Park City

The first week of camp is completed here in Park City, and already we have fit in a whirlwind of activities.

USSA photo

Before camp started, I had a few days of acclimation followed by a weekend full of Fast and Female events and some family time with my cousin and uncle.

The Fast and Female went really well! We had a record number of Park City participants, 130 little girls! It was great fun!

The group of Fast and Female Ambassadors

My little cousin from Jackson, who has started to do really well in Alpine skiing was planning to come down for the F&F, but unfortunately she got sick. My uncle and cousin still made the trek over, so it was so great to catch up with some more Bjornsen's! I can't wait until they are old enough that they too will likely be racing on the US Team!

My uncle Jeff and little cousin

A little mini Bjornsen

Haakin checking out the Center of Excellence

After a couple days of adjusting, the actual camp started at the beginning of this week.

US Ski Team girls- taken from Hoff.com

Monday started with a collection of all types of testing. Treadmill testing, strength testing, mobility testing, body comp, blood tests and HB mass. Everything! I haven't done treadmill testing now for 1.5 years because of injury, so I was actually excited to jump on and go to the hurt zone. Nothing has changed though. You get on, breath through an uncomfortable tube, push yourself to extreme limits... chasing that finish line that never seems to come. At some point, you legs just can't hold on any longer, and you fall down in exhaustion, only to be caught by the harness before you go shooting off the back. Good fun! Especially after your buddies send you a youtube video of "treadmill gone wrong"...

Some good Treadmill testing

Going to the real hurt zone!

Doing some squat testing

Chad, our awesome Sports Science guy who decided nordic is best! :)

Eventually after getting all of our tests taken care of, we got back into the real training camp business. The weather has been a real collection... t-shirts and shorts to full on snow storms! The usual fall in Park City.

Soph and I stoked about an awesome meal our teammates made us! (HB photo)

Some Skate Threshold training out at Soldier Hollow. Matt Whitcomb photo

some sweet training happening here! (ussa photo)

It has been so fun to have our full team together, setting goals and looking ahead into the winter!

The US Ski Team... dressed up!

I finally got to join the team for an OD yesterday with a ski up East Canyon followed by a run in the mountains! It was so fun to finally be able to join! A huge shout out to our PT, Zuzana Rogers who has traveled down to Park City with us for this first week to help keep us healthy and get to know the team more. She has been a huge help, she even came up this morning for a Sunday morning therapy in our house!! She is incredible!

An army of bright skiers hitting the road. (Zuzana photo)

Headed up the hill.

Nearing the top of East Canyon (Zuzana photo)

The bright group headed through hunting zone! (Zuzana photo)

Next week is a week full of more speed, more distance, and a Sprint TT on Tuesday. It should be good fun!

Zuzana doing some great morning therapy!

10 Favorite Days of Fall

Fall is here in FULL FORCE here in Alaska. The past five weeks of my life have been consumed by school and training here in Alaska. As the days start to get shorter, and the mornings start to feel cooler; the feeling of winter and racing is truly coming. I have also been fully engulfed in studies for the past five weeks... so life is at its busiest! In order to give a little catch up on my past month, I am going to give you a little glimpse into my 10 favorite workouts of this fall.

1. SNOW DAY- September 23 I woke up, pulled the blinds in my room to find a snow storm. It was crazy to see the snow so early, but I was more than excited since it had been 40 degrees and freezing rain for the past month. So the answer- Jo and I jumped in my two wheel drive Toyota Matrix and drove to the highest point of access in Anchorage. After the third attempt on the final steep climb to the parking lot... my car managed to maneuver through the 5 inches of snow covering the road. We headed up to the top of Bear Valley and hiked into the storm. By the top it was nearly a foot deep and blowing like crazy. Even though it was September, it was fun to jump around in the snow and get a fun reminder that the season is in fact approaching quickly!

2. OD (over-distance) BIKING- This fall, I finally made my very first bike purchase. I was given an old road bike from a friend of mine that I have been using for the past two years. It is brand-less, three sizes too large for me- and I learned midway through the summer the welds were coming apart on the frame. After choosing to no longer take on the danger, I spent a week searching around Anchorage for what to get. I eventually came across Chain Reaction, who did a great job of finding a bike perfect for me. After a great deal of adjusting, and setting it to not hurt my back; I came away with an awesome bike! I have been putting it to great use this past month. Rosie and I have been adventuring everyone in Anchorage. From new neighborhoods in some of the highest points of the hillside, to our favorite street "Klatt" with hidden beautiful airstrips. It has been tons of fun to see new areas of Anchorage while training! With so much rain, the second it becomes dry, you have to jump at the opportunity!

Even Rosie is stoked about my new bike!

Keeping a bike safe in the ski house means keeping it on the ceiling!

On top of the mountains!

