Moving Onwards

By now many people may have heard the news, but I regret to inform everyone that I will not be returning in the fall as an Eph.  I have accepted a position to be the head coach at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay nordic team.  It was not an easy decision to make to leave the team, but it allowed both Kayla and I to move closer to home which is hugely important to both of us.  In addition, I will be able to my own stamp on a program which will be very exciting.

I wanted my last deed at Williams to be a blog post with a big photo dump of my adventure down under this summer, as well as some of my favorite moments from the previous season.

Early season practice in at Perisher.  Skiing on the road!

End of the road, looking out onto the main range!

We have had a lot of snow this season.  That post is normally 6-7 feet tall.

Again, a lot of snow.  This is the entrance to the ski storage locker.  You usually need to walk  through this corridor to get there, army crawl at this point.

Super proud of two of my athletes.  1st and 2nd place as a U18 and a U16 at the Australian Championships in the skate sprint!

While I love the wax truck, being outside has its perks sometimes!

One last group picture with some of the girls I have worked with.  Some tears may have been shed.

The boys also wanted a picture with me.

Going back through the last year now.  Beginning of a series of "painful" pictures.

Bounding at Prospect visualizing the classic race that never happened.

Jay getting after it on some big intervals at Jiminy Peak.

Will anyone ever forget that race suit???

"I see you." Thanksgiving dinner at Craftsbury, doggo wants some food.

Good looking group of cows.  Too bad Nick never made the photo.

"Hurry up and take the picture.  It's cold!"

Helping Franklin and his Tinder profile.

One of the many fine skis to be had with the team at Prospect!

Future Ephs in the making!

One of the best skis of the year...day after the washout at the Williams Carnival!

My side of the wax truck was never all that healthy...

Last race in the books, happy group of ladies!

"We don't need a wax bench!" Instant regret one minute later with a broken tail.

Unplanned break during one of the many long skis in Sjusjoen.

Huge flock of cows, both young and old alike!

On top of the world after a huge ski with the ladies!

Bonk city, end of the 100km ski.

Thank you to both Jason and the team for welcoming me into the family for a year. I will never forget it, and will always strive to create the special place that Jason has made at Williams.  Rock the Cow!

Not your Average Appendicitis

Hello from the beautiful Lake Michigan :)

As some of you may know, my summer in the Valley of Sun took a strange turn, along with my colon, on the night of July 21st. After waking up at 2am from acute abdominal pain, I was rushed to the emergency room and then helicoptered to Boise, Idaho for abdominal surgery. I was accompanied by Lucy's mom, the amazing Kathy Alexander.

That day I worked at the first day of the Sun Valley Writer's Conference and got to listen to keynote speaker Tom Friedman. Sadly, I did not make the other four days of the conference. I was especially devastated about missing Terrance Hayes, but I did listen to and read a lot of his poetry during my hospital stay. Here is a link to the audio of my favorite Terrance poem, "How to Draw a Perfect Circle":  https://www.poetryfoundation.org/play/76951

Lucy and I killing it at the pavilion. 

(While wonky on pain medication I insisted on documenting my first helicopter flight. Behold the foothills of Boise!)

 What doctors first believed to be appendicitis turned out to be a bit more extreme. The gist of it is that my left descending colon had twisted, causing my right colon to stop functioning and blow up to the size of 14 centimeters (Which as witness Kathy Alexander describes, is roughly the size of a Quaker Oats container).

(Alas, I can never look at this wholesome breakfast the same way again...)

I had both my appendix and the infected right ascending colon removed in surgery and woke up the next morning feeling like I had been tortured for hours in a dead fish core contraption. My mom flew in that night from VT, which was such a blessing (a week later my dad flew out too <3). 

However, my journey was far from over.  On Hospital Day 3, I became very sick. After a CT scan, we learned that I had a leakage and an infection from my surgery and that the doctors needed to go in again to fix the leakage, purge infection, and also operate on my left colon. On Friday, August 3rd I woke up from my second surgery with a lot more gear. I had an open wound with a wound vac (no stitches just a suction system), a Nasal Gastral tube down my nose, an IV nutrition pick line, and several other miscellaneous IV tubes. Really, my journey had just begun.

