Work Hard, Play Hard

After four weeks of working really hard at finishing summer school, and training my butt off- I got to have the little "play hard" break at home with my family last week. I was in the Methow for only five days earlier this summer, so it was great to be able to sneak another one week break down to the valley. It never seems like enough, but it sure does keep me going!

Love seeing these guys!!

Home, sweet home!

Playing hard in the Methow is always a little different each time. This past week I spent a lot more time in the mountains than I have in a while- and quickly fell back in love with the valley. My parents and I headed up to the North Cascades one day to a familiar childhood mountain pass trail. I found it amazing how even just the smells in the mountains remind me of my childhood and so many good memories! I really am convinced the small valley that I grew up in offers some of the best training in the world for a Cross Country Skier!

Running with Dad

I'm on top of the world, hey!

Mom and Dad, looking over Glacier Peak

The thing I appreciate most about my dad- he always has a smile on his face!! He works harder than anyone I know, and at the end of the day, he will always be smiling!!

There are some awesome trails in these mountains!

Spending summers in Alaska for the past four years means that I have lost a great deal of heat tolerance. I used to make fun of the Alaskans who came down to the lower 48 for camps and were affected by heat exhaustion when it was only mid 80's…. had they never been in the heat before? Well…. to my surprise, I have developed this problem myself. As I headed out on the roads for roller skiing in this last week  - I found myself drowning in heat, always needing to finish my workout at some body of cold water. A few sun bumps later… I managed to survive, and hopefully worked on getting my tolerance back.

Diving into a snow melted lake after a long run.

Warm times on the road with the best training partner!! (MVSTA photo)

Looking out over the valley.

This summer has been a unique and devastating one for the Methow Valley. It all started with a small fire started by lighting, and developed into a massive fire, taking down 300 houses, putting the power out for nearly two weeks, and devastating many of the wonderful families of the Methow Valley. The "poor luck" continued as new fires started with new storms, ten more houses burned down, more storms, mud slides, more storms, more small fires, more storms, houses washing down the river…. one thing after another. Suddenly a town that thrives on the business that summer tourists bring is put in a state of need. Wonderful families are left with no homes, no belongings, and even houses covered in mud. It was heartbreaking to drive into the valley and see the miles and miles of burnt property, sometimes, just chimneys standing on the property. What I have concluded is that someone from above is testing this small valley. While it is a time of challenge, it was nice to see how the valley has come together and helped each other! As I told some of my family friends who lost their home; someone from above is throwing lemons down at you, testing how many you can stuff in your bra and keep running. Hopefully they will catch a break, and they will be able to recover from such a tough one!

One of my close friends from growing up, Hillary Ketchum, had the cutest little baby boy. Kaley and I dressed him up in pink undies just so he can hate us when he gets older and looks at the pics :)

Spending some time with Rita Kenny, the owner of Winthrop Mountain Sports, the local sports star. This woman has been wonderful to our family since the very first time I bought a pair of skis. It is safe to say she has taught me nearly everything I know about cross country skis! We love her!

I am headed back to Alaska now for one more training chunk before our final National Team camp in Park City before the season starts. As I start making Christmas plans, thinking about racing schedules; I can't believe the summer has already flown by. It has been an amazing one- but I can't say I am ready for the chilly mornings to start coming! I guess that is part of it though- time will always fly!

Playing dress up with my Grandma! Wish I could see all my family more, but any amount is amazing!!

(Reese Hanneman photo)

On another note, I am really excited to announce I will be racing on Fischer Boots, so the Fischer Complete Package next year!!

Summer on!

Somehow this Alaskan summer just keeps summering on!! Normally when I think about summer in Alaska I think of missing the warmth, I think of training hard, and I think of avoiding the rain. Not this summer!!! The amazing weather, the fun training, and the fresh atmosphere just keeps coming!! I have had another "best ever month" here in Alaska. Best month of training, best month of fun, and best month of just living the life!

who knew you could sun bath in Alaska?

Don teaching Celine a geography lesson.

Enjoying the midnight sun with my fine new teammates!

Backtrack to getting off my first glacier camp of the summer a few weeks back, and jumping into the full swing of July 4th in Seward. With temperatures up in the 80's, Mount Marathon was going to be more challenging than ever. Having never made it more than 100 meters up the Mount Marathon track... I didn't really appreciate what this "hot weather threat" really meant. So, this year I finally made my way up the mountain for the first time. I was in disbelief!! Suddenly I had 100 times the respect for those racers than ever! Not only was it incredibly technical and crazy going both up and down- but the strength of the sun on the side of this bare mountain was unmeasurable! As I lay there between the mens and woman's race constantly re-applying as much sun screen as possible and saving my water to poor on the racers, I thought I was going to turn into a raisin! Holy, heat!! Congrats to awesome races by my teammates Lauren and Holly, and of course the amazing Erik Strabel!!

Saved by the cool water! (Sarah Cresap Photo)

Happy Birthday America

Land of the midnight sun, and the midnight swimming! (Lauren Fritz photo)

Exploring Lost Lake with the ladies

Enjoying time with the greatest two people! Greta and Corey

One great camping spot right there!

Headed up the roots at the bottom of the mountain.

Jessie leading the Frenchi's and Norwegians up the way.

roasting and toasting on the side of the mountain.

Beauty from above!

Racers cover the whole span of this picture in approximately 3 seconds..... controlled fall I call it.

With one week to rest and rejuvenate from our first glacier camp, we were back at it for the annual North American Womans Training Alliance Camp. This year our mystery international guest was Celine Brun-Lie from the Norwegian National Team. Celine has been a good friend of the American Team for the past couple of years after she took in Liz Stephen last summer when Liz went to join the Norwegians for a camp. Ever since, we have been encouraging her to come join us. So, a few months back, she jumped on board the ship and booked her ticket. She has been staying with me for the past three weeks of camp, so it has been fun and awesome getting to know her. We learned that we have more than a few things in common- with our similar training approach and 'need to keep this fun'. I think we both learned a lot from each other. Many of our afternoons of training we spent talking about the team atmosphere, the personalities of different Norwegian stars, our academic goals, and our life outside of ski racing. Meanwhile I also had a French Biathlon National Team guest visiting at the same time, Marine Bolliet. Between Marine, Celine and I... it was an international mixing pot of ideas and laughter!

Spending some time with the biathletes

Celine Brun-Lie! (Chris Hodel photo)

So our NAWTA Camp began with the usual first week of dryland camp in town. We were blessed by the weather gods as usual... with lots of amazing days of skiing in our tank tops and soaking in sunshine. We had one amazing day of rollerskiing up Hatchers Pass, a few days of running in the mountains, and one hard day of intervals around backwards Spencer (our 30k race course from nationals).

A beautiful day to make a trek up Hatcher Pass!

When your watch tells you this at the end of your workout... you know you have had a good day of training!

Introducing Celine to the world of aqua training! She busted out 1 kilometer like it was nothing!

