Archive for August, 2009
FOUND!
So I’m out for an easy ski this afternoon when I pass a parking lot, and notice a stranger putting on a pair of Marwe’s. Well, Houghton is a small town, and I figure I should probably know all the skiers in it, so I go over to introduce myself. We make small talk about our rollerskis, how awesome they are, their longevity…etc, etc. I mention that I’m still on my first pair…except the one classic ski I lost a few weeks ago.
And this is where the story gets AWESOME. Guess who had found a classic rollerski a few weeks ago? YEA. This guy. This random guy in parking lot. Who I only approached on a weird, extroverted whim. A fleeting impulse that led to reunion with my long lost rollerski! It’s gotta be fate, karma, or maybe just another example of how awesome the world really is!
Birkie Vid Online
CXC made an excellent DVD of this year’s Birkebeiner race, and now they’ve put significant chunks of it online to view for free. You have to wait through a fairly long commercial at the start (1 min-ish), but the clips are about 10 min long, so it’s totally worth it. Especially because the footage is so sick. You can find them at www.bikievideo.com (where the full DVD’s are also for sale), or embedded below. They’re all definitely, definitely worth checking out.
I Still Got It
I was super nervous about it, but i jumped into the Michigan Tech Cross Country team’s time trial yesterday. Nervous, because when I was on that team, I was training for running, and generally speaking, I ran well. But now..I haven’t been training for running so much. And I still hate to get beaten. So I new full well that I was perhaps setting myself up for a trouncing.
But I didn’t get trounced! I actually ran pretty well. Not as fast as I’ve ever run that course, but pretty in line with my other first TT of the year times. So Yea! Great sign for a great year!
On The Seventh Day They Rested
Pictures from a perfect off day, spend in the waters of the Presque Isle River in the Porcupine Mountains.
Sometimes, you just need to take a little break from skiing, and focus on having fun. So on Monday, with no workout scheduled, Kuz, Karl, J. Diggs, Kelly, Audrey and I went in search of adventure. What we found was breathtaking, and exactly what we were looking for. And when tuesday rolled around, we were ready, game on, to throw down on some hard uphill v1 intervals. Sometimes, you just need a little reset button, in the form of a relaxing dip!
the swim
the crew
the brave
the plunge
the VICTORIOUS!
Ironwood Camp
After a hard intervals, nothing beats icing in the lake, and photo-ops with the local art.
We’ve been at camp in Ironwood for the last week. I’m not sure why, but this seems like one of our “chillest” camps so far. Maybe it’s because we’re missing a few people, or maybe it’s our sweet lodgings, or maybe it’s just that we’re all pretty much used to the swing of camp life by now.
We’ve been staying at the Wolverine Village, which was specifically designed to host Nordic skiers. Basically, it’s a perfect setup. Nice, scando style cabins, a great kitchen, and super thick down comforters. Not that those have been getting much use, what with the heat…but still.. They’re nice.
One of the things I love the most about Igor is how he brings new ideas to our training routine. This one was for the juniors…he attached old tires to belts, and made them drag them behind while skiing to develop strength. It’s a great idea, and one that many people have probably thought of, but how many actually get out there, find the tires, drill holes in them for the attachments, and don’t care how goofey it looks? Not many, that for sure. But stuff like this is what makes Igor so special!
The finish of our fun triathlon: blood and carnage
One of the highlights of our camp so far was the fun triathlon that we did on our off afternoon. We had three teams of four people, who each did a run, swim and kayak leg. The rules became progressively more lax as race went on. I’m proud to say that my team totally dominated….but we may have had a little help from a team of juniors who capsized the other kayaks. Whatever. If you’re not cheating, you’re not winning, right?
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