Rainbows:
I think just about every little girl loves rainbows, who doesn’t? And seeing one is even better. Have you ever found the pot of gold at the end? I am still searching, but it sure is a fun journey trying to find it, the journey being the best part. As an artist, an interesting color palatte goes hand in hand with the mood, just as in chromotherapy.
Dr Suess, who I can proudly say went to my alma matter, Dartmouth College, has a great children’s book called, My Many Colored Days
which I often read to my own children and we talk about having blue days, pink days and green days and even gray days. My favorite days are PINK!
Returning to rainbows, and every girls dream…and arcing a little from the post….now- a -days kids are collecting Bakugan and Silly Bands.In fact Anders in nuts about any little collection in a special box, whether it is rocks or beads or just little things. Back in the 80’s, when I was a little girl, we collected Friendship Pins and Stickers. A blast to the past….Lisa Frank stickers. I still have most of my sticker collection to this day.
Return: It is never easy to juggle working, and looking after the boys.
A huge thanks to Michael who did a great job of caring for the boys while out straight working while I was away. I got home late friday night from Italy, left my mountain of gear in the entry way and enjoyed a welcome home from my boys.
Then we did some serious “range-ing” in french to arrange. Or, as we sing in the clean up song…”Put it away, put it away, put it away now! ” I really don’t think there will ever be a time any time soon where I won’t be at odds with putting things away, whether it is dishes, legos, laundry, gear and now the new favorite…tiny plastic pearls.
Really the list is endless…so I have decided to embrace all aspects of tidying. I may not have the tidiest house in the neighborhood. BUT, it is a house full of life, energy, and movement. What more can I say. I have been known to call on the Secours from time to time. But for now, range-ing is my friend.
What else did we do on Return? Had a Birthday Party! Sang Happy Birthday in French and English! Ate birthday cake! Hunted for treasures! Danced to disco music with a pack of lil 4 and 5 year olds.
Race: What? Really? Another race after a week of racing??? You’ve got to be kidding?
Saturday morning on a whim…“Do you want to be a mixed team for the Run and Skate?”, I asked Damien Voulliamoz a young talented athlete from Chamonix who keeps saying he will soon try skimo racing .”Why not,” he said. ” I am not in great shape, but I will do it for fun.” Fun was for sure the objective. It was in my own backyard, with friends around. I had done this race t a couple years ago and won the womens catagory with a friend from CMBM running club . So, I signed us up. Sunday morning we did not have to go far to the start! The last races I drove 7 hours to get to and this was less than 7 minutes! Perfect! The runners set off and less than an hour later Damien finished the 12km winter trail run in first! Luckily I was well warmed up when he tagged me for the relay, and I set off on my 2 x 9km loops remembering how to glide on my skate skis. I love skate skiing and try to go out a handful of times in the winter for recovery workouts. Believe me, this was no recovery workout! I enjoyed being in the lead for awhile until a few men started to pass me when I got to the Desert blanche. I managed to hold onto the mix team lead and even better we came 2nd in the overall team catagory out of 52 teams with some tough competition in the top 20.
It was super fun, a pleasure to race with Damien, future recruit for Chamonix Ski Alpinisme and great to have local friends around to enjoy the event! You can find the full results on the Chamonix Club des Sports site.
Link to article on Run and Skate: in Endurance-Mag.com
Recovery: What are the best ways to recover from a hard week of racing? Rest, Ice Baths, Massage, yoga, Stretching and sleep.
For me also, spending time with my boys who are on vacation.
Well, that is not exactly recovery, but active recovery which is very important too! They never slow down. We hit the ski slopes in the sunshine and also hit the thermal baths in Switzerland and our favorite place, the UCI cycling center for some BMX riding.
Recharge: Recharging the batteries for the next races…as the season is just getting underway. Even though its March, there is a solid 2 months of racing left. The next World Cup race, The Marmotta Trophy, is just around the corner on March 6th in Italy.
And then the Pierra Menta….not too far off.
So the journey to find the end of the rainbow continues….
