Day 1: Getting Into the Routine

Racing Action: And they're off...

The women biathlete had they're first race yesterday, the 7.5km 'sprint' - Here are a few quotes I plucked off the net from our Team Salomon racers:

Rosanna Crawford - 72nd: "It was fun all around. I am really happy with my race, I hit ten for ten and skiing was decent. For my first Olympic race I handled my nerves really well. I am really thankful to the crowd out there, they were fantastic."

Megan Imrie - 76th: "My legs were shaking like leaves and it was a struggle because of the soft sloppy conditions. My shooting has been really good leading up to the Olympics so I am confident that the next couple races will go really well."

Anthony, our Salomon Biathlon service tech was pretty psyched yesterday because Anastazia Kuzmina of Slovakia won the event on our S-LAB Pro boots, a great start to the Nordic races!

Good job girls!

Daily Morning Routine: Getting into the Groove...

Most mornings have been starting around 7am, with Patrice - let's call him 'Frise' - cooking up a storm in the kitchen with pancakes and all. The 'Frenchies' (as I call them) are all about big breakfasts, but in a healthy way - all good as far as I'm concerned, a nice change from my usual 'grab a coffee and go' early morning routine.

At 8.15, all 5 of us cram into our O-edition rental (1 of 5,000 I'm told) and hit the backroad out of town to the Nordic Venue up in Callaghan Valley. The drive up hasn't been too bad so far - except for yesterday's delay with the USA Vice-President blocking the road for 30min while he snuggled into his seat at the jumping venue!

If you're thinking of 'crashing the "Whistler Olympic Park' venue to join the party - good luck! As you turn off Hwy 99, you are stopped about a km into the drive by your first checkpoint. If you don't have a pass (or a day ticket) you don't get through! Then there is another checkpoint about 10km in, right before your vehicle gets swabbed, probed and scrutinized by an army of policemen and secret service dudes.

Our O-rental about to get the 'rubber glove' treatment...

Depending on your pass level, you get directed to the appropriate parking lot - in our case, the furthest one - and hop on a shuttle (if they stop for you) and get dropped off at the base of the ski jump, only a short walk from our wax cabin.

By this time it's almost 9h30...and the fun stuff hasn't even begun yet!