Here's my Facebook post 10 minutes before boarding the plane out of Anchorage:
exhausted. but there.
"Won my first race of the season!!!! As in, didn't miss my flight to Switzerland! Finished grad school finals today... & I'm exhausted. I have my passport, wallet and some skis & that's about all I know! On the bright side I narrowly avoided $700 in baggage fees. On the other side j have four flights and a drive. Bright side again, looking forward to watching teammates kick butt in the World Cup in Lillehammer during my 2am layover in Seattle. Let the marathon ski racing season begin!!!!!"
..... So... some of you may know that Rob makes me a quote book each time I go ski racing. It has a quote for each day and some of them are darn good! Here's the quote for today - which fits the wild departure!
I feel like I've been skidding a bit lately. All good ways, but skidding! I just finished finals up a week early in order to depart. It's been an adjustment this fall being a fulltime grad student. I've dabbled in grad work the past four years but this fall I was in three legit, in person (!) classes 9 hours/week! This week alone I had 2 30-minute power point presentations, two 15-page papers & next week a final draft of a 30-page lit review. Yeah, no joke!
I've also been keeping busy in some other ways. Check 'em out:
I am NOT a baker but Sarah got my started with her 150 year old Denali sourdough starter. Did you know sourdough has little to no gluten?
Spending some time with this guy!
I have a new partner in Alaska Children's Eye & Strabismus! They are helping me cover the marathon season and it's greatly appreciated! They are also helping my APU teammate Reese Hanneman who's currently racing the world cup. If you have kids that need eye care go see Doc Bob - he has a mean Donald Duck impression!
Doc Bob - I think Buggz the cat has a strabismus! (which I've learned are eyes that are not properly aligned, cross eyed or otherwise) For the record, Buggz put himself in this box.
To continue the cat theme, Chrissy gave me this kitty good luck buff :)
I was sick for a while at home .... "something was going around" - I feel like I hear that all the time? Anyways, yesterday I was finally able to do a hard session. My watch told me that it was "demanding" and that I need 16 hours to recover. Oh, and I rocked my Italian suit to honor the fact that I'm headed to my first marathon in Italy!
Sarah Cresap, an APU teammate joined me for L3
Okay, now this is just crazy. I went into Advanced Physical Therapy for some PT directly after the hard workout. Debbie, the massage therapist had a cancellation so BOTH Zuzana and Debbie were working the kinks out. Talk about a way to feel loved. Thanks girls!
Last but not least, I am currently in Seattle during a 4.5 hour layover between the hours of 2-6:30am. Getting stoked to watch Sadie Bjornsen ski the World Cup heats in Lillehammer! Only 3 more flights after this. Will my skis arrive? And in one piece?
Now that I'm done with school I should be hitting the blog pretty hard. Hopefully you'll follow as I look forward to sharing my Distance Racing Project with you!
Cheers! Yawn.... Holly ;)
