First days of the Games

Today is Day 2 of competition here in Sochi. For Nordic skiing this means the long-distance sit-ski race. The men have already gone and the women will be starting very shortly.

For me today is a training day and prep for tomorrow's VI/Standing long-distance classic race. I'm about to head out for a ski. 

The last couple of days have been very busy and exciting. Two days ago we attended the Opening Ceremonies, which were nothing short of amazing. From the full stands at Fisht Stadium to the amazing performances and the giant icebreaker sailing through the stadium, it was quite a spectacle. Granted, the march in fell far short of the excitement of Vanouver for us, (considering we're no longer the home crowd), but the rest of the ceremonies was unbelievable. I'm really glad I went even though I had a race the next day. 

Yesterday was my very first race of the Sochi 2014 Paralympics. It was a 6 km biathlon sprint. It went as first races usually do - with a few hiccups along the way. We had a bit of a lane mix-up in the range on my first shooting round with the marshal being unclear which lane I was supposed to use. That threw my focus a bit and got me flustered so I missed two shots and had to do two penalty loops. On the second round I shot clean, but since I wasn't aware I had qualified for biathlon at all for these Games untill just a couple of weeks ago, I was pretty slow at shooting. On the last lap, for some reason, my legs started to feel really heavy - as if they were full of lead. I felt like I could barely move. It might have been because I had stood around quite a bit the night before at the Ceremonies or because of jet lag/altitude. There's no way to really know, but the fact was that I was dying a slow and painful death around that last lap. Because my legs were so heavy I got bogged down in the deep sugary snow on the last downhill and went down. I got up really quickly only to realize that my Leki pole had unclipped itself and flown off somewhere. I got a little confused and looked around for it for a second or two. Then Andrea called over to me and gave me her pole. Our head coach Robin popped out of nowhere suddenly and gave Andrea a spare pole. I wasn't able to put Andrea's pole grip on as it was a complicated kind, so there we were finishing the race with two different poles each and mine not even around my wrist. But we made it without broken equipment or injuries, though it was disappointing to come in last again. I may have been able to challenge for 6th place if I hadn't fallen. Someone later found my pole and brought it to me. 

But tomorrow is a new day, and we race a 15 km classic race. We are going 5 times around a 3 km loop. We are the last category out again so the conditions will be pretty tricky once again. I really hope I can keep my legs fresh enough to get down that hill without falling 5 times tomorrow. The key will definitely be pacing and keep good technique throughout. 

Andrea and I practised the course today a few times and my classic technique felt awesome. I feel pretty confident about tomorrow's race. But I have to go to bed now if I want to feel fresh tomorrow. 

So good night from Sochi once again.

Just another day In the Athletes' Village...

Today has been a good day characterized by intense pin trading and the realization that WE are very special around here. This experience is going to spoil everyday life forever! How will we ever recover?!

We started the day off with some skiing. It was snowing really hard out there, but the snow was more soft and fluffy than yesterday, so the turns were really easy to do today. Tom Siletta, the coach designated to the development group, was helping Andrea, Courtney, Robert and me with step-turns. By the end of it all, I was able to do two perfect step-turns around that difficult right-hand corner into the stadium. That was an amazing feeling. Now I just have to remember that moment when I race. We had some trouble with the classic skiing though. My zero skis (skis with chemical bases used for days like today) were really catching the snow on the downhills and making them difficult to negociate. We will have to figure something else out if the classic race conditions are like today's.

After the ski, I went for a massage at the polyclinic. I got an ART provider and my back now feels so much better! Then I had some volunteers do my laundry for me. I met a Japanese coach who spoke very little English in the laundry trailer. He managed to intimate that he wanted to trade pins. So I showed him that I would be back in five mintues and brought down some Canada pins and tatoos. He gave me a Japan pin, and I went for my massage. When I came back to pick up the laundry, the volunteers told me that the Japanese man was looking for me because he wanted to give me a present and take a picture. And just on cue, he shows up with a "Hello Kitty" toy and his camera. We took a picture with each other's hats on and said "see you at the Opening Ceremonies." And that's how I made a Japanese friend!

The pin trading continued at supper, where my guide, Robert, got all excited and ran around the dining hall trading with everyone in sight! It was intense and pretty hilarious. Then, we met my old Russian friends that go way back with my parents and traded some more pins. Canada pins are a hot commodity around here!

I've still got a lot of pins left to trade, and I hear Kathleen is bringing me some City of Ottawa ones. That'll be exciting. If only all the other countries' pins were as nice as ours!

So tomorrow's the Opening Ceremonies, and most of us are going. It'll be a long afternoon. We're leaving at 2:30, the Ceremonies start at 6, and then we have the option of leaving right after we march in or staying untill the end. If we stay till the end, we won't get back until midnight. It's a pretty tough call considering most of us race first thing Saturday morning, but it would be so cool to be part of the excitement at BC Place! If you're interested in watching live, go to http://www.paralympicsport.tv/. Otherwise, CTV will air something or other that they taped at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

Well, it's a big day tomorrow. Good night!

France: Day 6 - Official biathlon training and opening ceremonies

Today was official traiining for the biathlon race tomorrow. Robert and I skied the course in the morning and tried out as many of the rifles as we could. There are 10 Eko rifles in all set up at the range. Rifles 1 and 2 weren't working I guess, but they are supposed to be tomorrow. On official training days, we're supposed to try all the guns to find out if there are any quirks to certain ones that we should know about. On race day, the official fills the lanes starting with 1, so we don't get the choiice, but it's still good to know what kind of gun you're shooting.

It was cold in Bessans this morning, -18, but I thught that, compared to the Ottawa -18, this was a walk in the park. The only thing was that the snow was really slow, so even going easy meant you were working hard. The course seems really nice though, mostly all gentle or short uphills and no crazy downhills. Tomorrow the B-category athletes (blind) start at noon, so by that time, the snow should warm up a bit, and it's been snowing all evening, so that should speed things up as well.

This evening was the Opening Ceremonies. Only two people from the "A" team showed up, but most of our crew was there. It was really neat and fun. First they had a parade, in which only Andrea, me, Robbi and Brian participated from our team we're not really sure why. Mary would have none of this monkey business and so she joined us as we were walking by. Everyone was led in by children from the area dressed in traditional costume. This is us after we walked in.

That was followed by some welcoming speeches. Then, after the World Cup was declared open, they said they were going to light the flame. This was done by having a whole bunch of alpine skiers come down the mountain with torches. It was really cool even though all I could see were some lights moving down the mountain. Here they are standing in the street afterwards. They skied right into the street!

Then, they announced that they had "une autre surpris" for us, and next thing we knew, there were fireworks lighting up the night sky! It was like Canada Day in the winter. What an effort for such a small place! At the end they had some traditional dances of the region performed by some adults and some little kids. Of course, our Mary went out to dance along with them! They ended up sweeping Andrea along as well, and there she is wearing my new media jacket. Haha try and find her!

It was a fun evening, and I was very glad I went even though I've got a bit of a sore throat today and am trying everything to make sure it doesn't develop into a cold. This is Andrea, Mary and me on our way back from the festivities. My camera battery was just about dead, so I think that's why things are a little blurry.

Oh don't worry, I will charge it tonight. I know how much everyone loves my pictures :).

Good night from Bessans.