Sadie Bjornsen

Russia, Russia, Brrrrr

2012-02-12T02:03:00.000-08:00

Last week, I had my first ever trip to Russia for the weekend of World Cup racing. Unfortunately the mixture of frigid cold temperatures, and the quick trip made for little exploring. What I saw of the country was either from the airplane window, the bus window, the hotel, our small jogs around the hotel, or simply the ski venue.

Finding some entertaining things on our run.

The first stop was Moscow. I have met a few Russians in Alaska, as they all seem to come to school at UAA, and one of the things I have always noticed with them was: fur and high heels. Let me tell you, Moscow lived up to the generalization... and more!! Starting with the trip from the airport to our hotel all I could see was smoke stacks, beat down buildings stacked at least 20 stories high everywhere, and lots of crazy drivers in very old cars. Things were starting with a bit of a grey tint. As we got closer to the heart of the city I began to see colorful "Aladan"buildings. (The disney show with the flying red carpet). That, and groups of markets that looked like you would only want to go shopping in if you had a body guard and possibly a weapon. I have to say, I got the shivers. I felt like if you went in alone, you may not come out. Waiting in traffic for at least an hour, going only 1km confirmed that traffic in Russia is no different than that of Seattle or New York. People still want to get places!! When we finally pulled up to our hotel, I was shocked, thinking it was a joke. I actually felt like we were pulling into Vegas. Bright lights everywhere, red carpet, finely dressed people, nice restaurants, strip clubs, ponds.... you name it, they had it!! The best part is; I seriously wonder what the Russian guests thought as they saw all the skiers role in with their sport clothing, and their lack of "heels and fur".

They seem to fancy the "stacking" method.

mmm, beautiful!

The front entrance to our hotel

sticking out a bit.....

Breathing masks were essential with the cold weather!!

With the frigid temperatures outside, down below -4F most the day, our venturing outside including wrapping ourselves up with clothing and going for short jogs or heading to the venue. We were instructed to not venture too far, and never go alone, as the actual "safety level" was right on the edge.

Shopping Center

Night time view from our room

The actual venue for the Moscow City Sprints was amazing. Not only was there a nordic venue, but they were also working on putting in a slalom hill for the Alpine World Cup the following weekend. Made of thousands and thousands of pieces of scafeltine, the slope towered above our little 1km nordic track. Not only that, we were racing right at the famous or maybe "infamous" Luzhinky Stadium. It was neat, we were just surrounded by so much history. I was really hoping we were going to get a chance to walk to the Red Square, but our Moscow trip was only a short two days... which came down to all preparation and then racing.

Center of the ski venue... doesn't that air just look cold!!?

The slalom hill in the process of being built. Our races started almost right at the base of it.

The ladies testing skis and trying to stay warm!!

The actual race didn't go so well for me. The mixture of the cold temperatures, a long flat course, and my grandfathers passing away the night before didn't really put me in the right place. It was super exciting on another hand though because my teammates had some of the most amazing racing ever. As I watched the three of them tactically control the semi-finals, I just got goosebumps and big smiles. The exciting thing is, I know we can all ski like that, it's just a matter of throwing down your best at the right time. I think there are so many more exciting times to come for our team in the near future. Cool stuff!!!

RIP Grandpa- I love you dearly.

Jessie, BIB 1!!!!

Here is a little shout-out video we made in review of our Moscow Race. Just a little fun :)

About three hours after completing our race, we hopped on a bus with team Norway, and drove eight hours through the night to our next venue. With such a short turnover, just one day between the races- it was important to move on... even through the night. That bus ride was an experience in its own. As I drifted in and out of sleep, I woke up to a variety of sketchy and beautiful things visible out the window... ohhh Russia!!

This is what many of the buses looked like, minus the skier on the side.

Once again, as we arrived in Rybinsk for the racing, temperatures were hovering down below legal limits. The difference in Rybinsk was that there was strong wind that accompanied the frigidness. Once again I froze myself in the race, and finished the 10k skate somewhere below where I would have liked to be.

Jessie and I, with the stadium in the background.

Cold, but still smiling :)

The most incredible thing about Rybinsk was the atmosphere, regardless of the cold temps. There was a true celebration going on. People were out there just loving it. This is where I learned why the Russians wear so much fur... because its FREEZING out. They are just smart enough to figure out how to survive in the climate. I almost bought myself a fur hat by the end... but I am not sure it would have a whole lot of use in the normal "tropical" conditions we have been experiencing so far this year.

Holly and I trying out the fur hats (Holly photo)

Lots of spectators.

Kikkan and Liz getting some skiing together.

The ladies squad- Notice all the clothes I have on for cheering.... brrrr! Props to the wax techs and coaches for standing out there in the cold all day- that is impressive!!

It was a fun weekend and a fun new experience. I can't say I would ever want to live in Russia, but I like visiting just for the racing part.... although I wouldn't mind if things warmed up a bit next time.

I am now in France for a short altitude block before U23's in Turkey. (Turkey will be high altitude racing). I am also getting to spend these ten days with my french boyfriend, who I haven't seen in three months, so it's super nice! A mixture between the alpine skiing, sunshine, great nordic skiing, and a little time with my mind away from racing will hopefully be the perfect set up to have some of my best races of the year in Turkey! I hope!!!

Blue skis and good tracks- YES!!!

Jo and I doing some of that alpine stuff.

I also started school this week, so I am back at the books, learning my accounting. It is exciting, I am actually in a class with my brother, Fitness for Life, where we will learning about setting goals, and spreading holistic health throughout the community. It sounds like a bit of a joke, but I think the teacher is pretty stoked on challenging us. I am excited!! But, I am back at having a solid past-time energy consumer for the rest of the winter.

Hope you all are happy and healthy!!

A little FUN

2012-02-01T22:48:00.001-08:00

Here is a video of the most epic sledding I have done. Thanks Newell for putting it together!!

Ramsau

2012-01-30T07:26:00.000-08:00

I am trying to just write a quick blog with photos as we are waiting to take off for Russia. This past week has been a week of training, powder skiing, smiling, and good times here in Ramsau, Austria. It has been nice to break the racing up and put in some good hard training efforts.

Welcome to the American Ladies condo!!

Beautiful white mountains surrounding all the awesome ski trails distributed throughout the Ramsau valley.

North American ladies post interval session... wishing we were going for a little heli-ski trip.

enjoying the powder on my nordi-gear

An awesome post-training snack with some great bread and coffee.

Waffle time, after the good long OD

North American ladies headed out to dinner in town.

Ramsau was home to World Championships several years back, so here I am by the official logo of the Championships.

Thats all for now. Today we will make our way to the airport, and then fly to Russia tomorrow. Thursday is the city sprint in Moscow, which should be amazing! I have never been to Russia, so I am looking forward to it. Following that, Saturday and Sunday will be the distance races in Rybinsk.

Take care all!

Otepaa double-classic

2012-01-25T05:55:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, we departed from beautiful sunny Italia to the double classic weekend of World Cup racing in Otepaa, Estonia. Last year we had Junior World/U23 Championships there, so it was sweet to return to a venue I finally recognize. Unfortunately we skid an "easier version" of the world cup course last year, so little did I know how hard the Otepaa classic course was. Everyone always talks about how it's the hardest course on the World Cup... and now I understand why.

Otepaa Stadium Scene

Saturday was a classic sprint, with lots of double pole, and few hills. Many of the boys opted to go on skate gear, and double pole everything. Luckily girls never got to that level of hard core, so we got to do a few strides in the middle of the course with some kick wax. Once again I "just missed the heats" by a slight half of second, finishing 32nd... darn! One of these times I am going to remember to do an extra pole on the corner, take a shorter line, or lunge a little larger.... and make those darn heats!!! Last weekend was nice though, because with a much deeper field than the weekend before, I was still almost there.

Newell and Harvey during the heats. Newell had a sweet race, advancing onto the semi's, only to be stopped by a russian collision that managed to put a hole through his ski :(

The following day we had a 10k classic distance race on an exceptionally hard course. With three solid herring-bone hills, it sure kept your muscles working the whole time! To make things crazier, every downhill recovery seemed to be an alpine style, catching air type of downhill. Good fun!! I haven't gotten to do a distance race since nearly a month now, so I was looking forward to simply feeling the actual "pain" of racing again.

We stayed in a hotel with this sweet spa attached to the side. Hot tubs, pools, sauna's, steam rooms... everything. Unfortunately, I never got to try them out, but I can only imagine. Here is a hot tub, a medium heat tub, and then a pool that connects to outside... so a cold tub!!

Sunday was funny in that we didn't start our race until 3:30 in the evening for TV purposes. Being in Scandinavia means that daylight starts disappearing right about that time. By the end of the race I was skiing my warm down in the dark. It was new and hilarious in a way. The race set up similar to my last distance race in Davos- in that I had Kikkan starting 30 seconds behind me. Last time Kikkan must have passed me within 5 minutes of the start, so I went from the gun this time running from the big bad wolf. I was also trying to pace myself for the difficult course, but each new kilometer I covered without the sound of her breathing behind me turned into a bit of a game. I ended up having so much fun, and just enjoying the fact that I was back to healthy and able to race. Its funny how much you crave the actual pain of racing when you are sitting on the sidelines watching everyone else race!

At the end of the day I was stoked and excited! Finishing 34th was my best distance race of the year, and for the first time in a while, I got a real positive feeling in the race. As I told Fasterskier, sometimes it's hard to find the little positive achievements in your own races when your teammates are kicking butt, finishing in the top twenty. Thats when you have to step back, take a look at the big picture and remember that it's one step at a time, even though I would rather be skipping. We had three US ladies in the top 20, and then all of us in the top 40... so a solid day for US ladies for sure!! It's amazing how high the bar continues to be raised as each new race, someone new pops something great. What an exciting time!

Lucky for me, we now have a week off of racing where we will have the opportunity to get some good training in. Missing a month of training in the middle of the season is hard to come back from. You never get that good feeling when you are out there skiing. So, this means I am going to soak in every training moment and get the body ready again!!

Erik Flora has been over here with us since last weekend and will be until after Russia, which has been soo nice. It's always so much more meaningful to have your coach watch you and see where you are, rather than trying to tell them. Not to mention, when you feel like dirt the day before the race, he is there to convince you, "ah, you will feel great tomorrow, don't you worry". What a cool deal.

Erik getting his time to shine in the coaches race!!

Currently we are spending the week in Ramsau, Austria doing some powder training. The snow just keeps coming down!! We are staying in cute little apartments, cooking some of our own meals, having so much fun relaxing for a bit. Last night we took a trip down the hill a few kilometer to watch the Schladling world cup night slalom races along with 40,000 drunken austrian fans. The scene was incredible, it was sooo much fun!!

The view of the run as we drove down the hill from Ramsau. Check out all the people on the side... SOOO many!

THE SCENE!! It's so fun to be on the other side of an event like this, being the spectator. We are always on the athlete side, in our own zone, trying to avoid the chaos of spectators. When you stand on the other side, you gain so much more respect for the spectators with so much enthusiasm!! It's just incredible!

Yeah buddy!! Showing some American pride.

Today is Ida's birthday, so we dressed her up in a crown and pink suspenders and went for a ladies distance ski. It was sweet. We have Canadian superstar Chandra Crawford staying with us this week, so the seven of us ladies went out and had a sweet ski filled with perfect powder, lots of smiles and laughing, tons of tourists, and bit of sunshine. Life is real good here in Europe with a team of wonderful ladies!

Seven speedy ladies and one birthday girl!!

Next up will be Moscow city sprints not this weekend, but next, followed by some distance races in Rybinsk. In the meantime its some solid training mixed with a little fun and hopefully some sunshine soon!!

Back to the World Cup

2012-01-17T02:43:00.000-08:00

After spending a couple days in Craftsbury, Vermont- I jetted over to Milan, Italy to join back on the World Cup circuit for the next couple of months.

Last weekend was a bit of a mixed bag for several reasons. First, we arrived a day and a half before our first race- so I spent my weekend of racing jet legged out of my mind. Fortunately, my first night I slept, but spent the following three nights getting four hours of sleep if I was lucky. The cool thing about this is I learned in situations like this your body just goes into survival mode and you don't even notice you don't sleep, until you have a huge delayed crash (which I had yesterday). The second part of the weekend was that having just gotten healthy the day before flying, I hadn't done any intensity since the last race a month ago in Davos. Instead of looking at this as a disadvantage though, I managed to convince myself it was good, as I would be very rested for the races. The third part of this weekend was that we were in the massive Italian city of Milan, ski racing!!

The view just down the street from our race. City Center.

Ida Sargent and I arrived in the afternoon thursday, so we took the time to take the train down to the city and check out "the city of fashion", keeping us from falling asleep back at the hotel. As we walked out of the station, we were greeted with huge buildings, thousands and thousands of people dressed in fashionable black attire, and endless stores filled with shoes, fur jackets, skinny jeans, and underwear! Following the direction of travel, we found ourselves walking through a castle into a park where they were spreading down snow for our race. I couldn't believe it... we were literally sprinting right in the middle of this incredible city!! It was soo neat. Not to mention it was so warm, people were walking around in shorts and t-shirts. What a new experience.

Machines laying down the courses the day before.

Ida and I standing out among the fashionable people surrounding us.

Warming up on the course with the castle visible in the background.

The following two days started with first the individual sprint, and then a day of team sprinting. The first day, I managed to qualify 31st, just missing the heats by .1 seconds. It was frustrating because it was so close to making heats... like I am convinced that if I would have worn a size larger boot, I would have made it. Regardless, it was my best individual start so far this year, so it was also motivating. The second day was a team sprint, which I teamed up with Ida sargent, while Kikkan and Jessie teamed up as well. Ida and I got to ski some good rounds with the girls, going on to finish 7th in our heat, so not moving on to the finals unfortunately. In the meantime, Kikkan and Jessie were throwing down, qualifying on to the finals, and eventually placing 2nd!!! Another team sprint podium for the US ladies, it was so awesome and exciting!! Also, the canadians girls got to join them on the podium, finishing 3rd. It was a sweet day for the American crew!!! It's always a great feeling to see we can in fact compete with the Europeans.

Sprinting. Fasterskier photo. Good article of the weekend at:

http://fasterskier.com/2012/01/bjornsen-so-close-yet-so-far-in-31st-place-sprint-qualifier-its-kind-of-a-bummer/

North American beauties with their flowers! Congrats to some impressive racing!!

Ida and I getting our cheer on for our teammates

Aside from the excitement of the big city as well as the racing, the crowd was incredible. There were Italians out there dressed in crazy outfits, revving skill saws and blowing horns. Anything they could do to make noise and push on the skiers. It was just so incredible!! The italian men managed to finish third, which made the home crowd just go nuts!! As the Italians skid a victory lap, I watched how much it meant to the crowd to see their home team succeed, it gave me goosebumps. I just love the enthusiasm people bring to our sport over here!

After the last race, we headed for the road eventually ending high up in the mountains of Seiser Alm, Italy. Driving in the dark and jumping in a snow cat to get to our hotel made waking up the next morning the most incredible thing! There was white mountains all around me, the sun was shining and it was gorgeous!! Just so beautiful. After putting on my skis and racing down the hill, the jet leg and lack of sleep finally hit. I became so tired I had to slow to a stop. If it wasn't so beautiful out, and I wasn't doing the best classic skiing I had all year- I believe I would have sat down and started to cry. I had finally hit the wall. As I walked up the hill in exhaustion, I started to think about how lucky I am. I get to ski in the most incredible places during the year of racing! Many people from the US dream about spending time in places like this, as it seriously feels like heaven!

US ladies crew (minus Holly who is healing up her hand at the moment, but back soon)

Great views!!!

Ida and I getting snuggly in our mini European pullout bed.

Aside from getting in some good training, we have found some new sources of entertainment like sledding down the alpine hill, soaking in the sun, and checking out the spa. I am in love with Italy!!

Newell getting his sled on!!

The sledding crew after the speediest, most enjoyable sled ride ever!

Today we will head to Munich for the night and then fly to Estonia tomorrow for this weekends world cup races in Otepaa. The races will be a classic sprint the first day, and then a 10k classic race on sunday. I competed at this venue for U23's last year, so I am looking forward to going to a place I know, it should be fun.

Lets just hope they have snow, and it is a little warmer this time than last :)

Cheers all!!

A week to remember

2012-01-10T14:13:00.000-08:00

I wish I could be writing this blog about what a great week of racing I had last week at National Champs, and how wonderful it was to break up my european racing with a little racing in the US... but sometimes things just don't work out as planned. Sometimes, you fall during your warm-up at the Olympics and break a bunch of ribs. Sometimes you fall running on Christmas, break your wrist, and are forced to race the Tour de Ski with a broken hand. And sometimes, you travel home to the US for Nationals, and you spend the week standing on the sidelines, cheering on your competitors, only wishing you could join them at the line. This is what happened to me last week in Rumford, Maine.

Christmas was a tough time for me. A long travel home from Europe, then shortly after, a trip to Seattle and back, and then soon after a travel to Maine that turned into two nights of no sleep due to some unfortunate plane cancellation. With so much travel, mixed with the excitement of being around my family, and taking care of a lot of stuff during the short two weeks a year I am home in the Methow- my health was what suffered. I managed to catch a cold about halfway through the break, but never gave myself enough of a rest to really fight it. With a rough travel to Maine, the cold that "just kept giving" managed to strike again shortly after arriving. Spending the first part of the week resting, somewhere along the way my sinus's took the brunt. I used to suffer from a lot of sinus infection problems a few years ago, but I haven't had one since, so at the first sign of sinus issues, I knew it was time to get serious. This was not just some cold that I could ski through. Sinus's are a funny thing, where if you ignore the infection, chances are it's going to come back and get you real bad in the near future. Having made that mistake a few too many times in the past, I made the hard decision to sit out the race, and hope I would wake up feeling better the following day.

