A good way to prepare for next week's Winter Olympics

Coming Sunday ... The N.Y. Times Magazine Winter Olympics issue (articles live now), filled with essays and photographs focusing on some of the biggest events. A taste:

• Long track speed skating: Author Karl Ove Knausgaard writes about the nostalgic appeal of long track speed skating, weaving in his own memories.

• Alpine ski: Dina Litovsky photo essay of Alpine skinner Lindsey Vonn’s workout routine.
• Freestyle ski: Jaime Lowe interviews freestyle aerial skiers about just how they can prepare and execute those insane-looking jumps.
• Curling: Kim Tingley writes about curling, drawing on the history of a charming Tampa-anchored curling club, and how the sport draws its charm through its ability to allow anyone to imagine being good.
• Ski jumping: Jon Mooallem writes about ski jumping and how, thanks to a group of young women athletes, the sport once known for providing comic relief could be taken seriously.
• Figure skating: Patricia Lockwood writes about figure skater Jason Brown and how his graceful movement transcends expectations of male skating.
• Biathlon: Brooke Jarvis writes about biathlon and how the seemingly paradoxical combination of cross-country skiing and shooting defies human control — without intensive practice.
• Bobsled: Jaime Lowe writes about bobsled driver Seun Adigun, who parted with the U.S. to present her home country of Nigeria — the first African nation to ever compete in the event.
• Cross country: Sam Anderson writes about cross-country skiing, and why despite its mundane nature and more than two-hour length, the sport is beautiful in its own way for depicting the human condition of raw toil. 
• Short track: Jay Caspian Kang writes about short track speed skating and tackles the awkward question of why Koreans are so good at that sport, and some other random ones, such as B-boying.