FasterSkier

Category: XCFeeds

A collection of live feeds from cross-country ski blogs around the web.

  • Navarino Recap

    The first race of the season and the first trail race since knee surgery last June are now behind me.  Yesterday turned out to be a great start to the season. I ended up winning the overall in the Navarino Eco Marathon in a time of 2:53:55 averaging 6:38′s for the 26.2 miles of trail.

    The race course was 2 laps of a 13.1 mile loop that was also used for the half-marathon.  The terrain is mostly made up of rolling two track and for the most part is pretty firm and pretty fast to run on.  Wind may have been the largest natural obstacle of the day with 17 mph sustained winds that gusted to 25-30 mph. It was windy enough at one point to actually move me from one side of the two-track to the other side, so yeah, it was stout.

    As I set out on this season I had and still have one goal. I want to work out as many kinks out of my running and racing as I can before the Leadville 100.  I have come a long way since last springs knee surgery but it’s clear there are some issues I need to work out that only come to light when you strap on a timing chip and go from point A to point B at full tilt.

    I managed to create a couple of obstacles for myself on Saturday that were significantly tougher than the wind.  I must have been a little over excited to get things underway. I cracked out the first mile in 5:37. Smart Dan, 25.2 to go, settle down you dummy. That was the start of what became my pacing issue.  I was feeling really good early on and settled into a pretty even pace and came through the half in 1:22:19. I knew that it was a little quick for the first half and had already started to think about the hills on the end of the lap and imagined how big the would seem in a little over an hour.  I’m not sure if the wind was really that much worse on the second loop or if I really lost that much control of my pacing, but watching my splits vary by up to 30 seconds from one mile to the next was becoming a little concerning. Chalk that up as something that I need to work on.

    Around mile 17 I started to have some nutritional issues and found myself panicking.  While I have what I consider the best nutritional system available as my nutritional program, something didn’t sit right.  My stomach started to bunch up and I could actually feel fluid sloshing around in my stomach from one side to the other. I didn’t use anything different than I have over the last few seasons and I’ve never had an issue before. It may never happen again, but it’s clearly something that I need to spend some more time working out before I get into the rest of my season.

    I was able to plod through the rest of the race, relying pretty heavily on the mile markers. 9 to go… you run this far every day. 6 to go… it’s only 10k. 3 to go… if you could suck it up you’d be there in 17 minutes and be done with it.  And so on until the finish at 2:53:55.

    I am in no way upset about the race. Actually, extremely happy that these issue came to the forefront and give me something to focus on other than just logging miles.  Working on these will keep me from becoming complacent and should ensure that I continue to get faster and faster. I am definitely OK with getting faster!

    The next race on the docket is a little different than this one.  I have a little bit of a pause in racing, returning to the starting line on June 5th for the FANS 24 Hour.  This will again, give me the opportunity to work out any kinks, with a focus on running while sleep deprived and fine tuning my fueling.

    Fortitudine Vincimus…

    Navarino Eco Marathon Gear:

    Shoes: Vasque – Transistor FS

    Socks: Darn Tough-  1/4 Sock Cushion

    Shorts: CW-X-  Stabilyx Short

    Fuel: Hammer Mandrin Orange Heed, Endurolytes, Espresso Hammer Gel

  • A Season in Review

    div style=”text-align: center;”I apologize to everyone for how long it has taken to get to this post. The past couple of weeks have seemed to go way too fast with all the decisions and new things that have been going on.br //divdivbr //divdivMy season ended with the SuperTour Finals which were held in Fort Kent, Maine. In my opinion, there is no better way to describe this area of the US better than “the end of the world”. You literally feel off the map when you are there. The town of Fort Kent runs parallel to a river which is the border between Canada and the US, so you are about as far north as you can go in Maine. As frustrating as this is on the 8 hour drive to get there, it was necessary for these races to be located somewhere like this the last couple weeks of March. It actually felt like full on winter during the week of racing when the temperatures were dropping below zero at times./divdivbr //divdivThe week of racing went pretty well for me. The first race was the 8k mass start classic race, held on friday night. I got to practice my newly acquired night racing skills, as the woman didn’t start their race until 5:00 PM. I was able to ski near the front of the pack for the majority of the race but ended up fading a bit in the last couple of kilometers. I was having to work extra hard because of some mediocre kick wax, so it started waring on me by the end when the pace picked up. Regardless it was a fun race and I came away feeling satisfied with my 8th place finish for the day./divdivbr //divdivSaturday was  a 1.4k classic sprint. The race that I was most excited for at this series of races. I felt like my sprinting had been gradually building throughout the season, so I was ready to test it out against the US skiers. In my qualifier round I finished 3rd, 2 seconds out from Ida Sargent, one of my closest competitors in sprinting this year, and 4 seconds out from Kikkan Randall. Kikkan finished 8th in the classic sprint at the Olympics previously this year, so I was feeling pretty good that I had closed some of the time gap since I last competed against her at Nationals in Anchorage. In Alaska she had managed to space herself 13 seconds ahead of me in the 1.4k course.  /divdivbr //divdiva onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S8sdYlnnQAI/AAAAAAAAASI/USFTj1Lz1ys/s1600/Bjornsen.jpg”img src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S8sdYlnnQAI/AAAAAAAAASI/USFTj1Lz1ys/s320/Bjornsen.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461491281369186306″ style=”display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px; ” //a/divdivThroughout the next three races that completed the elimination rounds I pushed hard and built throughout the day. My quarterfinal heat started with a hard bang and refused to back off until the three of us racing for 1st and 2nd positions crossed the line, posting the fastest quarterfinal heat. We then went on to the tightly packed semi-final heat, that pushed hard throughout the course posting again the fastest semi-final heat. Ida and I crossed the line 1st and 2nd, excited to challenge for the final. In all the sprinting that I have done yet this season, I have failed to be able to stay strong throughout the three elimination heats. The finals I always drop the plow and drag until the finish. So I was determined to change that with this last sprint of the season. I started hard, and tired a bit over the top of the hill where Holly Brooks managed to squeeze past- but still crossed the line in fourth. I did die down a bit, but this was by far the best I had ever held myself together for the finals. So as disappointed as I was to miss the podium, which I was so close, I was happy with my 4th place finish for personal goal oriented reasons. /divdivbr //divdiva onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S8sdS0sLg7I/AAAAAAAAASA/TZEzKX8U0LM/s1600/tour+3.jpg”img src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S8sdS0sLg7I/AAAAAAAAASA/TZEzKX8U0LM/s320/tour+3.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461491182335656882″ style=”display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 261px; ” //a/divdivSunday was my race I had been least looking forward to the entire week. A hill climb, the race that you ski up an alpine run. I decided it was best to not preview the course, and just go with the unexpected. I figured the less I knew, the better. The first two kilometers were normal terrain- rolling throughout the trees. We then made a hard left and started the death march up the mountain. I went into this race thinking it was better not to hold back any energy at the beginning, regardless I was going to be in a lot of pain and die as I hit the wall. So that is exactly what I did. As painful as the hill was, the end actually came sooner than I expected. I managed to be passed by three skiers on the way up, but held my top ten overall position until the end. I crossed the finish line in 8th overall for the mini series of races, the same place I had finished on the first day. As fun as it was to try this little climb up the alpine run, it is not my favorite type of race. I am glad we don’t have to do many of those as nordic ski racers!/divdivbr //divdivSo with the conclusion of the Super Tour races, the season officially came to an end. This season has seemed long, starting racing early in November- but in many ways it felt like a break away season. Even though the first three months were far below where I would have like to ski, because of some mistakes with training early on, I felt like I learned a ton. I was able to make something of the last two and a half months of my season. Racing in Europe really opened my horizon on what is out there. Not only what is out there, but the fact that we can be there. If the US skiers commit to racing at this higher level, we can easily fight for podium positions. I know from the two months that I spent knocking heads on the OPA racing circuit this year, I gained an endless amount of not only experience and skills, but confidence. I am walking away from this season more excited and determined than I ever have, and am confident next year I can be right there./divdivbr //divdivThanks to everyone that has made this year possible and offered their support in many various ways. You guys are making it possible- and I truly appreciate it!/divdivbr //divdivHave a great Spring!/divdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2910103639238326543-694547307419409113?l=methowolympicdevelopment.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div