Going into the week, as I realized my health was not in the right place, I decided to take one day at a time. I wasn't going to write the whole week off from the beginning, rather I was going to make decisions daily. In the back of my mind though, I was convinced I would be skiing with a bib by the end.

APU ladies with our new Swix uniforms and E'KLAAR hats

Lucky for me, I have a coach that understands and monitors sickness very well. Having lived mistakes before during his career, Erik has made it a goal of his to keep athletes from doing similar mistakes. Right from the start, Erik listened and watched quietly, allowing me to call the decision- but overriding when it was necessary. As the wise old lady said, "patience is a virtue", and thats what I had to go by this week. Near the end of the week, I was so frustrated, I couldn't take it anymore, and told Erik I would race the final race. While doing race prep the day before, the little voice inside my head silently shouted, "what are you doing!!". By the end of my workout, after a few silent tears, I knew what the right thing to do was, even though I didn't really want to accept it. Leaving for Europe shortly after this race meant that it was even more important to be 100% when I get on the plane.

Even though this week was emotionally very hard for me, there were some great things that came out of it. First, in order to not infect my teammates with my "cold that just kept giving", I moved in with my parents. This meant that I got to spend an extra week with them, which was super awesome! Even though they didn't get to watch me race after traveling across the country, at least we got some time together. The second thing was, in order to keep my mind off of the frustration of being sick, I spent my spare time doing French lessons on Rosetta Stone. I have a short break in school at the moment, so I took the opportunity to start learning the language that my boyfriend speaks. I have always been frustrated with my inability to speak any other language well, so now I have a good reason to actually change that. Third, I got to spend some time with my home team. APU has such an awesome team filled with lots of excitement! I always love coming back to spending time with them. With lots of new faces on the team it was fun to see the new dynamics and the new energy in the group!

Doing some cheering with an Alaskan group of ladies

I also got to watch some really impressive racing. When you are in the race, you never get to see what it looks like, and how your closest competitors are skiing. But standing on the sideline, I got a great view. It was fun to cheer them on, but at the same time emotionally hard. Luckily I was getting constant blasts of positive emails from my teammates over racing in Europe as well as good support from the APU crew. With so much positive energy, its hard to be down very long. So thanks everyone, I really appreciated it!

I got to watch one of my close friends, and teammate win her first US Nationals medal. The coolest part is Kate Fitzgerald would have never dreamt of winning a silver medal in a sprint race a year ago. So stoked for you Fitz!! Big Congrats!

I also got to break up my week with an annual Fast and Female event in Bethal, Maine. This time was a bit different than usual in that Jessie Diggins and I actually ran the event. Having always been an ambassador in the past, it was fun to take a bit more responsibility and take on a larger task. There was a good turnout, with around 80 girls- so there was lots of smiles, stories and inspiration.

The group of Fast and Female ladies

I am now training in Craftsbury, Vermont before taking off for Milan, Italy tomorrow. This place is like the skiing mecca of the east. Great skiing, good food, great living conditions and awesome people. Lars Flora and I just got back from coaching a junior group. Craftsbury has a great system where you work off your living costs by volunteering for various things. What better way to make your trip affordable than to coach little kids!! They all came from Liz Stephans town, so I got to teach them all of Liz's best tricks so that they can beat her when she comes back. Thanks Craftsbury for the hospitality!!

Next up: We will race a city sprint on Saturday, and then a team sprint on Sunday, both skate in Milan, Italy. Hopefully the short turnover for time adjustment and travel will not get to the best of us. The sinus's are feeling better daily, so think it will be time to pull the bib on this weekend finally!

More updates to come from the "city of fashion" this weekend.

Happy New Year!

2011-12-28T21:37:00.000-08:00

The past year has been a whirlwind of greatness, excitement, firsts, disappointment, learning and much, much more. When I think back to everything that has happened in one year's time, I realize how lucky I am to do what I get to do. Six months of the year, I pack up all my belongings in a 50 pound bag and I travel from place to place and country to country. Not only do I get to see the world, but I get to meet many amazing people along the way. Aside from racing my heart out, seeing the world, and traveling all around, I also get to go to school. APU has such an incredible set up with their distance education program. This will be my second year now that I am training full time, racing full time, and also going to school full time! So most importantly, thanks to APU for providing an awesome ski program, and an awesome education program!!

So a little review of the past year and some of its highlights.

January- I won my first National Championships in Rumford Maine, and podium in two other events, making my best National Champs ever, and also qualifying me for my first World Championship team.

February- Aside from other races this month, I raced at U23 World Championships in Estonia, where I will be competing in a World Cup almost exactly a year later (coming up here in a couple weeks). Here I am, blowing kisses to the crowd on TV.

March- I join 100,000 screaming norwegian fans for the World Championships in Oslo, Norway. By far the most exciting races I have ever taken part of. This will probably be my motivation for the following 10 years! Here I am giving out some of my first autographs to some of my first fans.

April- I join back with the APU crew to attend distance nationals in Sun Valley, Idaho. Here I finish the season nice and tired, going to the point of collapsing on the final day of racing up the alpine hill. Fitz took the award for the day pushing herself so hard she passed out at the finish line.

May- I discover the backcountry spring skiing in Alaska. On nordic skis and on the fat skis. My boyfriend, Jo, finally gets me on what he calls "the real" skis, and I discover a whole new world!!!

June- Glacier Camp number one of the summer. Eat, sleep, train... and repeat for seven days. Put in my largest week of my life with 23hrs... all on snow!

July- North American Woman's Training Camp. Top Canadian and US ladies gather together for a week of dryland training in Anchorage, and then a week of skiing on the glacier. Lots of good girl energy, and lots of great training!

August- Fourth glacier camp of the summer followed by a little five day break in Washington.

September- Season starts changing in Anchorage. September is also the only month of the year that I am not skiing on snow at all. Makes for a good time for lots of hiking and lots of hard training!

October- Final US Ski Team Camp down in Park City. Here we have a huge Fast and Female Event where a variety of winter athletes, and olympic medalists gather to inspire the younglins. Here I am talking about nordic skiing to the kids, sporting my pink pride!

November- I have my first period one of World Cup racing. Lots of good and lots of learning from weekend to weekend. I come six seconds from scoring points in Kuusamo, in a distance skate race.

Flyingpoint photo

December- Kikkan and I get second in the team sprint at the Dusseldorf World Cup, making me the second american to ever win a world cup medal!!!!! I do a lot of smiling, a lot of screaming, and a we both do a little dance on the podium in honor of all our teammates back home!

The final week of the year- I get some family time back home in the Methow. Between putting on a kids camp and visiting my grandparents in Seattle, there is little time to just sit and relax. But lets face it... thats rarely possible!!

So after reviewing a year of lots of joy and excitement, I just want to say thanks to all the people that have helped me throughout the 2011 year, and the many more to come. Happy New Year, and here is to a new year filled with resolutions, goals, good health, and lots of speedy skiing!

I am currently laying in bed in Rumford Maine, trying to get healthy. I have been plastered with a series of cold's for the past three weeks. With the tough travel back from Europe, and then the travel to see family, followed by the travel all the way back to Maine (cancelled flight means 48 hours with about 2hrs of sleep), I can't get rid of the cold that just keeps giving. Sometimes its hard to admit you are sick, but I have learned that having a long successful season means keeping your body healthy!

The weather here in Maine has been crazy as usual, so after a night filled with warm rain, the races have been postponed until they can doctor the snow up enough to ski on. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise, as I may have more time than expected to get healthy. If not, hopefully I will be back by the end of the week!

For now it's rest and good, positive vibes.

On a side note, the Tour de Ski is going on right now over on the World Cup circuit, and it has been amazing to follow. The North Americans have been showing a strong force. With the time change only 7 hours from the east coast to Europe, we get to wake up to live ski racing every morning. And since it is 10 days of racing, that literally means every morning!! Kikkan has been proving that she is going to be in position for the podium!!! The others have all been impressive as well, especially since its a first tour for many of these guys!!! So keep on keepin' on guys!!!

Happy New Year Everyone! Hope you all have a happy and safe holiday!

Cascade Challenge Camp

2011-12-22T08:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Erik and I hosted the first Cascade Challenge Camp in the Methow for all the young kids of the valley. For a while Erik and I have been talking about how many talented young kids come from this valley, so we were wanted to fuel that fire a little bit by giving back some inspiration and direction to these young children. At that age, I can remember how much it meant to me to ski just five minutes with some of the older successful members of the team; so we were hoping to give a little bit of this "fire" to the younger generation.

the younger girls teaching me a thing or two :)

It was incredible, there was nearly 50 kids that showed up for a our camp, ranging from Canada to the US. Thanks to some to the older elite athletes of the valley, Brian Gregg, Kelsey Dickinson, Casey Kutz, Casey Smith, Erik and I were able to lead such a large group.

The camp included kids ages 7-13, so we had quite the range in ability level, interest, and knowledge. Luckily every kid that showed up yesterday was fired up to ski and have fun, so we had no problem keeping the energy rolling. We started the day out talking about US skiing, and some of the best athletes that are competing for our country. We then moved on to teaching them the different levels of racing, and what each level means. With so many different races, and different types of races, we educated the kids on the various disciplines that all of us older athletes are participating in. I was surprised to learn that many of these children following ski racing, whether it be through the Olympics, through their parents, or even sometimes on TV.

The older athletes giving a talk at the beginning

The goal of the day was to teach these kids some of the necessary skills to become a good ski racer; but to also teach them that it was an enjoyable process. With a range of skiers from Canada and all the way in between, it was fun to see that all the kids were also making new friends and getting to know some of the skiers they would maybe race against some day. The ski began with a warm-up, then three stations. Biathlon station, drills and technique station, and then a start/finish station. I think the big hit seemed to be the start finish station, where Erik and I set up lanes, finish lines, and start lines similar to that you would see on the racing circuit. As we taught the kids that lunging is extremely important in racing; many times it can even win you a race, the kids were instantly entertained. Once they learned to start on command and race to the finish, they all had no hesitation as they put in a massive lunge/fall to the finish.

Me demonstrating to the kids what a lunge looks like

Following the ski we headed in for a few more lessons on taking care of your body and you skis- the two most important parts of skiing success. Brian gave a basic talk about the functions of basic food, and good recovery tools. With a young crew, we didn't want to go into too much detail, other than to teach them "there are good sugars vs. bad sugars", and "what does your body need immediately before and after workout". Following our nutrition talk, Erik went on to give a wax clinic where he allowed some of the kids to even try out the different steps. Hopefully they will start taking extra good care of their skis throughout the winter, waxing them more than once or twice in a year.

leading a group of younglins

The final part of our camp was giving out posters and signing autographs. In all honestly, I think this may have been many kids favorite part. There is something about a posters and autographs that have "greatness" written all over them for a kid!

mesmerized by the posters!!

It was a great day, and hopefully we were able to inspire these kids to follow in the same direction that some of the elite athletes of the Methow have achieved. They all seemed to have a great time, so hopefully they will continue to follow racing, keep developing in their training, and one day be teaching their "younger generation" to love the process.

skiing with Cooper Klein

Erik and I were hoping to make this an annual thing, so look for it to be coming again next year!

Thanks to Mazama Community Center for letting us host, and Methow Nordic Team for helping us organize!

Casey and I demonstrating sprinting.

Thanks to Pat Leigh for all the great photos from the day!!!

Davos preview video

2011-12-10T00:18:00.001-08:00

Here is a little video of life in Davos. Thanks to the boys for putting it together. A little glimpse into the life at the Kulm and the ski venue in Davos, Switzerland

Come one, come ALL! Kids Camp!

2011-12-08T05:40:00.001-08:00

Link to sign up

Erik and I will be putting on a camp for all the younglins while we are home, so tell everyone you know and encourage everyone to come!! It is going to be tons of fun!

Email me at sadzarue_21@yahoo.com if you have any questions!

Davos training and my FIRST WORLD CUP MEDAL

2011-12-04T23:27:00.001-08:00

Last week we spent the the week training for a small altitude period before coming down to Dusseldorf for the World Cup. With this coming weekends World Cup in Davos, it worked out perfectly to try to get some training on the course, and also get used to the lack of oxygen. Unfortunately there is no snow anywhere in Europe at the moment, so we spent the week searching for the snow.

APU ladies skiing some loops together

Holly, Kikkan and I with some beautiful BROWN hills behind :)

After spending the first couple of weeks in the Scandinavian area, I was so excited to finally make my way down to central Europe. I love everything about central europe. I love the small, homey hotels, the smelly cheese, the sound of the language, the small towns, the smell of cow poo all the time... I just feel at home here. Maybe its because I have raced here so much and spent so much time, but every time I come back, I feel like I have come home.

Holly and I looking to do some grocery shopping in the mini Coop

And this is what skiing in Europe looks like now

I have never been to Davos before, but a few years back when I was racing with the MOD team, we were basing our travels out of a valley only about 40km from there... so the landscape was similar. Only this time, there is NO snow. One day I actually went for a hike up the nearby mountain, which I found out is an alpine resort. The first day we skid around a little man-made loop near town, which was great, but the loop was only taking 4 minutes... which made it a bit boring. The second day we drove over a mountain pass to a new ski area called Pontracina. Here we were able to find about a 4km loop, so loops were taking closer to 10 mins. That was much more exciting, plus the sun was out, and I was loving life! The final day we jumped on the sprint course, which was only 800m of trail.. so I think we maybe did 50 loops for the workout that day. I am starting to get used to this lack of snow, I think when I finally ski on natural snow, I am going to get lost or something!! The Europeans do a great job of making it work though. It's amazing they manage to make it possible even!

A little old school mixed with some new school. These babies are traveling the world with me :) The marks on them show that they have been in all the same venues I am racing in now! How cool. (Nina Kempel skis)

Getting my business law study on. Learning about torts and crimes!

The week in Davos was really nice. I spent the time out in the sun mixed between walking around the town, getting some homework done, catching up with my family since we finally have internet, and learning some swiss german. I have been struggling to get in the mood to do school work when we are constantly on the run with all the travel and skiing, but finals are coming up next week... so it's time to crack down :)

Friday afternoon we took off for Dusseldorf, arriving only the night before the race. Because Dusseldorf is a city, there is of course no skiing. In fact, I would compare it to Seattle. Warm weather, lots of rain, and a huge city!! What this means is training consists of running!

My portable closet. This is my suitcase of clothing for 5 months! What to wear...what to wear.

My roomate Ida enjoying the warmth of the city!

I stole this picture from Holly, but this is right outside our hotel lobby. Our hotel is connected to this huge stadium where there was a race car competition going on. Saturday night we went out and watched.. waiting for a huge crash. We were of course screaming for the American cars- super fun!! Something I have never seen before!

The minute I arrived here, I was beyond excited. The atmosphere of sprinting downtown in a huge city is incredible. It somehow just makes you feel like a movie star. You are skiing around on this loop of snow laid down in the middle of the streets, with so many people screaming and cheering... its just incredible! It makes warm-up and warm-down a bit different when you are switching between running shoes and ski boots constantly, and its raining out, so you are soaked to the core. All this put together makes it so fun!

A little preview of the crowd on the far corner of the course

Getting a cartoon drawn of me at one of the booths in the celebration at the venue.

The first day was an individual skate sprint. Since the course was so short, and so quick, I was determine to do well on Saturday. During warm-up I felt excellent, and was ready to go. As we hit the course for our qualifier, the course iced up a lot, so throughout my qualifier I spent the entire two minutes just trying to find my grove. I never got that comfortable strong feeling, and it was over before I knew it. I managed to finish 34th, my best world cup finish, and only three tenths of a second from qualifying for the heats. At that point I was excited, but disappointed at the same time. I knew I could do better. Knowing I would have another chance the following day, I put my disappointment behind me and watched as my teammate, Kikkan, win the race. That girl is incredible, it's so fun to watch her race. She is just so smooth, so fast, and a tactical queen!

Ida and I cheering for Kikkan from on top of the bridge. Athletes had access to some sweet cheering spots!

That night I heard word I would be starting the following days team sprint with Kikkan. At that moment, the nerves shot through my body. Having only done one team sprint before, last year at World Champs with Kikkan, I knew the format, I was confident.... but I was now starting with the previous days winner. For some reason, that made me more nervous then I have been in a while. If I didn't have enough motivation before to ski my heart out, now I would! I knew that it was possible to do well, but I also knew that would entail some miracles.

Racing out of the start

racing the boat in the background (I am the one in black with the pink headband)

As the gun went off for our semi-finals, I quickly got in the mind set for racing. It was like a war zone out there. 10 girls fighting for every corner, fighting to keep their ground, fighting for every bit... it was crazy! It was pure luck if you managed to finish the race on your feet! Luckily Kikkan and I crossed the finish in second, qualifying us on to the final round. As I waited in the wax cabin for the next hour before warming up again, I worked to calm my nerves. We were one step closer to making something happen. As I ran to the start for the finals, I looked up at the norwegian bus, which has a picture of five of their athletes yelling.. I told myself those guys are cheering for me at this very moment. After a brief introduction of each athlete, and a wave to the TV crowd, the gun went off. I took off in good position, going into the first corner... and then bam, the swedish girl fell down on my skis. I waited as I was sure I was going down with her. Somehow I managed to pull my leg out, but I watched as the pack seemed to ski away in front of me. At that moment, the feeling ran through my head "crap, I just ruined our chances". I quickly tried to race back up to the pack, but remained off the back. For the following round, Kikkan did the same. For the next round, both of us tried to conserve our energy as we inched our way back up to the group. On the third round, I gave every last bit and kept saying in my head "kikkan is counting on you". As I tagged off to Kikkan for the final race to the finish, I watched the TV screen as I jumped up and down cheering for her. From that point on, Kikkan did some amazing stuff! By the end she was crossing the finish in second place!!

