Monday, November 16, 2009

Ketchup to Beito

In one week I went from being in East Montpelier, VT to being in Beitostolen, Norway!  Here is a bit of a picture book of my last 2 weeks.


East Montpelier Elementary where I went to school.  Murals on the wall are still the same, but I swear the chairs and tables have gotten smaller!


Berlin Elementary.  I was pleasantly surprised by how many kids had cross-country skied before.  Thanks to all three schools for being so welcoming towards me.

My Mom's birthday party the night before I left.  I think she would tell you she just turned 30  and I would have to bet that if you met her you would believe her.
Me in the start gate with my East Montpelier Elementary Roadrunners 
T-shirt, courtesy of the Kindergarten class!


Same T-shirt in our wax room.  Quite a few skis, eh?!

First day in Beito.  Team heading to training.




Kikkan and Mo jumping over the trench that emerged from the time we walked to go ski and the time we walked home!  These Norwegians get after it!


Our daily lunch: Caviar, Fish paste, and Petter Northug bread.  Delicious.


Randy Hill, our sport scientist, thoughtfully brought a blow-up ice bath for us to travel with all winter!  Yay!  No, actually it is awesome and we have all been in it a lot this past week already.  Ice baths are the key to recovery, despite their less than appealing draw in the winter time.


Race 1 of 2009-2010 season.  10K skate for me, but some of the team started yesterday with a classic sprint.  It's a great feeling to put on that bib for the first time and charge.


Morgan Arritola getting a sweet ride from a really fast French skier.  Mo stuck with her the entire second lap and finished with her.  You get passed and you quickly re-focus and stick to them like glue for as long as you possibly can.  Mo did just that and had a sweet ride for an entire 5K.  The minute you let your mind go to the negative aspect of someone passing you, is the minute your race is over.  Re-evaluate, re-adjust and then re-focus.  First World Cup races are next weekend here in Beito.


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