Epic

I am writing this post from Soph's and my abode at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, where we both are somewhat corpse-like after our epic Climb to the Castle.  The Climb to the Castle is an annual event put on by the NYSEF (New York Ski Education Foundation), and it is literally 5 miles of uphill.  It is unlike any other ski race (thankfully), and today it was even better (worse?) due to the wind and rain that greeted us at the top.  At least it was epic.

On our off day Erika and I took a little walk (to loosen up the legs!) and went to Pike's Point.  It's beautiful.  Erika went swimming, I did not.  I prefer just lounging in the sun.

This terrible epic-ness of today contrasts sharply with the past couple days I've enjoyed. Following the running time trial (see previous post on Roses and Thorns), we enjoyed a day off in which Erika and I got our domesticity on.  Our biggest success was rice crispy footballs for the football fanatics on our team (Skyler and Gus), but they were enjoyed by many.  We also made some muffins, as well as some cookies that unfortunately were terrible.  They held a lot of promise--the main ingredient (besides the absurd amount of flour which is why they were not good) was pretzel m&ms.  Whoever invented the pretzel m&m is a genius.  They are hands down the best version out there, and arguably the best candy known to man (maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but then again maybe not).

Erika using some artistic skill to decorate the footballs!

Completed footballs! They were really delicious--I mean how can you go wrong with chocolate rice crispies, peanut butter, marshmallows and footballs?!?

The next day we headed out to Lake Placid, but not before stopping at an AMAZING breakfast place in Manchester.  The little hole in the wall is called Up for Breakfast, and you literally have to go up because it is on the top story of a building.  It was stellar, and a good way to start off the 3ish hour drive.  Upon arrival at Placid we did a nice easy run and settled into OTC life.  The OTC can get a little dull at times, but by watching a lot of movies, reading a lot, and spending a lot of time in the dining hall we make the time FLY by (times flies while your having fun!).

The next day we did some speeds in the morning followed by an easy skate ski in preparation for the epic-ness that was today.

Now for the race.

In my typical fashion I started off probably too hard.  But for me I find that unless I get off to a good hard start, I have a lot of trouble getting myself into racing mentality.  So I generally go pretty hard from the start, hang on, hoping for the best but also expecting the worst.  The idea is that with every year I will be able to hang on for longer.  So far, so good, as this year went a lot better than last year--almost 9 minutes so! Here is a link to the results--hopefully some more pictures and a full report will emerge at some point http://blogs.fasterskier.com/insidetrack/2012/09/15/stephen-claims-third-climb-to-the-castle-victory/. If any good pictures surface I will be sure to post them!

I started off with the lead group of girls (minus Liz Stephen who was leagues in front of everyone--way to kill it!), and then started to feel the pain train around 2ish miles.  So I dropped off the pace a bit, but managed to keep things going well until the end.  I think I ended up 7th and the 3rd U23, so both things I am really happy with!

Gus, Sophie, and I after the finish, all sporting our matching beanie hats.  That is Gus, smiling.

And now we just wait until strength time (as if my legs already aren't sore enough!)  But I'm pretty stoked, so it will be lots of fun.  And maybe going to Ben and Jerry's tonight...what's not to love?!?

Hugz and Kissez