Thats the Norwegian bus with all the cheering athletes! This is me out screaming Petter!

Canadian girls and us, all smiles! They too had a great day!

I screamed and jumped with joy. Second place, we just won a medal!! That really just happened... I couldn't believe it. I was all smiles, I just couldn't believe I just got my first world cup medal. What a dream come true!!!!

Hugs to the guys giving us speedy skis! Thanks Casey and the crew!!!

Kikkan and I, soooo pumped! All hugs!

The best part of that race, was somehow we came from the back, and managed to make it happen. Our skis were fast, our hearts were there, and our entire team was out there screaming their heads off. Even with the loud sound of the crowds, I could still hear every person on the team screaming for us! At that finish line, as all the girls ran up and gave a big hug, choked up. I was so happy. It was the combined effort yesterday that made it so special! Thanks to all the service team, all the people screaming either at the TV, at the computer screen, or out on the venue! What a special day.

As we headed up onto the stage, Kikkan and I decided we were going to do a dance for our teammates back home, Jessie Diggins and Jennie Bender. As we jumped up on the podium we waved and did our dance.! What an incredible feeling. Check out the picture, I think the Norwegians are worried we are from another planet hahah.

Now I am spending the day here in Dusseldorf, trying to get some homework done before heading back to Davos tonight. From there, I will spend the week training before the World Cups this weekend. Saturday is a 15k skate, and then sunday is another skate sprint. Hopefully the snow will fly in the meantime and we won't be racing on a 1km loop!

Thanks to everyone for all the great emails and notes. I appreciate it so much. Thanks to everyone that has helped me get over here, and most of all thanks to my teammates for pushing Kikk and I on yesterday. You all are wonderful.

Thats a day I won't be forgetting for a bit!

More soon!

Ruka Mini-Tour

2011-11-28T23:19:00.001-08:00

This past week we have been staying in a little nordic village outside of Kuusamo, Finland. All I have ever heard of Kuusamo is bad things, considering normally it is right on the brisk of illegally cold racing. This year played out a little different than normal. Not only was it warm, but similar to the rest of Europe, there was no snow. Luckily all of these World Cup venues have snow making set up, so the guns were blowing from the day we arrived early on in the week. The first day there was snow only covering about 2km of trail. Each day, more and more trail was built. By race day, they had a full 5km of skiable trails.

Holly digging for her stuff. This is our ski van that gets filled with skis for the travel. Smart system!

The festive Ruka! So awesome

The unique thing that I am going to always classify Ruka skiing under now is hills. If you are not climbing straight up a hill, you are skiing down a curvy steep hill... sometimes even resembling an alpine resort.

The wall... somehow it looks flat.

The big hill into the stadium on the sprint course

One of the other unique things about Ruka is the small village. All the teams are staying within 1km of each other, mostly in small cabins distributed among a steep hill, with the top of the hill being the place where all the athletes eat meals. With everyone in one place, you get the opportunity to meet people during meals and just walking around the village. I have come to realize it really is this sort of competitive traveling family that moves from venue to venue each weekend. It's incredibly fun!

Headed into the waxroom

Races kicked off on friday with a classic sprint on a course I can only explain as hilly. You start in a stadium on the top of a hill, shoot down to the bottom, make a turn and race back up to the top. One of those courses, similar to most, that even the briefest mistake looses you 10 places. I finished the race in 47th, four seconds out of qualifying in the top 30 for the heats. After watching some of the girls ski the course, it became apparent to me where I was loosing most of my time in transitions between the climbs and the descents. After finishing my 3 minute race for the day, I then got to watch my teammate Kikkan show exactly how it is done. Qualifying 12th, she managed to make it through quarter, semi's and then advance on into the finals, where she placed 4th. It is so cool to watch her strengths play out in person among the field. Skiing with her year around, I see her ski every day, but its fun to see what it looks like in a race.

Thanks to Steve for the flyingpoint photo!

Saturdays skate race brought even more fun. A 5k course made of once again, walls and alpine hills... it seemed there was going to be no opportunity for recovery in this race, instead you just had to go from the gun. My first world cup weekend I had Martha Kristoffersen, one of the top norwegian skiers starting behind me, and I had this same thing this weekend. The first weekend, I held on to her as long as I could, but that only lasted for about 1km before she dropped me on the hill. Saturday, I decided I was just going to play, see how long I could hold off Martha, and see how long I could hold on to her once she caught me. Sure enough, Martha managed to catch me at about 3km, in the middle of a massive hill, but from that point until the end, I held on for dear life and skid my heart out to the line, loosing about 3 seconds to her at the final stretch. The coolest thing about this was that one week later, I got another opportunity to ski the speed that a top ten skier was skiing. I finished the day in 37th, my best world cup finish, and only 6 seconds out of scoring points. A fun day, and a good success.

Full waxroom full of Fischer :)

My final day of the tour wasn't nearly as positive as the rest. I have been struggling with finding klister skis yet this year, so sundays hilly course did not play in favor for a pair of skis with no kick. For 10km I tried to power myself up the huge hills with my arms, but it only lasted for so long.. eventually that wasn't enough.

Walking into the stadium

Being on the world cup is extremely rewarding, but I have realized it can be really hard at times as well. You can have the best day of your life, and the following day just barely be off, but place in the bottom 10% of the field. Where a bad day in the US wouldn't crush your heart, a bad day on the world cup can feel like you failed 100%. After only being on this circuit for 2 weeks now, I feel like I got my first experience last weekend on the roller coaster ride this business can take you on. The expectations are high, especially when you have teammates that are up on the top. Sometimes your short site allows you to forget that it took them about 5 years of what I am doing to get to what they are doing. What I have learned though, is you have to take control of your expectations, your goals and your head... because if you allow the pressure and the crowd to control your emotions.... this business will chew you up and spit you out! It's a process though, and you can only learn to do that by living it.

pure focus!!

Focus during racing :) Flyingpoint photo

So after a weekend full of greats and horribles, I am now excited for what's next! And that is a weekend full of skate sprinting in downtown Dusseldorf. The first day is an individual sprint, and the following day will be a team sprint. Lots of enjoyment to come.

Thanks so all for the cheers and support and love. It means so much to have so many people pushing us forward.

APU crew. Casey and Holly

The massive walk up the hill can only be worse when you are lugging bags up it. This is the walk that we made 3 times a day up to food. It appears much flatter than it is :)

For the next 4 days we will be living in Davos, Switzerland in the most adorable little hotel of all time training in the 50 degree weather... and sunshine. A little altitude block of training, before taking off for the city on friday.

My first Week in Euro-land

2011-11-20T09:21:00.001-08:00

Last week we spent the preparation days and adjusting time skiing in an indoor ski tunnel in Torsby, Sweden. After reading all the blogs and reports from some of our boy teammates who came to Europe a week before us, I was expecting the worst.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that skiing in an indoor 1km loop is not that bad, infact it is sort of exciting. Resembling skiing in a refrigerator, the 5 minute loop quickly turns into a mindless workout up the hill, down the hill, into the natural light, past Bjorn Daehlin, by your teammates. After about 10 laps you stop saying hi to your teammates as you pass them every 4 minutes in the opposite direction, and start picturing yourself skiing along the race course. Had I been there a few more days... I may have a different report, but it was nice to live the "tunnel skiing" experience.

Holly skiing through the tunnel

Loving the refrigerator

Thursday we headed over to Lillehammer, where we are staying for the opening World Cup weekend. With the races being held up at the top of the hill (30min drive) in Sjujsoen, we get to enjoy the 91' Olympic town while skiing up high. For the past week I have been struggling with some back issues as I unfortunately lifted some heavy bags wrong the day before I left. As the races started approaching I started to wonder if I would even be able to start them, while the pain became worse. The day before the first race, I couldn't take it anymore, so I walked up to the Canadian coaches and asked for help.

Unfortunately the US Team doesn't have enough money to employ a PT for our trips, so I was left looking otherwise. The Canadians were more than happy to help, and their PT, Magic Man Shayne has been doing some work to try to loosen it up and work out the problems. I couldn't be more thankful! Unfortunately after one day of racing, I decided it would be better to rest up and give it time to heal, rather than push through the second day of racing.

First leg of the relay today

So back to race report. It has been so exciting to start the season over here in Europe with so much enthusiasm. The only thing about racing over here at the beginning of the season, is there is not much wiggle room. Every girl entering that race course is speedy! Along those same lines, with the World Cup taking place in Norway, the home team gets to enter 19 girls!! So with the intimidation aside, I started my 10k skate ready to feel the burn. Normally I spend the fall period working into race speed, as I have never been able to start my first race, and race good. Each weekend builds on the next, and by January I am finally revving up. This year I have decided to try to change that a bit... get my speed earlier.

Flying Point photo

I was lucky enough to be starting among the red group, so I got to ski a few minutes with some of the fastest skiers of the day. I even got to ski with my teammate, Kikkan, as she passed me on her final lap while I headed out for my second lap.

Some of our ladies had an extremely impressive opener. Kikkan finished 8th, one of two people finishing in the top ten that was not norwegian! Norwegians managed to dominate top 20! Liz finished 18th, and Holly 36th, just 8 seconds out of the points!!
For results go to:
http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/604/610.html?sector=CC&raceid=19171

Finally got to watch the magic winning monkey skate in person today!

As many of you know, there is a lack of snow in Europe at the moment... in fact the ground is bare everywhere! I have been super impressed with Sjujsoen, the little white path throughout the woods is amazing. Not even dirty, just this little magic white path along the 3.3km of snow. On TV it actually looks like there is snow, but you walk between the trails and it is full on dirt and grass, not a lick of white!! I have to say, I have never skid on man made snow like that, it's a different game.

The magic white path

the ladies getting our cheer on

Tomorrow we will stick around and ski one more day before taking off for Kuusamo Finland, where we will be competing in a min-tour weekend of classic sprint, 5k skate, and 10k classic.

Thanks to Casey for some speedy skis this weekend!

More great fun to come! Super excited to be on the circuit for a bit.

my birthday buddy, Mr. Leni

Just for some entertainment: Me and my little kiddies :)
PS- I don't know how I look so tall by these girls, but regardless it's hilarious!

Anchorage to Sweden

2011-11-15T05:19:00.001-08:00

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. The past two weeks has been filled with lots of powder, and lots of tying up business in AK for the winter.

Due to the lack of snow in Europe, the first FIS races were cancelled in Beito, so the APU skiers opted into staying in Anchorage for another week to get some more training in. Lucky for us, nearly 2 feet of snow fell during that time allowing us to get in some great skiing as well as a couple practices races before we headed over seas.

APU Woman's Team after our Sprint Race

Ladies Starting the A-finals

Lucky for me, I got to get some of the early season cob-webs out of the system before my first World Cup. It is always an adjustment during the fall time for me going from hard interval pace to pushing myself beyond pain racing pace.

My plan is to be on the road racing all winter until the end of March for Distance Nationals, so it takes a little thought while I am packing. I have to think about things like where to put my car for the winter, cancel my car insurance, who is going to check my mail.... etc. I found myself making lists about a month out because I knew that as I got ready to leave I would just be thinking about racing and too excited to remember anything important. I managed to get a lot my ducks in a row, but of course managed to forget some things.

Early sunday morning I took off for Norway. For the past week it has been snowing every day, so sunday was no different in Anchorage. After our plane was stuck to the jetway for an extra hour in Anchorage, I luckily still managed to make my flight in Seattle, and then on to Amsterdam and Oslo.

We arrived in the dark last night to Torsby, Sweden where we will be training in an underground tunnel for the next three days. There is no snow anywhere in Scandinavia, nor Europe.. so we are left with few options. Opting out of the 45$ a day ski on the 1k track in the tunnel, Holly and I decided to take a tour of town on our rollerskis today. Since we have been skiing for the past month, we figured we could handle some roller ski training. It was super awesome, we found ourselves skiing right down main street and exploring on the roads surrounding the town. I took a few pictures along the way. One of us skiing through the cemetery, where the bike path went straight through.

Cemetery

Holly skiing up the streets in Torsby

The ski tunnel facilities are super awesome. We are staying right here at the tunnel, in fact I am sitting in a study room at the moment looking out at the tunnel. Not too bad.

Thursday evening we will take off for Sjusjoen where the first World Cup will take place, just outside of Lillehamer. Good fun to come soon!! Can't wait.

Snow is here! Racing season is coming...

2011-10-23T19:35:00.000-07:00

Two Stars!

The snow has finally fallen enough to accumulate some ski trails up at Hatchers Pass. Lots of pictures and stories have been circulating around already, so I think the word is out that the Alaskan Crew got to ski on October 20th!! Thats so early. What this means is I skied every month of the year this year, besides one! So I skied on snow 11 months of the training year... how many racers can say that???

The skiing has been great. Extra blue, packed tracks, and blue bird cold days!! The APU crew headed up last thursday for a distance ski, and by the following day I was sore. It's funny how rollerskiing never seems to train the exact same muscles, so you are sore the first ski of the season, regardless. We then skied a second time on saturday... so by the end of the three hour ski, I was cooked. I have to say, this is the main reason that I love training in Alaska. The opportunity to be on snow as much as we are I see as a huge benefit. By getting that early "snow shape" back together in October, you can sometimes jump start the engine for the early racing season.

Speaking of early racing season, I will be on a different path this fall period. For the first time, I will be racing on the World Cup Circuit for Period 1 along with a group of 4 other girls. This has been super exciting news for me, and I have to say, I have been counting down the days for the "2012" experience to begin! The greatest thing about this year is it is the year to experiment and try new things. Because there are no main Championships of the year, I can set my own expectations and goals. Having never raced much in early season, nor raced much on the World Cup Circuit, nor left my home from November 6th until the end of March...... I will be switching things up quite a bit.

Last year I had a small introduction into this top level of racing, and ever since I have been working hard to jump into that category. This fall will be a great opportunity for me to open my eyes wide, learn some new skills and tricks, and have a great time skiing along with the best skiers in the world.

My first World Cup ever, last February in Drammen, Norway. Just before Kikkan won!

My schedule starts with me Leaving November 6th for Beitostoelen, Norway and follows:
November 11-13, FIS Races in Beitostoelen
November 19-20, World Cup in Beito
November 25-27, World Cup Kuusamo, Finland
December 3-4, World Cup downtown Dusseldorf, Germany
December 10-11, World Cup Davos, Switzerland
Following that, December 12th I will fly back to Washington for a short break in Washington before Nationals, early January in Rumford Maine.

Unfortunately this opportunity has come with a price. Being named to the US SKi Team this last year has provided me with the opportunities and the steps at reaching this next level, but it has also provided me with some responsibility for completing these steps. Having major budget cuts this year resulted in the funding being cut for all B-Team level athletes for this top level of competition. What this means for me is that the spot is available for me, but I must find my own funding to get there.

I am not sure on my definite plans for the entire year, but I am going to guess the financial need will remain at the same level through Period 2 as well as Period 3. What it looks like for this first period of racing can be broken down easily between room and board as well as plane tickets to and from Europe, and between race venues. This comes to a total around $8000.

Being an athlete similar to every other nordic athlete in the country, this is not the kind of money we can ask our parents for, or we can raise on a side job. This is the kind of financial support we must find in our supporters and followers. This is also not only a problem for me, but every other talented young athlete in this country that is ready to make another step in their development. It starts at the 16 year old level skier who just made Scando Trips, and continues through the World Juniors level, affecting everyone all the way up to the top level of World Cup Racing.

The nordic community has been working hard recently to make these unrealistic financial expectations more realistic. With the new push at the National Nordic Foundation level, supporters are beginning to see the sad truth of the financial demands affecting the opportunities for a new level of talent our country is now experiencing. This is just the beginning, but it is a step forward.

Tom Kelly Photo from US Team Camp- Training at 2002 Olympic Venue this October

Which brings me to my final point. I have a long year in front of me, and it could cost me around $30,000 to race at this level throughout the season. If you would like to support either myself, or the other athletes in getting there; there are several options. As with everything, even the smallest amount makes a difference and builds towards that end goal. Just like us athletes; it wasn't the 4 hour ski we did that made us fast, but it was the culmination of all those 1 hr., 2hr. and 3hr. workouts that made us great. So please know that every effort is greatly appreciated!

Your options for supporting our skiing goals for the year are:

1) Methow Valley Ski Education Foundation- The community in the Methow has been extremely helpful and supportive towards trying to help make this next step available. The team has created an Elite Opportunity Fund with 501(c)(3) status. Money can be donated to help support the athletes of the Methow participating in international level competition. If you would like to send a tax-deductible donation towards me, or the athletes of the Methow Valley, send to:
MVNSEF Elite Opportunity Fund
PO Box 1063
Winthrop, WA 98862

2) Donations directly towards me. Email me at sbjornsen@alaskapacific.edu if you have questions.