It's great to follow Celine and watch how she moves so effortlessly! (Matt Whitcomb photo)

Smiles post skate threshold training! (Matt Whitcomb photo)

From there, we headed to Girdwood, waiting for the helicopter hop up to Eagle Glacier for the second week of training. As usual, the day of flying to Eagle quickly clouded over. Weather moved in, and we were forced to wait for an opening. As Deb Essex of Alpine Air kept us finely entertained, around 9PM an opening appeared. I jumped on the first trip up, and we made our usual trek up the valley, up over the ridge, and then suddenly, it was clouded over! So, the pilot ,Andy, did the next best thing, dropping us in a clump at the bottom of the glacier. Erik Flora came racing down glacier on his snowmobile, probing a little circle for us to stand on, and left us there to wait. by 10PM, the weather cleared out, and we could see the building about two miles above us. The remaining three helicopter loads were dropped at the building as we waited for a jump back up. Trying to keep warm, the six of us turned on some music, and had ourselves a little Eagle Glacier dance party. It was hilarious! By 10:30PM, Erik headed back down glacier in the Pistenbully to pick us up. Not the normal entrance into Eagle Glacier, but a good one to remember!

hanging out in the Alpine Air hanger for the weather to clear.

A quick glance at how many layers I was wearing on the side of the freezing glacier... maybe 10?

Rosie and I trying to stay warm! (Lauren Fritz photo)

From there, it was another great week of training. Weather wasn't great, but I always think that is a blessing! It keeps us from getting soft. Life isn't allowed to be too plush on Eagle Glacier.... I mean we are training on a Glacier only 45 minutes from Anchorage, in July!! It can't get too good to be true! The final couple days it warmed up, and we were able to do a few afternoon workouts in our shorts and sports bras! The warmer conditions all week and 'lack of clearing overnight' left the snow softer than ever. I think it is safe to say we got some good practice in what our coach likes to call "Championship Day", otherwise known as the most challenging conditions in the world to ski in. I often just refer to it as mashed potatoes. The kind of skiing where you feel like you are sinking and working harder than ever just to keep moving! But the true story is- it is actually great practice!

Things can get a little bit messy up there..... sticky! (Lauren Fritz photo)

SODIE special

Thanks to these two awesome people! Zuzana Rodgers, the best physio in the world, and Erik Flora, the best coach in the world! (Zuzana Rodgers photo)

Pushing hard on an interval day at the end of the camp. (Matt Whitcomb photo)

Matt fueling up on an odd Sandwich full of pasta and anything else you can think of! Coaching, training, chasing people around on the snowmobile- that is hard work!!!

Mid-week media day with one excited photographer!

The one place in the world a salad like this is acceptable.... Eagle Glacier when you are training all day, every day!

                                 

And some days will be less glorious than others...!! (Matt Whitcomb photos)

A team full of many strengths! (Matt Whitcomb)

Our flashy new summer training gear! Wa-BAM! (Matt Whitcomb)

Working on speed (Matt Whitcomb)

Practicing our downhill skills. (Matt Whitcomb)

July? (Matt Whitcomb)

Interval day- pushing with every last bit. This picture shows what it takes to make this happen. A group of athletes that want to work hard, and a group of support that also loves to work hard. Thanks to all the glacier crew and the coaches for being amazing people! Here is Don driving Andre, who is filming the interval session. (Matt Whitcomb photo)

Trying to follow one of the best sprinters in the world! (Matt Whitcomb)

OUCH! (Matt Whitcomb)

PAIN TRAIN! (Matt Whitcomb)

Sodie (Matt Whitcomb)

The final day decided to test our true patience and strength. As we headed out for our last day of training, often a 3-4 hour workout, temperatures hit 38 degrees and there was a torrential downpour! The kind of raining that will literally soak you to the bone in 3 minutes. Not having been in that for at least a year on Eagle Glacier... I forgot how you dress appropriately for the weather. You always need at least three layers on your legs and you need a true rain jacket. Aside from that, you need at least one change of gloves and hat for mid-training! Un-prepared, I headed up to the building after 1 hour, stripped every layer off my soaking wet body, and started over. This time I layered on the long underwear, put on my gore-tex rain jacket, dumped out two loaves of bread on the counter in order to cover my hands and gloves in a bread bag jacket.... and headed back out. I managed to finish my three hour workout in a much better place than those first 45 minutes!

Colorful combination of rain jackets (Matt Whitcomb)

NAWTA Camp 2014 (Matt Whitcomb)

NAWTA crew minus Erik Flora, Don Haering, and Andre Lovett. (Matt Whitcomb)

And that was a wrap! Another amazing NAWTA women's camp! We had tons of fun, we had great weather for the most part, we had more productive training than ever- and it was a blast! So thanks ladies and coaches for one heck of a great two weeks!

See you next year. (Matt Whitcomb)

Later!

I am now in my much-needed week of recover where I get ready for another four week training block of training.

GCI is a sponsor of our team, so Tuesday I took a trip to Cordova to help lead a customer appreciation day.

Signing posters for the little kids (GCI photo)

leading a train of Cordova girls around an obstacle course. Thanks GCI for an adventurous and fun trip! (GCI photo)

On another note, to everyone back in the Methow dealing with this terrible fire, I have you in my thoughts! It has been hard to watch from afar. I hope that is it for the summer fires, and everyone is able to recover from such a disaster!

Summer on!

Adventures of June

June has proven to be a typical June month- full of adventures and full of fun activities all packed into one short month.

Here is a sneak peak into some of the activities that I have been up to for these past four weeks of June

1. Methow- A short, brief trip home to see my family and celebrate Fathers Day and my Dad's birthday- all a few days early.

2. Being an Alaskan- being an Alaskan means spending a few days of the year fishing. I have fished a few times in the past few years- but never have I caught a fish that I would bring home and put on the dinner table. I have caught my fair share of Humpies- so I was pretty excited to pull in my first Red Salmon down on the Kasilof RIver. The boyfriend of one of the girls on our team, Corey Hetrick, owns a fishing company called Chugach Backcountry Fishing. Corey is one of the happiest, kindest dudes out there- so fishing with him is always a ball. We were on a mission to find some Kings- so that meant driving down to the Kenai through the night and getting on the river first, around 4AM. Corey is the "fish whisper", so we had a good morning of learning some tricks from the best! My brother and Jo have spent a few more early mornings on the river, so I am happy to say my freezer is full of the very freshest and best fish in the world!

There it is! Thanks Corey!!

Eating some Sushi with our fresh fish

3. Bear Hunting- The woods of Anchorage have been more populated than ever with furry black and brown animals. The theory is that with the warmer and "easier" winter- the bears were able to survive better than in the past. There has been more than a handful of "running in's" with the bears in our usual training locations- so I am always on the watch. Every day I head out the door for my training I feel like I am out on my bear hunt… but managed to forget my weapon at home. If you want a mental picture of what this looks like.. imagine a girl running through the woods screaming at the top of my lungs every two minutes "hey bear". One tourist was so confused by this he kept asking me "where's the bear", "did you see a bear". I kept trying to explain to this nice foreign man that I hadn't seen the bear, I was just warning mr. bear I was coming, "hello bear". After trying to clarify his confusion for two minutes, I ended up taking off, leaving him probably a little frazzled… whoops.

Learning some biathlon from the Frenchi's

4. Testing my limits- as with every athlete, and many of my past summers… I get a little excited and test my limits a bit… leaving me a little achy for some days. Early this month, I managed to strain a disk in my back- literally the exact same thing my brother had done in Bend. After a week of spending my days walking, getting help from Zuzana, and laying on heating pads… things finally turned around. I have had some problems with my back in the past- but this was a little bit different. It was a great little "check in" to remind me that all the hours of the year that we spend skiing means constant stress on our bodies. I haven't taken the time yet to step back and analyze my technique and think about if I am really skiing with the best form for continued health. Well, this little bump forced me to. I am now thinking more than ever about the position of my pelvis, the way my vertebra and disks are stacking up as I am applying power with my skating and striding… and I have come out a smarter woman. Nice- isn't it how those little "testing of limits" is supposed to work?

