Meeting Chemmy and filming in the park

 I had the great pleasure of meeting an extraordinary woman yesterday, 3 times Olympic skier Chemmy Alcott, who very kindly gave me tips on how to prepare myself for such a big challenge. Chemmy came to my gym and we filmed our conversation. She was so gracious in saying that she is confident that I am physically up to the crossing, but she foresees my biggest challenge as being a mental one: keeping strong and positive. She gave me tips on how she does it. She trains herself to think about a lot of happy memories in the week before a big competition, and to go back to those memories as soon as she feels mental tiredness creeping in. She also talks to herself in a very positive way, never negative, to keep her spirits up.

  She also told me to think about songs which cheer me up or have a good rythm. They were all laughing when I told them that I was singing the "Thomas the tank engine" song when the uphill going was very tough in Norway as I really felt like a steam train going on and pulling a heavy load. And last but not least, to seek the help of my team-mates. I will have to be very honest with them and let them know if I feel rotten or have a bad day. Maybe it will be difficult to tell them then, so I must warn them of the signs to look out for, so that they can step in. We already talked about it with my guides, and they say that is one has a particularly bad day (exhaustion, blisters, etc..), the others can help with taking more of the load until spirits are up again. The great thing with going with Petter and Per-Thore is that I think that they have been through it all themselves and tough guys as they are, they have no problem admitting that it can be very tough, sometimes even hell, depending on the weather and the snow condition. It makes it much easier for me to be honest about my weaknesses, and people who know me, also know that weak is not really a part of my vocabulary!! But, this is exactly the type of mental challenge which will be extremely hard for me.


We also talked about food, and Chemmy thinks that I should put on weight before the challenge as she is a bit concerned as to how I will resist the cold if I don't have enough body fat and taking into consideration that I will probably lose  more weight on the trip. So she advised me to buy some..... breastfeeding cookies, which have 3000 calories each and eat plenty before the trip. I might even smuggle them on the trip and secretly feed them to Petter and Per-Thore (although I know that I will laughing myself silly seeing them eating the biscuits and they will be suspicious..). She also mentioned I should buy something called ...a "she-pee" so that I will not have to put my pants down every-time I need the loo! But I'm not sure about that!!

Then it was off to the park where we filmed my training on roller-skis with my heavy backpack. It was a bit difficult as the park was so busy, but Ronit the camerawoman and Tim the soundman were fabulous. We had a lot of laughs (especially when I fell straight away trying to get up the bench with my backpack on and the weight just pulled me down backwards, so that I just sat from the bench on to the road...). We then filmed with Ronit and Tim walking along while I was roller-skiing and talking about my upcoming challenge.


And finally we went back to my home and I talked more about the challenge, my motivation, my fears, etc.. The aim is to produce a short promotional DVD that we can send to prospective donors, and the media.