Nationals, Canada, Surgery, oh my!
Ski season is over! Already? It feels like it just started for me, and the ten inches of fresh snow on my patio here in Anchorage seems to indicate otherwise. But alas, the season wrapped up with US Biathlon Nationals hosted by the Casper Mountain Biathlon Club the last weekend of March. As I wrote about in my previous post, I drove out from Vermont to Colorado to get in some high altitude training, then drove north to Wyoming.
The race venue was SO cold and the wind and snow were blowing like crazy; Wyoming really showed its true colors. I wanted to race in all my layers and massive down puffy coat before I decided I looked way too dorky. I was also the only racer from my team here, so I had to show off the candy cane suit and try my best to represent them well.
Ideally, I could have used another week at altitude to really feel the effects. I did not feel like myself racing the sprint on Friday and the pursuit on Saturday. However, by Sunday, I think I was finally acclimated and I felt great! Granted the sun came out and the wind died down so that may have factored into it… The last race was the relay and I was the anchor leg that crossed the finish line snagging us a 3rd place podium. But the absolute highlight of the weekend was definitely making the front page of the local news paper!
After the races concluded, I had the pleasure of spending the next week in Bozeman with my friend, Helen. She was a great host taking me to ski on the town trails and the new Crosscut Mountain Sports Center trails. I haven’t skied here since I was racing Junior National qualifiers and it was crazy how much it had changed.
And no post-ski trip is complete without stopping for delicious gluten free ginger cookies and ice cream! We got up to all sorts of shenanigans. I crashed the Team Crosscut end of year banquet, we painted our own bowls, tried a new crepe restaurant, and spent a day on the Montana State University campus pretending I was a student. I loved it since Covid swindled me out of my college campus experience!
Having my own car granted me flexibility to visit friends and new and familiar places, but I did eventually have to hit the road again. Almost a year ago, I drove from Alaska to Vermont and I told myself I would never do that again. Well… never say never because I drove myself back up to Alaska. Early April meant there were only a few cars on the road, but I did face a few snow storms. Have no fear, Frank (my Subaru) and I made it safely after 3 days of driving.
On my drive through Canada, I had the pleasure of watching a local sled dog race, try some honey cured reindeer, and listen to an array of podcasts. I would recommend The Dirt Bag Diaries “Endangered Spaces — Colorado River” if you have any interest in the water shortage the West is facing. As someone who grew up on a ranch at the head of the Colorado River drainage, I appreciated that they were not anti-agriculture since we all rely on this water to eat our vegetables in the winter! They offered great insight from the ranchers, to the outdoor enthusiasts, to the Native peoples all effected by this river system.
I’m happy to be back in Alaska, but I sadly came back for a not very fun reason. I had an arthroscopic surgery on my left knee on Thursday. I had some messy ligaments in there that needed cleaned up so I can enjoy skiing, and moving, in general, again.
During my pre-op, they said no jewellery, no makeup, no nail polish, so I’m thinking, if I die my ghost is going to be so ugly! Then my surgery wasn’t until the afternoon and I couldn’t eat because of the anaesthesia, so I was starving for the last 15 hours. THEN my surgery was delayed another 2 hours because a moose walked into the lobby and they were trying to get him out while he leisurely ate the plant decor. No, I’m not joking, this is the most Alaskan thing ever.
As I rolled into the operating room, they were playing music, so I asked them to play Lil Yachty’s “sAy sOMETHING” for me, and they laughed but obliged! I was singing until the anaesthesia knocked me out. Now, I am one week post-surgery and I am already shuffling around and bending my knee. The doctor says lots of biking is in my future so hopefully this snow starts melting and I can do just that! With all this time on my hands, I decided I was a big girl and spent THREE hours filing my taxes, but I did it all by myself! And I baked some banana bread :)
I hope everyone had a great winter season and spring decides to make her appearance here soon! (fingers crossed)
The last picture shows the inside of my knee so this is your warning if you don’t want to see it!
