March, 2010

I’m back home in Hayward for the first time in over 4 months.  How long is that?  Well, when I walked into my room, my roller ski vest was still hanging on the door to dry after my last roller ski in the rain on October 28, 2009.  The house looks great though.  My roommate and teammate, Brian Gregg, took off after the Birkie last week for Europe and left the house clean and the refrigerator semi-stocked.  Between November 1 and March 1, I actually spent more time in Canada than the United States.  Needless to say, it feels good to be home again.

I almost didn’t make it though. . .

The starter is the latest thing in my truck to go and it took over an hour to finally get it started before I could leave the driveway in Minneapolis.  My first stop back in Hayward was to visit my mechanic.  He agreed that the starter had burned out and was able to install a new starter so that I could make it back home to Cresthill.

That said, I’m in the market for a new vehicle.  I’m looking for a reliable, used wagon (ideally VW Passat or Jetta (tdi would be sweet!), but Volvo, Subaru, Mazda, etc would work) in descent shape with around 100,000 miles.  If you know of a ride for sale that matches this description, feel free to let me know.

The drive back to Hayward was refreshing.  I got to see a couple of bald eagles in the St Croix River Valley. . .

. . .and had the country music cranked with the windows rolled down.

Of course, it felt good to be back where you can buy fireworks year-round.

I’m finally relaxing a little bit at home, listening to pow-wow music on WOJB, the local public radio station from the LCO Ojibwe reservation, while I digest an excellent venison dinner.

I had the opportunity to talk with the Hopkins High School “Captains Council” this morning.  Every month, the Athletic Department hosts a meeting for all Captains and they bring in a speaker.  It was really cool to catch up with former coaches like Rob Fuhr and Mike Harris, as well as to talk with the Hopkins student-athletes, over 50 in all, getting ready embark on their post-high school endeavors.  There was an especially good showing from the skiers, who are just coming off of a solid ski season.

They all had some good questions.  Some questions you can prepare for, others a are a little more unexpected:

Q: “How many years did you have to live out of your truck?”  (from Jack Hinkens, who I’m pretty sure wants to be a pro mountain biker and live out of his truck).

A: “You can’t be a ski racer and live out of a truck–you’d get too cold. . .though I did spend a couple months living in a van down by the river.”

Q: “Did you get Lindsey Vonn’s number at the Olympics?”

A: “What happens in the Village, stays in the Village. . .”

Start the rumor mill.  Matt Liebsch and I were spotted at the MN Biathlon race in Elk River this morning.  What started as a dare during a ski last Thursday ended with a battle on the trail in Elk River.  Basically, Matt & I needed to get out for an interval set this weekend and we decided that shooting guns during our rest sounded like a lot more fun than shooting the breeze.

Matt Liebsch and Evan Pengelly

We recruited Evan Pengelly to be our chauffeur to the battle as neither of our vehicles are working right at the moment.  Mr. Minnesota Biathlon, Piotr Bednarski, had rifles for us to use and we even got to compete in the advanced race.  We both shot on the larger standing targets for prone and standing shooting.  2010 Minnesota State Ski Champion, Raleigh Goessling, skied strong and stuck right with Matt and I going into the first shooting.  Matt shot clean, while Raleigh and I each missed one and had a bit of a deficit to make up.  The same thing happened on the second shooting and Matt’s gap increased.

Piotr Bednarski instructs the Novice Biathletes

For the third and fourth stages, Raleigh shot clean and took the lead from Matt, while Matt missed all 10 standing (ouch!) and I shot two of my ten targets.  This brought Matt and me back together after getting dizzy skiing around the penalty loop.  In the end, Matt and I worked together to make up some solid ground on Raleigh, but not enough to get him before the line.  In the end, Raleigh held off Matt and I to take the win by a couple seconds, while I held off Matt to take second.  It was a solid battle with several different styles at play, but in the end, the true biathlete took the win.