3) Donations towards the National Nordic Foundation, which is a non-profit organization aimed at supporting the nordic athletes of the US. They are recently doing The Drive for 25, which will include a small support of a large spectrum of supporters. Check out this site to get an idea of what we do and learn how to help: http://ccgeneralfund.causevox.com/

4) Support through the APU Ski Club

There are many ways to help out and support including you standing on the side of the trail cheering and screaming. It all counts, and it all keeps us going. So keep it up, and get ready.... race season is coming!!! Thanks to everyone that has helped so far, and that may help in the future! You guys are truly making it possible!

Park City Dryland Camp

2011-10-18T18:47:00.001-07:00

So after my explanation of the Fast and Female portion of the US Ski Team Camp in Park City, I will tell you a bit more about what I did for the rest of the 10 days in town.

US ladies... in the pink. Tom Kelly photo

I am actually taking full time school at the moment, so due to some finals and schoolwork, I had to arrive to the camp a week late, which means I missed the "testing" portion of the camp unfortunately. I am taking four classes during the fall term, two of which were condensed 7 week classes that ended the day before I left for Park City Camp. This works awesome for me, because now I will only be taking two classes until middle of December for my "racing" portion of the fall. So, my camp was only ten days, but it was surely 10 days of greatness!!

APU ladies enjoying the sunshine of the West!

When I first arrived in Park City, I was a bit bummed because it was snowing and raining... and appeared the same as it was in Alaska. After watching all these videos, and hearing stories of all the skiers in the 80 degree weather the few days before I arrived... I was expecting summer in PC.!! The good news is we only had about 3 days of cold before summer again arrived. By the end of the camp I was skiing around in a tank top and getting a sun burn! I have to admit though, I was ready to come back to the reality of October in Alaska, seeing as ski season is less than a month away!

Pete photo

My ten day camp consisted of a mixture of races, bounding up the resorts, roller-skiing out to the nearby passes, some hammer-fest in the workout gym, running, and some speedy rollerskiing on the 2002 Olympic courses at Soldier Hollow. It was a great time, and there was a HUGE group of racers, so I had some good company during my workouts.

Breakfast with Matt Whitcomb, who just had back surgery. Coming back stronger than ever :)

I love this time of year, because the racing season is just around the corner, and I just can't keep myself from constantly getting excited every time I go out to train. Likewise, this is also the time of year I keep analyzing in my head if I am fast enough, or trained well enough. The way I find a balance between this storm of feelings and emotions is through bringing my mind back into racing mode, as I try to relax and build confidence. It was great to surround myself with energy and excitement at this camp, because the motivation and enthusiasm is viral in a group of so many fired up girls!

A large train of ladies during the distance workout.

Every day there was a group of at least 25 girls starting the workout together, building towards a time trial, or some intervals, or just some good, focused distance skiing. It was sweet, because everyone is out there, working together, and making it happen. It's an exciting time for US Skiing I think. At least for me!

Ready... GO!

The second to last day of the camp we had the opportunity to do a sprint time trial on the Olympic Course at Soldier Hollow. It was sweet to go out there, work the heart a bit, and feel some speed. It was also fun to play around with tactics and tricks when it doesn't count. Practice races have such a benefit, especially when you are surrounded by the girls you are competing with all winter!

Sprint Racing- Thanks to Elizabeth Simak for many of these race photos!

Jessie and I sprinting for the finish

It was fun, because I also got the opportunity to meet up with some of my old teammates who have moved on to new things. It's crazy, it feels as if they were just on the team yesterday. Somehow this summer has sneaked away so fast!!

APU Group in Utah

After a ten day camp at altitude, I went for a ski up in the hills this afternoon and felt like I could hop skate up everything. It's amazing what 10 days of little air can do for you when you return back to the sea!! It is the greatest feeling, I love it!

Found a zebra, a donkey, and a buffalo, all in the same cage in a coral on the side of the highway while I was rollerskiing.... interesting!

Its back to 2.5 more weeks of Anchorage life before the racing season starts. This is always a busy time filled with wrapping up everything in town before the travel begins, as well as keeping caught up with homework. This is also the time of year that we start pulling out the rock skis for some skiing. Word has it that there is grooming on Hatchers Pass, so day after tomorrow we will be hitting the snow, yehooo! Thanks to the Strabels for the grooming and getting it ready for us!

Park City Fast and Female

2011-10-16T09:24:00.000-07:00

Last week, shortly after arriving, we had a Fast and Female celebration in Park City with about 80 little kids and 30 parents. In the last three years, I have participated in six separate Fast and Female events around the US. My second event was in Anchorage, where nearly 200 kids showed up, so we have had quite the variation in activities among these six events. This Fast and Female event was a first in its nature though. Seeing as Park City is the base for the US Ski Team, we took advantage of the variation in talents and sports represented here; inviting ambassadors from different sports such as speed skating, alpine skiing, moguls, snow boarding, aerials, biathlon and cross country skiing. Likewise, we also invited young girls from all variations in sports. This made it both different and exciting for the actual event.

Applying the PINK!

The event was based out of the Center of Excellence (the base for the US Ski Team), which is full of lots of fun toys; such as the foam pits, skateboard parks, trampolines, speed skating boards, a track, a massive gym, and a dancing area. The day started with an introduction to the ambassadors, a team cheer for each of the age groups, and then the event circuits. The circuits consisted of seven separate stations, represented by the seven different sports. I was working with the nine year olds, so I got to practice all the different activities with the young girls as I went around. Kikkan and Jessie were running the cross-country skiing station, so instead of making the girls run around they picked active dancing. Mixed with a fun dance routine each group made up, Kikkan and Jessie would lead the girls through a series of exercises such as; running and dancing, push ups to the beat of the music, crazy jumps and crawls, and any dance move you could think of to go with the beat of the music. It was awesome!!!

Introductions!

Decorating with some of the girls in my group.

The morning of the event we had a 3 hr ski up to one of the nearby passes, so all of us Nordic athletes were pooped. With so much young excitement though, our excitement levels stayed high until we crashed about five minutes after the event finished. That was a true day of training!

The x-country ladies.

Following the circuits we had inspirational talks from some of the ambassadors who had won Olympic medals. It was a true inspiration to hear these ladies talk, even for the younger ambassadors like myself. Shannon Bahrke and Emily Cook started out by telling stories about their careers, their ups and downs, and the feeling of joy and pride as they stood on the podium at the Olympic Games. Emily explained a really great lesson for the young girls as she related the closing ceremonies, where everyone walks out together, to the friendships and sportsmanship’s you share in sport. It was even giving me goosebumps!! Then a speed skating Olympic medalist as well as Kikkan both gave talks about their careers and how important it is to love all the activities as a young child.

The ladies giving their inspirational talks.

Shannon Bahrke, Olympic Medalist, and now running a rockin coffee business called SilverBean.

Following the inspirational talks, we went on to signing posters for all the little kids. I even got a poster that I am going to hang on my wall at home, as many of those girls I was working with that day have already proven they are the best athletes in the world. How cool to share that experience with them, and see them get all dressed in pink and have a ball with the younger kids.

The Nordic Ambassadors and the TUNA team out of Park City.

Fast and Female is a really special thing, and I have loved taking part in it; as I see so many younger kids come away with enthusiasm, and a motivated effort to lead a healthy and fun lifestyle. It is truly a rewarding thing, and sometimes, like this event in Park City, even I come away with a new motivation!

The whole crew!

Another really cool thing about this event is, in conjunction with the kids portion, we also ran a parents seminar, where all the US Ski Team resources were used to educate the parents on what sports is all about. Our Nutritionist, Sports Psychologist, and Physical Therapist educated parents on what they can do to help their children lead a healthy lifestyle, as well as participate in competitive sports. I think that too was really successful! This is something we haven’t done in the US yet, but it has been a part of the Canadian Fast and Female events for a while, so it was great to finally start incorporating that into our process.

Signing Posters.

Our next Fast and Female event will be in Rumford Maine in January, and then in Craftsbury, Vermont at the end of March. Look for those events if you are a young girl, or you have a young daughter!!

An update on the Park City training camp soon to come!

Fall Time

2011-09-28T19:59:00.000-07:00

I have been super busy this last month between school, skiing, and organizing the winter. The good news is the snow is coming, and its starting to feel like winter here in AK.

It's that time of year.... all the leaves have fallen!

Good thing I know all the trails by heart... sometimes they get hard to find!

I have been lucky to have a training partner this year that I live with, so Rosie and I have been doing lots of crazy fun stuff lately. From hiking Alyeska 3 times, to finding brown bears in the mountains, to swimming laps, to making some uniquely scary buddies on the town trails. It has been fun to switch things up and try some new things though!

Rosie and I headed for a swim

mmmm, cold sunshine!

On top during our Alyeska Adventure.

Unfortunately school has been taking up every second that I have not been out training. The good news is two of my classes I started early in the summer, so finals are coming up here next week, which means I will have them taken care of by the first week of October!! The other two classes will carry on through December though.. making some good past time on the road.

Nice view of Anchorage in the background.

Next week after finals, I will head to PC to join up with the US Team, along with lots of club teams for my final dryland camp before the season starts.

Just chasing around the Kikkan bus :)

Stay tuned for my fall/early winter plans that are quickly coming together here. Just a short update for now.

Cold mornings along the ocean trail

Eagle Glacier Final Training Camp

2011-08-30T14:12:00.001-07:00

I just recently came down from my final training camp of the summer up at Eagle Glacier. This camp was a bit different than all the rest... weather wise mostly!

Me on the new beautiful PistenBully

We were fortunate to have the Sun Valley Olympic Development Team come for the week and join us. As always, it was fun to have new blood and new people to ski with on the glacier.

Girls Team on the way down to the trails

This camp was unique in that I skied two of the six days on powder snow! Powder snow in August... how crazy??!! The weather jumped between being warm and foggy to being full blown blizzard, cold, and snowing. I guess its true what they say "august can be anything". We sure got anything! With the powder snow on top of the glacier snow, waxing got a bit tricky. There was one day the snow was so funky that Casey drove the PistenBully around, while all 16 of the skiers were following closely behind on the fresh tracks without powder in them. It was like a mother duck with all her ducklings following close behind... a site to see!! One of those days that makes you tougher though :)

Snow in the morning!

Erik B hammering out some intervals

APU boys during intervals

The final day everything cleared up, so we had an amazing sun set on the mountains the night before, giving us a little preview of the following days weather. It was super pretty and maybe topped one of the prettiest sites I have seen up on Eagle.

Beautiful sunset over Eagle Glacier

APU classes started this week, so between training I was busy doing lots of homework and attending class on my little cell phone connection to the computer. Writing research papers gets a bit challenging up there when you are without internet. I tried to print a bunch of stuff out before going up.... but there always seems to be something missing! I have to say it's a bit less challenging then getting up at 3:30 in the morning to attend class when I am in Europe... so I have to hold myself back from complaining!

Not sunny.... but pretty!

August always brings a change in the Glacier. With lots of warm weather this winter, and a low snow year, there were some new crevasses that opened up a few camps ago. To keep us safe, they started having us ride down to the trails on the PistenBully, instead of skiing the trail down. This made it fun, mostly because I felt like a school kid in the morning trying to catch the bus. Fortunately it made me get going quicker in the mornings and afternoons before training, instead of going out at my own time. It also made it so that all the girls would start at the same time, so I got to do a lot more skiing with the group this camp... which was awesome!

Walking down to the bus in the morning

On my way back into town, I saw my boyfriend and his buddies doing some rock climbing along the ocean- so I quickly ran home and grabbed my harness and shoes... just to top off the week of training and fun. I have never done any rock climbing here in AK, but it was sure awesome. Every time I go climbing with really good climbers, I have this new excitement to get better, because it is so awesome to watch them move up the rock quickly and effortlessly. I love how it is sort of a different challenge than skiing!!

Jo Climbing

For now I am back in full school and a rest week. Following this week I have another good block of training before heading to Park City in October for my final training camp. I looked over my training from the year, and it seems I have trained close to 100 hours on snow this summer!! That is more skiing than I normally did in a winter several years ago. Thanks to APU for making that possible. We are lucky we have this opportunity... I believe there is only one other place in the world where you can live right on the glacier and train!

I am still in the process of planning my fall of racing- but whatever it be, I think it will be new and exciting!! With the weather already starting to change here in AK... the racing excitement and feelings are starting to wake from hibernation!!!

Thomas Training Center Video

2011-08-08T13:16:00.000-07:00

Mark Lester of Alaska Daily News put together a great Video from the Glacier with some explanations by Erik Flora. Check it out along with the article:

Eagle Glacier Training Camp from Marc Lester on Vimeo.

NAWTA Glacier Camp

2011-08-05T13:44:00.000-07:00

I apologize for my late post for the glacier. Immediately following the last week of the NAWTA (North American Woman Training Alliance) training week, I took off on a plane for my five day summer vacation at home. Since getting here I have been packing in as much activities and sunshine as possible, so I haven't yet taken the time to get on my computer.

Kikkan showing what a lot of muscles looks like last week

The last week of the training camp was amazing. We got so lucky with our weather, 1.5 weeks of sunshine in town and a solid week of weather on the glacier. This is the "Alaska" I knew and wished was coming!! Between the six days on the glacier we hammered out some great intervals, speed relays, distance training, core and strength, and lots of technique work as we followed around the best skiers in North America.

Skiing many k's with Olympic Gold Medalist- Chandra Crawford

Taking our first laps ever on the glacier in our sports bras

Kikkan Chandra and I working on skiing fast :)

By the end of the week we were all dragging our tails around as we struggled to finish every workout. 2.5 weeks of super solid training leaves you a bit tired by the end. It didn't help that between training sessions we did what girls love to do.... dance, sing, play guitar, read cosmo, watch lots of chick flicks, bake cookies, run around outside in the sunshine, and lots of girl talk. Between all the energy spent on the trails and all the energy I spent being a girl with 15 other skiers.... I think that was my hardest block of training ever!

Pure Exhaustion!

Lots of skiers!

"NAWTA"

Post Interval Celebration

DANCE, DANCE!

It was awesome to have a bunch of new faces training up in AK and then on the Glacier. After my fifth glacier camp ever, I was beginning to forget to appreciate the small things. I like having new people up there, because their excitement reminds me just how lucky I am. With a male coaching group, we managed to balance things out and everything was super successful. I am super pumped to see where this excitement and motivation is going to bring the North American woman. Not only the group that was at this training camp, but all the other girls out there in the US and Canada getting it done. We just recently finished our Video Challenge that the US Ski Team ladies put out, and I was amazed at how much enthusiasm woman training groups have, and just how many of them there are. It's an exciting time.

Kikkan making some dinner in the rain

I am posting the APU ladies video, because I am not sure I have posted it yet. Check it out- lots of fun at APU!

Pain Face!- this is what it's about.

More updates from my week in Winthrop, but for now... here is to the sunshine and some family time!! Yehaaa

Thanks to Matt Whitcomb for many of these great photos!

Thanks Grover, Matt and Erik for an awesome Training Camp. Also thanks Mikey and Casey for all the hard work. SWEEEEET grooming with the new PB!!!

US Ski Team Camp- Town Training in AK

2011-07-22T15:59:00.000-07:00

For this past week we have been training in town with a massive group of top ladies from US and Canada. We have now been renamed the "North American Training Alliance". It has been so much fun though, around 20 girls a day rippin around on the rollerski paths, running trails, and gyms.

North American Training Alliance

Double Pole durability on the way out to Girdwood

Focusing in behind Olympic Medalist, Chandra Crawford

With all our fluorescent Rudy Helmets and bright Bjorn Daehlie clothing we have been making quite the scene coming down the trail. The benefits you get from doing speed workouts and intervals with all your closest competitors is endless. It is fun to see how much more you can accomplish as a group. Our first interval workout of the camp APU girls were cutting 30 seconds off our fastest times..... magic of a group.

Team bringing it in after intervals

Massive group hammering out some skate intervals

TRUE group training!

Besides being intense it has been tons of fun. Everyone is staying on the row in Univeristy Housing, so for the first time ever we have been cooking BBQ's in my front driveway and hanging out on the streets. Lucky for all of us the sun hasn't stopped shinning, so this has become my all time best week in Alaska. I am beginning to really fall in love with this place.

3hrs into our OD... still smiling!

Skate Speed

The Fluorescent Bunch taking up the road

Yesterday I set a rollerski distance PR. We decided to do "The Tour de Anchorage" where we ski down the chester creek trail, down into the heart of the city, along the ocean coast line, through Kincaid, past all the shopping centers, up along Campbell Creek, and finishing off at the University just under 51 kilometers and 3.5 hours later. Along the way we ran into some wildlife, spent at least 1 mile on a single track dirty trail, and crawled under five bridges.... all with our rollerskis on. My old roommate started the challenge of doing the Tour of Anchorage without taking your skis off, so I had to top him, and I made sure that everyone else did too :) I caught some hilarious pictures of the group climbing along the boulders and river bed with our skis on.

The group off-roading under the bridge

Ida and Jessie living the "alaska adventure" to its fullest!

We have one more day of training, which includes a time trial and strength before heading to the Glacier for the week.

Getting chased by the Crawf during skate intervals

Knock on wood, but with the weather we have been having, the glacier is going to be amazing!

Too fun!!

Thanks to Lauren Loberg, Matt Whitcomb and Holly Brooks for many of the photos

July Glacier Camp

2011-07-12T14:35:00.001-07:00

Just returned late last night from my second glacier camp of the summer. This camp was a bit different than usual for several reasons.