I did get to catch up on some great movies like Thor Ragnorok during my hospital stay. I remember really resonating with Chris Hemsworth here. Other movies watched include: Dr. Strange, Phantom of the Opera, Chocolat, and Mama Mia #1. I also aggresively binged Parks and Recs. 

Overall, the 17 days I spent in the hospital represent the most difficult time of my life. Almost worse than the everyday physical pain was the fear that something else would go wrong. And many things did. But I got through them. I would not wish this experience on anyone, but I can say that it has forever changed my perspective. Although my recovery is far from over, here are some of the things I have learned from my experience thus far.

My first day of freedom!!!

1. Sending love and support to friends in need can go a long way. I feel so incredibly lucky for the support I received from Coach Jay and the team. From texts, phone calls, flowers, letters and playlists, little acts of love from friends and family let me know that I was not alone. I am beyond grateful for Lucy and the Alexander family who were by my side throughout the whole ordeal (even after Lucy took off for Argentina!). Ivy even made a spontaneous road trip to Boise and stayed with me overnight in the hospital. Her visit helped me more than I can express.  <3 

2. The medical world is a confusing place. There's no one that has all the answers, and sometimes it feels like everyone is just trying to piece together a giant jigsaw puzzle while blindfolded and doing rollerski agility. That said, the care I received from the St. Luke's Hospital doctors, nurses, and staff was really amazing and I made some good friends. 

3. The determination and grit you gain from Nordic skiing can come in handy in surprising ways. Whether you are trying to stay with a pack on that last lap of a 15k or walk to the end of the hospital hallway, digging deep and believing in yourself can get you where you need to go (One of my cheesier lines but I now know it to be true). The pain cave is more than a ski metaphor, it is a complex mental-physical-emotional matrix you can find yourself in at any time.

4.  Life is un-freakin-predictable. You really never know when a rare congenital condition might show up! But instead of living in the fear of the unknown, I think this is even more reason to lean into the joys of the present. Sometimes it can seem like skiing is all about setting yourself up for future success. But something I love about this team is our ability to appreciate what we have, right here, right now. And we got a lot of love on this team!

5.  Boise is actually a sick place. I only got to explore it for one day, but I still feel like I got the vibe. Think Midwest hospitality meets Westcoast chillness in a young and hip outdoorsy community. 

Boise views. 

I am now enjoying some much-needed R&R at my Grandmother's house at Lake Michigan. I can go on long beach walks and consume things other than Jell-O and coughdrops which feels really good. Plus, I'm with the three Bango bros, and they have kept me entertained.  Also my scar is pretty badass so at least there's that ;). 

2/3 Bango Bros pictured: Gabriel and Sebastian. Mateo most likely playing Fortnite somewhere.

Thank you again to everyone for sending their love and support during a truly wild life experience.

-Carmen

3000 Meters of Collusion

The Russian national team was in Lillehammer for a training camp this past week and hosted an open 3k for everyone on the final day. In an attempt to better understand the behavior of our current president I decided to cooperate with the Russians and see how I might benefit. Unlike Michael Cohen, however, I was unable to record any of my conversations, and so a few photos will have to do.

At first I was the sole American present and began to worry about my chances against such a large number of Russians. Fortunately despite the best efforts of the Trump administration NATO still does exist and, with a quick invocation of Article 5, I was joined by several Norwegians and Canadians. It was quite an experience to be on the start line and hear all the pre-race chirping in Russian. 

(several familiar names)

All joking aside the Russian coach and athletes were all very welcoming. It was fun to get the opportunity to toe the line next to some world class competitors even if it was just for a time trial. This is my last week in Norway after a long summer and looking forward to one last year in the Purple Valley!

The road pt. 2: Free food and other gifts from the universe

I suppose I should begin where I left off concerning my summer wandering, perhaps more for catharsis and preservation purposes than entertainment. As you may remember, dear reader, the last blog post left off in South Dakota on the Rosebud Reservation. I spent a week there helping out at the Boys and Girls club, in which I played A LOT of foursquare, made friends with some awesome children, helped lead a camping trip to the Badlands, picked some wild mint, went to my first drive-in movie (getting in touch with my midder roots), and generally tried to listen and learn from those around me.