There was an impressive turnout for the Novice race–110 competitors!  So many skiers showed up that they had to cap the field at 110 because there weren’t enough rifles for everyone.  Despite forecasts for rain, the sun came out and made for a beautiful day to be outside.  While I don’t think I have any future in biathlon, it was a fun way to get in a hard workout and work on my marksmanship.  Several Lakeville High School skiers, along with many other teams (including Hopkins!) came out to give it a shot as well.  Fun morning all the way around.

Lakeville High School skiers

“In the zone.”

photo credit: John Sanborn

Maybe I should take it a little more seriously next time?  Nah. . .

I have a lot of respect for the word “Epic.”  It’s not a word I will throw around lightly.  While today was certainly not epic, it was a big day and a great way to kick off my training for the US National Championship 50km skate in Fort Kent, Maine at the end of this month.

Since arriving home, I’ve been out on the Wirth trails pretty much every day–simply enjoying the spring-like conditions here in Minneapolis.  The day started with a jog from my folks house to the trail, skis and poles in hand, boots slipping down the ice over the cold morning asphalt.  My old high school teammate and college competitor Matt Schadow was ready to go when I arrived at the Par 3 lot after a brisk ski across Wirth Lake to make it there on time.

We got in a solid ski around the entire Loppet trail to the interstate and back to the Chalet.  Schadow had to roll out to watch Megan and others dive into a frozen Lake Calhoun as a fundraiser for the Special Olympics.  I picked up the Three Musketeers: Jim, Skip, and Jim for a tour around the City of Lakes Loppet trail as part of the “Re-Loppet.”

(Nobody told me that t-shirts over long underwear were required team attire!).

Skip was psyched to see the ducks heading back North and taking advantage of the open water in a Wirth Pond.  Definitely an early sign of spring, but something tells me winter’s not over yet. . .

Of course, Loppet Director John Munger and wife Diane had kids in-tow (literally) for the Re-Loppet.  What a great resistance workout!  I think Lauren liked the practice for water skiing this summer too. . .

Fortunately, the Three Musketeers are really good at drafting, almost like those ducks we saw in the sky all day, so we flew across Cedar Lake effortlessly.  Somehow, nobody even got their poles stepped on.  What teamwork!

We ended the first half of our workout at Old Chicago in Uptown, where we were treated to pizza by the Loppet Foundation.  Afterwards, we declined the free bus ride back to the start in favor of a retour ski back home.

Some cyclists record “chamois time,” time spent in their bike shorts, as training in their log.  If I were to log “boot time” for the workout today, I’d be over 7 hours–just shy of a full 9-5.  A long day and a lot of fun, but not quite Epic.

I can’t believe it.  No sooner do I get home from Vancouver and I have to head back to school.  That’s right, Meadowbrook Elementary School.  Several classes at Meadowbrook, my alma matter, have been following my Olympic adventures over the past several weeks.  They were well versed on all things Olympics and Nordic.  I was very impressed.

The students got to check out a slideshow from the Olympics and training around the world.  They had a variety of questions ranging from “how many medals did you win at the Olympics?” to “who was your favorite teacher at Meadowbrook?” (my Mom, of course).

The 5th graders got to go alpine skiing at Hyland on Tuesday, so they were especially excited about skiing.  Many of them were inspired by seeing the ski jump at Bush Lake and wanted to try jumping so that they could win a gold medal like Billy Demong.

I’ve done a variety of school trips to talk about skiing over the past couple of years and I’ve got to say, without bias, the Meadowbrook students asked some great, intelligent questions and were very well behaved.  Next time I’d love to get these guys out skiing!  They are the future for Hopkins, the United States, and the world.

Thanks to my teachers Mr. Burmeister and Mrs. Skalicky for their patience and inspiration.

Security at the Olympics is a top priority and in Vancouver, you didn’t have to look far to see signs of the tight security.  We were under a watchful eye for the entire duration of the Games.  Compared to Salt Lake in 2002, where everyone had to take a drink out of every water bottle and take a photo with every camera upon entering a venue, it was a little more relaxed, but not by much.