5. Training with a new Group of younger girls- APU has put together a University Team this year with a bunch of young, excited girls. Since joining the APU Team, I have always felt like the younger generation… but four years later, I have now started becoming one of the "older girls". With Kikkan and Holly gone for the past month and Fitz retiring- training has had a bit of a different feel. I have had a ton of fun though. These young girls are super fired up and excited about the training sessions that I am used to doing for the past four years- so it has helped keep me fresh and excited! On that same note- I have definitely been missing some of my usual training buddies as well!

5. Glacier Days- The end of the month was filled with 7 days of Glacier Skiing. This Glacier Camp was very different than my previous 10 camps I have spent up on the Glacier. Every morning we woke up with buckets of fresh snow… and it just didn't stop. We spent six days of "playing hide and go seek" out on the Glacier… skiing laps around in a constant white out. It was often hilarious as we squeezed our eyes together trying to figure out where was the next wand? We often found ourselves wondering…which direction is up, which was is North, where in the world am I at this moment? Fortunate for me I don't get very bad vertigo… but it took "white out" to a whole new level for me. Finally, on the last day- just to put some icing on the cake- the sun popped out and we had an awesome rocket day of skiing with the usual beautiful views!!

Foggy Days!

The boys- appearing from the mist

Our newest girl member- Rosie Frankowski- otherwise known as Franki... because now there are two Rosie's.

Strength time on the Glacier

Our gym- at 5,700 feet

Flora put in a new course on the Glacier this year that was more exciting than ever. He put in a set of S turns throughout each of the three little loops. Corners are something that are always good to work on as an elite athlete… so we were forced to overcome some of our fears as we bombed around the tight turns… often with no idea when the next one was coming. 

Rosie and I fueling up before some good k's

Our little special friend and Bobcat, D.Norris

Thanks Flora for putting on such an awesome camp!! Little Coda- our new glacier dog

My Glacier Team-Sprinting partner, and one of our new boys, Scotty P.

Woman's Team- post Team Sprint Time Trialing

With three feet of new snow this week... hiking out wasn't safe enough with the Avalanche danger- so here we are, waiting for the helicopter.

Masters coming in for a camp as we come out. Awesome to see Gill Lund, one of our biggest fans from back home.

Alpine Air flying us up and down and setting all of us up with some awesome new socks!

The most exciting mode of transportation!!

6. Getting School Done- two more classes finished, four more to go before I have my degrees. I have just started my Senior Project this summer, which I will finish in the fall- so it truly feels like things are beginning to wrap up. I am doing a research project on turning Fast and Female into a US Nonprofit. The course I just finished last week was my Literature Review where I did all the research on similar nonprofit organizations such as Girls on the Run, Woman's Sports Foundation, and a Norwegian based organization, Sunn Jenteidrett. I looked into how these organizations are run, what are their missions, where do they get their funding from, etc. I then did some research on the nonprofit market in Alaska as well as the US. I learned that there is a nonprofit for every 90 people in Alaska, WOW! I started to look into the steps and procedures of starting a nonprofit- and what it entails. The class that I just started this week will be a little bit more of the research piece. I will develop my research question and begin doing interviews. Through talking about my project with a collection of people in the past few months- I have put together a great group of resources and people to interview and gather information from. Because I am doing a double major; Accounting as well as Nonprofit Business Management- I will also be doing a cost analysis project of the financials that the Canadian Fast and Female is using - and trying to put together the best way to operate the US version. It has all been really fun for me since I have such an invested interest in this awesome program I have been involved with, and helping lead for the past 8 years. 

That about wraps up my adventures of June- and what it has entailed. Next up, July, which begins with the US Ski Team Woman's Camp in Alaska. As usual, we will be doing one week dry land training, and then another week on the Glacier… so back up on the Glacier in two weeks! Hopefully the sun might make more of an appearance for this one. I will also be spending next week adventuring down to Seward for the 4th of July- but more importantly, to watch Mount Marathon. This is one of my favorite things in the World to watch… truly incredible! Holly just announced she will be racing- so I get to cheer on my some of my teammates including Holly, Lauren Fritz, Forrest Mahlem, and Ann Spencer. Can't wait!

Five days of Methow Paradise

The past five days have been nothing but paradise. Five days of family, five days of sunshine, five days of amazing Methow Valley! 

Home, sweet, home!

Some Olympic Spirit still living on the front of the Garage.

When you become an elite athlete, similar to when you have a full time job- your life becomes about your job. I eat, sleep, breath ski racing for 11 months of the year. I wake up, train, come home and study, train again, recover, and start over. Squeezed in between that is Fundraisers, team obligations, searching for sponsors, traveling for camps, racing, meeting with professors, and much more. The result of this is sadly no time for anyone. Even most of my best friends in Anchorage, I rarely get to see if they aren't training with me every day. But the thing that has been hardest for me is not having much time for my family. I always try to find at least 10 days of the summer that I can go home and spend some time with my family- but those 10 days always go too fast- and the time in between becomes large. I used to count on seeing my family at the races cheering; but with most of my racing in Europe now- I can't count on that too much. So over the course of these past four years, as I have become more and more dedicated- it has been hard to see my family less and less.

Missing these days!

That is why these last five days were so special. My sister came over from Seattle for the first two days of my little break in the Methow, which was super nice. She is getting married next summer, so I got to finally participate in some of her planning, art projects; and even got to model my brides made dress! I have only been to maybe two or three weddings in my life; so I don't know much about the process. One of the things I learned is that the made of honor is in charge of planning the bachelorette party- so we even got to start brainstorming about ideas for this next spring in my one month off. 

Mom and Kaley were in charge of drawing, I was the designated painter. ( I lack their artistic skills)

Making sure my dress fits.

My sister and I

My family is really great in that they really respect my training- which means they come and join me for all my activities. When I roller ski, they bike alongside chit chatting away and keeping me entertained. For my running, biking and strength exercises- they jump in beside me, amazingly keeping up! I guess I know how I got my athletic abilities! I grew up playing outside, and exercises all day long- so not much has changed, except that things are a little more focused now. When we head up behind my house for a run though…. sometimes you could convince me that I am still seven years old chasing my mom around in the familiar meadows filled with wildflowers and scents that I miss a lot in Alaska!

Princess Kaley

My training buddies

discovering some awesome new trails!

Miss these trails!

Taking me back to these days.

As you can imagine, the five days went too fast. With school two of the nights that I was there- I barely got to squeeze in enough time with my parents before I was packing up again and heading back to the Airport. I didn't get much time to visit anyone, or do much; but just a little family time is going to carry me over until August. I did manage to do a little community event telling my story from "The Olympic Chase". I talked about this past year leading into the Olympics, and then my story of the Olympic Games. It was grew to see so many people show up- thank you everyone! Experiences like the Olympics are only special when you get to share them with people; laughing over the hilarious parts, and speculating about the mysterious clouds that drifted over the mountain one day. The Methow was very supportive over the Games- so it was fun to come back and share my part with the kids and adults of the community!

Pat Leigh at my Olympic Event. She is one of the nicest ladies in the world- and the best fan!

Enjoying the Washington fresh fruit!

chasing the June snow with mom

Turns out, I didn't inherit my dads hand eye coordination. He is just as good as ever at Montana Golf... and I am just as bad as ever!!

