Williams College Nordic Ski Team: "I get up early so that the world belongs to me."

Sunday, July 31, 2016

"I get up early so that the world belongs to me."

I recently finished reading the book, The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair. It's a mystery novel written by a Swiss author, Joel Dicker, that has been translated into many different languages and was named the #1 international bestseller in 2015. It takes place in Somerset, NH, and tells the story of an up and coming author and his well known literary mentor. It's detailed, fast paced, and woven into the primary storyline are short pieces of advice, usually in the context of writing, boxing or running (a few of the main character's pastimes). One of which was, "I get up early so that the world belongs to me."

Last week, Hannah Benson checked in with the women's team and asked us to share our goals for the upcoming month. She reminded us (although it's hard to believe) that the school semester AND ski season are quickly approaching. While I haven't had the day to day presence of teammates like the Bend Crew, it was both encouraging and motivating to hear what each person had chosen to focus on-- many of which were measurable process goals. One of my goals was to not let the weather dictate my training, or in other words not allow myself to use the weather as any type of excuse for not completing my training. New York has been HOT. As someone who could live in 65ºF and below, usually I quietly suffer though the inevitable couple of weeks at the end of July when it's nothing but hot and sticky, reaching disappointing lows of 72ºF and super sunny highs around 90ºF. It's a tough two weeks for training, but soon it passes and the first signs of crisper fall mornings are on their way. Not this summer. Ever since the start of June, it's been hot. So, while I've been doing my best for most of the summer to not let this disrupt my training plans, Hannah's prompt has given me a concrete focus throughout August. Whether it's better hydration, shadier trails, or earlier mornings, there's a way to get in the work without letting the weather be an excuse. So, back to the book... when I came across that line, it seemed like the perfect thing to remember, "I get up early so that the world belongs to me."

In other news, I've been spending a lot of time up at our family cabin in the Adirondacks-- swimming, running, card games, campfires, the works. Maile Sapp, who skis for Harvard, also has a camp on our lake so we've spent some time catching up about skiing, new teammates and our hopes for mountains of snow next year.

This past week, my youngest brother, Jude, had a hockey camp at Providence College. While he was there, the rest of my family got to explore the surrounding area and visited beaches, local bookstores, tried Rhode Island's famous frozen lemonade, ran in a few state parks, and spent a lot of hours packed into a mini-van.