On waxing

So yesterday was the first Michigan Cup race of the year (9k classic) and with the temperature fluctuating from 26-34 I was way out of my element.

So I had multigrade purple on initially but it wasn't working and I got scared. I started throwing things on listening to other people around me who probably knew less than I do with the "if some is good, more is better" philosophy. Finally I got something to work...and then it started to snow. Game over.

I had way way too much wax on to the point where I fell 4 times because my skis iced up and would simply stop on the downhills. Awful. I've never experienced that before. I really should have done well - I was right up at the front after 3k, feeling great, but then came the long downhill section and I just got dropped. I'd come to complete stops trying to shake off the ice so I could move. I finished a disappointing 8th.

But don't worry, I'm staying positive because physically I felt good, I just had crazy control issues because of the atrocious waxing job.

Note: the winner I think they disqualified for using skate skis (and some skate technique)- people were trying anything to avoid having to wax in those conditions.

Bottom line - I wish I was in Austria and I am very thankful for Scottie.

Hope all is well with everyone. Ski fast. Happy New Year!!

-Andrew

the last bandit left at riverside..

Intervals this morning were super fun on the slush/ice combo that is currently Weston Ski Track. While I'm honored that you guys entrusted me with the role of the rep for Harvard Nordic on our favorite golf course, I have to admit it gets a little lonely. and tedious. very tedious. It is nice to be the first in a workout again, though. Granted, I was skiing with girls from Eastern Mass's finest high school, Dover-Sherborn. So think of me when you're laboring through a 1k climb or testing out race skis in three feet of beautiful Austrian snow, and know I wish I were there. Until then, I'm going to go take out my frustration with MTV jams and Coach P's lift.

-Meri

1 hour

In an hour I'll be leaving my house, laden down with skis, boots, poles, clothes, and even a present, bound for the Manchester, NH airport, the first stop on my journey to Austria. If it's as much fun as Dave claims, you may never see me, Nabes, or Schulzy again. It's already 10:1 odds we never see Dave on this continent again.

I hope everyone has a wonderful, snowy holiday. Keep the training up, get some racing in, and make Harvard Nordic proud.

-- O

Coming soon to a blog near you: the Riverside Ski Bandits do Europe!

"He's a poet-warrior in the classic sense"

Remember when I warned the team that Dave was gonna go all Kurtz on us in Austria? It has officially happened.

With two swift clicks of the "publish post" button, Dave has vaulted off the deep end, landing, I'd guess, in a pile of German phrasebooks and poorly composed science papers. Every night he falls alseep to dreams of snails crawling across the edges of straight razors.

T-minus 4 days before I leave Saigon. I cannot wait to witness this first hand.

The horror, the horror,

-- O-A-Beezy


(if you didn't get the weird references, you really need to watch Apocalypse Now. I'm super serial.)

Training by the Numbers, Part 86

Latest Installment in "Training by the Numbers". Theta Chapter:

Today's day number of the year: 354, baby.
Number mintues trained on 354th day of year: 204
Number of 1 minute lev 5 sprints on day 354: 10
Number of Leberkäse sandwiches consumed for lunch after: 2. (Leberkäse is liver-cheese)
Number of delicious fruit/whey drinks consumed with lunch: 2
Rank of whey protein in terms of biological value (abililty to be absorbed as by organism and used to initiate new protein synthesis), as compared to other proteins: 1. Writing a paper on it, right now. How lame.
Number of reindeer farms spotted in New Leutasch while on 2 hour recovery ski: 1
"TOTAL NUMBER OF DEERS": 8. 6 babies, 2 adult DEERS. Counted using patended "Buck-Hunter" Deer counting algorithm.
Minutes wasted fooling around on the blog this afternoon: ...Not willing to disclose.
Days until the Sugarbush Tri-Dream Team continues its quest for world domination: That depends on if Nabel misses his flight or not, but could be as little as 7.

Math can be fun! Just not Math 1a or 1b. It's only fun when it involves the "Buck Hunter algorithm".

Happy holidays and a safe new year, team. See some of you quite soon and all the rest soon thereafter!

-Dave

FOUR QUESTIONS...

... Solid answers. Battling Gengis Kahn in Beito.

Eager Beaver Nordic Reader: Awesome! This blog post actually sounds like a blog I kno...

Me: FOUR QUESTIONS!

EBNR: Sorry. All ears!

Me: 1) Let me ask you something... how to you make a pie?

EBNR: Err... excuse me?

Me: Intensity. Determination. Stick to the plan. Review and consult. Adapt and exfoliate.

EBNR: ...Right. Got it.

Me: 2) How many licks does it take to get to the center of a BlowPop?

EBNR: This is getting a little ridiculous...

Me: DETERMINATION! FOUR QUESTIONS. I NEED ANSWERS.

EBNR: Sorry. Right. BlowPop... Wouldn't that depend on the conditions and the training hours that the licker has put in the previous summ...

