Back on the World Cup

After spending the first period in North America, I am back on the European side of the World Cup scene. My first stop was in Liberec, Czech Republic- home of World Championships 4 years ago. Things were pretty hectic for the first couple days back on this side of the pond. After finishing a big week of racing at Nationals- I hopped on a plane the day after the skate sprint and traveled over. Then, only a day and a half after arriving, I was back on my skis racing.

The town hall right behind our hotel in the heart of the City of Liberec.

The only way I can describe the feeling of skiing around after that sort of a time adjustment and exhausting week is.... drunk. I felt like I was looking through a pair of goggles where everything was almost delayed by two seconds. It was a wild feeling!! So, after blowing some of those poor feelings out of my system during the individual sprint the first day- I was ready to get back to some good feelings the second day. Since the second day was a team sprint, Ida and I got to combine efforts and put our skills to the test. Even after breaking her pole during the final exchange of the semi-finals, which included her skiing half way up the hill without a pole- we still managed to squeak our way into the finals. After practicing our exchanges a couple more times, and pumping each other up, we headed into the finals. To our surprise, each lap we moved further and further up the group. For the final three laps we were sitting in 3rd position, a place we would have never expected to be. Our our final exchange, again we sort of botched the tag. As Ida took off in the exchange zone full of excitement, it ended with her having to snow plow right before the end of the zone so I could jump out and tag her. With this small little set back, Ida took off in a fury, ready to catch back up to our position. After racing full speed around the loop now her sixth time- her legs struggled to flush out the instant excitement. Coming into the final climb, we slipped back a flew places... but only a few seconds. We ended up finishing in sixth- by far the best result the two of us have ever put together as a team. Even more encouraging, we skied the entire race in medal contention until 200 meters to go- so we are making huge progress! The last time we teamed up for a team sprint we finished 14th, not even advancing on to the finals! So it was a great way to start the year back in Europe!

A view over the city on the low part of the sprint course- FIS Photo

Ida holding a strong position during the team sprint- FIS photo

Following that we headed over to the land of the mountains- La Clusaz, France. When I arrived, I was reminded how much I love Europe and skiing here. We arrived early Monday- so we had a week to do some training in the beautiful Alps. The sunshine managed to bring out all the excitement and joy in all of us as we geared up for a weekend of racing.

Skiing in the Alps

Skiing with buddies in the sunshine! Liz Stephen photo

Saturday was a mass start classic race, and after spending the whole week skiing in clear, beautiful, cold weather- we woke up to a combination of rain and snow. When this happens... things generally get a bit tricky with the waxing. So, saturday brought a stressful day for the wax techs, and a day of racing that tested your patience and determination. As I walked up the hills with stilts, and braced myself for the grabbing on the downhills- I kept reminding myself that the one with the determination on this day is the one that will do well. At that time, I had the feeling I was the only one in this boat, but as I listened in the finish line- we must have looked like a bunch of beginners out there. Scraping our skis sideways and poles and butts out.. waiting for the grabbing snow. Even through all this mess, I was able to score my first European World Cup Distance Points, as I finished 28th- just in the points. So even through all the frustrations, it was a day of success for me.

Spectators lining the fences on the high turn in La Clusaz Mass Start- FIS photo

It was also a special day, because my boyfriend, who is from France, got to finally come watch me race in person. He has been following on TV, but it was nice he finally got to stand on the course and watch!

Alaskan and US cheers from Jo and his roommates

Some of the skiers from Jo's home town who have become my favorite French Fans!!

Sunday was a relay, but I hadn't skied fast enough the day before to make it on to the team- so Ida and I put on our cheering game faces, wrapped ourselves in American flags, and put our lungs to use!

Womans US Team

From there I took a short training break for five days in Meribel where my boyfriend lives and works in the winter. I have been visiting him here or the past three years, so I have started to really learn my way around. I always love this time, because it is a period for me to relax my mind, and enjoy skiing alone. For five days it was just me and the snow and the wild animals. Meribel is the largest alpine ski resort in the world... so you can imagine nordic skiing isn't very popular. With that said, the trails and grooming are great!! I swear, its like the little secret land. But this is the greatest way for me to recharge my battery and get a little personal time before jumping back into a good period of racing.

Running into a few of my ski instructor buddies who have become good fans over the years.

Good skiing and beautiful views!!

Taking advantage of gravity and hitting the slopes... making my legs burn in a new way.

I have also been breaking up my mornings by attending class at 5:30, three mornings a week. This means that most of my free time at the moment is filled with school work, and taking naps trying to catch up on my missed sleep. Fortunately, all my classes are super fun and the professors are so passionate that they do a really good job of keeping me awake and not letting me fall asleep at that hour of the morning.

