10. You do something that ranks at least a 5 on your “Things-I-Never-Want-To-Do-List”. For me, this is a 1 to 10 scale, with 1 being washing dishes, and 10 being running into a burning building while eating a live rattlesnake. Mountain biking happens to fall in between those two extremes. For whatever reason, biking actually really scares me. I’ve jumped off 50 ft cliffs, gone bungee jumping, and been fine, but I got so nervous about mountain biking that I made myself nautious. But I DID IT ANYWAYS. Not sure what that says about me and my decision making skills, but there you have it.
9. Technique…when it comes together, it’s amazing. Enough said.
8. You get to spend quality time with your teammates and really get to know them. I can tell you which girl is about to walk in the door by the sound of her footsteps. That’s how much time we’ve spent together!
8.5…and you get to meet all the amazing junior athletes in the region! It was so, so cool when the high school and club teams would hop in with us for a loop. To all the high school and PG skiers out there: if you ever have an opportunity to jump in, DO IT! You can learn so much by following other people’s technique. Which is why the younger athletes on the USST are always shadowing the more experienced skiers!
7. Team dinners, family style. The dinner rotates between the guys house, girls house and coaches, and it turns into a bit of a cook-off till we think we can’t raise the bar any higher. Then our dietician Adam Korzun shows up and knocks our socks off with hot soup and great food after intervals in a blizzard. We love this guy.
6. Getting to do over-distance skis (OD’s) in a t-shirt because it’s warm and sunny and you push the workout longer and longer because you just want to hit those jumps one more time.
5. The coaches making inspirational videos. Nothing is better than slow motion hop-skating or crashing in powder to the “Chariots of Fire” song. Nothing.
4. Getting intervals done even if it’s a total winter snowstorm outside. You feel like tough stuff when you finish your set while barely being able to see down the hills and plowing through powder. And putting preem sprints in the middle of those intervals, just because we can.
Preem sprint! (Whitcomb photo)
3. You get to see IN CONCERT the Shins, Beck, Blind Pilot, the Head and the Heart, and Metric. Whoa, those bands were amazing, and the outdoor concert was really fun.
2. Team baseball games. You just can’t go wrong. Even if you’re like me, and need an indefinite number of swings before actually hitting the ball!
1. You are absolutely not ready to leave yet, but you go home because you miss you family, you’re freaking excited about the new puppy you’re about to get, and your plane will leave without you if you don’t get to the airport. Bye!