Me: ANSWERS! NEVER ANSWER A QUESTION WITH A QUESTION! The answer is: no licks. Only one big bite. And that's today. Right now. Not tomorrow. Now.

EBNR: What does that have to do with training?

Me: 3) How do I qualify for the races I want to do this season? How do I stay healthy while traveling? What does the latest study out of Sweden say about double pole technique? What is my current USSA ranking? How do I reach my dreams...

EBNR: Thank goodness! I was beginning to worry about these questions... I have no idea! I need to know! Last season sucked, I literally saw my hopes and dreams ahh-lyinn' on the grooounnndd...

Me: Patience, young Jedi. This one is actually very easy:

First off: Buy one of those alcohol detecting bracelets like Lindsay Lohan has. You know, the kind that shocks you repeatedly with a 9V battery when you even think about consuming alcoholic beverages.

Second: Put your academic, professional career and desirable relationship/love interests on the back burner. I mean wayyyy back. You might as well throw 'em in the damn microwave and forget about 'em. Quit chewing tobacco and using deodorant.

Third: Move into your Uncle Tom's Cabin far away from electricity and the internet, in a place where the sun seldom shines and the locals speak a dialect akin to Klingon, and simply train your face off. All the time. I mean, if you're not bounding or ski walking in your sleep, just forget about it. Intensity. Power. Passion. Also, listening to soothing Christian rock music really helps.

Fourth: Set goals. Set 'em really freakin' high. Goals have to be lofty and rather unattainable, things that you just can't live up to. Something like: "Best in the World...", but naturally you can't have that one because it's copyrighted cooperatively by Thomas Aalsgard and Bjørn Dæhlie but is tentatively being rented to the US Ski Team. Off limits. You could try something like, "Best in the Universe", but that's Captain Planet. "Best in the Galaxy" is Luke Skywalker, so I suppose good luck and talk to your coach about this one. Maybe, "Best within my state/county lines..." or something, but that may be snagged by your local law enforcement agency. Power. Passion.

EBNR: Wow. That was actually pretty helpfu....

Me: 4) With all of this training in a galaxy far, far away, how do I actually land the woman/man of my dreams?

EBNR: I have no idea! I'm so confused right now, girls really hate nordic skiing and they hate the smell of my Bjørn Dæhlie training clothes even more! Do tell!

Me: You're in luck. This answer is even easier than the last one. Just do exactly the opposite of everything in the answer to question #3. Also, moving and selling alot of illegal drugs will really bump your street cred. Trust me. I've seen Blow, Traffic and American Gangster. Do it.

EBNR: ...But you said in Appendix 1 to answer #3 to avoid elicit substances... are you sure that's what women really wan...

Me: FOUR QUESTIONS, FOUR ANSWERS!

EBNR: I'm really sorry.

Me: Battle Genghis Kahn in Beito...

EBNR: That's the second time I've heard that, what does that even mean?!

Me: Determination. Pride. Power. Best in the world. KNOW so you can GO. If your dreams aren't buried under mounds of prepositions and adjectives like power and puke your brains out, you're not going to stand a chance against Genghis.

EBNR: Those weren't really prepositions and adject...

That, young Padawan, is the light at the end of the tunnel. All your hard work, your passion, your lack of deodorant or hygienic bodyspray...

EBNR: There is no tunnel! That's just a stupid photo of the sun setting over some lame mountains! I'm trying out for the sailing team this spring. Forget it.

Me: Passion. Loneliness.

-Fin-

All photos copyright of TheKid Collections. Alright, reserved.

perhaps that was a bit hasty

First and foremost, in case no one caught it, the title of my previous post is a Delaney-ism that the bandits have come to know and love.

Anyway, on to how I was being a tad hasty. I didn't mean to insinuate that Martin Tauber is a horrible person just because he probably doped. We all know people who have made questionable decisions and still are good people. Hell, I've made some pretty shady calls and faced the subsequent consequences, and I still think I'm a decent person. Martin, like a lot of endurance athletes, got caught up in a regrettable cycle and made a bad call. That's it. Still can be a good dude.

The problem I was addressing is the idea that just because someone has the reputation of being a good person or just because you've known someone for a while, they couldn't possibly be guilty of whatever it is they're facing. It's all too common a defense, cited by parents, friends, (in this case) coaches, whomever. Problem is, it overlooks the root of the issue. In Martin's case, claiming that a resident of Seefeld couldn't be a doper by nature of his birthplace overlooks what it was that may have pushed him in to doping (or even merely tempted him to consider it).

To bring it closer to home, it's the same as a parent saying "No, my kid couldn't have been drinking alcohol because I know him and he wouldn't do something like that." You gotta look at the reasons why the kid may have messed up in order to fix the situation - denial gets you nowhere.

So there you go - my two cents on the issue. Hopefully I didn't offend anyone, as I fear the preceding post may have.

I still hate Roger Clemens,

-- O