After 3 postponements, todays race was finally cancelled. At the low point on the course it was -27 C at 1 pm (that’s -16 F)! Lucky for me I only live a couple miles from the park and didn’t have to hang out there all day. Instead I watched the new classic span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-style: italic;”Superbad. /spandivbr //divdivTomorrow should be the classic sprint, then the distance classic race Thursday. The forecast looks promising starting Thursday. It could be as high as 15 F!/divdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5871152313769582978-84164825309400707?l=jamessoutham.blogspot.com’//div
Category: XCFeeds
A collection of live feeds from cross-country ski blogs around the web.
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SAME ‘OL SITUATION
a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SWPkXrNs4DI/AAAAAAAAAfU/xAkAJmgdHto/s1600-h/IMG_0175.JPG”img style=”margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 152px; height: 200px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SWPkXrNs4DI/AAAAAAAAAfU/xAkAJmgdHto/s200/IMG_0175.JPG” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288321482851409970″ border=”0″ //aIt was too cold to race today, again. Burrr, is all I have to say about that. It sounds like they are again, going to try to hold the classic sprint tomorrow (Wednesday). It is needed for qualifying athletes for the coming trips and competition teams so it takes priority at this point.br /br /If you are in the area, try the Snow City Cafe on west 4th Ave. Their jam (present at every table) tastes like raspberries from the bush, no joke. The whole menu pretty much rocks, but the jam is the best I have ever tasted (except my Uncle Norm’s, obvi).br /br /I gave some classic intervals a go today and found that I am not quite there yet. I will stick to skating, swimming and the gym for a while longer. No reason to rush things at this point.br /br /Be well and stay warm if you can.div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4299718529371785873-4089857281974712553?l=in-the-arena-kate.blogspot.com’//div
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Almost pretty good
Today went okay. I started a little conservative with my first split in 7th, then 6th, 5th, 4th by the end of the 1st lap and building. Winning was not in the cards with Kris skiing really well and me feeling good but not quite as sharp as I would have hoped. With a 2k to go I was only a few seconds behind Leif who ended the day in 2nd when coming off a downhill into the stadium my ski hit a patch of ice and before I knew it I was on the ground. I got back up pretty quick but my momentum was gone and so was the podium… divbr //divdivTomorrow has been changed from the sprint race to the distance classic race that has been lengthened from 10k to 15k. Classic has been better for me this year. Until tomorrow. /divdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5871152313769582978-5166552411063568250?l=jamessoutham.blogspot.com’//div
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5/10k FREESTYLE
We woke, we took the temperature and WE RACED! It was a 5/10k freestyle – top 12 results are below. br /br /My back held strong today (although I am out of shape after my time off). That is all I could really have hoped for so I am content. I was 19th, 1:15.3 out.br /br /Tomorrow is now a race day with a 10/15k classic scheduled. I will not be doing the classic events this week, but have intervals (classic) scheduled for tomorrow. It will be my third hard workout since West Yellowstone, over a month ago and my first classic interval test. br /br /Sometimes you just have to swallow today and start getting fired up about tomorrow.br /br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SWK1tO3ZOSI/AAAAAAAAAes/iL5-Nb2As8A/s1600-h/IMG_0147.JPG”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 170px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SWK1tO3ZOSI/AAAAAAAAAes/iL5-Nb2As8A/s400/IMG_0147.JPG” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287988701175560482″ border=”0″ //aa onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SWK1tSq3m2I/AAAAAAAAAe0/I3TbLzjfaCA/s1600-h/IMG_0148.JPG”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 141px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SWK1tSq3m2I/AAAAAAAAAe0/I3TbLzjfaCA/s400/IMG_0148.JPG” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287988702196767586″ border=”0″ //abr /Congratulations to Caitlyn on the win, Alexa for returning from surgery and rocking a 7th!!! and to Nicole De Yong, who looks as if she found that sweet-spot
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Kershaw’s Korner: Argh. I finished the Tour, but not how I wanted…
Ok, so in order to keep my focus on the task at hand (mainly, waking up every morning, smiling and throwing the bib on for another fun filled day of putting myself into severe oxygen debt), I had been outwardly modest with my expectations for this year’s Tour De Ski. In reality, after 5 races, sitting in 7th overall, even after some sprinting woes, and only a 20km classic mass start and 11km uphill skate stage remaining, my eyes and heart was focused on much loftier aspirations…
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INFRINGEMENT