This leaves me back in Alaska, where I have about two weeks of training in town before I head up on my first Glacier Camp. In the meantime, I am diving deep into my senior project with lots of research and excitement.... dreaming about this fall when I am going to finally be done with my degrees!

Bend Camp

It is hard believe, Bend Camp, already! This past month has flown by. I feel like it was two days ago I was arriving home from Europe, the Olympics, and my first five month trip away from the US... but it turns out that was nearly two months ago!

Found "Mazama" in Bend- at COCC :)

A huge supporter of ours, and a great dude! Andy Fectau and his talking bird :)

Back at Bachelor

Always some sun for us on this trip!

Sun and lots of smiles!

Noah Hoffman photo- some great skiing in Bend!

Bend Camp has always been a love hate relationship for me. I love it for many reasons. I grew up racing here, so it almost feels like home. When the weather is nice, it is so fun to ski in the sun. Bend is a fun town, so it always provides great social events. After not seeing your teammates for a month, we are re-united with many "non-skiing" stories from our month off, etc. But for the past couple of years, I have come to Bend with a little too much excitement and determination, and I walk away from this camp limping full of little overuse injuries from 10 days of excited training. What I have learned from these experiences is that taking three weeks away from skiing activities invites weaknesses. For that reason, adversity at Bend Camp is my friend. So- this year I sat down and made a better plan, scheduling a swimming and running day every third day in order to avoid some of those over-use injuries I pick up from too much excited time on the snow.

story hour

Noah Hoffman photo

Girls night out with the huge US Team truck.... perfect parking!

Three girls in a huge truck

Getting some awesome outdoor swimming in- Thanks to Bend Athletic Club

Waxing up before training.

Fortunately we were blessed by the weather gods this year- so we had 10 days of amazing weather. This made for great skiing, great swimming outside, and one sweet "snowy day" that we got to break out our hairies. It was awesome!

Sun with smiles!

A little mid-week girls trip

Noah and Liz cooking the team an awesome breakfast before skiing

MMMM!!!

Mid-camp we fit in a Fast and Female event with the local girls. This is my favorite Fast and Female of the year, because we get the girls from my hometown, and my home region- which I love to see! It has been amazing to see the increase in participation over the past couple of years. Three years ago, there was one or two PNSA girls out there following us around skiing. This year, there was a group of at least 25 beach babes ripping around in sports bras, working on technique, and having a great time! These are the types of things that make me smile inside!

I got to work with the 14-19 year olds for this event- which was awesome, because I have gotten to know most of them over the last couple of years- and they have so much enthusiasm!

Acting out all the Olympic Events

Talking with the girls about the pressures of being in high school, how to choose what to do after, how to learn more about colleges, the possibilities of finding grants and financial support if you take a Post Grad year, etc. The great thing is that every US Ski Team girl took a different path. Some went through NCAA, some went straight to skiing, I tried every different option.. etc. So we have lots of different experiences; and it is proof there is no ONE option!

Autograph Hour

My awesome PNSA girls!

This cutie little girl and I learned that we share the same birthday.

One of the local talented Methow girls, Olivia Ekblad. So fun to see her here, and getting stronger each year!

So many PNSA girls!!

Unfortunately there was a little accident of the Bend Camp including Soph, her mountain bike, some clipless peddles, and her elbow. Sadly it resulted in a fracture in her elbow; but she has been doing amazing. It has been amazing to watch her just put a smile on her face, and keep going. These are the sorts of things that just happen with some bad luck... but can be incredibly frustrating. Soph has been getting after some no pole skiing, stationary biking and hiking... so I am sure this is going to turn into one of those things that is a blessing in disguise. She is going to have the strongest legs and buns out there in a month from now!

Following the speed demons!

With one functioning elbow- I get to do the honors of picking Soph's hair do of the day- high ponies are my favorite :)

A determine diggy!

Diggs isn't a huge fan of that biking stuff.

I am now headed to the Methow for a short little break before getting back to Alaska for another training block that will have me up on the Glacier in just a few weeks already. For those of you that are around- please come out to the Mazama Community Center Sunday night at 7PM for some Olympic Stories!

Enjoying some sun the last afternoon of camp

Resting and relaxing in the sun after a hard 10 days of training.

Thanks to Dave Cieslowski for some great PT work this week!

Woman's Team enjoying some Froyo.

Matt- tired after 10 hard days of training!

Thanks to Bend for a wonderful camp, thanks to the weather gods for some amazing weather this year, and BIG thanks to Mt. Bachelor for some wonderful grooming!! See you next year.

John Hale Photos

John Hale, a local photographer sent me some awesome photos from the last week of the season. Here are a few. Thanks John!

White House

I am headed home now on a plane for the final conclusion of the season.

One of the privileges we get from being an Olympian is the President Visit to the White House at the end of the season. This year, that meant jumping on a plane back across the US  only three days after finishing our season. With such a tight turn around, I almost passed up the opportunity. Now, as I head home from one of the most memorable two days, I am incredibly thankful I made the right decision!

The two days started out with a visit around DC checking out the Supreme Court, the many buildings and halls, and then an opportunity to sit and speak with Senator Patty Murray from Washington, who I learned grew up right outside Bothell, where my dad grew up! Following that, Erik and I got to meet up with Lisa Murkowski, whom we met last fall for our Olympic send-off in November. It was nice to connect with her again, and listen in on one of her court hearings. 

Erik and Torin K.

Following our day of exploring and meet and greets, we got all dressed up for a fancy evening in the Warner Theater that began with a "red carpet entrance", and then a filming of an awards show "Best of US" that NBC will be showing later this week.

The Red Carpet

Best of US Awards Show

All dressed up!

The second day was just as fun packed as the first, and included some nerves! We began the morning with a march across the front lawn of the White House for "Let's Move" a program against fight against obesity that Michelle Obama is pushing to encouraging kids to get out, be active, and healthy.

Headed to the White House :)

The march

Let's Move!

The Diva Mikaela with her Vegetable Torch!

Following that we had a tour inside the White House that ended with the "big president visit". As I was waiting in line, watching Obama shake each individual athletes hand, I started getting crazy nervous. More nervous then my first race at the Olympics!! This was arguably the most powerful man in the world I was about to have a conversation with! It's funny, I was so nervous, I honestly don't even remember what I said to him! What struck me was how personable he was, asking each athlete a little something about themselves! Then, I moved on to Michelle ready to shake her hand, only to be swooped in for a big hug! A hug from the first lady! Neat!

Waiting in line with anticipation!!

A talk with the Obama's

After meeting each individual athlete, the Obama's went on to give the Olympic group a little talk. They thanked us for inspiring a young generation with our healthy lives and determination. They laughed at us for being crazy "flying down mountains on lunch trays, and flinging ourselves into the air doing god knows how many flips and turns, etc.". They finished by encouraging us to keep believing, keep picking ourselves up and trying when we have setbacks, and keep representing our country well in an event that shows the world we can be one! It was an inspiring talk, and something that I will certainly remember forever! 

Taking flowers from the White House for souvenirs.

Checking out some other athletes gold medals.

I am now headed back to Anchorage, ready to be home, and ready to take some time to catch up!

The Pentagon, just outside my hotel window.

Soph

Exploring the super nice DC Subway.

Thank you USOC and Washington DC for such an awesome opportunity these last two days. That was fun!!

Spring Series

Spring Series has wrapped up here in Anchorage, making for the end of the 2013-2014 season. It was an incredibly fun season, it couldn't have ended better!