1) New faces- we had lots of new team members, skiers from other teams, and outsiders coming to join us for this camp. New people means new training partners, new skills and strengths, and new jokes. It's fun to mix it up every once in a while.

2) Good weather- this is the first camp I have been never been to Eagle Glacier when we have had so much good weather. The first two days I skid in shorts and a tank top. The final days were a bit darker with some wind and overcast... but not too much fog and not very much rain.

and sometimes the weather is not so nice......

3) Soft Snow- I think my "soft snow skiing" improved 300% over the course of the week. July is always a transition between glacier snow and winter snow, so we get some super soft days. With only one clear night, things weren't really freezing at night. I think I had my hardest 3 hour workout of my life mid-week when we had a 3 hour skate ski in the slush. I felt like I was swimming through a pond! At 2.5 hours I was seeing metallic colors and going down fast. Old school HUGE ski baskets were the money this week!

4) New Pisten Bully- Gradually throughout the week parts of the new PB were being flown up to the Glacier. The final day this huge chopper flew up the body of the machine... it was amazing to watch. That thing is heavy! Next camp should be awesome. I don't think I have ever seen Casey and Erik so happy in their life!

PB waiting to come up at the beginning of the week

The parts coming in at the end of the week

5) Coming Away Alive- for the first time in the four camps I have attended, I came off the week glacier camp with the wheels still attached. Normally by day four or five, I begin fading, and fading fast. Thats what its all about though- training and getting faster! GOOD FUN.

Don laying down the law.... trash your trash right!

6) Speed Ball Championships of the World- for the first time I played speed ball with the APU team up on the Glacier. Last year I was dealing with some bad knee injuries.. so I sat inside for this session, but this camp I got to join in. I had no idea! This team plays more aggressively than a football team! Biting, tackling, kicking, heckling.... all things allowed. It was HILARIOUS! Between chasing the soccer ball from one side to the other, I couldn't stop laughing at this hilarious game. Look for Reese's video to come out soon with what exactly it looks like.

7) Erik Flora Cooking- Enough said- that man can do more than coach.... turns out he can make a mean gravy and pot roast as well.

The rest of the week was full of school work, lots of training, resting and technique analysis. I now have a couple days rest before jumping into the Alaska REG Time Trial. Following that, the US Ski Team camp starts. One week of training in town and then one more week on the glacier. Should be some good training and good fun coming soon!

Also- one more week for the Womans Video Challenge!! Submit your videos. APU womans coming soon!

Rookie Camp Video

2011-06-30T08:42:00.000-07:00

Sweet Video from the US Ski Team Rookie Camp

Park City Testing and Rookie Camp

2011-06-26T11:18:00.000-07:00

For the past five days I have been moving along in overdrive down in Park City for a series of tests and Rookie Camp. The first two days in town we spent the entire day in the US Ski Teams new central gym called the Center of Excellence. That place is amazing; it gets you fired up just walking in to the place! With pictures and banners posted everywhere of all the successful athletes, you can't help but get instantly excited. Not to mention there are famous people everywhere doing the same thing you are doing, just getting some work done.

A view of one side of the Center of Excellence

Warming up with Ida- getting a little inspiration from Ted in front of us :)

Jessie and I had a little fun in the foam pits where the freestyle skiers practice. Here I practice my swimming dive into the pit...

stuck...!!

Starting day one, we kicked off with a series of treadmill tests, blood tests, concussion tests, and then the following day hit two more treadmill tests, strength tests, functional movement tests, physicals, dexo scans, body composition tests, and probably a few more that I can't remember anymore. The schedule was tight with only two days and six athletes to get through, so I felt like a lab rat for a bit, just jumping from one thing to the next. In the mean time I was trying to fit in school work and some outside training, since the sun was seriously shining.

Treadmill Max VO2 Testing

I have watched so many people do the max tests on the treadmill with rollerskis on, so I was anxious to complete my first VO2 max test, and rollerski on the massive treadmill for the first time.I was surprised. It was pretty easy to get used to the motions of skiing on a treadmill. At first it was hard to remember to keep your skis straight, but within a few minutes it felt natural like skiing on snow. We would warm up on a separate treadmill, sometimes with another person- and then for the testing period we would transfer over to the treadmill with all the tubes, computers and harness hook up. In order to ensure that we didn't go shooting off the back when we skid to maximum effort, they would attach a harness to your back, which would catch you when you went to a point of no return. I only got to try this out once, as the other two times I just grabbed onto the bar in front of me when I felt I could go no further. It is a funny point to go to maximum effort, because most times in races you know you have to keep going and finish the hill, so you hold yourself back from going to that place where you can no longer hold yourself up.

You had a team of about 15 doctors and coaches standing around the treadmill with each test either pricking your finger for blood, waiting to catch you when you fall, holding your breathing tube, reading your heart rates, running the machine, or simply just cheering you on. I swear the rest of the athletes in the gym that were not nordic skiers were all watching, thinking us nordic skiers are absolutely crazy! With a tube stuffed in your mouth, you are not able to talk, so Matt Whitcomb would just stand in front of us watching our face expressions for pain, and cheering us on. It was really a neat thing.

Matt encouraging me as I get in the zone during the test.

treadmill test 2

The other tests were hard in a different way. Strength tests measured our jumping power, or various mobility muscles, our stability muscles, and a few other. It turns out, all of us nordic skiers need a lot of work in that field. The concussion test was hilarious, as I felt like I failed it before I even need to be tested for a concussion. The rest of the tests were good, and it was fun to get a baseline measurement to see where I will progress from here. I have never had the opportunity to make many of these measurements, so its great to have all of this as a resource to us now.

Squat test- we push against this bar that is impossible to move to measure the force we put on the scale below our feet.

Vertical Jump Test

The following three days we attended a US Ski Team class session, otherwise known as Rookie Camp. In three days, I learned more important information than I could have imagined. There were 42 athletes attending, who have just this year been named to the US Team, so it was fun to get to know these other alpiners, snowboarders, mogulists and aerialists. I don't know much about any winters sports besides alpine, so I had tons of fun learning about these sports and what they do for training and competition. Besides that part of the three days, we also got to meet all the managers and various people that work in different areas of the US Team. A lot of times we communicate with these people over the phone or email, but we never know them by face, so I enjoyed getting to put a face to the voice or name. We also had media practice, met some trustee's, learned about USADA, learned about Nutrition, got to speak with some of the top athletes on the team, and hear their experiences, learn about US Ski Team marketing and fundraising, did some team building exercises, played some outdoors games, and simply learned about all the various resources offered to us when you are part of the team. Starting at 6:30 in the morning when we woke up, to about 9:30 PM when we would return to the hotel- we were on a role, one thing after another!

The Rookies

Media Practice- explaining our story with Benji Farrow, KC Oakley, and Robby Kelley

With most of us in training at this time of year, they wanted to take the smallest amount of our time, but educate us as much as they could, so it was a successful process- plus I got to know a lot of talented athletes just introduced into the team that will probably be super famous one day!

The bird-man towering over me on the bikes!

Park City was so nice when we were there, like 85 degree days, but because we were inside testing all day, or inside doing meetings for the majority of the day, I had limited time in the sun. Somehow I still managed to completely fry my shoulders during day one of rookie camp at our ropes course. When you become used to living in Alaska, you forget about sun screen sometimes.....

For now, I have a week of dryland training in town before taking my second trip up to the glacier for a week. One thing after another- there is really no way I could get bored doing what I do. It is great!!!

Hopefully I will have more pictures from Rookie Camp coming soon!

Home away from Home

2011-06-13T10:52:00.000-07:00

Eagle Glacier- June 2011

Super pumped on my helicopter ride up!

After only spending three weeks of my life now in the green building on the side of the cliff, I am beginning to feel like it is my home away from home. For this past week I have been training my heart out up on Eagle Glacier, about 6000 feet above Girdwood. I just recently returned from a 10 day on snow camp in Bend, Oregon, so after 3 days of resting in town I headed for the snow again.... this time a bit closer. Eagle Glacier is a very unique training atmosphere very different than any other training camp. Because you are perched on the top of a glacier, there is limited activity to do other than skiing, thinking about skiing, and dreaming about skiing. This is what makes it super fun though. You are constantly surrounded by the energy and enthusiasm of training hard and getting one step closer to your goals.

The house- literally perched on the side of the cliff!

Dropping in on our home away from home

Welcome to the Glacier!

Clouds moving in- chasing some skiers in the background :)

Monday morning Alpine Air flew us up from cloudy Girdwood to a pleasant surprise of sunshine and great afternoon skiing. In my three glacier camps, there has only been about 5 days that I have spent on Eagle Glacler that have been crystal clear, where you can see mountains forever. So, when that happens I have this uncontrollable excitement where I want to be taking pictures constantly. Unlucky, but also lucky for me, I forgot my camera in town this week. So thanks to Holly Brooks and Greta Anderson for all the photos. As much of a bummer as this was, I honestly think my training greatly benefits from a mistake like this. I am still in the tourist stage that every five minutes I think the view is better so I have to take a picture. Or the conditions are soooo crazy bad that I have to take a picture. There is a lot to document in a week on a glacier!

Erin, Holly and I enjoying some sun just after arriving.

My brother soaking in Eagle Glacier skiing on his first trip with the team

Tuesday morning, and the majority of the rest of the week we woke up to socked in clouds that allowed you to only see about 3 feet in front of you. As much of a bummer as this was, it made for quite the adventure. Because the light is so flat on the glacier, and everything looks the same, many times you loose track of the ski trail. Luckily there are wands placed every 20 or so feet, but you would be surprised; you can easily get lost in 20 feet. There were a few times that I was at the point of near delirious exhaustion that I was beginning to wonder if I was lost in the cloud. Luckily I was always saved by the orange wands that would appear from the mist. I am convinced that if someone were to have videotaped some of the 180 degree corners, they could have for sure submitted the tapes into America's Funniest Videos. You would be ripping down the hill, and out of no-where the corner you were anticipating 20 seconds further down the trail would appear and shoot you flying this way or that. This became especially crazy in the afternoons when the snow was soft and we were in our little classic boots with no support. There were some hilarious tracks to watch!! I got a good chuckle every time.... even when it was me getting flung off the trail!

Erin and Pete throwing down some hard efforts in Intervals

Woman's Team following our first L3/L4 interval session in the fog

Holly Brooks racking in some kilometers- training hard and loving it!

In my two Eagle Glacier Camps last year, I was suffering with knee injuries, so I was only able to classic ski. With skate skiing being added into the mix, I was able to train a bit more and hit some more specific workouts. I have been working a great deal on technique this year with my coach, so the glacier provides for the ultimate "playing field". Learning various technique's is all about trying things out and playing around with what you feel. You can watch videos for hours and hours, but the magic comes from going out and feeling things out. Aiming for training between 4-5 hours a day leaves ample time to try one thousand different tricks. Between Monday and Saturday we were able to fit in many different workouts with many different goals. In order to keep our volume high for the week, we limited our week to two sets of intervals both with L3/L4 focus, some speed sessions, some relays in the mist, strength workouts, core routines, and lots of solid hard distance skiing. By the end of the week it simply becomes work to walk up the stairs 3 times a day. Once for a change of clothes after training, once for a nap, and once for bed.

Erik demonstrating some technique ideas

A view of the trails from our house. If you look closely you can see the little ant tracks on the hillside.

Tired muscles make for painful core routines!

APU ladies givin 'er all, and soakin 'er in!

My favorite part of the camp is always the last night. Everyone is so tired that they go into this stage where its as if they are looking through goggles, and everything slows down and becomes really funny. When your body gets to a point of being so tired, it simple goes into auto pilot and you loose control of what you are saying, what you are doing, and everything becomes hilarious. For many of us, six days of training meant between 20-30 hours of focused work and upwards to 400km of skiing. The final night of cooking dinner was just awesome. We were all cutting up random things, stirring in odd concoctions, and being lead by our stomachs. I think it actually took four boys to lift the bowl of pasta sauce onto the table. I was waiting for someone to fall asleep on their plate, I am sure there were several of us that were nearing that point!!

Erin Phillips- training hard, cooking hard, eating hard!

Between training, cooking, napping, video review and chores I spent the remainder of my time studying. I have been taking an online class this summer, so things got interesting thursday night during class when I had to get creative in order to attend class. Holly Brooks is also taking masters classes this summer, so luckily there were a couple of us to try the system out. We were able to tether internet from an iphone and then connect on our computer. Seems pretty crazy you can be up on a glacier training and still going to school. Not a bad life, I must say!!

Thanks to Erik Flora, Mike Matteson and Casey Fagerquist for putting on an awesome camp. Awesome grooming, drinking water, electricity and plenty of energy and enthusiasm! Rock on!

The video man. Catching all the best moments :)

For now it is back to dryland training in town for a week before taking off for Rookie Camp in Park City. I have had quite the month filled with lots of skiing, so I am actually excited to jump on the rollerskis for a bit. I am especially pumped because I just got some new marwe's, brand spanking new, thanks to Finnsisu! I am having a hard time taking them out in the dirt because they are so pretty... so maybe I will save my first time for the treadmill testing in Park City next week.

Saturday we get a new teammate, and a good friend of mine Rosie Brennan. I am super pumped to have a new talented, motivated girl on the team! There is nothing like having a huge woman's group to train with, I truly believe that is the magic! So welcome Rosie!!!

Newell Video from Bend

2011-06-05T12:33:00.000-07:00

Thanks Newell for this short and sweet video from Bend Training Camp. Pretty much sums it up!!!

US Ski Team Camp- Bend, Oregon

2011-05-28T21:23:00.000-07:00

Today marked Day 7 of Bend Camp, so exactly one week of training with the new group of coaches and athletes. It has been tons of fun, and more importantly, tons of fun to erase all the scary stories and assumptions about this group of people! It has been a joy getting to know some of the older athletes, training alongside them in a non racing situation where stress levels are much lower, and energy is much more accessible. To top it off, team Canada has been training along with us for all the workouts... and you know what they say about Canadians... so how could it not be amazing!

Little Canada blood with the Americans

A little "Rookie Joy"

We have been getting lots of group training sessions together for intervals, technique work, speed workouts, DP intervals, running, strength, and just distance skiing. It is amazing the energy and excitement that comes out of simply training in a line with 5 other US girls and 3 Canadian chicks that are just as pumped and stoked as you. Then you add in some matching pink shirts... and it begins feeling like training with my APU team! Bottom line, it's only one month into the start of a new training year and we are all fired up to do something big. Between all the hard working and fired up Canadian and US ladies, we have the hopes of becoming the new Scandinavians... minus the "Carl Gustav, can you hear me?" comments.

US Ladies in our pink Bjorn Daehlie shirts

Enjoying the sunshine!

The weather has been a little crazy since we got here. Not the typical west spring weather I have experienced for my entire life growing up... but then again not a disaster. For the first couple days we had a mixture of sun and clouds, followed by a few days of pouring rain and cold wind that managed to make you feel pretty hard core when you finished the workout. Nothing compared to an extreme day on Eagle Glacier... but pretty good for the west. We have had some frustrating and tricky waxing days- but every day we have finished the workout accomplishing something. Luckily ever interval day and speed day has been nice weather, so I really can't complain. When I hear all the stories and news about the other parts of the country right now, I consider myself VERY fortunate!

US Woman's Team getting a little silly in our team picture

One of the sunny days looking up at the alpine resort as we finish our ski... there have been a couple days I am wondering why I am not skiing down the hill instead of up :)

As with every training camp, the days have been packed full. Between training twice a day, trying to fit in a short power nap, meetings with various resources the US Team has, homework, and eating... there is not much time to spare. We have been packing it full! We alternate dinner duty between coaches, girls and boys, so tonight the girls got excited and put together some Shish Kabobs, something I have never managed to attack on a ski trip, but they turned out awesome. It's always nice to find new things to make for a large group, as we travel in huge bunches all winter and summer. It makes me appreciate those mothers that are cooking for large families every night. That would be hard!

Ladies Dinner

From here I have 4 more days of camp, hopefully one huge crust ski, a couple more intervals sessions, some gym work, some sports psychology talk, nutrition talks, hopefully a BBQ if the weather clears up, and an extremely important tournament of baseball against Team Canada.

A little concentration in my OD today.

Following that I have about 4 days of rest at home before heading up to the Eagle Glacier for my first glacier camp with APU. Hope the weather stays nice up there in AK. I guess if the weather is going to be crazy everywhere else in the lower 48, someone should be experiencing the normal weather and sunshine.

Thanks to Pete Vordenberg for many of these pictures!

May- start of the training year

2011-05-21T13:31:00.000-07:00

E'Klaar and Greta Anderson enjoying the crust and the sun!

For the past month I have been working my way back into training gradually after my little month break in April. This year I made it a goal to stay active during my off period, so it was not nearly as painful as normal to jump back into the full swing of training. I still managed to get rocked by the end of the "annual start up camp", but I think that is impossible to avoid when you are part of the APU team.

My Claim to Fame- making the Deans List

Watching Reese throw down at a local bike race. Turns out, Reese Hanneman is a GOOD bike racer!

Last weekend we went on our final "spring AK crust cruise". This spring has been beautiful, lots of sun and awesome conditions for ripping around in the mountains. This means the snow is disappearing fast though. But my final spring AK ski went in the books for the best crust cruise ever. With the first 5k a groomed uphill track, once you pass the gate you are in full blow crust cruising mode. What this means is that you can go anywhere as you glide along the top of the un-groomed crust. Spending a lot of time on backcountry gear this spring, I was kicking myself for not nordic skiing up with my skis on my backpack and then jumping on the medal edges for the way down. Its amazing how fast you can get places on your nordic skis.

mmmmm.... AK!

