13 Hours with the Biathletes in Northern Minnesota

The biathletes have been in Northern Minnesota for the last week, gearing up the IBU Cup Trials race which started today. The temperature rarely gets above 0 and the wind is often howling. Race times have all been moved to the afternoon to allow for the highest temperatures, which leads to lots of time spent hanging around the house and going on some shopping excursions to Fleet Supply, Target, and Cub Foods.

Yesterday was a prerace today, but official training wasn’t until noon, so we had plenty of time to spend in our lovely rental house on Lake Pokegama.

8am: -7 degrees. Breakfast.

9am: Still -7. Drone flying time. Sam bought two drones when we were in Canmore. They have provided endless hours of entertainment (mostly for the boys). They started having races around a course in the house.

10am: -5 degrees. Visitor! A lady came to appraise the house. I only took a picture of her leaving because it may have been weird otherwise. She told us that we shouldn’t go outside and should remain next to the fire all day. She also told us the internet was slow everywhere in northern Minnesota.

11am: -2 degrees. After a few too many hours inside, it was time to go for a walk or a jog. Though it’s cold, it is really pretty outside. I found these insulated coveralls in the basement and they have become my go-to for all non-skiing outdoor activities.

12pm

: -4 degrees. Time to leave to ski! On the way, we saw this guy securing his hay bales  on the side of the road.

1pm: (probably still -4). Getting bundled. Important to keep being goofy when preparing to ski and shoot in subzero temps.

2pm: (my guess is still -4). The amount of toe warmers and duct tape we go through on a daily basis to try to stay warm is a little ridiculous.

3pm: Warmest point of the day. 0 degrees. Still trying to get warm after skiing.

4pm: -2 degrees. Coloring time. And TV watching and Instagram scrolling time.

5pm: -4 degrees. Watching the Wizard of Oz. Grand Rapids, the town we are staying in, is Judy Garland’s hometown. So a very fitting movie!

6pm: -6 degrees. Waxing for tomorrow’s race.

7pm: (Forgot to take a thermometer picture. My guess is -7). Dinner time.

8pm: -9 degrees. TV watching and phone scrolling.

9pm: -9 degrees. Final drone flight of the night. Plus more TV watching and phone scrolling.