3. Kincaid Moose Hatchery- I have also been spending some time getting to know the mountain bike trails at Kincaid. This is the first year I have used my mountain bike in the four years I have been in Anchorage- and my favorite place to go is Kincaid. The trails are awesome and weave in and out of the winter nordic trails. The only problem is you have to fight the moose along the way. Not to mention, this is the time of year the bull moose are trying to collect their female companions... so everyone just gets a little crazy. One day we ran into 6 moose in 2 hours... all of which forced us to go running and biking as hard as we could in the opposite direction. Never a dull moment at Kincaid Moose Hatchery!

Taking a break from Kincaid Moose Hatchery for a ride up to the top of Powerline Pass

4. Bounding Intervals- I am happy to say I am finally getting to do some bounding intervals! Having skipped them for a year, I have been having a ball getting back into some of our classic APU interval courses. One of my favorite- backwards spencer up at Hillside.

Keeping my feet healthy every day with ice-cold combination!

5. Team Distance Sessions- Some of my favorite distance sessions this year have been the trek from the ocean up to the hills. We have been getting some good work climbing, and nothing makes it better than a group of 6 girls working together and having fun in the daily rain training!

Thanks Finnsisu for keeping me safe with new wheels! Getting some k's!

Skiing with the ladies- Rob Whitney photo

6. Tuesday Night Races- 1000 participants showing up for the weekly Tuesday Night races! I love the excitement and athletic community of Anchorage. What a place to grow up in!

7. Biking with my buddies- I have been spending lots of time with the little kiddies that I have been babysitting for the past four years. They are starting to turn into quite the little bikers, so nothing is better than cruising around the coastal trail with these little guys!

8. Healthy Futures Jamborees- Yesterday I helped warm up all the k-6 graders that participated in the South Anchorage Jamboree. There was 1300 little children that showed up! I couldn't believe how many kids were involved. The race was broken into 6 different races for various age groups and genders. Ten minutes before each race we would warm up the kids with lots of fun dancing, jumping and stretching. For one of the last races, I got to join a young boy around the course for a unique experience. Ryan is a fifth grader, and had a stroke when he was 1 year old. He was determine to participate, and made his way around the 1/2 mile course full of rocks and hills with his walker. As he crossed the finish line, and the crowd screamed and encouraged him on, I started to choke up. This young boy reminded me of some important things that are easy to forget. As he worked around the course with a huge smile and a determine heart- it made me think about how he had gotten there. He obviously had some wonderful parents that taught him even though he wasn't handed the same deck of cards as everyone else- he was going to live life to the fullest. It was just incredible to see how much heart this young boy had! I came away from my walk with Ryan with a great reminder that the glass is not half empty, but half full! Many times we go to these events to be role models in teaching young children to be healthy; but I came away from this event with a reminder myself! So thank you Ryan for showing me just how much heart everyone has! And thank you mom and dad for being great role-models to me, teaching me how to appreciate each and every day!

9. Lap Swimming- with all the rain this past month- sometimes you have to just switch things up and stay indoors. I generally divide this between lap swimming and stationary biking. I have been enjoying swimming though- it is bringing back some good memories from my younger years.

Rosie making indoor biking manageable

creative indoor activities- training Jo while training myself :)

10. Time Trials- We have only had one time trial this fall- but it is always nice to break up your tough training with a "real life" training. In other words, remember how to warm up for a race. Remember how to put your mind in the frame of a race; and remember how to find that extra gear you don't always reach in training.

Keeping it exciting!

Mixing it up!

These ten training days have described what I have mostly been up to for the past five weeks! Busy as ever- I am looking forward to my next coming block of training. On tuesday I head to Park City for our final National Team Training Camp and altitude training block! I can't wait to meet up with all my teammates and have some group training and hopefully a little less moisture!

Training at Altitude

For these past two weeks, the APU team has been in Park City, Utah for an altitude training camp. With the Olympics in Sochi taking place at a high altitude venue- we have made it a goal of ours to focus more time and energy at being efficient and comfortable training and racing at altitude.

For the past two week we have had several different focuses for the camp.

#1- Footwork!
Having spent the majority of the past year and a half trying to figure out my feet, I dedicated these last two weeks to the "Canyons". Zuzana and Erik F have been working on a plan of strengthening my feet through uphill hiking. In Anchorage, I call this the "bear march", because I start at the base of Anchorage and march my way up to the hills... often encountering bear poop, bear tracks, and sometimes bears. The Canyons in Park City were a whole new story! Not only are there far fewer animals, but it is an alpine slope, so there is a gondola you can ride down for free! These past two weeks I finally got to do some intensity on my feet, something more than running from the crunching bushes in Anchorage.

