Training Log Archive: Kat

Skating around the stadium and one green loop. Arms dead tired, but my form is a lot better now.

The last few days have been really awesome - staying with "goats" (Kseniya, Sergei, Greg Balter, Vadim, Valera) in a lodge, going skiing together, playing cards or watching Rome. Perfect. :)

There was so much snow on the highway last night that Boris and I stopped over in Lee, MA to spend the night. Hopefully, the roads will be cleared enough in the morning to make the rest of the drive more pleasant.

Did a time trial around the green Flatlander loop (not the extension) - took 7:55 and I think it's just under 2km long. Didn't feel that fast, but the snow was a lot more packed down today, so the downhills felt nice. Then I did a bunch of skiing back and forth on the stadium, practicing technique. Maybe I did another green loop, but I don't remember.

Classic with Boris in the morning around Cascade lodge - no tracks on the hills, so pretty tough. Beautiful day out, though!

Skating with Kseniya in the afternoon - we did the yellow loop, which has some big hills in it. I was exhausted, especially my arms.

Skiing! Boris and I drove up to Lake Placid last night, then finally got to try out our new skis this morning! I did classic first, but I didn't have the right kick wax on so was slipping a lot. Then I put on my new skate skis, which felt good for the first hundred meters, but there was so much new snow that I quickly got tired and it was actually quite tough and slow-going. Snow was piling on top of my skis as I was gliding, and I almost tripped several times when I went into a particularly deep patch of fluffy white stuff. I would have rewaxed my classic skis and switched again, except that my brother had borrowed those. By the time he returned, Boris had convinced me to go out skating again and work on my form. He was really helpful, showing me the different pole techniques and then videotaping me. The snow was slightly more compressed too, so I could ski pretty quickly on slight downhills. :)

I passed my last qualifying exam, so now I am free of grades and tests of any importance. I am also free of teaching next semester, so my academic responsibilities include taking 1-2 courses and doing research. And I am well on my way to getting my second masters at the end of spring, at which point I'll have a bachelors from Oxford, a masters from Uppsala, and another masters from Yale. A small collection, but I'm pleased that it includes three universities in three different countries. :)

C • Wahooo!!!!! 3