Caitlin gets ready to go through security for the first of many times during the Games.  According to our bus driver, each bus was equipped with a GPS.  If the bus deviated more than 10m from it’s scheduled route or stopped for an extended period of time, police were notified to investigate.  Upon entering every venue, buses were checked by security using mirrors to identify any potential hazards.

In the athlete’s village, we were always under the scrutiny of the “eye in the sky,” a small blimp with a camera that followed all movements within the village.  Throughout the village, we were surrounded by security guards and Canadian Mounties.

Are there even cameras in that moose’s eyes?  It wouldn’t surprise me!

There was even an eye in the sky at the Nordic venue in Whistler.  Simi and I came across one on the ground during an evening run.  These things are enormous when you see them up close!  After the Olympics, these blimps will be sent to Hollywood for use in the next James Bond movie. . .

In case the athletes ever needed any extra amenities, there was always a helicopter available to drop them off.  Here, the chopper picks up athletes right from the village to go Heli-skiing on a powder day in the Whistler back country.

Perhaps the toughest crew at the Olympics were these guys in the Canadian Army who lived in the woods and kept us protected during the Games.

While skiing on the tourist trails one afternoon, Simi and I came across a troop of 5 soldiers with AK-47’s walking down the trail.  Sim had the audacity to tell them that their green camo didn’t blend in very well with the snow.  I just showed them my credential and told them it was okay for us to be out there!

In the above shot, Torin and I pose with the troop.  “Will you be able to watch tomorrows Gold Medal final hockey game?” I ask.  “We’re not supposed to, but we’ll round up a satellite so we can listen to the game.”  These guys haven’t spent a night indoors since weeks before the Games started.

Of course, Compton makes their day by posing for a photo!

Afterwards, it’s time to pack up camp and head off into the wilderness.  “Sweet ride!” Kuzzy says.  “Yeah, but it doesn’t go very fast,” is the response.  “What, are you guys in a hurry to get somewhere?!”

I arrived home in Minneapolis in time for dinner last night.  It’s been a whirlwind of a finish to the Olympics–working out, attending events, medal ceremonies, packing, closing ceremonies, and traveling.  I realized on my trip home that since November 1st, I’ve spent more time in Canada for training camps, NorAm races, World Cups, and Olympics, than I’ve spent in the US.  It’s great to be back in the Cities now with a couple feet of snow on the ground and sunny skies.  I’m looking forward to kicking back for a few days and enjoying my time at home.

Due to Olympic regulations, there have been a number of photos I haven’t been able to post over the past couple of weeks.  I’ll be posting a few of those (especially race photos) as I get caught up, as well as tales from new adventures.  For now, here are a couple of shots from the Closing Ceremonies. . .

The 1932 US Olympic cross country team prepares for the Closing Ceremonies.  Our teammates James Southam and Kris Freeman were still up in Whistler competing in the 50km Classic while we were staging.

The procession took us through the Vancouver Athletes Village and onto buses into the Stadium.

Vancouver was full of Canadian hockey fans on their way home from the Gold Medal game.  I’m not sure if they’d have been cheering for our bus had the game gone the other way. . .

The procession took us around the Olympic Torch in the Stadium.  In addition to Arritola, I realized afterwards that there are a couple of Nordic skiers in this shot including my buddy Roberto Carcelean, Peru’s first Winter Olympian, and Petter Northug, the 50km’s Gold Medalist from Norway.

TV camera’s roamed the crowd, capturing the reaction of all the athletes.  I even heard from several people that I got a little TV time on NBC.

Here, the crew kicks back with front row seats to the festivities.  Closing Ceremonies was a cool way to wrap up the end of the Games.  Afterwards I traded one of my hats for a Russian “See you in Sochi” jersey.

See ya!