Our trip to the Badlands. Basically I'm a terrible influence and no one should ever put me in charge of children

I don't pick favorites, but this girl is an ABSOLUTE BOSS who definitely did not listen when I said she wasn't allowed to climb to the top.

So then after my week in South Dakota and another horrible round of goodbyes, I drove back to Devils Tower. Time to do some crack climbing!

I cannot even begin to express the love and gratitude I feel for the community at Devils Tower Lodge, which served as my home for the next two weeks. In exchange for bed-making, dish-washing, wood-moving, and informal climbing guiding, I was given a parking space in the yard and breakfast and dinner at the B&B. Really it was not a very fair exchange, but by this point I think Frank was so impressed with my go-karting skill that he and everyone else accepted my status as that vaguely charming and intellectual free-loader. Eventually I started being introduced to all the guests as "resident climbing bum." My ego has never felt so good.

My photography from my time there left something to be desired, but I promise I was having a lot of fun. And going on some frickin sweet morning runs.

I made a new best friend. Her name is Clara. I love her. 

On this particular day en route to the summit I exposed my booty in order to pee off of a ledge as hundreds of tourists probably watched from the base through binoculars the parks service kindly provides. Twas sick.

Tamas is a guide. I guided him up  a pitch. Therefore I am a guide's guide. It's not a big deal...

Drove five hours to Lander for a dance party and then got sporty with some alpine limestone. The man's name is JP and he's also my new best friend. 

So then, once I felt like I had sufficiently overstayed my welcome, I returned to the road and headed west to find some mountains. This round of goodbyes left me bawling to Cat Stevens as I watched the Tower recede in the distance through my rearview mirror.

Good thing the Grand Tetons are literally an enormous, high-stakes playground. I arrived at the American Alpine Club's Climbers Ranch and was greeted by my friend JP, who was a stray climber I'd befriended at Devils Tower. "We're climbing the Middle Teton tomorrow,  I've scoped out the route," he informed me as he handed me a freshly grilled brat and cold beverage. No need to rough it at the ranch!

She's got everything delightful she's got everything I need

Summit of the Middle Teton. The next day's objective in the background (The Grand!).

Summit of the Grand Teton via Exum Ridge (look ma, no ropes!). 7,000 feet of elevation gain, 6 hours from car to summit. It is quite possibly the coolest thing I've ever done. Hardest part was posing for the photo at the top. 

Infinitely cooler than me

Then, I folded up my car seat to accommodate three people, kissed my newfound adult freedom goodbye, and went to pick up my parents from the Jackson airport. Our poorly planned plan was to spend 4-6 days backpacking somewhere in the Tetons. Despite forgetting some key items (read: stove fuel and knife) and encountering both moose-in-trail and bear-in-campsite, it was an awesome and insanely gorgeous trip. 

@akjcon u jealous?

Had to show my parents the luxuries of the climbing ranch

Wild ruffians in their best swim attire

And THEN the madness continued as we all piled in the car and drove into the great state of Idaho to go visit Carmen, who had been in a hospital in Boise for way too long following emergency abdominal surgery. When I got there she and her parents were emerging from a really rough and scary few weeks of setbacks. I have nothing but love and admiration for the pure tenacity and vibrancy of that girl. Seriously. She's a badass. Also it was just really good to see her, stomach tubes and all. A really important reminder to be grateful every day for healthy bodies and all the beautiful things that are part of life. 

And NOW the madness continues as I prep for the climbing trip of my life. My friend Kira and I received a grant from the American Alpine Club to take a trip to the Bugaboo Mountains in Canada. It'll be the first trip I'm ever done with a female climbing partner and I'm pumped. It's required a little more preparation than we anticipated because you have to pack like it's a backpacking trip and then add like 40lbs of climbing gear (we definitely were supposed to have left yesterday). 

Yeah, she's pretty strong. Also check out that good good Washington smoke in the background. 

One of our objectives... Wish us luck!