She Just Goes Crazy On Her Skis

Something happened at my house last month that I haven't really talked about.  I guess it wasn't really a big deal, but it was pretty creepy all the same.  It's not really something I like to discuss. My house got broken into while I was off in Greenland. (ed. note: this part of the blog is actually true, unlike most everything else written on this blog, which is exaggeration and outright fiction.) I was gone for a whole week, so I guess whoever broke in had time to make off with everything in the house. But that's not what happened. They pretty much just ransacked the place, dumping everything out of every drawer onto the floor.  It took a solid weekend to clean the place up. But as far as I can tell, they only took a credit card (they made a visit to Walmart with it). They took my keys - every key I had - my house keys, my car keys, my motorcycle keys...  And they took my GoPro camera.  

I've been known to do a little GoPro technique filming from time to time during UAA interval workouts.  It's a pretty good way to film technique when our athletes are skiing their hardest and sloppiest. The videos make good technique analysis tools. When I got robbed, I figured the GoPro filming thing had come to an end.

That is, until I got word today that Hannah Rudd has agreed to come to UAA and ski for the Seawolves. Since I didn't know where Armstrong High School is, I had to ask some of the UAA Ski Team Blog interns to look it up and report back to me. I found out that it's only about a block and a half from the stomping grounds of today's other new UAA recruit, Michaela Keller-Miller. As I pored over the film footage that my interns had gathered for me, I found out that Hannah's pretty handy with the GoPro herself. This is great - it means I won't have to try to keep up with the UAA womens' interval sessions just so I can get video for technique analysis any more. I can just stand beside the trail drinking lattes while Hannah does the filming while training.

You know the drill.  Click on the photo to see the video.

Did you know that Armstrong High School is ranked one of America's most challenging high schools by The Washington Post, and number seventeen in Minnesota?  I didn't know it either until my interns started digging around to see what we could find out about Hannah. (I can't get anything out of the UAA coaches lately since I've been off in Greenland and Skagway while they've been off in Ambler and Brevig Mission. I haven't crossed paths with the coaches since the Denver Airport a month and a half ago.)  Anyway, after spending four years at one of the most challenging high schools in the USA, I'm sure Hanna will is well-prepared for the challenges that lie ahead as a UAA student-athlete.

Congratulations on becoming a Seawolf, Hannah. Welcome to Alaska!