Where the crust cruising begins- beyond the groomed tracks.

My final day of skiing I decided I was going to do something different, so I headed up the side of some mountain and decided to ski as far as I could, and see how high I could get. Along with Holly and Dillion, we managed to climb up the side of a peak and get pretty dang high. It was awesome, not to mention the ski down in the soft snow was amazing. For once it felt like I could make some turns on nordic skis, even without metal edges!!! Oh, and the sun was A-shining, so the whole time I was skiing, I couldn't stop thinking about how sweet my sport is, and how lucky I am to be able to do it in AK!

H. Brooks climbing the wall

Things got a little steep at the end....

Reaching the top of the pass.

But, now I am headed to Bend, Oregon for my first US Ski Team camp on snow up at Mt. Bachelor. I hear there is lots of snow, so hopefully the weather will behave and bring the sunshine out. From what I hear, the Canadian National Team will also be joining us, so it will be some fun times!

At this point my summer schedule is looking quite busy. Shortly after returning from my 10 day camp in Bend, I head up for my first camp on Eagle Glacier. Following that I take a quick 5 day trip to Park City, Utah for some testing as well as Rookie Camp (where you learn what it means to be on the US team along with all the other new US athletes). The following day after returning from Park City, I head up to the Glacier for the second June Camp. Meanwhile I will also be taking a summer class, so I will have my hands full. This pattern will continue for the following two months of the summer and then into the fall, so I have a feeling the training portion of this season is going to FLY!

From here it's 10 days of training with the US and Canadian ladies- I will try to take pictures and give some updates throughout the week.

Springtime!!

2011-05-08T14:06:00.000-07:00

mmmm, springtime in Alaska!!!! It's just too good. Not many places can you nordic ski all the way into middle of May. This spring I decided I was going to live a little more of a "true alaskan winter" and spend some more time doing the kind of skiing where gravity is doing most the work. I am super lucky though, many of my friends are really into backcountry skiing, so I was having to hold myself back from going and playing every single day. Trying to stay caught up in school, and fit in some work here and there.... I got a bit behind playing that much. The good news is, for the first time I had a pretty active spring, which means I am not nearly as out of shape as I normally am May 1st. That was my first goal for this year. In staying in shape through the resting period, I don't loose the first two months just trying to build my fitness back up.

Doing some skiing at Alyeska

Crust Cruising with the UAA crew

Beer Relay Fundraiser Champions- The Incredibles (Pete and I)

Skinning in the sun... too good!

A lot has unfolded and happened in the last month since I have started phasing into my new season. For one, it has now been exactly a year since I joined the "Big Blue APU". I couldn't be happier that I joined this squad, and now I managed to convince my brother to jump onto the wagon and ski for APU as well.- so its going to be fun! For the past week we have been training hard in our annual "start up camp" Start up camp normally consists of two-a-days with lots of intervals, lots of skiing hard, and lots of soreness and stiffness. Last year I was nearly in a wheel chair by the end of the week of training with the new team, so this year I knew what to expect going into it... which is why I tried to bridge my seasons together more by keeping my fitness up during my rest period. But, of course, I still managed to put myself in a world of hurt all week. You know you are doing the right thing when showing up to training is more than just another day of work. It's amazing, every day, regardless of how wrecked everyone is, everyone is always smiling and ready to throw down when they show up for training. I think thats what makes this training group so successful. The energy within it is always positive, so it's hard not love it.

ADN Photo- nice article Beth wrote here: http://m.adn.com/adn/pm_1202/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=TjbCa8xU

The second big thing of my spring is being named to the National Team. I am super pumped about it. I think the National team has something great going on now. With lots of focus on young development, I think they are determine to build from the ground up and make something really happen in the future. It's also awesome because we have our little rabbit, Kikkan Randall to watch and aim for. Being named to this team means joining in with some of the fastest girls in the country periodically throughout the summer and fall and getting in some good training. This year, the woman's National Team, the Canadian woman's National Team, and some of the top APU ladies are all going to join up for a week of training up at Eagle Glacier. I don't think those girls know what they are getting in to. I have this feeling they are going to fall in love, and before we know it, everyone is going to want to be moving to Alaska. Anyways, I am super stoked and honored to be representing not only APU now, but also the US. Unfortunately, as always in this sport, there is not much funding out there, so being on the B-Team means covering most of our own costs. So I am still always looking for support.

Which brings me to my last point. For the past month we have been working our butts off planning and putting together an awesome fundraiser for the APU team to cover racing costs for the season. We will be putting on an auction with lots of sweet items including trips to hawaii as well as bikes, skis, artwork and much more. If you are in the Anchorage area, come out and check out what we are about! More than just a fundraiser, this is also a celebration of all the great successes we have had this year including USSA club of the year, coach of the year and athlete of the year. We are always looking for people to join the family of support and help us reach great levels. So, if you are around Anchorage, the event is May 10th starting at 6:30.

From here until May 20th, I will be training in town and starting up summer school before I take off for Bend, Oregon for my first US Ski Team Camp for 10 days. I think this year I am going to see if I can ski every month of the year. September might get a little tricky, but I am determine to make it happen.

Eagle Glacier.... better believe it!!

Thank You

2011-04-26T13:49:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to give a little thank you to all the people that made it possible during this last ski season. As I wrap it up and start gearing up for the next season I have had some time to think about the people that really helped out this year. With a new team, new location,new training, new races, new focuses, and new goals- there were many people that were involved to make it possible.

First- Thanks to my team. APU has one kick ass group of athletes getting it done. These guys know how to work hard and have fun, and I am happy I get to be part of it. I am going to miss some of these guys moving on, but new blood is moving in soon :)

Second- Thanks to all the coaches. Erik Flora is amazing.. I have never seen someone work so hard, be so enthusiastic, all while having a great family. That dude is amazing. Also thanks to the US coaches who I have gotten to work with in Europe for the first time this year- once again a fun, hard working group of people that love to watch where the US is progressing to now. And last thanks to all the previous coaches that have helped push me to where I am going from here.

Third- Thanks to all my equipment, gear, and product sponsors. Fischer, Salomon, Swix, E'KLAAR Headwear, and Hammer Nutrition. Making it possible to get it done!

Fourth- Thanks to all my friends and family. It always makes it that much more special when you have all the people you care about rooting and cheering you on. Thanks for all the nice notes and cheers!

Fifth- Thanks to all the fans. It was fun to see and feel all the enthusiasm in Norway for my first World Cup and then World Champs. We need to increase the awareness and enthusiasm for the sport in the US and we could make it similar here some day hopefully. But those twenty voices you hear at Nationals on the course do make it special!

Sixth- Thanks to Alaska. This place rocks for training. Glacier skiing in the summer, early snow, and amazing spring skiing. Alaska is the place to be a ski racer!

Seventh- Thanks to APU. For schooling and the ski program. You guys are the ones actually making it possible.

Eigth- And last thanks to everyone who supported and donated to me this year. I appreciate your investment in my dreams and your support in my goals.

Spring Series- Sun Valley

2011-04-05T14:10:00.000-07:00

The last week I have been soaking up the sun like every other "normal teenage/college student" is during their spring break. Although mine has been a bit different....! My spring break was spent at 7,000 feet, covered with snow, and lots of racing.

Starting November 19th, I have been racing, racing, racing weekend after weekend. This is the first season I have been able to hold things together for so long. While I was in Oslo, which was my last racing series before Spring Series, I felt like I could float while I was racing. I finally had that peaking feeling that everything felt so good. It actually felt awesome to push so hard. Buttttt, those feeling never go on forever, so this last week was a bit of a different feeling. The altitude mixed with my body feeling pretty tired made for some fun levels of pain. In several of the races I actually felt the screws come out and the wheels fly off!!

Kikkan fueling up during a LONG week!

With the sun shinning, and the fun atmosphere, luckily my stoke level was able to stay high. I was very happy with what I have gotten to do already this season- so this week was nothing more than the icing on the cake.... so in this situation- it may look a bit messy, but it still tastes good :)

Joining up with the APU team again was awesome. I sure missed them over the middle section. There is something about this group that is unique. The way everyone works together and is so happy for everyone else- its a special thing for sure. The wax techs and coaches were amazing. Even though it was spring series- which normally represents a more laid back atmosphere- those guys were out there all day hammering away and having "waxing education". I am convinced it is their two weeks to get in really good shape so they can go home and kick their wife/girlfriends butts!!

This years spring series followed a "tour" schedule. Which means all the races were added up to have an overall tour winner. This makes for a fun atmosphere- as everyone is constantly competing for an overall winning place, so there are no slacking days. The first race was a 2.5km prologue skate race. I am not going to go into too much detail.. but lets say I went out like it was a sprint race.... and that simply lasted for about 1.4km. That is approximately when I hit the wall at 90mph and Nat Hertz managed to take a pic of my face expression. From that you can see my newly discovered level of pain!!!

Nat Hertz Photo

The second day was a 10km Classic Mass start. With how tired I was, I had the original plan to race the first 3km as hard as I could where there would be a prem for the first person to cross at 3k. 100$, and I could suffer for the remaining 7k. But as the race started, I had the feeling I might be able to compete for a good spot for the entire race... but that plan fell apart about half-way through the race when I slowed to nearly a walk and pretty much had to use my hands to manually pick up my legs to move up the rest of the hill. Once again I had that "new level of pain" feeling. By the end of the race, it was almost fun..!!

The following day we had a day off, where I managed to do little more than go for a walk and lie in the sun by the pool, sleeping, sleeping, sleeping. With two more days left I held on for dear life. The following day was the sprint race. With freezing temps over night, our qualifier consisted of a roller coaster ride around an ice skating rink. There were about two points during the race that I was actually concerned I was going to break something. It was CRAZY! Luckily the sun came out, the clothes came off, and the snow managed to turn to slush. Thats when things got exciting for me. With so much time spent classicing on the glacier last summer... this snow felt almost comforting to me, because I was so used to skiing in it... but it sure made for some tricky wax conditions. It was fun to be handed a different pair of skis between every heat which you either didn't recognize or had never really skid on before.... just hoping they would do the job. In the end everything turned out ok though. You either had good kick, or good glide- so in my case I had some good glide. Good enough that I was able to finish 4th for the day, second American. Fun, fun!

Dave Wheelock Photo

Nils Ribi Photo

Nils Ribi Photo

The final day was the ski up the alpine hill. All week I would look out our hotel window at the top of dollar mountain and get nearly sick to my stomach. Imagining racing up that thing, when I was sooo tired just made me tired thinking of it. But knowing it was the last race of the season gave me a little extra energy to find excitement in it. I got to start dead even with Chandra Crawford, who was dressed as Lady Gaga for the final race. As we switched leads back and forth for the first 3/4 of the race- during the final 6 minutes I began to really struggle. I was once again loosing the wheels- but this time, I was loosing my spare wheel too. When I finally crossed the line I dropped to the ground instantly, gasping for air. For the next ten minutes I lay there like a dead person as race officials took my skis and poles off. Little did I know I was laying next to my teammate who was going through the same feelings as me.... but much worse. Fitz was so out of it that she wasn't able to walk or hold herself up- so she was escorted down the mountain in a burrito emergency sled.

Fitz and I totally out of it. Holly managed to take this picture as we lay there with our eyes rolled back/half dead

Yes Fitz is in there!

I am just trying to imagine what all the alpine skiers were thinking as they watched these crazy people ski UP what they normally rip DOWN. Then watch us drop like flies to the ground right as we crossed the line. I am sure it is an imagine they will get a good laugh out of for a long time!

The final day in Sun Valley consisted of a Fast and Female event, this time run by Chandra Crawford AND Kikkan Randall. With the sun shining, and lots of excited little girls it was tons of fun!

Fast and Female Instructors.

Now I am back in AK where the snow is coming down and I am catching back up on "regular person life".

Thanks to everyone who supported and helped me have the best year ever. I couldn't be happier where I am, doing what I am doing! All I can say is I am one lucky girl!

My first 30k!

2011-03-28T14:21:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was the 30k National Championships here in Sun Valley.... which is about twice as long as I have ever raced before. Going into this race I have been a bit worried. For the past two months I have been pretty much doing race after race allowing for not much "training". What that means is I can't remember the last time I skid 30k in one session... let alone skid more than an hour and a half in one session. I have done plenty of long sessions over the year- but I was struggling to wrap my brain around racing 30K AT ONE TIME! I think my teammates were actually getting annoyed of me asking "what should the pace feel like? Should I be in pain? Should I be suffering as early as 10k?" Not to mention we are racing at altitude, and the course has more than enough climbing- so that threw the experience even more curve balls. The answer to all these questions was different from person to person. But the one piece of advice that seemed consistent with every person was that a 30k is like reading a book- you have the good chapters and the bad chapters. You may feel like crap at 20k and feel like a champ at 25k. You may start cramping really bad at 27k and still manage to finish with a hard punch. In order to get the whole story, you have to read through all the chapters... there is no skipping.

Skiing in the lead pack for the first half of the race- Nat Hertz photo

So this is exactly what happened. I went in with a blind eye and had a ball!! I decided I was just going to try to hang onto the lead pack for as long as I could. This year I have been working a lot with my distance racing and things have come a long ways since last year. There is still a lot more to work on- but yesterday I finally got to try it out. The first half of the race I got to ski with a group of 6 girls. Kikkan, a swedish girl skiing at Utah, Diggins, Holly, and Morgan Arritola and me. As we approached the steepest pitch of the last long hill on the second lap I wasn't able to hang on any longer. The good news is one of my other teammates, Fitz was also just off the pace of the lead pack- so I got to ski the remaining two laps with her, before she ditched me in the final climb on the last lap.

Pack still together on the first lap- Dave Wheelock photo

It was fun though. There is a lot that can happen in a 30k, and your head can take many directions of thought. From "holy crap- now I know what they were talking about when they said your muscles would cramp", to "I can't wait for that coke feed", to "one last time up this hill Sadie, you can do it". Good fun- I am excited for more tries!

Today we have a day off, and then tomorrow the true Spring Series starts. 2.8k prelim, 10k mass start classic, day off, Classic Sprint, and then the final day will be a race up the alpine hill.

Doing some training with the ladies in the sun.

Five of the APU girls, and Chandra Crawford are staying together at the Sun Valley Inn. We have been having lots of fun entertaining ourselves between the races. It is always fun at the end of the year to "enjoy the experience" a bit more. With less pressure on the racing, and more focus on the celebration, you are able to soak in the sun and truly live it up!

YES- sunshine!

Pre-race dinner w/ our bath robe gowns

Keep the sunshine coming!

Sun in Sun Valley!!

2011-03-22T18:21:00.001-07:00

After arriving in Sun Valley late last night, we were awoken by quite the surprise. Not only was it no longer storming like it was on the drive up from Boise last night- but the sun was-a-beaming down! I have been to Sun Valley once before when I was super young, so I have never skid the race courses before, but we headed out for a sneak preview today. From what I have heard it dumped about two feet in the last couple of days, so the snow was soft- but the skiing was awesome! It was amazing out, warm enough to ski without jackets and pants- something I haven't done for quite some time now. I can't even remember the last time I did a workout without my jacket... maybe on Eagle Glacier last summer. This is why I love the west so much though, makes me miss home a bit :)

Our first race is the 30k on Sunday, so from now until then we will try to acclimate ourselves and prepare for the fun races later this week!

Stadium Access

Keep the sun coming!!

Teammate and Inspiration

2011-03-18T09:42:00.000-07:00

What a great video by Kikkan Randall about skiing. It has been fun to get to know Kikkan over the course of this year from summer training to racing on the road with her in Europe. I truly am inspired by not only the way she skis, but also by who she is. I am lucky to be able to train along side her and learn from her as a racer and a person. This video is just a little glimpse into the life of "Chikkan Randall"

Thank You Norway

2011-03-09T14:29:00.000-08:00

I am finally starting to catch up on life since just recently returning to Anchorage after nearly 4 months straight on the road. I feel like for the past month I have been in a dream... where everything is moving so fast and its just too good.

Some of the US ladies after races

During my two weeks in Oslo for the World Championships I was in such a daze that I struggled to really let my emotions catch up and feel how amazing it was. Once the week of racing started... everything started moving so fast that I couldn't keep up. I couldn't even describe anything from the week other than AMAZING. It is hard to put words to what it feels like to ski through a tunnel of at least 10,000 people screaming at the top of their lungs. The feeling is just amazing. All I could think was how lucky I am to be involved in the sport that I am.

Giving my autograph to my first fans :)

One of the german skiers and I joining the celebration out in the woods on our recovery ski

Fans, Fans, Fans

Great spectating from the roof of the athletes cabin

World Champs Womans Squad

The Norwegians are incredible. They are so passionate about the sport, they just love it. The majority of my races fell on days that it was so foggy you couldn't see much further than 5 feet in front of you. I imagined this would hold back some spectators... but with no fail all the norwegian fans were still out there screaming their faces off into the fog. I am convinced they had no idea who they were cheering for, or if they were even cheering for anyone. Maybe they just screamed straight for two hours. Regardless, they were still keeping the spirit going.

Warming up in the fog

Me on the big screen

Besides the sprint race I got to start two other races during the week. The 10km classic and the Team Sprint.

