First World Cup

Whistler Pre-Olympic World Cup

Yesterday was my first Cross Country World Cup! The race was a 15K Pursuit at the Whistler Olympic Park where next years 2010 Winter Olympics will be held. Suprisingly very few countries were present to race at the Olympic Venue. With the conclusion of the Tour de Ski, an event modeled after cycling tours like the Tour de France, many athletes were not up to the grueling travel required to compete in the three races here in Canada. Today I raced in the Team Sprint with a former NMU skier Morgan Smyth. Morgan skied great in both of her competitions this week and I had an awesome time skiing with her.

The races were also exciting to watch! There were a few extremely successful finishes by the large North American contingent competing. The highlight of my week was watching and cheering for Kikkan Randall and Liz Stephens who finished 4th in the Team Sprint this morning! A truly inspiring race to watch. There were a lot of other notable finishes from athletes from Sun Valley, APU, and the US Ski Team. I was really excited for fellow ITA member Nicole De Yong who scored her first World Cup points!!!

My races did not go as well as I had hoped. I finished 32 in the 15K and 16th in the Team Sprint. I am feeling a bit drained after many days of travel and a very unpredictable US Nationals in Anchorage, AK. My races were not bad, I was just a little "off" from my usual self, and nowhere is that more obvious then at a World Cup.

I am looking forward to getting back to Minneapolis and catching up with the Youthline Kids. My next adventure is coming up in a few weeks when I head to Liberec, Czech Republic for the 2009 World Championships! I am really excited about qualifying and I am looking forward to another opportunity to test my skills with the best Nordic Skiers in the World.

Layers!

Today was the coldest day I have skied in for a long time. When I woke up the temperature was -12F but the windchill was -35F. I decided to wait a few hours before I ventured outside, especially since I only had one workout to do.

Ever since I was little I have had some trouble with the cold. I tend to get frostbite on my fingers toes and cheeks much quicker then those around me. I think I stayed out a little too long, with too little clothing, during cold weather when I was a kid! So today I made sure that I would not get frostbite and I decided to have fun putting on my layers.

Here is a list of the many layers I wore:
Layer 1)Warm Skin (this is a cream that Ann Bancroft used during her Arctic Expeditions) Popular here in the midwest! I put it on my toes fingers and face.
Layer 2)Smart Wool Long Underware Top + Bottom.
Layer 3)Smart Wool Socks
Layer 4)Toko Arctic Training Tights
Craft Windstopper Long Underware Top
Layer 5)Salomon Jacket
Layer 6)Craft Ski Pants
Toko Training Jacket
Layer 7)Toko Training Vest
Layer 8)Balaclava
Layer 9)Buff
Layer 10)Toko Hat
Layer 11)BIG WARM MITTENS
Salomon Classic Boots
Layer 12)Boot Covers
Layer 13)Rudy Project Sunglasses
Layer 14)Nathan Water Bottle Carrier

I also bought some little heat packs for my wrists and in my ski boots.
After I had everything on I quickly went outside to my car, which barely started, and drove to Theodore Wirth Park before I began to overheat.

I was tentatively going to try and ski as long as I stayed warm and felt good! I looked like a marshmallow with a water belt on, but I was warm and happy for my entire 3.5+ hour ski!

Silver Star British Columbia

Hello Everyone!

We are currently in Silver Star racing on the Canadian Nor Am circuit. We put in another solid week of training (a bit easier though) after West Yellowstone and we raced yesterday and today on the World Cup courses from 2005. I must admit that I instantly felt like the more challenging terrain was a very welcomed change after West Yellowstone's races.

Yesterday was not my best sprint day. I had a little trouble feeling comfortable on my own skis in the qualifier and then couldn't quite make the Lucky Loser spot. Actually the photo finish tape was still being reviewed as they started the semi final without me. Bryan Fish and I were a little shocked. Oh Well. Laura Valaas a former CXC Team teammate and ITA teammate Dominated!

Today was my first Nor Am victory! I was really excited when they changed the technique to skate from classic earlier in the week. I had an early start early in the race but I started 15 seconds behind Milaine Theriault. She is an Olympian, Canadian National Team member and best of all a 35 year old mother! As soon as I caught her we battled it out the remaining 6 Kilometers of the race. She is tough!

Looks looks like the races will be moved here from Whistler next week. I will send more updates as the week progresses as well as update my blog!

The Season Begins

Finally I am in the home stretch to the beginning of my race season. The truth is our training season never really ends but skiing and racing on snow is always a fun new beginning. The CXC Team and I arrived last week here in West Yellowstone, MT. West Yellowstone is a sleepy little western town this time of year, which lies directly at the western access road to Yellowstone National Park. When we first arrived there was a little snow on the sidewalks, but our hopes were a little diminished when we saw the mud pit at the entrance to the ski trails. Amazingly, once we moved to a different trail head, there was enough snow for us to actually ski! There were bits of grass sticking through but the skiing was great!

As the week progressed the snow became thinner and thinner but our spirits and drive remained high. The entire CXC Team put in some huge training hours with lots of intervals and strength sessions! We made what little snow or un-groomed snow we found work, and we even took the opportunity to rollerski into Yellowstone National Park. The park was absolutely incredible but I will admit I was more than a little afraid of the Bison and Elk.