  • Cash Money Weekends.

    pEverybody’s working for the weekend.  Except Marolt.  He’s just getting drunk./p

  • My prediction: he’ll hold even until the last round and then blast forward taking all of the chips. (click here)

  • This would be funnier if it wasn’t how we treat athletes in the US….(click here)

  • Click here to get really pissed about the fact that Bill Marolt makes $652,000, whist driving drunk, plundering and pillaging and generally ignoring most of our sport.

  • the mayo and more…

    ever wonder what a kombucha mushroom looks like?

    ever wonder what a kombucha mushroom looks like?

    Since my last update I have been to the famous Mayo clinic for some extensive testing. The first day I went down there all the tests showed that my pulse was ‘obliterated’ when I contracted my calf muscle. Also, from my previous MRI the doctors could see an extra ’slip’ of muscle attachment behind my knee. So at the end of that long day it seemed like everyone was in agreement that my feet knumbness and calf pain was a vascular problem… So on day two at the mayo I met with the vascular surgeon, but he was not convinced that my problem was a vascular one. He wanted a more ‘in depth’ MRI to look at before making any more decisions. So 2 days later I was back at the Mayo for an MRI. Then I went home to wait untill the next week for the results of that MRI… which were inconclusive. I need to go back for more tests. So on the 26th I go back down to the mayo for some compartment pressure tests.
    As for the thumb… I went back yesterday for another post-op, and my thumb joint is once again broken. The doctor said I pretty much have 3 options: leave it broken ( I don’t really think this is an option, because as it is now it hurts like a mother humper), try the joint repair surgery again (she thinks the chances of it working are pretty slim, because I had so much damage and it was out of joint for such a long time), or fuse the joint permanently. So I have surgery scheduled on the 29th to repair the joint if it looks like theres a pretty good chance of it taking, but if the cartilage looks too damaged for the repair I will have my thumb fused.
    So the last couple of weeks have been a bit stressful, and I have some more craziness coming up… but I have been trying my best to hang onto my sanity by starting a garden (I started sprouting seeds in a ‘greenhouse’ which is an old doughnut display case), I have been brewing my own homemade kombucha, and I have been entering some recipes (with cooking videos) into Paula Deen’s cooking competition!

    my little sprouts! Tomatoes, Beets, Peppers, Basil...

