Yesterday I took a really relaxing morning. I watched the women’s 4 by 5km relay on T.V. The girls, Sadie Bjornsen, Kikkan Randall, Liz Stephen and Jessie Diggins were trying to become the first team from the U.S. to win a championship (World Championship or Olympic) medal in a relay. They put together four solid legs but fell just short of the podium. They finished fourth, a great race. It was very exciting to watch.

I headed down to the venue for a ski after the race. I skied with my technique coach Zach Caldwell. Zach likes to cut my workouts off when he thinks I don’t need any more skiing. Yesterday we set a new record for shortest ski. We were on snow for thirteen minutes.

There are lots of signs that the championships are starting to wind down. Jason Cork was putting Jessie Diggins skate skis away in the cargo van after yesterday’s race:

Many of my teammates, Kikkan, Holly Brooks, Sadie and Simi Hamilton are done racing for the week.

It’s also starting to feel like spring! The parking lot at the wax cabins is messy.

And the Swedes are barbecuing and drinking beer outside their wax truck.

Here’s Kikkan post race (the girls always face-paint for relays):

I was at the venue in the afternoon during the Nordic Combined race. It’s a fun scene there during a race:

Here is race winner Eric Frenzel:

And a distant view of him crossing the finish line:

The snow was wet. It was definitely a klister day:

It is supposed to stay sunny and warm for the rest of the championships. As soon as the races are over the venue empties quickly:

The girls headed out for a pizza dinner last night. The hotel was quiet without them around!

This morning, in the local paper, there is a picture of Sadie in the finish pen yesterday half naked. We have no idea what the article is about, but I’m very intrigued.

This afternoon is the men’s 4 by 10km relay. I’ll ski the third leg. The race starts at 1:30 p.m. CET (5:30 a.m. Mountain Time).