And that brings me to now! I am currently living and training in the Olympic Athlete Village in Sochi, Russia. We have World Cup races here this weekend, so it has been incredibly interesting getting to know the way of the land, the culture, and the trails of Sochi! I tell you, it is a different scene way up here in the mountains of Russia! I look forward to trying out some racing this weekend!

Loading up baggage for our charter flight to Sochi

This is our form of transportation up here in the athlete village. We are literally perched on the top of an alpine hill, so vehicles are only limited to construction vehicles... and I have yet to figure out how those got up here!

The Gondola Ride up from the Black Sea to the mountains- Hoff photo

My ski tech, Randy Gibbs and I. Randy has been working hard getting to know the unique snow up here!!

skiing up one of the big hills into the stadium... I think we will get to ski this beast 6 times on Saturday...YES!!

Holly and I above the Biathlon Stadium.. it is huge!! Like a huge football stadium. The Nordic Stadium is temporary, so nothing set up yet.

Finding some time to ski in a skirt!! Thanks Skhoop for all the support!

One last exciting note from the past couple of weeks is that my brother and I both just recently got named to the World Championship Team in Val de Fiemme, Italy!! This has been a goal of mine all summer, but I started loosing site of it while I hit bump after bump throughout the summer and fall. After racing into form throughout the beginning part of the season- I was able to accomplish my original goal- so I really look forward to teaming up with 12 others for one of the strongest World Championship Teams ever!! These races will take action the last weeks of February, so we have two weekends of World Cup races between now and then.

Pure Excitement... what will Russia bring next? Liz photo

US National Championships

This past week has been one of the best weeks I have had to this day- for so many different reasons. National Championships are always a great experience and caries so much honor to take part in. I went into this week with expectations, but nothing specific. After spending most of my Christmas break trying to get the tendinitis in my foot back under control, again I was simply happy to be able to race!

(All Fasterskier photos)

Soph and I handing out hugs on the podium! :)

When I think back on this week though, there is two things that made it super special: Family and Team!

For two years, my family hasn’t been able to watch me race for various reasons. I was sick over Nationals last year, and frankly, I just haven’t done much racing near home! This year though, my parents have gotten to watch quite a bit. Every weekend my moms screaming voice and my dads soft encouragement has allowed me to dig a bit deeper. Since I was a very young child, my parents have been nothing but supportive and encouraging of our athletic dreams. They are the number one believers, and somehow they will do anything to help make it happen. This is something that I have learned to appreciate over the past few years, so to be able to walk up to my parents and give them a huge hug after winning a National Title, and see the excitement in their eyes…. It means the world! Not only that, my brother is doing the same. I have been training alongside Erik since a young child; lived with him, talked goals with him, encouraged him, beat him to the line a couple times, and just shared this joy of our sport. To see him start to truly shine this year is so exciting! To hear “And Erik Bjornsen takes the win” stirs up all the emotions inside. In a way, my family’s success is my own, shared success. On the other hand, it is still a constant competition between the two of us. Every day he has a better day than me.. it’s time to out-do him next time! So between our 7 medals we won at National Championships this year- you can imagine the Bjornsen Family went to bed with big smiles at nighttime! Not only the Bjornsen Family, but also all my relatives that have now started watching results, following live timing, and getting online in the crack of dawn to watch the European races on the internet. Thanks you guys for all the notes of encouragement and cheering into the computer!

My mom nothing but smiles after my classic win! (All photos Fasterskier photos)

Erik B and Erik Flora after Erik's first National Title... tears of joy!

The other thing that made this week really special was my team. Both teams, my US Ski Team and my APU Team. During the beginning of the week, the US Ski Team was over in Europe racing in the Tour de Ski; the most challenging ski race in the world. With seven races in nine days… it’s a test of fitness, heart, and determination! Those girls were truly inspirational and kept me challenging myself this week. Each one of them had more than a dozen PR’s or great moments. Not only that, day after day, when the exhaustion set in, they continued to charge! So, every time I felt the pain in my own races; all I had to think about was those girls over there and an entirely different universe of pain!

Skate Sprint Podium

And second my APU Team. These past three years with the APU team have been incredible. Each year, the team steps up, and new girls start knocking on the door. Right now we have our two strongest girls in Europe, yet we have a true presence on the National Circuit! Racing sprint races and mass starts, we often line up alongside each other with the knowledge of each and every one of these girls strengths. Instead of taking advantage of this though, we work together and challenge each other to a higher level. We race as competitors but work as teammates! I have to say, my favorite moment of this week was sweeping the podium in the skate distance race. Rosie Brennan, one of my best friends and housemates won her first National Title- and Kate Fitz and I were on the other two steps. The three of us all got each other there though! We challenged the heck out of each other every day in training throughout the off-season, and we encouraged each other the weeks leading into the races that we could do it! Team means the world in an individual sport; because they are your encouragement, your partners, and your greatest competitors.

