Thanksgiving Camp

Bridget and Sam discuss geology of Iceland to my right.  In the corner Victoria delves into her latest project. No one knows what Will does on his cell phone...likely looking up the time trial results or obscure knowledge that I will never understand. Some like Yara, Kyle, Ben, Heather have gone to the coffee shop to focus on their homework. This morning was a time trial with 5k classic and 3k skate. We were required to transition from classic boots, skis, poles to skate gear. The first section of the course was flat and curving. The double poling felt natural, the breathing did not. Meghan stood on the first corner and her voice was the only reason I looked up to realize it was time to turn off onto the trail up the hill. Floundering in soft patches of snow and imperfections in the trail, I fought with my body to perform as I expected it to. When it did not feel like I expected, I had to remind myself to not judge too harshly. It takes time for the body to relearn all that it must do during races. For some, the end of the race meant puking up the morning's crepes. For others, it meant laying in the cold snow, spent like that World Cup racers we watched the night before. Thanksgiving Camp for the UW team is a very important part of the season. We become a team at this camp. Nicknames fully engaged, ski prowess measured and proved, the pecking order of the summer restructured for the coming race season. It is when we begin to rely on one another to make food, to clean up, to mold into specific roles on the team: freshman, novice, coach, glamorous older sister, elite racer who we all look up to. It is impossible to describe what all happens at this camp because a lot of the team building is in the little moments between the organized events. It happens in the cuddle pile at night watching World Cup sprints, screaming at the television for certain skiers to push a little harder or tuck a little deeper. It happens on the ski trails when you realize you have never skied with this person before; they step a little differently or take the corner more aggressively and you learn from them. It happens when we push back into child's pose and breathe out in unison, feeling the same ski muscles tense then relax with the movement. It is in hearing someone's snore, someone's laugh, and someone's extreme exertion each day. Motivation for the entire season is built at this camp, when we realize again the difficulty of ski racing and the happiness that it brings.