    my little sprouts! Tomatoes, Beets, Peppers, Basil…

  • Durian

    span class=”Apple-style-span” style=” color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;”div class=”wp-caption alignnone” style=”border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-right-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-left-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); text-align: center; background-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); padding-top: 4px; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; border-top-left-radius: 3px 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px 3px; width: 490px; “div style=”text-align: center;”a rel=”attachment wp-att-176″ href=”http://xcskilife.com/?attachment_id=176” style=”color: rgb(0, 83, 138); font-weight: 800; text-decoration: none; “span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-family:arial;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-size: small;”br /img title=”New York 052″ src=”http://xcskilife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/New-York-052-480×360.jpg” alt=”” width=”480″ height=”360″ style=”border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-color: initial; ” //span/span/a/divp class=”wp-caption-text” style=”text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 4px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 4px; line-height: 17px; “span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-family:arial;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-size: small;”Walking through China Town, I saw a spiky fruit I had never seen before./span/span/p/divp style=”margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; “span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-family:arial;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-size: small;”What better way to experience a new piece of fruit than to buy it and bring it back to the LCO Boys and Girls Club./span/span/pdiv id=”attachment_177″ class=”wp-caption aligncenter” style=”display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-right-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-left-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); text-align: center; background-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); padding-top: 4px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; border-top-left-radius: 3px 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px 3px; width: 490px; “a rel=”attachment wp-att-177″ href=”http://xcskilife.com/?attachment_id=177” style=”color: rgb(0, 83, 138); font-weight: 800; text-decoration: none; “span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-family:arial;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-size: small;”img class=”size-medium wp-image-177″ title=”Durian 001″ src=”http://xcskilife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Durian-001-480×360.jpg” alt=”” width=”480″ height=”360″ style=”border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-color: initial; ” //span/span/ap class=”wp-caption-text” style=”margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 4px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 4px; line-height: 17px; “span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-family:arial;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-size: small;”The Treasure Hunt is on!/span/span/p/divdiv id=”attachment_180″ class=”wp-caption aligncenter” style=”display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-right-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-left-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); text-align: center; background-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); padding-top: 4px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; border-top-left-radius: 3px 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px 3px; width: 385px; “a rel=”attachment wp-att-180″ href=”http://xcskilife.com/?attachment_id=180” style=”color: rgb(0, 83, 138); font-weight: 800; text-decoration: none; “span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-family:arial;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-size: small;”img class=”size-medium wp-image-180″ title=”Durian 003″ src=”http://xcskilife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Durian-003-e1271510944118-375×500.jpg” alt=”” width=”375″ height=”500″ style=”border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-color: initial; ” //span/span/ap class=”wp-caption-text” style=”margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 4px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 4px; line-height: 17px; “span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-family:arial;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-size: small;”The Next Clue is… ‘Let’s play basketball outside’/span/span/p/divp style=”margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-align: center; “/pp style=”margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-align: center; “a rel=”attachment wp-att-181″ href=”http://xcskilife.com/?attachment_id=181” style=”color: rgb(0, 83, 138); font-weight: 800; text-decoration: none; “img class=”aligncenter size-medium wp-image-181″ title=”Durian 002″ src=”http://xcskilife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Durian-002-e1271510918423-375×500.jpg” alt=”” width=”375″ height=”500″ style=”border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; ” //a/pdiv id=”attachment_182″ class=”wp-caption aligncenter” style=”display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-right-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-left-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); text-align: center; background-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); padding-top: 4px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; border-top-left-radius: 3px 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px 3px; width: 385px; “a rel=”attachment wp-att-182″ href=”http://xcskilife.com/?attachment_id=182” style=”color: rgb(0, 83, 138); font-weight: 800; text-decoration: none; “span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-family:arial;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-size: small;”img class=”size-medium wp-image-182″ title=”Durian 005″ src=”http://xcskilife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Durian-005-e1271512287150-375×500.jpg” alt=”What is it?” width=”375″ height=”500″ style=”border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-color: initial; ” //span/span/ap class=”wp-caption-text” style=”margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 4px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 4px; line-height: 17px; “span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-family:arial;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-size: small;”What is it?/span/span/p/divp style=”margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-align: center; “/pdiv id=”attachment_183″ class=”wp-caption aligncenter” style=”display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-right-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-left-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); text-align: center; background-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); padding-top: 4px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; border-top-left-radius: 3px 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px 3px; width: 490px; “a rel=”attachment wp-att-183″ href=”http://xcskilife.com/?attachment_id=183” style=”color: rgb(0, 83, 138); font-weight: 800; text-decoration: none; “span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-family:arial;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-size: small;”img class=”size-medium wp-image-183″ title=”Durian 006″ src=”http://xcskilife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Durian-006-480×360.jpg” alt=”” width=”480″ height=”360″ style=”border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-color: initial; ” //span/span/ap class=”wp-caption-text” style=”margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 4px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 4px; line-height: 17px; “span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-family:arial;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-size: small;”Durian Fruit/span/span/p/divp style=”margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; “span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-family:arial;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-size: small;”Together we goggled ’spiky fruit’ and were able to find images and information about the Durian. The fruit doesn’t smell very good. One article mentioned that in some places the fruit is banned in public places. The taste is described as delightful, but our fruit might have gone bad. It was all I could do not to throw up. Still, we did enjoy learning about a new fruit and it was fun to play with the spiky husk and slimy insides./span/span/pp style=”margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; “span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-family:arial;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-size: small;”See if you can find out more about the Durian. You can start by reading this article /span/span