APU Sweep

APU ladies going to the point of exhaustion at the finish line! 

And the final piece of this team, yet the most important is the support staff- the coaches and the techs. This year APU brought 28 people, so you can imagine the work that had to be done! You can imagine these guys busted their butts testing all day, all evening, and all morning! Every single race I started I had great skis- along with the rest of the 23 APU athletes. Meanwhile Erik Flora is splitting his time between testing, racing around the course with Mikey Matteson for “world championships of the world”, and spending time making every person on our team believe they can be great! Erik has a unique skill in this; he knows how to encourage a group, but he also knows how to get them to truly believe it. He doesn’t just do this during racing though, he does it year around, every single day of training. So thanks to Erik Flora- this was a huge week for him as a coach and he deserves all the credit in the world!

So with two new National Titles in my pocket, and two “runner-up” titles, I am leaving my most successful Nationals week for the next adventure; my World Cup Season. I am actually sitting on the airplane right now flying to Liberic, Czech Rebuplic for a Classic Sprint and Team Sprint this weekend. As you can imagine, this is quite a quick turn around, so we will see how it goes over. With 15 out of the 28 athletes staying in our house last week getting sick… I am also putting my immune system to the true test! Lots of Cold-Eeze mixed with lots of hydration- I sure hope that is the magic to keep the bug away!

Joy across the line!

Racing for the finish!

Thanks to everyone for all the encouragement and cheers this week. I can’t say thank you enough, but it means the world!

On to the next adventures!!

Home, Home on the Range

For the past ten days, I got to go home to the Methow Valley and spend some time with my family for the holidays. Skiing is challenging, because once you get to a certain level... you no longer have the time to be able to go home for the holidays... but instead you spend Christmas in some hotel in Europe waiting for the approaching Tour de Ski.

So with the Tour de Ski in my future, I am truly cherishing every Christmas I get to go home and spend some time with my family. This year, my sister was able to come home as well, so we had a full Bjornsen Family Holiday. With it snowing nearly a foot every day- Christmas was truly in the air.

My Mom and I enjoying the powder and beautiful day!

Family Time

My sister brought home her boyfriend to join the holidays too!

These ten days were also a time to squeeze a few "home activities" into the schedule. First was some meetings with the local media. Cross country skiing is a challenging circuit to follow, and between all the different races in a new country with a new technique every weekend.. then all the points, etc., it becomes challenging to follow. Some of the local media has been good at trying to follow, but we wanted to take time to sit down with a few of them to explain what exactly we are doing and how. Both the Methow Grist and the Omak Chronicle put together great articles about what we are doing, and the goals we are chasing.

Methow Grist
Thanks Karen West for putting in all the effort over the past years.

Omak Chronicle Article- I can't find it online, but this is an idea. Thanks Al for taking time as well!

The other thing we got to do was put on our annual Cascade Challenge Camp. This year was exciting with nearly 50 kids who were fired up to go skiing and learn about some of the important steps of becoming a ski racer. I was impressed with how kids were even more receptive this year than last. We tried to switch things up with new activities from the previous years. Starting out with a ski, some drills and a few games; we then came inside and learned a few key lessons. Erik started with talking about post workout nutrition, and the importance of fueling your body with good stuff. He then went on to give a wax demonstration and teach the young skiers how important it is to take care of you skis. Then I went on to explain the importance of setting goals and writing them down. Each kid got to set a personal goal, write down the steps in reaching those goals, and of course the challenges and obstacles. It was fun to see these kids come up with goals like keeping their room clean, or try not to read during class, etc. These are all important goals to have as a young child.

The majority of our group

Erik letting one of the young boys try.

Some good old Power Bars!

We finished with a little trivia about the US Team and its recent success. Erik and I have been collecting extra small items for this very purpose, so a couple kids got to leave with new racing suits, jackets, and pants from the National Team. And finally we had autograph and poster time at the end.

The Dietz girls rocking the World Cup Bibs!

I just recently got this picture in my email. Jules has been rockin this bib all day every day... even on the slopes. I love it!!!

Thanks to everyone for coming out and making it an enjoyable day. I still remember the days that Heidi Rhinehart used to ski with me for just 10 minutes, and how much it inspired me and meant to me. And now, her kids were participating in my camp... so I love how what comes around goes around. It is truly rewarding and special for Erik and I to share with the young skiers what we do, and how we got there! Soon enough, they will be doing the same thing for the next generation!!