Holly and I rocking the 2XU recovery socks... trying to avoid the elephant feet after bounding intervals

Tyler hanging out at the base of the Canyon Gondolas

#2 Distance
Through the course of the two weeks, we split our energy between intensity and distance training. Distance training is always fun in Park City because you are surrounded by deserted roads that go forever into the mountains. One of the important things about distance skiing at altitude is learning to move efficiently. With less air, training can often require more energy. It is fun to play around with different techniques, and different movement patterns to exert the least amount of energy for as long as possible.

Tom Kelly photo

#3 Time Trial- Practice Racing
Our second to last day of camp we had a Practice Sprint Race. Erik Flora and Sam Sterling drove around for 15 hrs, searching every canyon within 60 miles of Park City to find the absolute perfect course. (little traffic, wide roads, and big hills) Generally we would do our time trials on the Olympic Courses in Soldier Hollow, but they are currently repaving it (which we are all super excited about). After driving around for a combined 15 hrs, Erik managed to find a PERFECT course. His goal was to simulate the Olympic Sprint courses in Sochi- and he succeeded! With nothing but fumes left on our second to final day of camp- I sure did manage to put myself in the hurt zone! But- that's what it is all about!

Tom Kelly Photo- Chasing the girls up the "A Climb"

#4 "Other training"
A couple afternoons of the week, we get to do our own training; some less focused training that doesn't involve skis on our feet or intervals on our mind. Noah Hoffman was nice enough to let me borrow his bikes for the two weeks I was there. Having never hit the mountain biking trails in Park City- I was in HEAVEN! There are so many awesome trails there- with great climbing, fun dissents, and a healthy amount of technical riding. I had tons of fun getting to know the trails of PC. Thanks Hoff!!!

Kikkan and Rosie after a sweet OD bike ride

Rosie and I at the top of Park City Resort

#5 Team Time
This year we have gotten a whole new batch of boys on the APU team. Many of them I have been around, and even been on a team with in my past; but it has been tons of fun to get to know them better and spend some team training time with them. It is fun to see how much energy and excitement this new group of men have! They are all around the same general age, and have been "biggest competitors" with each other for the past eight years of their lives- but it is amazing to watch them come together, push each other, and share their strengths with each other. This camp is the first time I have gotten to spend an extended period of time around them; and I am super fired up for them!

Teammates making some awesome meals!

Kale Chips!

NOW! Back to Anchorage for a month before returning back to PC for our final altitude camp of the training season!

Home!

These past ten days have flown by! For ten short days, I got to spend some time at home, in the Methow Valley. Every time I go back to the Methow, I fall back in love with it a little more. During my high school years, it was easy to forget how amazing the valley is; with all the great training, and small town living. So, as you would imagine, ten days wasn't enough!

Mom jumping into Rainy Lake after a warm training!

Fishing...!!

Mom and I in the North Cascade Mountains that I miss so much!

It was great to get some family time. I only get to see my parents and sister about two or three times a year, so it is always fun to spend summer hours training and playing in the water with them! My mom is super fit, so she happens to be the best training partner ever. Not only that, she is up for everything! Even an occasional aqua jog, or an uphill only hike. I also got to go for a great ride with my dad, who also manages to stay super fit building houses 12 hours a day! I sure know where I get my good blood from!

Some awesome family time!

Mom's garden that just keeps growing larger every time I visit!

The Bjornsen girls!

Mom, set for her first trip overseas this winter to watch World Juniors/ U23s in Val di Fiemme
Happy Birthday MOM!

Kaley and her newly announced "fiancé" Congrats you two!

It was great to do some different training than I normally do at home. I grew up mountain biking only, so it was also fun to do some new adventuring on a road bike in the Methow. One day I biked from home up to the top of the North Cascades and then back up to Cutthroat, where my mom had run from- which was sweet! Turns out the North Cascade Highway isn't as flat as I was thinking!

Yahooo!

One of the highlights of my trip was the Fast and Female Power Hour, "Skate Skiing in Skirts". It was so fun to see some of the local girls, and also the girls from Leavenworth! We had a fun ski, and even kept ourselves from overheating by plunging into the river half way through. In honor of "Dancing with Diggs" in our past Fast and Female events- we got our dance moves on during our ski in our skirts. We were laughing about what the tourists visiting town and driving by were thinking watching us ski by. We had a lot of fun though- so thanks so much to all the girls that showed up! You girls all looked great and you are doing some awesome summer training!

Talking with the girls about "spreading the love and dominating the world". 

Skiing in skirts!

Lydia getting her "dancing with Diggy" on!

It has been so fun getting to know the Leavenworth girls and watching how much fun they are having! These girls drove 2.5 hrs to come join, the day before they left for a three day camping trip! You guys rock!

It was great to spend some time with family, visit home, and see a couple good family friends. I only wish I could have more time to stay! I am now in Park City, Utah with my APU teammates doing an altitude block. Thank god for my heat training these past ten days! It is hard to adjust back to western summer temperatures after spending so much time in Alaska!