The last time I raced in Anchorage was 4 years ago when I was trying to qualify for the Vancouver Games. It was a different world, I had a different home, I was in a different place, and I didn't come close to making my Olympic goals. So, to come back to Anchorage, and race at what now feels like "home" was so much fun. In these last three years, it has been so much fun becoming a member of APU and this community! People are so excited about skiing here. They love it, and they support their local crew so well. All four races, I couldn't believe the amount of people that showed up, and the noise level of the crowd. It was often louder than the cheering I heard at the Olympics! So, to be included in that excitement, and hear my name being cheered on, it meant so much!

ADN photo- Celebrating Sophie's birthday right as she crosses the line

Rob Whitney photo- having a little cheer with the girls after our last sprint of the season.

ADN photo- some awesome cheering on the sidelines!

Spring Series was a little shorter this year than normal, thankfully! We are always so tired at the end of the season that each additional race after World Cup Finals gets you closer and closer to the bottom of the tank! This year the race set up was 10k skate, classic sprint, team relay, and then ending with a 30k classic.

Rob Whitney photo from Team Relay

The first three races were held out at Kincaid. With the low snow year, there wasn't much snow left out at Kincaid, but the organizers did an awesome job of making it work! There was enough snow to ski on, and we had a great time racing on the old World Cup Trails. Even though I am now living in Anchorage, I have skid very few of these trails; only because I spend my entire winter in Europe racing. But I quickly grew familiar with them, and really enjoyed them!

ADN Photo

ADN Photo

Along with the rest of the field, I managed to scrape out enough energy to have four good races. It started with the skate race; that aside from taking a fall on one of the icy downhill corners, it went really well. The second race was a classic sprint, which was fun to have a sprint off with the local favorite, and best sprinter in the world… the one and only Kikkan! The third race was my favorite, the team relay. It was a new event this year; two boys, two girls. The first two legs were classic, and the final two were skate, all 5k legs. The APU Team entered 6 teams into this event, and landed two of them on the podium! My team made of Reese, me, Erik B and Kikkan was lead out by Reese making a break from the field early on in his leg. It was so much fun getting decked out in APU spirit… yellow and blue sparkles, face paint, hair gems… you name it! There was some fun trash talk between the teams, and it turned out to be a ton of fun! Since many of the World Cup Skiers are from different clubs, there were some good teams out on the line!

ADN Photo- Tagging off to Erik in the Team Event

Skiing around at our "Ski With the Olympians" Kids event

Fasterskier Photo- Sprint Podium with the APU Bear!

And then the final day was the 30k classic… a race I have suddenly started to enjoy. Ever since being a young junior, I was often steered in the sprinting direction. Since joining APU, I have started trying to train more for distance racing… but I would have never guessed I would ever do well in a 30k. After Holmenkollen this year though, I decided I really like the format of a 30k. You go out hard… and see how absolute long you can hold on to it. I think it is fun to test your body… see how deep you can dig into the pain cave. So, I have been looking forward to this 30k at spring series, in my hometown for the past month!

ADN Photo- 30k race with Lizard

ADN Photo- celebrating across the line!

After deciding there wasn't enough snow, the 30/50k got moved up to Hilltop, on the Spencer Loop… an infamously hard course…. harder than 95% of the World Cup Courses I have skied. The thing about Spencer is it keeps climbing, and climbing… and climbing! It is not very forgiving! So, as I was skiing around it the day before the race… all I could wish for was that we took it out at an easy pace and didn't start going crazy until the last 10k. Well, come race day… that idea lasted no more than 10 mins into the hour and 30 min race! Once it started, I wanted to go! I wanted to see what I could make of each ounce of energy all of us had left! It turned into an incredibly fun race! The first lap, there was a group of 4 of us. The second lap there was a group of 3 of us, and then for the final lap… it was a group of two of us… just Liz and I… both working together, but also trying to beat each other. The whole 30 kilometers, I was smiling inside. I was having so much fun! There were so many people out there cheering, I was racing on one of the hardest courses of the season, I was skiing alongside my teammates using teamwork to push ourselves…. and all I could feel was this feeling of celebration. As I crossed the line, I was swarmed with emotion! I was so happy! Winning a 30k National Championship race is one of my larger accomplishments in my career… and to be able to do it in Anchorage, on Spencer Loop!! One thing is for sure; I am going to enjoy bounding intervals there a lot more this summer when I have flashbacks!

Todd List photo from the 30k

Travis Rector Photo Credit

So now, the season is over, and it's time to rest, relax and reflect a little! It has been such a fun season, and so many good times! Thanks Anchorage for welcoming me home with so much excitement, and thanks James Southam, APU and all the organizing committee for putting on such a great event here in Anchorage!! And thank you to everyone that has made this year possible for me! I can't say thank you enough!

World Cup Finals

Well, the World Cup Season has come to an end for me. One of my main goals of the season was to finish in the top 50, which meant that I was allowed to participate in my first World Cup Finals. With the World Championship event in Falun, Sweden next year- I was also curious to check out the Championship courses to come. 

I haven't written much since the Olympics after coming down from a pretty high Olympic buzz. After the challenging travel back to Munich, the organization of getting everything home, and then the mental drainage of moving on to the next venue for the next races.. I picked up the Sochi Plague. A disease that came in an ugly form of a cold. Fever, chest congestion, all the fun stuff that you try to avoid all winter. Well, sadly the morning of the Lahti sprint, I woke up with the Sochi Plague. I learned pretty quickly how common it was; it seemed many people had managed to pick it up as well.

So after practicing my new found patience for illness this winter, I rested in bed for four days and jumped back on my skis for the Drammen Sprint. The Drammen/Oslo World Cup weekend has always been one of my favorite weekends of the season. The incredible atmosphere and excitement for skiing truly shine in these two venues. 

Wednesday's sprint in Drammen went well for me until I made a poor lane choice and collided with my Norwegian buddy, Astrid Jacobsen. We quickly got up, and raced our hearts out, catching one girl, but never getting back in contention. Unfortunately, I got in trouble for one of my lane selections, so I was relegated down to 30th place on the day. With three more days to recover to full health- I looked forward to the weekend of Holmekollen racing.

I have always loved visiting Oslo for more reasons then the culture. I also have a huge collection of friends around the area that always make me feel at home. Between my college friends, the family of my college friends, and some of the girls on the Norwegian Team that live in Oslo… there are many welcoming homes. After spending four months on the road traveling through hotels after hotels; spending an evening inside a real home with home prepared food is priceless!! It is something that just means the World. My five day stay in Oslo was quickly filled with social interactions, Fast and Female Events, and preparing for a 30k.

I went into Sunday's 30k race with little expectations. With Oslo being a special place because of my very first World Cup/World Championship level racing being there; I can't ever wipe the smile off my face as I ski around those courses. I love how challenging they are, but mostly; I love how many spectators there are in the most challenging places. Ski racing becomes like a dream. Often the noise is so loud as you are racing that it forces you to go into another place in your mind. You have to make another room, one with less noise and more focus… like a dream within your mind. Something crazy like that. Well this year, things were even louder than normal in my 30k race. Spending the majority of the race skiing in a pack of between 3-5 Norwegian girls… the crowds were always at full force when I went skiing by. While I knew they were cheering for the Norwegians, I could hear some "Bjornsen" and "Kikkan" coming out of the crowd! We had some of our own fans out there as well!! Between the atmosphere and the good feelings, it turned out to be my best 30k ever!'

