Full Sass by Liz Stephen: Catch up from Lahti...

Ok, so I think at least 50% of my posts have started with "catch up from ____" so maybe my new blog page title should be titled "catch up". A bit/a lot of catch up needs to happen again here, so here are a few pictures from Lahti, Finland and beyond, and as usual, more to come.

Morse farm shirt and Skida hat being sported in front of the jumps at Lahti. As I didn't bring a ton of shirts or hats, these were both sported a lot over the winter!

Morgan, Holly and Kikkan with a bunch of Finnish kids who were headed out to watch the jumping competition one day. Not a rare sight in Europe. Safety vests always too.

So over the course of the winter, starting before Oslo, I developed a lot of pain on the back of my heel. I have some pretty good bumps, shown here in these lovely pictures of my feet, and the combination of tight boots, a slightly different fit in this year's model, and not paying enough attention to the pain I was getting until it was too late, I developed bursitis in my heel. It got so bad that in order to race in Lahti I had a cobbler cut a hole in the back of my boot so I was able to put my foot in it. I have not raced since then and have seen 2 specialists so far to try and take care of the problem. Bursitis can take 8 weeks to heal up, so I am 3 weeks in and have had some relief in the pain, though still cannot touch the area comfortably. The good news is that it is not painful unless something touches the area, so I learned today that I am cleared to train and do whatever doesn't hurt it. So, that's great! There is a surgery I can have if I want to that would shave down the extra bone growth that I have, but with surgery there is always a long recovery and possible complications, so I'm going to try and avoid it. I decided not to race in Sun Valley for the Supertour Finals and long distance Nationals and try and give my foot a bit of a break from ski boots and stress on the tendon. I did go up to watch the first 2 races, now am back in Park City, Utah and am headed back to Sun Valley for the final races and Fast and Female the day following. Then I am headed East to see a final doctor and be in Vermont for a bit of mud season, which I hear is in full effect!

Kikkan on the Podium at World Cup Finals in Falun!!! SO COOL!!!

YEAH BUDDY!! Just in case anyone is wondering about the effects of cracking a bottle of Champagne post World Cup Podium, ask Kikkan. The effects of toasting with your team of wax techs, coaches and teammates and enjoying the success you have just achieved keeps the momentum going. Kikkan toasted with Champagne after every podium she was on and she was on more of them this season than ever before. Not saying the bubbly did it, but I am saying enjoy and take in success when it happens, because it doesn't happen every time you strive for it.

Me when I found out!

So, I road tripped to Vail, Colorado to see the first doctor, 5 days after returning from Europe. I was surprisingly not sleepy and got to catch up with some great friends and see the sun full on for the first time in a little while. I did forget sunglasses though, so skiing that day was extremely bright! Oh and funny thing, as I'm driving on I-70 just outside of Vail, I look over and see Phil Comen from Onion River Sports driving next to me! Really funny. We didn't get to catch up, as we were headed to different places and you can't say too much in a driving snowstorm yelling between two cars going 70, but it was good to se him.

The Vail trails. Thanks for the Vail Valley Ski Club for letting me tour around on their trails!

I headed out after my ski on my way back to Park City, but such is so often the case for me, I glanced at the map instead of looking twice (a good rule of thumb for me every time) and, wanting to take a new way home, ended up driving through Steamboat. Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but when it takes you 3 1/2 hours to get there from Vail, when you can get there in 1 1/4, you know you have gone the long way. As I was settling in for a long drive toPark City that night, I saw off on my right a ski area, with groomed nordic trails. The sun was setting and the moon was coming up and so I pulled a U-ey and went for a ski. Meanwhile, my friend Sarah MacCarthy called me and her parents live in town, so I ended up staying at their house for the night and going on a really great ski in the morning with her dad. We followed it up with a tour of the Steamboat Library and breakfast and then I headed out.

Night ski in Steamboat. Really pretty night.

Me at Sarah's house with her dog and cat!

And the funny thing is that this is Sarah with my dog, Charley, a week earlier at my house with my parents when I was in Europe! House swap! Thanks parents!