23 days left. That’s what it says when I click in on the website. And I check every day just to be sure. Strange thing is that I could swear that it said 33 days yesterday. Anyhow, it’s getting closer. Alaska is happening.

Meanwhile in real life… A little bit of work and lots of fun. A very sore and tired body. It’s been days since I dressed in human clothes, my natural gear seems to be running shoes and tights or jeans if it’s a slow day, this has to change. My car has slowly turned into an adventure central. I could without a problem scramble out gear for a 24 hour race and feed a football team. Paddles, wet PFD’s, smelly boots, brown bananas, bikeparts, dried apricots, gloves for paddling, cycling and gardening, shoes and boots, water and a warm Pellegrino… And I can fit two fully inflatable rafts in the back. I am glad we decided to keep the old mothership for another year.

Only difficulty I have with lots of training-racing-bobbingaroundinthewater-life is the clothing. I don’t wear hiking pants. Well, I do but it’s not my thing. My thing is bright yellow or pink Nike’s, Lulu tights, tank tops, some days high socks in lovely colors, Patagonia dresses in nice materials… There are a few things I really don’t like wearing or it doesn’t excite me. I am not built for tight women sized t-shirts. And hiking pants…ehhh…I do own a few pairs…but there is something about hiking pants that is so unattractive. All those important things in life… So I got myself another pair of pants today. And I know for sure that I will be the only one on the team wearing pink compression socks.

We are still going through the gear and I am adding on new stuff every day. I’m searching around the house for stuff I haven’t seen since we moved from Sweden. I had a pair of rain pants that I loved and wore every day biking to work… missing, but found two other pairs. And how many coats do you need? And wool socks… I need more than 10 pairs…who owns 10 pairs of wool socks? Gloves – many, since I always have cold hands. Sunglasses for the glacier – still needed and I probably need snowshoes. Raft – check, bike – all good but needs a good tune up again. Dry suite – rented. Mosquito net, need to find a good one – muy importante, très important, erg belangrijk… well you get it.

I’ve been to REI every day the last month. I am that crazy person the staff avoid. I am turning every water bottle upside down, trying to stuff it inside my shirt to see how it fits and feel. I walk around making grunting noises around the hiking pants but I can’t get enough of the Smartwool baselayer. Shoedepartment… you can never get enough shoes… I walked around the backpack department for days with different backpacks on before I decided. I even tried to lay back on the floor leaning on it since that’s probably how I will sleep. And I ended up getting the same I had before but a bigger and a different color. And strobe light, who owns a strobe light? But I am happy to say that I have a raft that fits in my backpack without a problem. I still have about 10 more trips to REI before I take off. I should have applied for a job there months ago, it would have been much easier.

Time to mow the lawn…