So from this event high, next stop was World Cup Finals. Falun is about 7 hours away by bus from Oslo, and somehow we got lucky enough to enjoy this experience in a double decker bus. I have never ridden in a double decker bus, so I was like a kid in a candy shop, sitting on the top floor with my face plastered out the front the whole time. It was pretty darn fun!

As we rolled up to Falun… something just didn't seem right.. the ground was fully brown. The only snow that could be found was on the Falun race courses. To my disbelief, the skiing was great. The snow held together, and the organizing committee did a great job of still holding great races under such challenging conditions. 

World Cup Finals is raced in a Tour style format, so each race contributes to your overall score at the end of Sunday. Starting with a classic sprint was pretty exciting for me. Having gotten tangled last weekend in Drammen, I was stoked to try again right away. I had a great qualifier, crossing the line in 5th. In period 1, I had two great qualifiers, but both times really struggled in the heats. My goal was to do better. Be stronger in the heats, and be smarter. I took off out of the start, ready for battle.. and suddenly found myself leading. Without thinking about the best tactics, I kept firing on, just so excited I was out front. On the final corner into the stadium, my two teammates that I was in a heat with (Soph and Kikk) went shooting up beside me and past me. Trying to match their momentum, I double poled my heart out to the line but sadly wasn't able to gain my leading position back. I immediately was bummed… that was my chance. I was in the front all that time, why wasn't I the one sitting in behind? But, again, that is sprint racing. You have to do it wrong 30 times before you do it right! So, another season of training and tactical knowledge… and I will be back, smarter and fitter, for next season!

Up next in the tour was some skate skiing, FINALLY! Prior to this weekend, I had done two skate races this season. One in Kuusamo, and one in the Olympic Pursuit Race. That was just pure coincidence. With most of the skate racing during the Tour (which I skipped), and then missing Lahti… I haven't gotten to try much. Falun has fun courses. Lots of challenging climbing, and fast curvy downhills. It was good for me! On Saturday was the Pursuit race, and after having a great classic leg, I fell back a few places; but it still ended up being my best pursuit race ever. And then finally, Sunday ended with the 10k skate, pursuit style. The order at the finish Sunday was your overall placing in the tour. Starting 18th, at the same time as Liz, I wanted to see how long I could stay with her. Liz is an incredible skate skier. She has such fast tempo, yet great glide, and has proved numerous times she is one of the best skate skiers in the world. So foolishly, I went out hanging on for dear life. That lasted for about 1.5k when I had a major explosion. An explosion that left six girls passing me like I was standing still. My friend Astrid gave me some advice after the first day of the Tour. She told me my fitness was visibly there, but that I just needed to believe in myself, especially with my skate racing. So as I attempted to recover from my Liz chase too early, I eventually pulled my mind back together, and started working my way back to that group of girls that had passed me earlier on. Slowly I picked a few off, and managed to finish the tour in 22nd, only loosing 4 places. I was excited, and left my final races of the season happy!

Last year I finished 52nd on the overall list, missing World Cup Finals by about 8 points if I remember correctly. This year, I finished the season in 32nd, only 6 points from top 30, and I moved into the red group for distance racing; another accomplishment I have never achieved! While it was a tough season mentally, it started well and finished well. The middle was a good test, but the important part was I was able to pull myself back together.

But, before I get too excited about the end, it is too early for that. I am currently on an airplane traveling back home, to Anchorage for Spring Series. There we will have four races. The 30k National Championship, a Team Relay (4x5), a classic sprint, and a 10k skate. Anchorage hasn't had much snow this winter, but fortunately the snow gods decided to be generous and send down about two feet of fresh powder just in time for the races!

I am getting so excited for some racing in what feels like my hometown now. The last time I raced in Anchorage was six years ago for Nationals, before I had established a home in Anchorage. I am really looking forward to sharing my racing with all my friends and supporters, getting them excited about what we are doing! For those of you that are in town, we will be racing March 22-28, so come out and check it out. Races are expected to be held at Kincaid, assuming the snow holds up!

Thanks to everyone for the incredible support this season! This is the first time I have spent the full four months living and racing full time on the World Cup Season. It is certainly different, and I would say a lot harder. The homesick feelings are a little bit stronger with such  long stint at one time. I really appreciate all the emails, the photos, the love, and support that I have received throughout the winter. You have all made this the most special winter yet for me, so thanks!

Hot.Cool.Yours

Well, that's a wrap- hard to believe that the Olympics could already have come, happened, and are now over! How did that happen so fast?

Where do I even begin to explain this experience. I have to start with the silly theme of my very first Olympics, "hot, cool, yours". I think that about sums up my experience just perfectly! None of us really knew what those three words written on everything meant, but I made up my own idea..!

 First, and foremost, we got incredibly lucky. We had the most incredible three weeks of weather I have ever had consecutively in a winter. Three weeks of beautiful views, beautiful weather, and beautiful Sochi racing! What comes with the beauty was heat though... in fact there were a few days of racing where I just couldn't figure out how the snow wasn't simply turning into a rushing river down the mountain! I don't know how Russia knew it was going to be hot.... but I guess they predicted well!

"Cool"... that was the next word. While it may have never actually been "cool" as far as temperature, it was one heck of a "cool experience". Every day there was something new to blow my mind away. Some new experience, some new extremely friendly volunteer, some race that played out incredibly "cool". If I had a ten year old's vocabulary, or a fourty-five year old's very brilliant vocabulary... "cool" is simply the best way to describe what the Olympics are like! Cool feelings, cool honor, cool people, cool venue, cool coaches and wax techs that rock at their job, cool Russia... COOL! Ok, they nailed the second word in their theme.

So, finally, "yours".... and by yours, I see it as "your experience". The Olympics are what you make of them. You either choose to have the racing define it, the experience to define it, or whatever it be. For me, Sochi was one of the coolest experiences in my life. The racing was exciting, and fun... not my highest moments of the season, but it was "yours". I gave what I had at every moment, learned a lot of lessons, struggled on some of the hardest sections of the course, but gave it my very best! I still dream of winning medals, and will still continue that dream into my future!! But, "yours" was more than racing for me. It was the feelings I had every time I skied by the Olympic rings. It was the feeling of excitement and joy as I watched in disbelief when my brother dropped everyone in the team sprint. It was the feelings I got when I watched an awards ceremonies and saw tears rolling down fellow athletes cheeks. It was the feelings I got when I watched Kikkan pull her heart together after the sprint race when it didn't go exactly as planned. It was the feelings I got as Kikkan, Liz, Jessie and I did a cheer together before the start of our relay and decided to make it "our" race..... whatever it was going to be! It was the feelings I got as I watched coaches cry, scream, jump five feet off the ground as they watched their athletes succeed.... it was everything!! Two days before I left, I went out and did a workout with Erik Flora, and decided to take "yours" to a new level. Sochi has this incredibly hard seven minute climb at the finish of all of the races... and every race I had started... that hill tore me to pieces. So, two days before I left, I decided to make that climb "mine". I went out and did intervals on it, and learned to conquer it. While it may have not been in a race, I still walked away just as satisfied! It topped off making the Olympic experience "yours".

When I look back on Sochi, less than likely will I even remember the places I finished in the races; but I will remember all the hottest, coolest, and unique Sadie experiences. I will remember all the messages I got day after day from friends, family, media, Jimmy Fallon... the whole experience. And, not only that, I am going to remember that silly little theme written everywhere, "hot.cool.yours"!

