I have lots of goals for the upcoming season but one of them is to be more pro-active about recovery. Now, to me, this means more than getting enough sleep, putting my feet up in the middle of the day and proper sports nutrition. Sure, it means all of those things.... but what about mental recovery? Or more specifically, making sure that I engage in some non-ski specific activities? In order to think about skiing a lot I find that I need to make some time where I don't think about it at all. Yesterday was the perfect example of that. The US Ski Team is currently holding our annual kick off camp in Bend, Oregon. We ski every morning and run, bike & lift in the afternoons. (This afternoon we actually had a Fast and Female event which was great in and of itself!) Anyways, I'm lucky because one of my best friends lives right outside of Bend near Smith Rocks and the town of Terrebonne on a farm called Rainshadow Organics. It's a highly productive, full-scale farm which literally had chickens hatching out of eggs to slaughtering the chickens for meat. Yes, this step & every step in between happened the day I was there. The other "farm chore" on the list was castrating piglets which probably wouldn't have been even more interesting but we didn't get that far...... Check out some of my pictures from recovery day..... !
Loving the flowers in the central Oregon town of Sisters, nearby!
Chickens head down, bleeding out into the barrel below
Chickens are dropped in boiling water and then put in a centrifuge to de-pluck them (remove feathers)
5 gallon buckets full of chicken feet and other parts!
Then chix are washed, bagged...
Dipped in hot water to seal the bag...
Labeled, weighted
And frozen for all the great folks in Sarah and Tall's Meat CSA! I have to say that I am very impressed by not only the process but the way all the animals on the farm are treated. Each and everyone is given the space and freedom to roam and play, feed well, and treated with the utmost respect until their last minute of life. As a meat eater myself it was fascinating to see the entire process.
Of course the farm has tons of tons of veggies and other edibles including lots of beautiful leafy greens! Some grow in these hoop houses while starts are just getting outside for the first time. As you might know, Memorial Day is a big "landmark" for farmers....
Sarah is getting married in September! Here she is after our morning walk moving the irrigation lines at the wedding site. She planted grass seed here and I can't wait to come back four months from now and see it again!
We had to fetch our own breakfast - straight from underneath the turkey..... I had never eaton turkey eggs before and they were quite good!
Success!
Sarah in front of the log house she built..... cool to think that we designed it on a napkin almost ten years ago while traveling in South America!
Sarah and Tall have other 30 pigs at the farm.
Momma and baby!
There is nothing cuter than a baby piglet!
Me and the Mule!
Tall, Sarah's Fiance with a grass leash around one of the native creatures!
The three of us driving to sisters to see the Sugar beets!
As of today it was back to the hard work with an am ski on snow the speed of glue... then a quick lunch before heading off to lead Fast and Female. Then afternoon workout (run) followed by dinner and a team meeting. Our days are action packed which make our recovery days that much more important! Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more updates! Only 257 days until Sochi!
Cheers & great wishes to you,
Holly :)
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