Amanda Kautzer: The Little Things

AMBASSADÖRK Amanda Kautzer finds beauty everywhere and encourages us to look beyond the big to relish in the little.

With that, let's get to it.

Amanda Kautzer heading out for a ski. Photo courtesy of Amanda

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ambassadörks

Amanda: The Little Things

As a Nordic racer, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the big goals: making the varsity team,

qualifying for JNs, winning the local ski race, or even racing the World Cup. And, since most

Nordies are also smart, focused, goal-oriented people, so we tend to break those down into

smaller goals like doing strength twice a week, training 600 hours in a year, consistently get

enough sleep, and actually doing our PT work as prescribed (let’s be real, does anyone actually

do that??).

While I’ve been guilty of every single example listed above, after a decade of dedication to this

sport, I’ve found that, in hindsight, what I’m most in love with are the little things. Goals make for

a great grant application, resume line item, or small talk with a distant cousin at the family

reunion, but the feeling, that warm little “ahhh” of appreciative fluttering in your chest when

looking back on winter, that comes from the little things, so here are a few of my favorites.

1 - The Teeny Tiny Electric Kettle

I first started traveling with a collapsible tea kettle as a way to stay sane during long stays in European hotel rooms. What started as a way for me to make a cup of tea, turned into a thing to gather around. Teammates from down the hall would come over to share a cup post-race or pre-bedtime, leading to sunset chats on the balcony if the weather was good, or heart-to-hearts on the hallway floor. I’ve used it to make backpacking meals in the airport, to de-fizz Coke and Redbull for mid-race feeds, and to make mulled wine to sip celebratorily. Regardless of the impetus, the hours spent slowing down and connecting over a warm beverage are ones I’ll forever cherish.

2 - Birds

One of the best and worst parts of Nordic skiing is that 95% of the time, you’re outside.

While fall typically brings the worst weather, it also usually brings annual migrations. What kinds

of birds you see is dependent on where you live, but in Bozeman, I’ve been lucky enough to see

a variety of raptors moving through in the midst of too-icy-to-rollerski and too-little-snow-to-ski

season. The lovely thing about keeping an eye and ear out for migratory birds is that you often

notice the birds that hang out year round, too. My go-to running trail has a resident American

three-toed woodpecker, and there’s a downy woodpecker that likes to hang out and watch while

I do strength in the back yard. Regardless of the specific bird friends you have in your training

grounds, it’s fun to notice the company.

3 - The Perfect Kick

Most Nordies can think of a good kick day (hopefully many), and I hope can appreciate those days. However, what I’m specifically talking about with this little thing is that day where your running late and decide to risk it and skip re-waxing, mentally prepared to double pole & herringbone your entire workout, knowing whatever you had on from three weeks ago won’t work and resigning yourself to the consequences; then, as you take your first few steps, you realize that by some miracle, the wax is perfect for the day’s conditions. The universe gave you a gift, and with it, an extra special day.

4 - Snowy Romps

Racing is great, and fresh tracks on perfect corduroy is amazing, but what takes the cake for me are the magical snowy romps. The days where the workout goes out the window because there’s a foot of fresh snow and truly the only way to move through it is on your decades old fish scale skis, moving at snail's pace, falling every couple hundred yards, and laughing the whole time. You can’t see your skis, and you look a little like a monkey trying to pick up and replant your poles. The trees are drooping, heavily laden with pillowy fluff that’s all too easy to knock onto the friend that’s tromping along in your tracks. It might be 30 degrees, and it might be 10 below, but either way, it’s a great day to be a Nordie.

Regardless of what your goals are, I hope you can find some of your own little moments - the

ones that you can tuck in a back pocket to make you smile, regardless of results.

Keep doing your snow dances!

Amanda Kautzer is an AMBASSADÖRK in Bozeman Montana. She first fell in love with snow and the outdoors through Nordic, but quickly realized her insatiability when it comes to playing outside. When Amanda's not working my day job as a biomedical engineer, she'll spend most of her time biking, running, swimming, kayaking, skiing, or coercing friends into personal favorite: epic multisport shenanigans. Amanda especially loves getting "off the grid" and takes every opportunity to get deep in the backcountry. You can find her on the grid as @amanda_rose_kautzer

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the closer What We're Thinking About.

Amanda has got it right. The little things are just as important as the big things.