The 10k was awesome. I started bib 26, so pretty early. The course was by far the hardest course I have ever skid.. so I just went out and tried to ski hard from the start. I kind of knew there would be a point where I would blow up... but I was hoping the noise of the fans would keep me going. Which is exactly what happened. I crossed the line in first place as I came in before many of the lead skiers- but I got to sit in the leaders chair for a while, which was super fun. I have never gotten to sit in the leaders chair before, and yes it is just as comfy as it looks :)

A clip from the TV of me crossing the line in 1st place

Relaxing in the Leaders Chair

Two days later I got to start the classic team sprint with Kikkan. I have done one team sprint before nearly 3 years ago. I have to say this team sprint at World Champs was an entirely different race though. These girls went out my top speed sprinting pace from the start. Team sprinting is difficult because you have to race 3 times in the Semi-Finals. Then if you make the A-Finals, you do the same thing again, 3 more hard efforts. I was a bit nervous, knowing I would have to save some energy for such a long race. Semi-finals were great. Kikkan and I managed to gradually move up through the race and come in 3rd, moving us onto the finals. When the A finals came around 45 minutes later, I struggled a bit more. By the last lap of the finals... the wheels started to fall off. It was all I could do just to get to the finish to tag Kikkan. We still managed to finish 9th at the end of the day, which was fun. I think with more endurance training, this could be an awesome race for us. It sure is tons of fun though. Gives you six chances to ski right in there with some of the best sprinters in the world.

Kikkan and I with some American Spirit :)

Team Sprinting in the fog!

As the week concluded, it was so sad to leave Holmenkollen. THinking back to two months ago, when I first got named to the team, so many people told me this was an experience I would remember for the rest of my life. They were right! Not only was it amazing to be part of it, and get right into the heart of ski racing- but it was incredible to watch everyone else. Skiing around the trails on recovery days with Kikkan and listening to everyone chant her name was just inspiring. I think besides their own norwegian skiers, Kikkan may be their next favorite skier. Also watching Bjorgen and Northug do their warm- ups around you and then going on to working their magic in front of your eyes... its just something you can't appreciate in full until you see it in person.

APU squad

Thanks to all the Norwegians for making it truly amazing- as well as all the americans who came over and cheered. Also thanks to all the people who sent good luck over facebook or emails, it was so fun to have so many people following!!

We took a trip to the Ambassadors house midweek. Here is World Champs announcer, and good friend Peter Graves with Holly and I

Ladies team

Introduced into the world of World Cup racing in Drammen, Norway- introduced to World Champs racing in Holmenkollen.... I think I may be the luckiest person alive :)

From here I chill out and train for 2 weeks here in Anchorage before going to my final week of racing in Sun Valley for spring series.

Joining the true norwegian style with my new Onesie

Thanks to all the coaches and wax techs for making the week rock!!

World Champs- Day 1

2011-02-25T05:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the first day of World Champs here in Oslo, which was the skate sprint. I am still in shock from the whole series of events that took place... I think it is still sinking in.

All the events here are being run mid-afternoon, so it leaves a nice long morning to sleep in, relax, watch some Glee, and shake some nerves before heading up to the venue. Going into these events has been really nice for me, because I have had the goal of simply soaking it in. Being my first world cup last weekend, and my first World Champs this week- I am living the full experience... just feeling the water out. This leaves little pressure- allowing me to ski my own races depending on where my head is the given day. It has been soooo fun!

Lars, Jessie and I in front of the kings castle downtown Oslo

Thursday night we had opening ceremonies downtown, which was lots of fun. Oslo is a very impressive city, with all the old, beautiful buildings. In my short time downtown Oslo earlier this month... where I managed to get myself super lost, I somehow missed all the cool things. So, this time I knew what I was looking for- mainly the kings castle. As we arrived downtown there were hundreds of school children, nearly 30 for each country participating in the Championships. Our kids were super fired up about the US and they had amazing english- so we had lots of fun predicting who was going to win all the races this week! I was impressed how many people lined the streets to watch us march through.... little did I know what was coming.

Yesterday was a whole new meaning of cheering and crowds. As I arrived at the venue, I tried to stay calm and avoid the large crowds.... but when it came down to warming up- there was no more avoiding it- no more hiding. As I skid around the 1.4km course time after time- I found myself skiing faster and faster. With such a hilly course, I would normally walk the hills for the first 20 minutes... but it was IMPOSSIBLE! I felt like the thousands of people in bleachers and lining the course were sitting watching me. There wasn't more then 50 skiers on the course... so I felt like I had the telescope on me. It was simply intimidating! Not to mention, if you happened to be skiing near a norwegian- the crowd would go wild.... even when we were just warming up!!

Stadium

Petter Northug getting his cheer on for the USA

When it came down to race time- I was ready to go. Having a crowd like that cheering so loud makes is awesome. It makes you feel like you can't let up- because the spectators sure as hell were not going to let up!!! The qualifier went sweet for North America. We managed to qualify 3 canadians, and 3 americans- so we were super fired up. After a short break, it was off to the heats. Having never started heats in world cup- I was more excited then nervous. I simply had no idea what to expect. All I knew was I was starting with the infamous Kowalczyk as well as the girl that had gotten second in the World Cup last weekend... so I had my work cut out for me. As they introduced each of us one at a time at the line, it all hit me. I think if I would have had a few more seconds to wait there.. I may have shed a tear. But, before I knew it the gun was fired and we were off. Having a good start, I hit the corner right in with the lead pack... stepping in right in front of Kowalczyk. (which was my claim to fame for the day-maybe even for the next year). For the next three minutes it was a blur... I just went with it. Accelerated when they did, and tucking in behind when they did. Not surprisingly, when we neared the end I wasn't quite able to hold on to the lead pack- and crossed the line in 5th.. putting me in 24th for the day. More then the result I was blown away by the experience. It was simply unbelievable to see what "Norwegian Spirit" does to a race! It turns it into the Superbowl of Nordic Skiing. Just incredible!

Looking over the stadium from the wax cabins

Nearing the end of my quarter-finals

Unfortunately Kikkan fell during the quarterfinals, wrecking her chance for the gold- but I think every person out there knows she would have been a true threat. It was incredible to watch her true sport shine through as she brushed it off and continued to say "it happens". Kikkan has never ceased to impressed me since the minute I joined APU 8 months ago! It has been incredibly fun for me to watch her win world cups first person. Not only because it is incredible to watch- but because she has proved it to me that champions are human. I have always looked at the norwegians and believed they must be from another planet.... they must be doing rocket science. But Kikkan has proved to me that its humanly possible. I train with her day in and day out- and she is not performing rocket science. She is simply working her ass off, and has been for years now. So as sad as it was to see her fall, she still is one of the fastest sprinters in the world.

Team APU

So with a strong start- the US is pumped for the many more races to come.

My next race will be Monday, which is the 10km classic. In the meantime, it is the womans pursuit race tomorrow, and the mens pursuit on sunday.

One of the camps out on the distance course

First World Cup weekend- Drammen, Norway

2011-02-23T23:48:00.001-08:00

World Cup #1

Holly and I soaking it in

Last weekend I had my debut into the world of World Cup racing. Honestly I can't quite put words to what it was like. I think I may be the luckiest person alive to have my introduction into the world cup life in Norway. In a country where cross country skiing is the most important thing in every person's life... you can only imagine what would happen when a World Cup comes to town. To say it simple, 15,000 people set up tents, camps, and line the 5 kilometers of trail. I have been to one Seahawks game in my life, and I would compare the sound to that... only it is in another language- so the buzz has a different tone. It is by far the coolest thing I have experienced in my life so far though. I could get used to this lifestyle!

Watching the sprint race... along with thousands of spectators behind me.

World Cup Sprint group for the weekend- Jessie and I in our first World Cup sprints :)

The fans were incredible, but the athletes were even more incredible. I have watched hundreds of world cup races on TV and video's, and to be honest, I even considered it a chance to be able to ski with them for a bit. But when I had the chance to watch them ski in person... I was in awe. These girls are incredibly fast- they are MOVING! It is a whole nother league that I have never seen before. This is the most exciting part to me though. Now I "know what it looks like". It's super exciting to watch it, and now know what I am aiming for. The fun part about this year being my first in so many things, is I have no pressure, but I am just going out there and doing the best I can. I have to say, watching Kikkan win a world cup right in front of my eyes was so awesome! I have skid on a team with her now for a year, so I have watched her train, and watched what she does. It was awesome to watch the true "kikkanimal" at work. That girl is GOOD!

Kikkan on the big screen- showing some love for Subway

The only down part to having my first world cup experience in Norway... is the competition is about the hardest it gets on the world cup circuit. With Norway hosting the races, they get to start about 20 athletes in both the mens and womans fields. As everyone knows, Norwegians have an incredibly deep field of talent... so in most of my races- there were about 15 norwegians ahead of me. So... I learned quickly- results are not something to be studied in Drammen. The important part is I am in a good place going into World Champs... which actually starts today. They have late starts every day- so I am using my long morning to get some homework done and catch up with some things.

Soaking in some sun the day of the sprint race- awesome day!

It has been super fun to meet up with all of the nordic combiners, jumpers, and the rest of the nordic squad. We have quite the group of athletes over here! It is going to be a fun week of racing!

World Champs 2011 here we come!!!

Coach Bus taking us anywhere and everywhere we need. World Cup athletes get TAKEN CARE OF!

Team Norway Bus- I like to pretend these guys are all cheering me on :)

Pictures from Norway

2011-02-15T11:20:00.001-08:00

Here are a couple pictures from our past training days in Beito. We trained here for 3 days following the race because it is a nice low key, low stress area with great skiing. Temperatures have been super cold, which has made for some amazing classic skiing!! Skating sounded like such a bad idea every day with such slow, soft snow.... so I have been sticking to the classicing :)

Tomorrow we leave for Drammen where we will be competing in World Cups Saturday and Sunday. Finally, my first world cup start!! I can't wait. Saturday is a 10k classic, Sunday is a skate sprint. The team will be picking up the APU group, (Kikkan, Holly, Lars and Erik) which I am super pumped about because it has been so long since I have seen these guys!

Soaking in some Sun with the Frosty Weather- Scott photo

Beautiful Beito View

Norwegian Nordic Love

Valentines Ski with Tadlet- frosty cold!

Tad and Jessie doing some easy skiing on course

Beito Living

2011-02-13T11:45:00.000-08:00

At this moment I am sitting on the couch listening to some chill tunes with my feet up, soaking in some sun in Beitostolen, Norway. I must say… don’t think life could get much better at this moment! I am a lucky person to be involved in such a sweet sport! For the past 3 months I have moved from house to house, venue to venue, and country to country racing- and I am now truly starting to appreciate it. Some of the first countries were a bit uncomfortable and extraordinary, which left me with a bit of a homesick feeling… but lately I have been getting super lucky!

I have always liked the traveling part of ski racing. I think many people struggle with switching beds so often, and living out of a suitcase- but for me, I love it! I love how many different lifestyles we get to live, all the sweet places we see, and all the cool people we meet. If we raced similar venues every weekend, and traveled to simple places… it would be boring! I like constantly switching it up every week. I have to admit though… there are a lot of times I wish I could just have a switch of clothes. Wearing the same 3 shirts and 2 sweatshirts for 3 months is a LONG time!

Jessie and I in the stadium

Last week classes started back up for me at APU. All the courses I am taking this semester are online courses...but don’t let the word “online” fool you. Class still meets at a specific time, just “online”. What this means is my 7PM-9PM classes in Alaska meet at 5:00 in the morning Norway time. Because we don’t have internet directly in our room, I set my alarm-clock for 4:45 in the morning and wake up and head down the hill for class ☺ Good fun! The good news is I only have this for 3 more weeks here twice a week… so I think I will make it. But it is nice to have schoolwork to consume my time again. I always miss that stress when I am without it!

Yummy Norwegian Food

The past two days I have been racing here in Beitostolen for some Norwegian National Cup races. Many of the national team members are here, mostly the sprinting team, but lots of speedy people! It has been super fun though to see what racing in Norway looks like. I have always had an image in my head, but it is even more impressive then I imagined. Yesterday 890 people started!! That is sooo many skiers!

Stadium full of people

So Friday was a skate sprint, which went pretty well for me. I was 4th in the qualifier, and then moved down a bit in the heats. The heats were interesting, as the course was short- and there was no room for passing- so the order at the end of the first straight away was the order coming across the finish. In my semi-finals, I didn’t have the best start, so I came to the end of the straight away in 5th, and crossed the line in fifth…. which meant I moved down to 9th place for the day. The other US girls also did very well. Jessie Diggins got a bit tripped up in her semi’s, so wasn’t able to move on, but Ida got fourth in my heat and moved on as lucky loser- to finish the day in 5th.

Leading my quarter finals heat out of the stadium- Thanks to Scott for the sprinting photos!

Yesterday was the 5k classic, which also went very well. Once again the US ladies were packed in there for the top places. I came in 4th, about 36 seconds off the leading pace, with the other US ladies close behind in 8th, 11th, 16th, and 20th I believe.

Today I opted to sit out the 15km skate race to prepare for next weekends world cups and then world champs. I heard though that the ladies kicked butt again. Think Mo and Liz were 2nd and 3rd and Jessie won the juniors race. Its fun to see everyone on their game right now- think we will be bringing a strong team to Oslo, which will make that week so much more fun!
We train here a couple more weeks and then head back towards Oslo, to Drammen where I will enter my first World Cups next weekend!! Can’t wait!

NORWAY!

2011-02-10T10:04:00.001-08:00

So far my norwegian experience has been quite the adventure. Having never been to Norway before, I have failed to really use my brain, but instead run around in awe with my my eyes wide open. Nearly 60 hours into my trip now... I am just starting to loose the buzz. This country is amazing. I feel like I can't stop looking around, and being in love, and simply not getting enough of every moment. There are nordic skiers everywhere! EVERYWHERE! Not only is everyone really nice, but they are all pretty, and they speak so nice. I have always enjoyed the sound of the norwegian language- there is nothing that reminds me of speedy skiing more!

So my first day with my brain turned off turned into quite the adventure. In my two activities of the day, one skiing, and two exploring downtown- I managed to get myself extremely lost- both with Jessie Diggins (who I believe is in the same state as me at this point). The skiing consisted of me strapping on some classic skis and taking off on the "Norwegian Highway", which can simply be described as a classic trail, tracked three tracks wide, with approximately 500 skiers on it.! Thinking nothing off it, I set out on my skis, chatting away with Jessie, and loving every moment of the perfect tracks, great terrain, and beautiful skiing. About an hour into it I decided it was time to turn around.... but what I didn't really realize is that during the past hour I had taken maybe 20 turns, all of which I didn't pay attention to... and not only that- I had no idea what the place was called where I started. All norwegian words have lots of j's, k's, and i's in them so its hard to even tell them apart. After asking nearly 10 people, all of which sent me different directions, I decided to just head in one direction and hope to god it would eventually take me there.! To my surprise 30 minutes later I started recognizing some of the trails!! I had made it home.

One of the many signs that make no sense!

Thinking I had figured it all out- I laughed it off and forgot to really ask what the place was called where we were staying.... which was my first mistake when Jessie and I headed out that afternoon for Oslo on the train system. The older girls told us "go on train 3, stay until the last stop, and you will make it home". Trying to keep things exciting, Jessie and I tried to escape buying tickets, and just be sly. After being tourists, snapping lots of shots, hitting up all the souvenir shops, searching for the norwegian bjorn borg underwear, and buying some good chocolate- we set out for home. Following the signs to "3" we jumped on a train that did not look anything like what we started on. Realizing this just as the train started moving, we were stuck... and the ticket man was walking towards us. Somehow we escaped the madness and jumped off as quickly as we could at the next stop. Turns out that train was headed towards Trondheim... which is a long ways away from Oslo, and our hotel! Running around for about 30 minutes asking everyone where to go, when we didn't even know what the name of the place was called quickly became pointless. Finally, when Jessie and I became super panicked, I spotted a woman wearing ski boots. Trying to describe to her what hotel we were at... we finally figured out we were on the underground train station, and we should be on the above ground... who woulda known there was two separate things!!

OSLO! National Theatre

sooooo Jessie and I slapped hands and headed in the right direction. Let me assure you, the first thing I did when I got back was ask the name of where we were and say it in my head 20 times to assure that I knew it!! Sandsvan!

Unfortunately we left the next day though....!!

We are now in Beitestolin for the Norwegian National Cup races which start tomorrow. Skate sprint, 10k classic, and 15k skate. Competition will be stiff, as always when norwegians are involved. Word is, there are close to 800 starters... should be good fun! We are staying in this sweet hotel with all the Norwegians, so I get to sit and eat dinner across from Astrid Jacobsen! Good fun :)

More to come soon!

France!!

2011-02-08T05:16:00.000-08:00

For the past five days I have been in Meribel, France getting in some altitude training as well as resting the mind a bit. I have been on the road since November 19^th, so for me it is important to have a small break in the middle of such a long series of races to rest my mind from the constant stress and pressure of ski racing. Living on the road is tons of fun- but when you are surrounded by a group of people doing the same thing… you are constantly thinking ski racing 24 hours a day.

So last week was special in the fact that I not only got to chill out for five days- but I got five solid days of sunshine! Whenever you are in the mountains in France- you can count on good cheese, rock hard tracks, and great sunshine!