Getting some posters!

Max and his new uniform.!! He knew the location of Erik's first World Cup race, so won this prize!

Erik giving a talk after the ski

So after a quick, packed ten days of family time- I am now at the next venue, here in Park City, Utah for the National Championships. Races start in two days, so we are starting to gear up for race time! Last year I was on the sidelines due to a Christmas bug I caught... so I am pretty stoked to feel healthy and ready to start racing!

Happy New Years to Everyone! I hope the new year brings lots of health and happiness.

World Cup #1- Quebec City

I just finished my first weekend of World Cup racing this season in Quebec City. After coming off the Supertour for the first couple weekends, it was quite the warm welcoming back! The City Sprinting atmosphere is pretty darn exciting... and having that atmosphere in the US made for one of of my favorite weekends of racing ever.

A view of the course from the top of our hotel building

Me in third, headed over the top of one of the little hills in the course. (fasterskier photo)

Talking skis with one of our techs, Mikey Matteson. So fun to have him join us for the WC's!! (Flyingpoint photo)

With all the athletes staying in one hotel, right across from the venue, things were exciting from the start. It was nice to see many of my friends that I hadn't seen since last season, and more exciting, they were in North America! Many of these skiers had never even been to North America, so I was loving watching their reaction. To be honest though, Quebec City is much different than anywhere I have been. We were racing right in front of the Parliament Building, so every day we would walk around the old city and explore the area.

The race literally started in the gate into the old city- This is me at the start of the quarterfinals. (Eric Packer photo)

I came away from the weekend very pleased with the racing. Friday was a team sprint, so I teamed up with one of my best friends on the circuit and my long time competitor, Sophie Caldwell. Sophie and I have been racing each other since we were 14 years old, and all along people can't keep our names straight. I always get called Sophie and she always gets called Sadie. So the skiing world has simply referred to us as SODIE for the past couple of years when we are together. When I heard I would be sprinting with Sophie, I was stoked for our SODIE debut. We raced very well in the Semi-finals- sat in the pack with six other teams (3 of them US teams) for the entire race, but unfortunately I got tied up with one of my other teammates in the exchange zone, causing me to fall to the ground, and loose a fair amount of time. With it being the last exchange, we didn't have enough time to try to catch up unfortunately, so we just missed advancing.  I was super pleased though, and really impressed with Sophie's first World Cup race. The day went on to becoming history though as my other teammates, Kikkan and Jessie went on to win the first ever team gold medal.

Trying to find the best path in a large group of people. (Fasterskier photo)

Lots of spectators and lots of tight skiing. This is me in the back following some Norwegians and Sophie. (Fasterskier photo)

Day two was the individual sprint around the same course. After practicing it three times in the race the day before, I was excited for the individual race. I ended up finishing 15th, my best result ever. The heats didn't go as well as planned, but I was still very excited with the day. The course was really tight, with little room to pass- so I got good practice following the girls trying to squeeze my way in every chance. Unfortunately I got a little tangled in the final straight away and finished sixth in my heat.

Racing for the finish line. As you can see, everyone fighting for the same spot. (fasterskier photo)

Just off the line- Norway vs. USA. I am number 15. (fasterskier photo) 

Look at all those awesome fans in the background!! Thanks everyone. (Flyingpoint photo)

The one thing that really stood out this past weekend was the incredible atmosphere. There were so many US fans, and so many US flags flying. As I raced around the course all I could hear was screaming and my name. In every city sprint I have ever done, there are always tons of fans- but never once have I gotten to hear my name screaming across the course. Thanks to all the college teams and fans from the east coast that came up. You guys really made it one of the best racers I have ever been part of.

Even with all the chaos surrounding you... with five minutes to go, you have to relax your mind and find your confidence. (flyingpoint photo)

I was also having a really fun time watching the enthusiasm on all the faces of my teammates that had their first World Cup races this weekend. I am just so excited for them all. A city sprint is pretty much the most motivating way to start a season. It really makes you hungry for more. Here is a quote that one of my teammates, Lauren Fritz had on her facebook that really made me smile:

"In high school my coach told me "If you want to race with the big dogs, you can't train with the puppies." 
Today I trained on the World Cup sprint course surrounded by the world's best Nordic skiers.
Wicked fun course in the city, can't wait to put on a bib Saturday."

The APU Team the night before many of their first races... plus Michael Henrich who joined us for massage this week. 

I just now arrived in Canmore, Alberta- where I will be racing thursday, saturday, and sunday for another World Cup weekend. I can't wait because my parents are finally going to watch their first world cup, which will be so exciting for them.

More news to come soon!

A great video from the team sprint day when the girls made some history.