I Love It

"Get comfortable with being uncomfortable, all the time."

This is a quote Vern Gambetta said to us coaches when we were in Lake Placid this past fall for a coaching symposium put on by USSA.  I really like it.  I liked it before he had even said it, because as a cross-country skier you are constantly reminded of how painful the sport is.  I love that about skiing.  I love how it is perpetually pushing you out of your comfort zone.  I love how tough it is.  I love how tough it makes me.  I love thinking about how I do the hardest sport there is.

2 hour ski at Prospect on Monday

Even as a coach, I find that this sport is still pushing me out of my comfort zone.  And I love it!  This past weekend at the Lake Placid SuperTour was no exception.  Long days, warm weather, tricky waxing, wax test after wax test, and high expectations for myself; I was pushed to my limit.  At the end of it all, I stood there in the wax truck and felt I had nothing left to give.  Then we packed everything up, and drove the three hours home.  I was exhausted, and my emotional status was nonexistent.  I brooded to myself.

Nordic skiing creates a culture of hard workers that transcends the yearly double-pole test.  It turns complacent individuals into questioners, believers, dreamers.  I want more.  I want worse conditions.  I want more wax to test, and skis to wax.  I want to be pushed and pushed until I can actually say that I have nothing left to give.  And then I want to do it again.

As I look out the window to the 50 degree rain plowing through our dreams of a white winter, I think: Give it to me.  This past weekend, Freshman Sonya Jampel made the U20/U18 A-Final.  I knew she was going to win.  However, 200 meters out of the start she got tripped up, fell, and was in last place going out of the stadium.  After she crossed the finish line, she came up to me and asked what you're supposed to do in that situation.  Without hesitation I said grin and bear it.  

Sonya at the start of the U20/U18 Skate Sprint Final

Today, the team is going for a run coupled with an Ercolina workout.  This weekend we head to Vermont for the UVM carnival.  Believe me when I say our team is full of hard-working men and women, that are relentless in achieving their goals and endeavors.  I feel confident that we have the most dangerous collegiate ski team in the country right now.  The paradigm is shifting.  Watch us shake up the EISA circuit this weekend.  Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Perry