div style=”text-align: center;”object width=”320″ height=”266″ class=”BLOG_video_class” id=”BLOG_video-4b9e0dddf97c943a” classid=”clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000″ codebase=”http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0″param name=”movie” value=”http://www.blogger.com/img/videoplayer.swf?videoUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvp.video.google.com%2Fvideodownload%3Fversion%3D0%26secureurl%3DqAAAAPCZD0ddCGBZjZs6HcCGJYeKSPQwr4z4fULODaGfBTTSBP8c9-9kqkWg_GMoIKnQjmxvV_Kx7cNOSVUfs1dyyxgvTvZXMJDPGA5aMPurAlsz4Z1lCQp7kUluRzNZQS4CMQGGA67ldqKcb7hfc5zoxJrURj-megP1ZpS_gQZdtMrJGqsby0-OwQx5uBjpl_Gsn1SJyRZfOkJs2ndlvD8xf-0qbUnltXy1IXYbTwLavsSM%26sigh%3DxCxAeFWU42dnWbyqHZvzG9ObTa0%26begin%3D0%26len%3D86400000%26docid%3D0amp;nogvlm=1amp;thumbnailUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2FThumbnailServer2%3Fapp%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D4b9e0dddf97c943a%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw320%26sigh%3D9QZjjCaQBy7ZX45SOHM0X5VhPJMamp;messagesUrl=video.google.com%2FFlashUiStrings.xlb%3Fframe%3Dflashstrings%26hl%3Den”param name=”bgcolor” value=”#FFFFFF”embed width=”320″ height=”266″ src=”http://www.blogger.com/img/videoplayer.swf?videoUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvp.video.google.com%2Fvideodownload%3Fversion%3D0%26secureurl%3DqAAAAPCZD0ddCGBZjZs6HcCGJYeKSPQwr4z4fULODaGfBTTSBP8c9-9kqkWg_GMoIKnQjmxvV_Kx7cNOSVUfs1dyyxgvTvZXMJDPGA5aMPurAlsz4Z1lCQp7kUluRzNZQS4CMQGGA67ldqKcb7hfc5zoxJrURj-megP1ZpS_gQZdtMrJGqsby0-OwQx5uBjpl_Gsn1SJyRZfOkJs2ndlvD8xf-0qbUnltXy1IXYbTwLavsSM%26sigh%3DxCxAeFWU42dnWbyqHZvzG9ObTa0%26begin%3D0%26len%3D86400000%26docid%3D0amp;nogvlm=1amp;thumbnailUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2FThumbnailServer2%3Fapp%3Dblogger%26contentid%3D4b9e0dddf97c943a%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw320%26sigh%3D9QZjjCaQBy7ZX45SOHM0X5VhPJMamp;messagesUrl=video.google.com%2FFlashUiStrings.xlb%3Fframe%3Dflashstrings%26hl%3Den” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash”/embed/objectbr //divdiv style=”text-align: center;”span style=”font-size:85%;”span style=”font-style: italic;”My little cheerleaders/span/spanbr //divbr /The you tube keeps telling me that I can’t use certain songs… So this time I am uploading with Blogger. No discrimination from them – yet.br /br /Above, is playground footage from this fall. Parents, if you are queezy about your children riding in ski team vans up crazy, curvy, icy access roads, maybe skip this one (Plateau access road, West Yellowstone, MT). After injuring my back in the race shown, this week is my fresh start… if it ever warms above -4F.br /br /The deal with tomorrow: If we race – women start at 1pm (men at 1:54:ish) at 15-second intervals. The jury will meet at 12:30 to take Kincaid’s temperature. Keep your fingers crossed! br /br /The races have been changed to 5/10k (being held on the classic courses) but they are holding the right to change it back to 10/15s if the weather warms up well into legal limits. If that is the case, women will do two 5k loops.br /br /They are still talking about having the 10 and 15ks later in the week but first – lets see what happens tomorrow.br /br /I have a great start position, just 15 seconds ahead of Kikkan – Alaska’s own sweetheart and one of our nation’s fastest skiers! I will be running scared and then holding on for dear life… if, that is, she catches me! br /br /Into it? I am. Game on!div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4299718529371785873-8748000886025632932?l=in-the-arena-kate.blogspot.com’//div
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IN THE ARENA WITH KATE 2009-01-04 17:35:00
a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SWE5xqY4A7I/AAAAAAAAAec/dbeoVPnuVsk/s1600-h/IMG_0146.JPG”img style=”margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 196px; height: 200px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SWE5xqY4A7I/AAAAAAAAAec/dbeoVPnuVsk/s200/IMG_0146.JPG” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287570962864669618″ border=”0″ //aToday’s race, originally yesterday’s race, was canceled. Too cold. Tomorrow is not supposed to be any warmer, but we go through the motions of testing and waxing skis, eating and training accordingly as if there is going to be a race tomorrow. Everyone is hopeful.br /br /I have heard that the 10/15k freestyle scheduled for tomorrow will be held later and on a shorter course. Rumors of doing the 5/10k classic courses were floating around. I also heard the potential of having the 5/10k classic tomorrow, leaving the longer distance race for later in the week.br /br /Things will be decided in a coaches meeting later on today. I will post the news as soon as I hear it. Until then, stay warm!br /br /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SWE7buf9ssI/AAAAAAAAAek/g0S6XPosjGM/s1600-h/IMG_0145.JPG”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 228px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SWE7buf9ssI/AAAAAAAAAek/g0S6XPosjGM/s400/IMG_0145.JPG” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287572785034277570″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-size:85%;”span style=”font-style: italic;”Morgan, hanging in the wax cabinbr //span/span/divdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4299718529371785873-740802407528143722?l=in-the-arena-kate.blogspot.com’//div
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No Go!
