Well, I discovered the other day I was human.  It was a rude awakening to say the least.  A slap across the face I feel a few times a year.  It is an epiphany, wakening me from my dreamlike state of immortality.  This time it wasn’t the common near-death experience, the unfortunate bonk in the middle of a race, or a season altering injury, but something new.  To put it frank, I finally got tired.  And no, not the “I want to go to sleep” tired, or the “wow those were hard intervals” exhaustion.  This time it is the slow build up over the past two weeks of increasing fatigue, to the point where the muscles are completely sucked dry of energy. 

I begin to wonder, as I sit down to write this post, just exactly how I got into this situation.  You see perched atop my head is none other than an iridescent pink Boston Red Sox baseball cap, shimmering with sparkles (jealous eh?).  The very hat many of you may have seen fellow teammate Noah Hoffman wearing in West Yellowstone due to betting against the Red Sox in the World Series.  So why exactly am I now wearing it?  And how can you get the chance to don this illustrious cap?  Well, to answer these questions one must first dive into the reason for my being in Sun Valley in the first place.

Hey there. Since most of you probably don’t know who I am, I guess I’ll start you all off with a bit of background information. Well, if you haven’t already guessed it, I am more than just a Nordic skier. I am also a runner and I have been juggling the two sports ever since freshmen year in high school. It has been this conflict between sports, this dichotomy one could say, that has enabled me to improve and accomplish everything I have so far.