  • Durian

    Walking through China Town, I saw a spiky fruit I had never seen before.

    What better way to experience a new piece of fruit than to buy it and bring it back to the LCO Boys and Girls Club.

    The Treasure Hunt is on!

    The Next Clue is… 'Let's play basketball outside'

    What is it?

    What is it?

    Durian Fruit

    Together we goggled ’spiky fruit’ and were able to find images and information about the Durian.  The fruit doesn’t smell very good.  One article mentioned that in some places the fruit is banned in public places.  The taste is described as delightful, but our fruit might have gone bad.  It was all I could do not to throw up.  Still, we did enjoy learning about a new fruit and it was fun to play with the spiky husk and slimy insides.

    See if you can find out more about the Durian.  You can start by reading this article http://asiancuisine.suite101.com/article.cfm/durian__the_king_of_fruit

  • Honeysuckle and Ticks

    I came to Maine for the month of April with the intention of helping my Dad move. Packing up boxes and going through old stuff has kept me occupied, but I also got a temporary job working for the Kennebec Land Trust. The KLT has many conservation properties all over Kennebec County and my task for the month of April is to pull invasive honeysuckle at a property in Vassalboro. Apparently pulling invasive species is my calling in life…

    For those not in the know, pulling invasive plants is really hard work. Yesterday I actually counted how many individual plants I pulled and it came to over 400 in a 6 1/2 hour work day. I’m getting so good at spotting honeysuckle that I can pick out little 2 inch high seedlings tucked among the fallen leaves. I’ve been looking for honeysuckle so much that when I close my eyes I still see it. Seriously. Some honeysuckle plants are little ones like this:

    Just a little guy

    Just a little guy

    And then there are huge patches:

    Before pulling

    Before pulling

    After pulling

    After pulling

    Some of the plants are way over my head and have a really solid root system. If I can’t get it out by myself using a shovel, I mark it with surveying tape so that I can come back next week and attack it with some help. After pulling the plants I hang them over the branch of a tree so the roots will dry out and die. I try to hang them away from the trail so no one can see them but it’s really hard to find enough trees with branches low enough for me to reach, so now the property looks like some weird fungal growth has attacked a lot of the trees. I like to think that I hang the dead plants up as a warning to potential honeysuckle seedlings. “Stop! Do not grow anymore or you’ll end up like these poor souls!”

    One reason this property is a high priority for invasive work is that it is home to an extremely rare hybrid of white oak and swamp oak. Apparently it is the only place in the entire state of Maine that this hybrid has been found. I’m not much of a botanist, but the special oaks do look pretty cool. They are kind of creepy without leaves on them.

    scary oak tree

    scary oak tree

    As I said above, my record so far is 400 individual plants in one day and each plant requires you to bend down a minimum of one time. But about 1 in 3 plants require you to bend down 2 or 3 times because inevitably a root breaks off and you have to go fish around for it in the dirt. For the bigger plants it’s necessary to really squat down and pull with all your might. Needless to say, I’m really tired by the end of the day!

    Despite the hard work, it’s great to be outside in the woods all day. The only real downside to this job is ticks. Ticks are disgusting, foul, disease-carrying insects and I am pretty sure they serve no useful or necessary purpose in the ecosystem. I’m also pretty sure they are the only living things that would survive a nuclear attack. My tick evasion methods are extensive. First, I tuck my Carhartts into knee-high boots and then I put duct tape around the top of the boots. My shirts get tucked into my Carhartts. Then I put a bandanna around my hair and a bug spray covered hat on top of that. You might say that this is ridiculous, and you would be correct. But I’d rather look ridiculous than have ticks crawling on me. I really hate ticks. However, my interest in country music has increased dramatically lately and Brad Paisley came to the rescue with this lovely song. I’ve had it stuck in my head for days. It’s great.