Jo and I on top of the world- Mont Blanc in the background

Every morning I would wake up to nice solid hard tracks at the Nordic venue, which made for some great skiing! After eating some lunch and chilling out for a bit I would go out for a second time, but instead of putting nordic skis on I would strap on the heavier equipment and head up to the mountains for some backcountry skiing. It was so amazing! The people I was staying with are super good skiers, so they introduced me to the world of “off piste”…. Beacons, skins, steep slopes, and lots of speed. On one of the trips we took, we ended on the Nordic trails where we had to ski about 2km back to the village. Thinking

I could show them how it was done…. I was amazed to find out skate skiing is very different when you can’t move your ankles and you have short poles! You would have never known I was a Nordic skier based off of watching me try to skate in the alpine gear! That is HARD!

Nordic Skiing in the morning

"off piste" in the afternoon

Now its back to the racing in Norway. More updates to come.

U23 Championshipts- Otepaa, Estonia

2011-02-04T13:56:00.001-08:00

Apologies for this taking so long to get written. World Juniors/U23s is always a super busy week, with races every single day for a week straight. This year I was lucky enough to get to enter all the races- so nice busy schedule for me in Otepaa, Estonia this last week.

The first race of the week was a 10k Skate, which I came away from not super pumped about the result. Between Nationals and U23's there was a big 3 week break, so I needed a race to start waking the body up and reminding it how to race. Temperatures dropped super low the day of our skate race. When we arrived at the venue it was -20C (-8F), which is colder than the legal limit. Between when we arrived, and 2 hours later somehow it "warmed up enough" to have a legal race- though at points during the race, I was doubting it. Ironically enough, I don't travel with long underwear. Not sure why- but I am just not used to skiing in it.... which means the night before the race I had to put the search on for some long underwear.!! Thanks to Heather Mooney for saving my legs!

Warming up and warming down in our down jackets

The sprint race was a bit better. The result may not have showed much, but I had a strong qualifier race earlier on in the morning before later entering into the heats. Unfortunately during many of my opportunities to make strong moves in the quarterfinal- I was blocked out, and didn't get to ski to my full potential. The good news is I know that it is possible to ski with these top girls, so I am pumped for the many more opportunities I have in this next month of racing in Europe.

Blowing kisses to the crowd- Jessie took this photo while she was watching me on TV at the hotel. All the races were broadcasted in Euro Sport!

The final race was the 15k pursuit race. I like this race because it takes all my strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes and mixes it into a racing stew- which could go any direction. One thing continues to hold true for every pursuit I have entered. More times than not I have a strong classic leg, skiing it like its the only section of the race- and then during the skate leg I hold on for dear life. This year, I held 14th place for the entire race before the final climb, when a train of europeans came charging from behind. Unfortunately, I just didn't have the juice left in the tank to hold onto these girls as I sprinted all the way to the finish, coming in only 2 seconds off the pack- with a final place of 17th. Finally I was pleased with one of my races- as I felt like I skid that race as well as I could that day.

skate leg

classic leg

As usual, I came away from U23's not quite reaching my expectations- but in the many years I have raced over here in Europe, I have figured something out. You can't expect to come to Europe, and enter three races, and have the best races of the year. Quality comes with quantity over here. In order to race among these girls- it is important to have persistence. Each race I enter, the more comfortable I feel, and the stronger I get. Just as my season started on the domestic circuit- the best way for me to reach my potential is to race into the races.

From here I take a week altitude training block in France before I head to Beitistolin for some FIS races, then Drammen for my first World Cup starts, and then soon after World Champs will begin. Lots more racing and lots more fun ahead of me.!

Thanks to the coaches and wax techs for making it possible to have a great week of racing. You guys rock!!

Ski Room

Ski testing on the non-race days with the coaches

Thanks to Nat Hertz for many of these skiing photos- and for keeping the US updated so well on fasterskier!!!

Finland Pre- Camp

2011-01-21T07:27:00.000-08:00

This years U23 and World Junior pre-camp is in Vierumaki, Finland- a "National Sports Institute" about 25 miles outside of World Cup venue, Lahti. For the past four days, we have all been trying to figure out what exactly goes on in this little "village" we are staying at in the middle of nowhere. The trails are great, rolling and flat- perfect for keeping the jets firing low before the week of Championship races next week. From what we have concluded, this seems to be a popular summer resort where people come to golf. With the trails winding in and out of the golf course, and all the surrounding condo's, golfing must be the main focus. There also seems to be many students running around that appear to be involved in various sports while also taking classes. From the looks and sounds of it, skiing, swimming, track, maybe gymnastics... body building... who knows!

Night skiing in Lahti is awesome!

This is my sixth World Junior/ U23 trip, but this is the first time we have ventured up to the northern scandinavian countries, so this is a bit of an exciting change for me. There are for sure some differences. The food is a bit different... they like their stinky fish, orange potatoes, reindeer, and their bread and butter. Even more than that, they like mixing all of that together and making a wonderfully scary looking dish. From what I can tell, Finish people are very helpful, and friendly, but they don't smile much. I have heard from some of the junior girls they are having a competition to see how many people they can get to smile back at them.

Delicious mixture of food for lunch!

Last night we had our infamous Name Game after everyone had finally arrived in Europe. There are some new faces on this trip, which makes this game all the more exciting. I learned some fun stuff- turns out Amy Caldwell has a pet that resides in a separate state from her home. David Norris seems to have had a crush on Amy Glen before ever meeting her. Ida Sargent talks about beating off dinosaurs in her sleep, and Tad Elliot has a hot younger sister.

Ida steals a bike

Today we headed up to Lahti to ski on some of the World Cup courses, as most of us had some sort of intensity workout. If you haven't seen hills before, I suggest taking a sunday stroll around that thing! It makes Yellowstone look like peaches comparatively! There were lots of different things going on out there though. Some sprint simulations, speeds, L4 intervals, drop-ins, L3 work, pursuit change practice and much more. I can tell you for sure, there was no easy skiing going on though. Aside from Fish, who was video-taping, I think everyone else got a good chance to shake the legs a bit!

Them breakfast Wheaties didn't quite give me the confidence to fly today... another day!

Skiing out of the Stadium- check out that stadium behind me!

The Lahti stadium is like the Mecca of skiing. It is incredible. Based around the three ski jumps towering above you- you feel like you are in a movie. The stadium sits in the middle of a huge set of bleachers on either side, and climbs out in two different directions- both visible to the spectator in the stadium bleachers. I would love to do a race here- I bet the fans are incredible!

Out-lunging the queen of Lahti

We are staying in the same hotel as the Canadians for this pre-camp, so we challenged them to a bowling tournament a couple nights ago. I have two words... WOW and wow. There are some people on this team that should stick with their sport. But there are some on this team that ROCK at bowling. It was insane! After some steaming, competitive matches- I do believe the Americans came out ahead!

Bowling Tournament- Reese H. photo

We are keeping ourselves entertained though, and thats whats important! Spirits are high, and people are stoked! As the races approach quickly, everyone is dialing down their training- and getting ready to throw down. I think we have the potential for something sweet to happen this year. In the meantime everyone is training well, eating good, and staying healthy!

Kinzey and Joanne smiling away

Sunday we make the trip over the Otepaa, Estonia- which includes a two hour boat ride over the Gulf of Finland. From there on out its race prep, and then the racing. YEHAAA!

Finland, Estonia, France, Norway, OSLO!!!!

2011-01-16T10:21:00.000-08:00

Wow, its time for the Championships!! From here on out, its the big stuff. After finishing my first block of preparation races, I am now headed into the european block of racing. Right now I am sitting in the Portland, Maine airport waiting to start my journey to Helsinki, Finland for a preparation training camp before U23 World Champs. It's a bit sad to split from my team after living in close quarters with them for the past 10 weeks- but also fun to see them all go their different directions for racing as well. Some of them I will meet up with as soon as U23's, and others I will reunite with in Oslo for World Champs

This year, U23's and World Juniors take place in Otepaa, Estonia. The fun part is there is a World Cup the weekend before, so by the time we arrive- organizers will have everything nice and dialed, and courses will be perfectly skid in! This years group of US racers is a unique bunch. This will be my sixth year going on this World Junior/U23 trip, and this is by far the strongest bunch I have headed over with. I think there are great things that could happen- which is super fun to go into the Championships feeling like! I will be meeting up with several of my teammates, Reese Hanneman, Kinzie Loan, and Becca Rorabough overseas- which is super fun!

After US Nationals I got the word that I qualified for the World Champ team in Oslo, which is SUPER exciting. It has been a goal sitting in the back side of my head all summer and fall, but with the new program switch I wasn't sure how it was all going to work out. I couldn't be happier though, and I am super fired up to get into my first big race! All my norwegian buddies keep telling me that is is going to be the race I remember for the rest of my life. Oslo is the center for nordic skiing, so having the World Champs there sounds like it is going to be quite the celebration! I can't wait!! I will also be accompanied by my teammates Kikkan Randall (who just won a world cup yesterday), Lars Flora, and Holly Brooks as well as my coach, Erik! Wahoooo!

Wrapping up my US Tour and moving onto my European Tour- here we go!! Time to board the plane!!

Living it up in the Olympic Training Center

Womans Team departs Maine

One last minute good luck kiss from Olympic Medalist, Billy Demong

A Week to Remember

2011-01-11T04:38:00.000-08:00

Last week was a week to remember for more then one reason! By the end of the week I had more "first times" then I think I ever have experienced in one week!

First Times-

1. Traveling to Senior Nationals with the APU Group- This pretty much sets the mood for all my first times, and is the most important key! This group of skiers and coaches are incredible. The way that everyone works together, and pushes each other throughout the week is hard to put your finger on and even describe. I think the chemistry among the group is the unique part to allows this to happen. There is not a single person on this team that is bringing down the energy. Every person gets out there race day and throws down- whether that means racing, or cheering for their teammates. One of the most rewarding things about this, is when you have the opportunity to stand on the top of the podium on any given day- you have 30 other people standing there with you, giving you the high five. The next day your teammate will be standing in that same place, experiencing the same feeling. It makes all the hours you put in training alongside all these people worth it!

2. New Years Celebration- for the past 6 years, I have been traveling to Senior Nationals right before New Years, so I have never once had the opportunity to celebrate. Normally my night consists of sitting and watching "America's Next Top Model" on Tv- or reading my text books. This year, the girls house decided to throw a dress up New Years Party. We got all dressed up and sent out invitations. It turned out being tons of fun, even if we didn't stay up until the "New Year", but it was still the most excitement I have had on New Years in my life!

3. Arriving at a Venue with No Snow- well maybe we can call it a couple inches... lets just say I was disappointed to not bring rock skis! Regardless, it was incredible what race organizers pulled together for every race! It added some fun to the mix of racing, and in no way affected any of the racers opportunity for success! Thanks to the Black Mountain Crew!

top of the course day before the race

4. My first Podium- In my first Senior Nationals race of the year, the classic sprint, I finished 3rd American- allowing me to stand on the podium at National Champs... I couldn't have been happier, let alone, my roommate, and teammate, Morgan Smyth was standing in second, and the great H. Brooks stood on top! Katie Ronsse also took fourth, so APU swept top four Americans!

5. Sweeping the Podium as a Team- I already said this, but it is a true first! Standing on the starting line of the A-Finals, with three of my teammates was a unique feeling. I knew that 300 days of the year, I train endless hours with these same girls, and it was all worth it!! Thanks to the coaches and tech's for making this possible!!

6. First National Championship Title- Honestly, this still hasn't quite sunk in- but it was one of my favorite firsts! With the 10k Classic consisting of four laps of a 2.7k course- I went into the race with a plan. A plan to race it like I would a mile on the track. First lap for rhythm, second lap pick it up, third lap push the pace, and fourth lap race from the heart. My plan kinda fell a bit to pieces when I took out the first lap at a faster pace than I expected with all the excitement. So I would say more of a pattern made of push the pace on the first lap, push the pace harder on the second lap, and race from the heart for the following two laps. Going into this week I would have never guessed I could win a distance race, I had my money more on the sprints- but this was the best part!! Once again, one of my teammates accompanied me on the podium, congrats to Morgan for second!! Wahooo

7. First Time I Have Seen Such an Incredible Performance- Saturday's race was amazing for a bazillion reasons. First, I raced my heart out every heat of the skate sprint and after cresting the last hill in first during the A-Finals, I was passed by two girls right before the end. This is one of the things I need to work on, race tactics! Even though it is most comforting to lead a race, and control your competitors, tactically it is stupid. The same thing happened in the classic sprint. Drafting is way better in second or third coming down the last hill than in first! Third times a charm with this lesson though, next year I will come prepared to race it smarter. But beside that point, one of the girls I have been racing with for years, Jessie Diggins, had one of the most unbelievable performances. For one, she is not a sprinter, and she won the race. And for two, she fell on the top of the hill and somehow still managed to win the race! Congrats to Jessie!!

Homestretch w/ Jessie on the left coming in hot!- Stephan Mitman Photography

8. First Time Making the Alaska Daily News- Not only did we make the daily news, but APU skiers made the front page every single day of races! Thats fun!!!

Stephan Mitman Photography

After all these firsts, I came away from the week feeling very happy with everything. Not only had I made my first podium, but I podiumed in every race. Thats a huge jump for me, and I couldn't be happier! Buttt, the year is early, and I have lots more ahead of me to set my eyes on! On sunday I take of for U23 Championships in Estonia, where I hope to do just as well if not better. The races are a Classic Sprint, Skate Distance, and Pursuit Distance. This years US team is going to be amazing. I think it is stronger than ever!

Kris Dobie Photography getting artistic

Thanks to the coaches and wax tech's for doing an amazing job last week! It is unbelievable to see how hard these guys work!

I am now in Lake Placid, New York hanging out for a couple more days until heading to Estonia. FUN, FUN!

Nationals Day 2- First National Title!

2011-01-05T17:36:00.001-08:00

photo by Kris Dobie

Today was the second day of Nationals here in Rumford Maine- a 10 kilometer classic race. After walking around the dirt covered courses yesterday afternoon, I was incredibly surprised to see how much snow race organizers managed to get on those trails! Even with the limited snow, the 2.5 kilometer loops were lacking no challenge. What seemed like a course with one hill and lots of rest turned into a tough course that required you to stay on your toes and push every transition.

I knew that in order to stand on that podium today I needed to be in a world of hurt, so I went from the gun and went like-a-hell, crossing the line in first place, 30 seconds ahead of my closest competitor, teammate, and roommate, Morgan Smyth. This is by far my best distance result, and to have that at Nationals is so fun! As a team we managed to take top two places in both the mens and womans field.. YEAAAHHHH! We also had many girls stacked in the top ten, throwing down a good showing.

It is incredibly fun to be part of this APU team. Any one of us could pop a good race and stand on the top for the day. I think that is what I enjoy best about it. When one person does well, it pushes the group to strive and reach to that same level. I have never been part of a team that functions so well together and gets along so well- I couldn't be more thankful I am part of it!

Thanks to the coaches for some bomb track skis and keeping us going!

Tomorrow is the 20k skate race, which I will sit out. Following that is the last race, a skate sprint on Saturday.. fun, fun!

Getting one of my first interviews :)

Nationals- Day One

2011-01-03T04:41:00.000-08:00

www.flyingpointroad.com photo- during the heats

Yesterday marked the first day of 2011 U.S. Nationals here in Rumford Maine. I must say I have never raced on so little snow in my life, but race managers managed to throw together a super impressive race out there!

The day started with a 1.4km qualifier where APU woman had an impressive showing with six skiers qualifying in the top ten. I ended up qualifying second, behind Holly Brooks, and then close behind were Morgan, Katie, Fitz, Becca and Ky! The mens qualifier was stacked with APUers as well. Lars Flora won the heats, with Reese Hanneman close behind. Results posted at: http://www.chisholmskiclub.org/2011_us_nationals/results.htm

At 12:45 when the heats began, the snow was turning into puddles, tracks were disappearing, and the dirt was showing through. Regardless everyone threw down pretty damn hard and had tons of fun. Because the only snow that Black Hill has right now is placed on the sprint course, there wasn't many options for warming up on besides going up and down the short alpine run. This made things a bit tough- but everyone seemed to remain positive and have fun.

I went through the heats with the plan of attacking from the start and going from there. All my heats were pretty fun as I had between 2 and 4 of my teammates in each heat- which made me feel right at home :) By the A-Final heat when I lined up with 3 other APU girls, I was starting to feel the effort catching up to me. I was able to get out of the start quick and keep my eyes on Holly Brooks throwing down every last bit of energy. As I pushed over the top of the last hill I headed down the hill in second place. From there things switched around a bit with varying ski speeds before we put out every last bit of energy down the double pole finish. I crossed the line 4th, 3rd american.... which meant APU swept the podium!!! My first Nationals podium ever :)

Top 4 Americans!

Big thanks to the wax techs and coaches for bombs skis! And congrats to the boys squad for rockin as well!

Mike Matteson getting after it!

Races are postponed until wednesday because of the lack of snow... but good news is its supposed to cool down and they are going to start making snow.

Here is a link to the front page of Alaska Daily News today!

http://media.adn.com/images/pdf/A1/anchorage_01_03_11.pdf

APU Ladies Team

Home for Christmas

2010-12-26T13:46:00.000-08:00

It has been great to spend a couple days at home, relaxing, and kicking up the feet a bit with the family after a long racing block throughout november and december. Unlike last year, the snow in the methow right now is amazing! The first couple of days were great hardwax, cold days- whereas now it is a bit warmer. The good news is, this will probably be pretty similar to next weeks skiing in Maine!

Skiing with the family-minus Kaley, who couldn't make it home for Christmas :(

I hear there is a storm warning for the next couple of days in Rumford, where Nationals take place next week, so I may head east with my skis after all!

I will post again next week with schedule of races and report from the east coast!