They say that pictures speak a thousand words... and since there are probably a million words I could put together to explain how awesome these last three weeks have been... I am going to let pictures tell most of the story!

You have seen it a lot in media, and seen it a lot in my own writing- but it has been awesome to have Erik around! Not only because having family makes everything more special, but because of who Erik is! He is the most easy going, silly dude in the world! He keeps the atmosphere light, he keeps everyone smiling, and he knows how to kick some butt ski racing!!

The dream team! This team has been a key piece of this experience. We all worked together for years now getting to this point, and it is cool to be here together! Thanks to all of you for helping me get here. I have a heck of a team. A team that teaches me something 365 days of the year, and a team that keeps me having fun!

Always excitement! 21 days later, still stoked on the experience!

Photo Credit- Competitive Image

Erik Flora! The man behind the magic. It has been so awesome having our coach here at the Olympics! This is the hardest working, most excited dude in the world! Thanks Erik Flora!

Photo Credit- Zimbio

Photo Credit- Getty Imgaes

Fasterskier Photo

Spirit- while we may rock glitter and pink all other parts of the year- I always appreciate when we get to put the stars and stripes on, and we rock the red, white, and blue!

Photo Credit- Andrew Scott

Norwegian News

Photo Credit- Competitive Image

FasterSkier Photo

FasterSkier Photo

Well.... what you can tell from these images.... WARM! I only entered one race with a full suit... felt like racing in California! The 10K Classic was by far the worst. It was reported +20 C in the sun.. 68F. When you are standing on snow at high altitude.... that is straight tropical. Sophie and I got a surprising large amount of press for wearing tank tops... the Norwegian Media plastered photos of us everywhere... I was feeling pretty smart afterwards :)

Photo Credit- Jonas Lindkvist

Going hard! If I am not lying on the ground after the race like this.... there was more left in me!

Even though we are at the Olympics, and the pressure can seem high... a little laughing always solves the problem!

Matt Whitcomb giving the big X for extremely amazing woman's coach (and for standing in a coaching zone to cheer... when we were told not to) Whoops!

Sophie and Jessie in the quarterfinals. Sophie was extremely impressive this day!! She was skiing like she had a set of wings on her back. Floating when she needed to, and turning on the turbo engine when she wanted! Unfortunately she fell on the furthest corner out during the finals... but don't be surprised if she has the gold medal in hand four years from now!

The Sochi atmosphere was great! There were tons of excited fans, and it made the olympic experience a true olympic experience!

Chandra and I enjoying some rays while we cheer on the race. Chandra has been a hero since I was young, and a great friend in these past four years. We have had a lot of awesome talks about goals, dreams in life, and dealing with adversity. This photo really captures how much I appreciate this girl!

Hanging out with the legend, Bjorn Daehlie himself!

While I may have missed opening ceremonies because I had a race the next day... I still got to rock the suit for the afternoon around our village!

Flowers for our first Olympic Race from Torin Koos! How nice!

The hardworking staff working all day, every day. These guys may be behind the scenes- but they are running the show! You would be amazed how much time and effort it takes to put together a pair of skis to be competitive on the World Cup. It is something that never gets enough credit- and these dudes are amazing!!

My "Sochi Mom" time. It was so nice to see Kristann Schoening, who was working for the Norwegian Team. She is my dad's best friend from growing up, and a really close family friend, so I was enjoying spending time with her so much! Thanks Kristiann for the huge smile all the time!

The Endurance Village had everything!!! Even a lap swimming pool that looked out on the mountains. I was bummed I didn't bring my suit and goggles!

And school goes on- class the morning of race day.

The view of our walk to the dining hall at two different times of the day.... beauty!!

Family Spirit! My sister and godsister made these t-shirts for all our friends and family. It meant the world to get all the photos from everyone. Thanks Hills and Kaley for making them- and thanks to all the amazing people rocking them!!

Valentines Day at the Olympics wasn't as fun as spending it with Jo- but we have some awesome boys on our team who made us some Valentines!

OnePiece gave us a bunch of suits this year, and I was laughing when I saw the American Flag one in the store in Sochi! Crazy to see they had a store there!

I finally made it down to the Coastal Village on the last day for closing Ceremonies. It was amazing to see the difference. It smelled like the Sea, there were Palm Trees, there was sweet sunsets looking out on to the Black Sea, there were bikes to ride around the Village... it was just an entirely different scene. It was really neat to visit, but I was glad we had our secluded village up on the top of the mountain without so many distractions!

After not getting to be part of opening ceremonies, I was double excited to be part of closing ceremonies. There was an amazing show and the largest firework show I could ever imagine afterwards. It was pretty neat!

After the show, there was an Olympic DJ in the middle of the massive stadium... maybe the coolest dance party I have ever been to!

And finally, after three weeks and an epicly long final day of the games... we have made it back to Europe for the final three weeks of World Cup racing. I guess with world keeps spinning after the games have completed. Next weekend we are going to go out and race the exact same people, but this time it is not for an Olympic Medal... how crazy is that?

That about sums up the majority of my experience. It was an incredible one, and I can't believe it is already over! Thanks to everyone that helped me get there, thanks to everyone that cheered me on once I was there, and thanks to everyone who is keeping me going! I just had the time of my life!

And finally, here is a little laugh if you haven't seen it already. Jimmy Fallon found Erik and I were Bjorn to do this!

First Impressions

It is hard for me to even put words to my first impressions from the Olympics! I feel like there is not enough words or word combinations to explain all the sites, feelings, and experiences so far. Lets just say that when I dreamed of going to the Olympics, I wasn't imaging it could be THIS amazing! (And the racing hasn't even started yet)

Exceeding the dreams!

If I had to explain it as best as I could I would say it feels something like being a princess! Going to processing, you are handed all these clothes, jewelry, credentials, a phone, etc. It is four hours of trying on outfits, running around in your new race suits, fitting your Olympic ring, taking team photos, tailoring your "way too warm" opening ceremonies outfit, taking face shots, the list goes on. It is a day full of instructions, organization, and just pure excitement!!

Day 1: Processing in Munich

Seriously too funny!!

Day 2: Travel to Sochi. This was surprisingly easy and quick. It was a plane full of US athletes, so we took some fun pictures of the whole plane, gave a few cheers as we took off, and then made the 3 hour trip to Sochi. Last time we were here we flew in and left, both in the dark... so it was my first time actually seeing the city as we arrived. It is crazy to see the beach right there, the palm trees, the longest city in the World, and then look up into the white mountains! After arriving, we loaded all of our stuff into vans- headed to the welcoming center in the coastal village, got our credentials processed, checked our bags, and made our way up to the mountains. The drive was a lot different than last year. The roads were huge, fast, and there was no traffic to stop us. Again, amazingly quick and easy. We finished with a gondola ride up to the mountains and then arrived in the amazing Endurance Village. Smooth sailing!

The view on the way in (athlete village right there up against the water).

Arriving in the Coastal village!! (Welcoming Center)

Bags on bags!!

Driving up the road with the white mountains right there.

Multi-tasking on our Gondola ride. We all got cell phones with some credit on them to keep us in contact with all our loved ones. Our phones have this awesome ability to get close and share files... so convenient!

