After Training and After School in West Yellowstone

My CXC teammates and I are in West Yellowstone for just under a month this year. That is a long time to be living in a hotel room. This is my 5th winter in West Yellowstone and I arrived with the goal of making a greater connection with the local community during my stay.

Caitlin and I gave a presentation to the after-school program about life as a professional ski racer and the big Yellostone Ski Festival and Super Tour races in town.

Happy Thanksgiving pop-up cards. My mom made pop-up cards with me when I was younger and they were awesome. Although the finished products from Annie, Lillith, and Mason were really cool.

Show-and-Tell of Skis and Poles

Drawing Biomes

Having fun training, living, and playing in West

It has been a hard week of training. Visiting and working with the kids was a great way to add energy to the day and take a mental break from training. It was fun to see the excitement in the kids eyes for the first big snow storm. Plus I like seeing how new kids respond to my favorite games of Squirrel Olympics, Last-Man Standing, and Speed Tag.

Tie Dye Art

Estasha, Alison, and Sariah Rockin' their new Tie Dye T's

One year during High School our cross-country running team warm-ups were misplaced so we decided to Tie Dye long sleeve shirts for the Team Uniform. One of the guys on the team Pete had done a fair amount of Tie Dye and he helped everyone create some sweet shirts. It was a lot of fun and something I have wanted to do with the kids at the Lac Courte Orielles Boys and Girls Club. Again Pete coached me along about where to get the best dye and get the project started.

Aaron working on his spiral shirt

A huge thanks to my neighbor and friend Kay for helping keep the chaos organized

Tomorrow I hit the road for 2 Months: Nov 11 - Jan 11. After a great spring, summer, and fall of training I am excited to get back on snow and to race. One of the things that I will miss is everyone at the Boys and Girls Club.

What does Brian do when he is not at the Boys and Girls Club?

I gave a presentation to the kids about my travels, struggles and triumphs of last season. Plus, my plans for the next two months on the road.

"I want to see what my shirt looks like!"

We tie dyed over 60 unique shirts on Monday night. It was fun to see them all. I was hoping to get the kids the shirts on Tuesday but it took me over 2 hours to cut/pull out the rubber bands and rinse the shirts. There were a lot of curious kids yelling at me as I walked down the hall on my way to Mrs. Johnson's 5th Grade classroom.

Mary, "Check out my Shirt?"

Josephine

Adding letters and drawings to the shirts with Sharpies

It is still pretty warm here in Wisconsin. Bad for skiing, good for flashlight tag

I had a great final night at 'The Club' tonight. The kids loved the slide show, were super excited to see their shirts, and we had a huge game of flashlight tag down at the Pow Wow Grounds.

Tomorrow we head for snow.

One Last Big Week at Home

Enjoying one of my few weekend at home in Hayward, Home of the American Birkebeiner.

Birkie/ActivEdge Clinic in Seeley, WI analyzing video immediately after skiing. Last year I bought a Netbook with a 10hour battery life. The screen is small but the portability is fantastic. It is great to go over video while the workout is fresh in your mind.

Santi and Eric cooling down after 3(6*60s) HARD. We saw every kind of weather on this workout: rain, snow, sun, wind.

Alright I didn't stay at home all week, I drove down to Minneapolis on Saturday after dinner to surprise Caitlin for her Birthday. We enjoyed our 4 hour Sunday OD with the large group of Vakava skiers. There were over 40 skiers out on the road together.

Let the snow fly.