    So my primary thoughts these days are about honeysuckle and ticks, but I have also managed to have some more vacation-like fun. I had a great trip to Boston last weekend to visit some family and friends. And I’ve been out riding my bike in the nice spring weather. It’s lots of fun here but I’m looking forward to getting back to Craftsbury soon and getting to work in the garden!

  • Absurd Product Friday

    pApparently, when the season is over, people hang out on the interwebs and search for the most ridiculous semi-ski related products.  Tons of submissions of weirdo things to meter out over the next few weeks.  Move over Cat-skis, this stuff makes you seem mainstream.  You aren’t. /p

  • I don’t know about you, but I’m fired up for the…

    img src=”http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l0zuftyZ3h1qzt3xbo1_500.jpg”/br/br/pI don’t know about you, but I’m fired up for the Slegar Test Team.  First round draft has to go to Cloxxi, the Cat-Ski guy and anyone writing sustainability articles on Fasterskier in the next two or three months./p

  • Holy Shit.  Tri- Assial- Fibre.  That translates to…

    img src=”http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l0zuap25u51qzt3xbo1_500.jpg”/br/br/pHoly Shit.  Tri- Assial- Fibre.  That translates to three-asspowered-fiber according to

  • Cads. Just Cads. (click here)

  • The RunBike: Because You’re Too Fat to Run (click here)

  • Chariot Skates: For When Rollerblades are Lame Enough (click here)

  • GMVS XC Offers Coached Sessions throughout Summer 2010

    a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3c1Nv5NLyNg/S8ifZhkR9PI/AAAAAAAABe8/efnyTHKcAxA/s1600/JB+Leads+NENSA+Camp.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3c1Nv5NLyNg/S8ifZhkR9PI/AAAAAAAABe8/efnyTHKcAxA/s400/JB+Leads+NENSA+Camp.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460789809042814194″ border=”0″ //abr /GMVS XC is pleased to offer over twenty supervised training sessions this summer. All training sessions are listed on a Google doc calendar (link on top right of blog). This is a great chance for local Vermont athletes, or folks visiting from further away, to join GMVS athletes and coaches for quality training sessions. Coaches Justin Beckwith and Tim Weston will provide coaching during these listed times.br /br /**To access a google calendar you MUST sign up for a google account. Takes two minutes!br /Once you get to the google calendar add: beck@gmvs.org in the “Other Calendar” window br /in the bottom left of screen. This should work.br /br /A nominal fee of $150 covers coaching (video analysis, transportation, potential lodging between sessions and snacks). Drop in sessions are more than welcome and free of charge. Please inquire with Justin Beckwith at beck@gmvs.org with questions.br /br /All listed sessions start at 9am at the Sports Center at GMVS unless otherwise posted.div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1847564486460994594-6001717627188044302?l=gmvsxc.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div

  • Rabbit Creek touring

    My brother is in town this week.  Today we headed up Rabbit Creek valley for some touring and low-angle turns in the new snow.  Perfect conditions: a very firm, smooth base with a few inches of cold, dry powder on top.  We had the entire valley to ourselves.  Skiing on extra blue on April 15th. […]

  • The stoke is high.

    Every race this year is training for Leadville. The stoke is high. Bring it.

  • Sinner’s Gatorade Press Release

    Last fall David was named Gatorade Player of the Year for Cross-Country Running in VT.br /br /Here is a link to the press release. http://playeroftheyear.gatorade.com/assets/writable/press/2009-10_BC_DSinclair.pdfdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1847564486460994594-3904059083028349361?l=gmvsxc.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div