I arrived in Ostersund, Sweden last Wednesday after a pretty smooth travel from Lake Placid. It was great to step off the plane and enter Sweden in the full swing of winter. Temperatures have been very cold and they have a great mix of natural and man-made snow on the trails.
After skiing around a loop that was less than a kilometer long in Canmore, it felt great to get out on the trails here in Ostersund. They have all of the competition trails up and running with around 8 perfectly groomed Kilometers. We started logging solid hours right from the start and yesterday I did my first speed training since leaving Lake Placid. So far I have been feeling good and I am looking forward to the start of the world cup in just under two weeks!
One thing that never seems to change here in Sweden is the abundance of potatoes at every meal. At first, I started to count how many potatoes I had eaten, but after four days and 12 potatoes it started to get a little depressing. Who knows, maybe my Irish heritage works well with potatoes and that is why I have performed well here in the past. We will see….
Another update to come after 30 potatoes!
Also, congrats to the Ski Team for a great start to the season. It has been fun to turn on the TV and hear the commentators talk about US skiing!