spanIt’s another subzero day in Anchorage! After yesterday’s race being canceled due to cold weather, we are giving it another try today. It is currently -13 degrees at Kincaid and the 11:30 am start scheduled for today has been delayed to 1:30 pm this afternoon. We will see if it warms up 9 degrees! /spanimg id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287538221845852210″ style=”DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/SWEb_4lsMDI/AAAAAAAAANc/hkkVLvQL7Uc/s400/IMG_0028%5B1%5D” border=”0″ /br /spanDespite the frigid temperatures, it has been beautiful up here! I guess thats easy to say that when you are from Alaska. This past week has brought a brutal week of subzero temperatures, well below the average temperature for this time of year. I’m not sure why Anchorage seems to be cursed every time we have a big ski event up here…either there is not enough snow and it rains or it is really cold. If I had to pick between the two, I would definitely prefer the cold weather over the warm, rainy weather. Think of it this way, it makes for easy waxing.br /br /Hopefully temperatures will warm up as the week goes on. I will keep you posted on how things unfold./spandiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5903545846797966075-4831669364028785178?l=in-the-arena-nicole.blogspot.com’//div
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Results of Jan. 3 Time Trial
Here are the results of the Jan. 3 Time Trial hosted by Methow Valley Nordic Club for skiers of all ages. For skiers with 4 times given, the first three are their lap times, and the final is total time (9 km). The other skiers skied one lap (3 km). Conditions were 7 degrees and sunny.br /table str=”” style=”border-collapse: collapse; width: 240pt;” width=”320″ border=”0″ cellpadding=”0″ cellspacing=”0″col style=”width: 48pt;” span=”5″ width=”64″tbodytr style=”height: 12.75pt;” height=”17″ td style=”height: 12.75pt; width: 48pt;” width=”64″ height=”17″br //tdtd class=”xl24″ style=”width: 48pt;” num=”0.4″ width=”64″ align=”right”br //tdtd class=”xl24″ style=”width: 48pt;” num=”0.41111111111111115″ width=”64″ align=”right”br //tdtd class=”xl24″ style=”width: 48pt;” num=”0.4055555555555555″ width=”64″ align=”right”br //tdtd class=”xl24″ style=”width: 48pt;” num=”1.2166666666666666″ fmla=”=SUM(B1:D1)” width=”64″ align=”right”br //td/tr/tbody/tableEvan Turner 9:36, 9:52, 9:44, 29:12.br /Brent Turner 10:03, 10:08, 10:12, 30:23.br /Scott Waichler 10:21, 10:35, 10:45, 31:41.br /Dan Weinstein 13:59, 14:32, 14:54, 43:25.br /Max Christman 10:34.br /Cole Christman 12:29.br /Claire Waichler 22:36.br /br / table str=”” style=”border-collapse: collapse; width: 320px; height: 72px;” border=”0″ cellpadding=”0″ cellspacing=”0″col style=”width: 48pt;” span=”5″ width=”64″ tbody tr style=”height: 12.75pt;” height=”17″ td style=”height: 12.75pt;” height=”17″br //td td class=”xl22″ num=”0.41875000000000001″ align=”right”br //td td class=”xl22″ num=”0.42222222222222222″ align=”right”br //td td class=”xl22″ num=”0.42499999999999999″ align=”right”br //td td class=”xl22″ num=”1.2659722222222223″ fmla=”=SUM(B2:D2)” align=”right”br //td /tr tr style=”height: 12.75pt;” height=”17″ td style=”height: 12.75pt;” height=”17″br //td td class=”xl22″ num=”0.43125000000000002″ align=”right”br //td td class=”xl22″ num=”0.44097222222222227″ align=”right”br //td td class=”xl22″ num=”0.44791666666666669″ align=”right”br //td td class=”xl22″ num=”1.320138888888889″ fmla=”=SUM(B3:D3)” align=”right”br //td /tr tr style=”height: 12.75pt;” height=”17″ td style=”height: 12.75pt;” height=”17″br //td td class=”xl22″ num=”0.58263888888888882″ align=”right”br //td td class=”xl22″ num=”0.60555555555555551″ align=”right”br //td td class=”xl22″ num=”0.62083333333333335″ align=”right”br //td td class=”xl22″ num=”1.8090277777777777″ fmla=”=SUM(B4:D4)” align=”right”br //td /tr /tbody/tablediv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/489212310283984495-3318826691002268314?l=methowvalleynordicteam.blogspot.com’//div
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DOWN IN THE DOUBLE DIGITS
a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SV_KuE5_zYI/AAAAAAAAAeU/_AkA95TYtu8/s1600-h/IMG_0124.JPG”img style=”margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 182px; height: 200px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SV_KuE5_zYI/AAAAAAAAAeU/_AkA95TYtu8/s200/IMG_0124.JPG” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287167380496043394″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”color: rgb(255, 0, 0);”span style=”color: rgb(0, 0, 0);”span style=”color: rgb(255, 0, 0);”UPDATED UPDATE: span style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);”1:30, stadium temperatures still too cold. The race is moved to tomorrow (11:30 scheduled start time)…/span/spanbr /________________/spanbr /UPDATE: span style=”color: rgb(0, 0, 0);” /spanspan style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);”Qualifying will take place at 1:30. Heats will be run on Sunday./span/spanbr /________________br /11am, stadium temperature was -23.7 C (-10.6 F) this morning. The legal race limit is -20 (-4 F) and so the race has been postponed 2 hours.br /br /The original qualifier was to go off at 11:30 but they will reconvien at 1pm to take another temperature reading to decide the fate of the 1:30 start.br /br /If the temperatures do not move within legal limits today, Sunday (tomorrow) is the potential span style=”font-style: italic;”rain/span date.br /br /The course is in great shape and skiing is good (says my brother, over the phone). I will do another update just after 1 with the latest news from the venue.br /br /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SV_KZkP5E1I/AAAAAAAAAeM/OLWwYxx5rnY/s1600-h/IMG_0122.JPG”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 259px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SV_KZkP5E1I/AAAAAAAAAeM/OLWwYxx5rnY/s400/IMG_0122.JPG” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287167028132123474″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-size:85%;”span style=”font-style: italic;”The stadium, yesterday morning/span/spanbr //divbr /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SV_KZPo3t5I/AAAAAAAAAeE/ftqCrxhCPeo/s1600-h/IMG_0116.JPG”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 390px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PPMeqZXka1Y/SV_KZPo3t5I/AAAAAAAAAeE/ftqCrxhCPeo/s400/IMG_0116.JPG” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287167022599747474″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-size:85%;”span style=”font-style: italic;”My face, yesterday around 11:30 after 40 minutes of easy skiingbr //span/span/divdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4299718529371785873-7600993649419682854?l=in-the-arena-kate.blogspot.com’//div
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People Watching
a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ObMdc4mpVIg/SV-y3tGXDAI/AAAAAAAAADg/8x_35TXh2Ms/s1600-h/DSCN2656.JPG”/aspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);”br //spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:’Trebuchet MS’;font-size:13px;”p class=”MsoNormal” style=””span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);”People watching./spanspan style=”mso-spacerun: yes”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);” /span/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);”It has to be one of the easiest pass times there is in this world./spanspan style=”mso-spacerun: yes”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);” /span/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);”It is way more engaging than twiddling your thumbs, does not require concentration the way reading does, even surfing the internet has it’s downsides, as I only know about 10 sites to go to and then I get stuck looking at the same pictures over and over, wishing they would change. But people, they are incredible and they are ever moving./spanspan style=”mso-spacerun: yes”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);” /span/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);”People are always doing things worth watching, worth analyzing, or simply staring at (which is not the most polite thing to do, I know)./spanspan style=”mso-spacerun: yes”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);” /span/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);”Right now, I am looking at a lady who has more trouble than I do picking out clothes that match with each other, and that is saying something, as I have been asked on numerous occasions if I got dressed in the dark./spanspan style=”mso-spacerun: yes”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);” /span/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);”There are women in running tights, though definitely not heading out or coming in from any sort of exercise./spanspan style=”mso-spacerun: yes”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);” /span/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);”There are men with handbags, a store clerk with cat eye contacts./spanspan style=”mso-spacerun: yes”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);” /span/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);”But these physical features are just scratching the very surface of people watching./spanspan style=”mso-spacerun:yes”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);” /span/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);”The actions and the conversations are what make this pastime such eye candy for the long-term airport junky and bored