The Yellowstone Ski Festival is held every year during the Thanksgiving week. Not only does this festival serve as the opener for the Super Tour, but it also brings people from all over the country who are in search of early season snow. The Nordic Ski Industry uses this event to have a ton of demos and expos to keep people entertained and excited about the sport of Cross Country Skiing. I am always excited to see familiar faces again and catch up with people I haven’t seen since last March.

The first races start the day after Thanksgiving with a 10K Classic on Friday and a 5K Skate race on Saturday. I am really looking forward to seeing how the entire CXC Team does. We have all been working hard and I know it will pay off. I will send another update after the first races are over.

Afternoon at Sibley Park

I spent last Monday afternoon with multiple groups at the Sibley Recreation Center. The fun began with the younger kids who belong to the Rec Plus crew! We took a lot of video where they showed me their new personal cell phones. Since the girls didn't have their own cell phones they decided to make some out of construction paper. Unfortunately I could not get the video to upload. I will keep trying though! After the Rec Plus kids left the Youthline group arrived.

Everybody was pretty happy about the beginning of winter being just around the corner, which is great considering can get pretty cold here in Minnesota, and the temperatures have been dropping fast! Some kids who are a part of the Antwadin School and the City Of Lake Loppet new Skier Development Group had the opportunity to try Ski Walking on the trails at Theodore Wirth. Ski Walking is a little like Cross Country Skiing but without skis and snow. Hopefully the Sibley Crew will be able to get out and join the Antwadin group this week to try Ski Walking themselves before the snow falls. I am working really hard on getting some skis for Sibley Park so that everyone can enjoy snow skiing this winter at Theodore Wirth.

We concluded the evening with personal ice cream makers. Using cream, sugar, flavorings, and coloring, we placed the ingredients in one plastic bag and then dropped it into another bag filled with rock ice. Rock is insanely cold, which is why it works so well for quick ice cream. You shake the bags and the cream mixture begins to freeze into Ice Cream!

I even had the opportunity to brush up on my math facts and lend a hand in some decimal multiplication. Despite everyone else starting their ice cream, Juan was incredible diligent and finished all his work which made the ice cream even better!

At Last...

SNOW!

It’s amazing how much of my life I have spent obsessed with the hope that those little droplets of rain falling from the sky would freeze and explode into an array of crystallized wonder beneath my feet!

“As I waited for the train to stop moving, breaks squealing louder than normal from the rain outside, I can remember thinking how much warmer it was underground. I always just assumed it was from all of the people close together, breathing a lot. It was warmth you could see escape, spewing from the metal -grates on the sidewalks or manholes in the street, almost eerily from below with no visible source.

Leaving the station, and climbing the stairs up to daylight and the hustle and bustle of the City, I saw it! A snowflake! My first snowflake of the season! I ran up the remaining stairs and stood face to the sky waiting for more. They fell slowly, drifting softly and peacefully onto the noisy and dirty street below. I knew it was here, Winter! I had been waiting all year for winter to return and it was finally here. As I walked the few blocks to my Grandmother’s apartment, I grinned and stirred with anticipation. Snow falling in New York City meant snow on the ground in Vermont. Snow in Vermont meant that I could once again ski.

I could hardly wait for that Friday evening when my parents would load our ski gear into the car and we would leave the bright lights and tall buildings of New York for the snow-covered mountains of Vermont. As we approached the George Washington Bridge my eyelids would get heavy with sleep as my mind dreamed of more snow. Leaving the City behind, we entered the black night of the country. I mostly slept during the drive, being rocked by the rolling and twisting roads that lead to the silent country. I could hardly wait until morning when I could once again ski!

Today was the first snow of the season for me here in Minnesota. It came with the same excitement as when I was six years old and the visions of skiing are at the forefront of my mind. We have a little over a month before the season begins and I am looking forward to life gliding around on snow once again!

Spoon Bridge and Cherry (Minneapolis, MN)
Going Home

I have to say that as excited as I get about leaving for training camp, I get even more excited about traveling home once the camp is over. I really look forward to completing a hard training camp and the relaxation and rebuilding phase that follows when I get home. This past training camp was one of the hardest I have ever done. We had almost 10 intensity sessions in the two weeks we spent at the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center.

Lake Placid from the Air (Bobsled run is the white line on the left)

Lake Placid is a great place to train. The environment is filled with the site and landmarks from the two Olympic Games (1932 + 1980) that have been held there. When entering the tiny upstate New York town you are greeted by beautiful rolling hills and the omniscient structures of the ski jumps. Downtown Olympic venues line the narrow streets and bobsleds are placed throughout Main Street much to the affection of the tourists, or even the CXC Team girls!

The Olympic Training Center, where we all stayed, is a bit off the beaten path but it is the perfect training venue. Plenty of good running and even rollerskiing from the doorstep, plenty of good quality ready to eat food, plenty of strength and conditioning equipment, plenty of recovery and rehabilitation access, and comfortable rooms. We basically have all the luxuries of a training Mecca! Despite all of these luxuries I still look forward to getting home returning to Minneapolis.

Minneapolis requires me to make a lot of sacrifices such as not getting as much recovery between workouts, paying for rent, food and gym memberships, dodging traffic on my workouts, and sometimes less than ideal terrain, but it is well worth it. I have a great group of extremely motivated friends who, despite having full-time jobs, attending medical school, or taking care of their young kids, can push me in my workouts and motivate me to continue training and living a very active lifestyle after I retire from full-time competition.