow at all. I started feeling better Friday morning, but figured if I would ski at all it would be the afternoon 1 hour classic ski, not the morning 2 hour skate. So I sat out again. Actually, I lied out, on my bed, wishing I would get better. Maybe it’s because we’re so close to Santa up here, but my wish came true quicker than I thought. By the afternoon, I was ready to classic ski. And the next morning (this morning), I felt good enough to go again. And this afternoon, I felt better still. So I did miss a few sessions in there, but I’m back now, and even more thankful to be able to ski before halloween.
Aside from the sickness, everything else has been good or interesting. The food is a little funky, but really, liver paste and pickles on bread tastes pretty good. And cooking all our meals on a stovetop is a challenge, but one that we’re up to. And the whole bathroom floor doubling as the shower floor really isn’t that bad. And the dry sauna in every house for training clothes has been downright nice.
The only other interesting tidbit from here has been a new pair of skate boots that felt tight when I tried them on at home but turned out to be a little too tight. I wore them the first day for two hours and by the end my right big toenail had turned black. I’m pretty sure that’s a bad thing, so I’m working on ways to fix it. I tried putting the boots in the clothes sauna and putting them on, I tried skiing without insoles. Still working on the perfect fix. Maybe it’s a bigger pair of boots. But right now that’s not really an option so I’m getting creative.
That’s all from me. Keep your eyes peeled for a blog post from Dylan coming soon entitled: “Positive Hand Gestures: Which One’s Best? A study of the thumbs up, hook-em horns, surf’s up, and a-ok signs” **This may never happen. In fact, it almost definitely won’t.
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