citizen. /spanspan style=”mso-spacerun: yes”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);”Making up the life stories of the people who walk by, trying to decide whether a couple were high school sweethearts or whether they met and got married in Vegas last night, that’s when the game really gets going./spanspan style=”mso-spacerun: yes”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);” /span/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);”There are so many military uniforms wandering around in the Minneapolis airport, and these are hard for me to pick a story about./spanspan style=”mso-spacerun: yes”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);” /span/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);”War is too foreign for me to guess about, perhaps it is for them too and they are on their way to training, or perhaps they just wish it were still far away from what they knew too./span/span/pp class=”MsoNormal” style=””span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);” There are kids, dogs, cats, long sweaters, mini skirts, sports teams, musicians, people of all ethnicities speaking all languages, but again, these are just the outside, the surface./spanspan style=”mso-spacerun:yes”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);” /span/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);”There are thousands of people, all under one roof, who live lives that are completely different from one another./spanspan style=”mso-spacerun:yes”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);” /span/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);”People are sick, people are unhappy, there is anger here, and love, and republicans and democrats, people from the Bahamas and people from northern Finland./spanspan style=”mso-spacerun: yes”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);” /span/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);”It are these characteristics that really make these people come alive to the watcher./spanspan style=”mso-spacerun: yes”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);” /span/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);”These are the characteristics that are invisible to the naked eye, but so vivid to an awakened imagination./span/pp class=”MsoNormal” style=””span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: rgb(255, 255, 255);” So I people watch, and maybe it is rude and judgmental, but the fact that I can make up a life for someone who just walked by me in a pea coat and thick rimmed glasses, to me, that’s just imagination, and I always wonder what life others will come up with for me (or my family!)./span/pimg style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ObMdc4mpVIg/SV-y3tGXDAI/AAAAAAAAADg/8x_35TXh2Ms/s320/DSCN2656.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287141157625072642″ //spandiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8313858291794282393-6000873317277734943?l=lizhstephen.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
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Happy New Year!
2009… wow, that happened quick! Literally, I got on the plane in Washington at around 6:00 pm EST on Dec. 31, went to sleep, and woke up in Frankfurt at 7:00am CET on Jan. 1, 2009. So, yes, I missed the New Year. I’m guessing I was somewhere over the North Atlantic when it arrived, but then again, I’m not really sure because I was flying through six different time zones that night. Oh well. The point is that 2008 is over. It seems like the theme among written work this time of the year involves some sort of “recapping” of the memorable events that took place in 2008. So here goes:
Let’s see… 2008 started out in the exact town where I happen to find myself at the moment – Oberhof, Germany. That was the first world cup of last year (and the last time I cleaned a race!). After that; Ruhpolding, Antholz, Ostersund (World Champs), South Korea (11th place), Khanty Mansiysk (food poisoning), Oslo (nearly missed my flight back to the states). Springtime: Tele skiing at Whiteface, short trip to Washington D.C. to help my sister move (also involved a missed flight and an unexpected train ride down the Eastern sea board), training camp in Colorado Springs and Vancouver. Summer: Played a lot of music, good training in Lake Placid, headed to Sweden for end-of-summer camp. Fall: More training in LP, October camp in Utah, November world cup prep in Ostersund, world cups #2 and #3 in Hochfilzen. Christmas at home… and now it’s 2009.
Wow. a whole year in one paragraph. Not sure what to think of that. As far as new year’s resolutions go, well, let’s just say I’m hoping to improve on last year. Hope everyone is enjoying the New Year. I’ve got to get to bed. Early training tomorrow morning.
-Lowell