Since arriving, I have been constantly amazed! We arrived in our cottage fully stoked with peanut butter, Kashi products, stationary bikes, presents on our bed, coffee makers, huge comfy rooms, TV's full of Olympic coverage. (Thanks to the USOC for making sure everything is perfect) When we leave the house we are constantly greeted by incredibly helpful and friendly volunteers looking for some way to help us. The Olympic Village is unbelievable. It wasn't here last year, so that is all new and exciting. There is a cafeteria, a post office, small store, hair salon, outdoor pool, disco ball, game room... you name it, they have it! The only athletes in our village are the nordic skiers and the biathletes- so the majority of the athletes are familiar. For that reason, things feel a little more calming and familiar.

So much peanut butter- so much excitement!!

Some nice strength training on the walk to breakfast!

One beautiful walk to meals!

Soph doing some media. I am not used to so much media!

The courses are amazing, and the weather has been incredible. It is hard to not just want to stop every five seconds and snap a photo. With Olympic Rings covering the hill, white mountains poking out of everywhere, and Olympic Spirit just busting out of everywhere... it is hard to keep your mind on your workout. Not only that- all this excitement makes you want to race around the courses in pure glee!

Testing skis and enjoying the sunshine!

so much fun to have stars and stripes in our uniform!

These past four days I have had to teach myself to regulate my energy. The first day I was so excited when I got to processing that I forgot to conserve energy... which lead to a huge bonk by the end. Then later that night my mind was so wired and excited I couldn't sleep for a full night. So, my new approach is to take everything in at a slower rate. I have to control my excitement and regulate my energy. Every bit of being here is beyond exciting! The Olympics are everything and more than I ever dreamed of! My brother said it perfectly "I knew the Olympics were going to be amazing, but nobody told me were coming to heaven for a ski race". That about sums up the whole experience so far!!

so stoked!!!!!

Our new home for the next three weeks! Soph and I have been racing together since we were 14 years old- so super fun to have lots of Sodie time! The fun part about our location is we are living in a house, so it feels like a camp atmosphere- all living together!

On another note, racing is coming quickly. I have decided to race in the Pursuit on Saturday, the first nordic event of the Olympics... so unfortunately that means missing the Opening Ceremonies. We wouldn't return from the Opening Ceremonies until 2PM... so I have decided to conserve that energy for skating up the big hills 12 hours later. I have spent the day trying to plan an opening ceremonies up in the Endurance Village for all of us that are racing the following day. My plan is to dress up in all the gear, walk the road up to the Olympic Village, and gather all the other countries. By the time we make it to the Village, we will hopefully collect a dozen countries or so... and suddenly it is our own Opening Ceremonies! Then we can watch it on the big screen over there in the Cinema! Then I will direct all the rest of my energy towards the closing ceremonies!

Missing my little buddies back in AK! I absolutely love waking up to fun little things like this!

Look how much my cheering squad has grown up :)

More updates to come soon when the racing starts!

Olympic Time

Finally, back to the world of racing!

Thanks Romney for the great Olympic Clogs!

For these past two weeks now, I have been recovering, getting back to training, throwing in some interval session, and digging out the Sadie Bjornsen in me. After being so sick, it was a bit hard to find, but I am finally chiseling off the layer of rust, and finding my grove again.

Family time!

It has been a special past 10 days! My parents were able to make their very first trip overseas, and came over to watch some of Erik's racing at u23's and then their first European World Cup. I got to have some quality time visiting, skiing, and soaking in some sunshine with them during my training camp in Seiser Alm, Italy! Erik has also been around, so it has been some great family time. (We were only missing Kaley). But it has meant the world to have them over here. After missing Christmas, and then getting the flu, I have been pretty homesick for the past month- so a case of "family time" has cured it all! I am now going into Sochi with some extra warm feelings in my heart, so nothing beats that!

A little taste of America that I have really been missing!

Books and sunshine.... good mix!

Loving every minute of Italy!

Enjoying some K's with my parents!

So much fun!

This past weekend of racing was exiting more many reasons. First, I got to finally race!! YES! It wasn't quite the weekend of racing I would have mapped out for myself leading into the games, but it was incredibly encouraging. By the end of the weekend, I found some good feelings, and one more week before the BIG FUN STUFF BEGINS! I am beyond stoked for my brother for making his first World Cup points, and just skiing amazing!! 

Watching Erik kill it on TV!

Surprise visit from my awesome boyfriend one day! So nice :)

Directly after the race, we hopped in vans and made out wary to Munich where we have spent a marathon day going through processing. Processing means picking up our uniforms, trying on 1000 outfits, getting our opening and closing ceremonies clothing fitted to us, and organizing everything. Organizing means packing an extra of everything to carry on the plane in case our bags don't make it, making sure we have nothing in our bags that have GMO in it (prohibited in Russia), loading all our old uniforms and stuff to leave behind in to our cargo van while we are at the games, etc. It is a long day of full blown excitement… and now exhaustion.

Opening and Closing Outfits

Erik preparing his walk for Opening Ceremonies

Tomorrow morning we are up early and heading to Sochi for the best adventures to come!

Eastern Block and Olympic Selection

First, I have to say, I am so excited to be officially named to the 2014 Olympic Team in Sochi! Ever since I was a young girl, I have dreamt of competing in the Olympics. I can remember telling all my classmates, my coaches throughout the years, my parents, my siblings, my friends, my sponsors, everyone! But, it is one thing to dream of going to the Olympics, and another thing to make all the sacrifices, hard training, tough decisions, and steps to get there!

The J2 years racing in Soldier Hollow

Four years ago, I dropped out of college and moved back to my home town in an effort to train my heart out to make the Vancouver Olympic Games. After giving up what felt like everything, and throwing all efforts into this dream of racing at the Olympics- I came out short. I had one of my worst years of ski racing, and lost all "fun" in the process. That same winter, I wondered if it was simply time to give up that "dream of racing in the olympics". It was at that same time that Holly Brooks and APU approached me and convinced me to give it a true try.

The APU World Cup Ladies

So, again, I went a new direction. What felt like a spontaneous and extreme decision four years ago turned out to be the best decision of my life so far! These past four years training with APU I have fallen back in love with this sport and made some huge improvements, and suddenly I am now going to be competing in this "Olympic Dream" of mine! As an athlete, there are always a million hard decisions you have to make, weeks on weeks of struggling, and and endless hardships. It is a bumpy road, but I am lucky that I have so many people in my life that keep me going. When injury seemed like it took over my existence and happiness last year, Erik Flora amazingly kept me afloat with the most positive outlook in the world! When I made the crazy decision to drop out of an NCAA supported school and transfer to APU- my parents didn't necessarily approve, but they supported my decision. There have been so many steps to get here; and it is crazy to think how each one could have worked out.

One awesome coach!

Since I was a young kid, I have had an incredible family full of love and support. My parents taught us how to work hard, how to appreciate the opportunities we get, and how to dream big. While Olympics may not have been what my parents were thinking when they told us to always reach high, but "doing our absolute best" was the real lesson. So, here Erik and I are, competing in our first Olympics together.  It has meant a lot to have Erik around all these years. Since our very first races, Kaley, Erik and I were always looking out for each other. Even if that meant blocking each other in a mass start when we were 5, 7 and 9 years old!

Kaley and Erik

We have always had a sense for each other, and how to keep each other going! So as Erik and I have followed the same path since we started competing in sports 18 years ago, it has been awesome to have a brother and friend to keep me going. Erik has an incredible sense and ability to always keep the atmosphere light, the training hard, and the spirit high. Life is about having fun for Erik; so he always has a contagious smile and hug to offer. It has been vital for me to have that constant reminder around me year around! So, as Erik and I have had similar goals over the years, it has been fun to reach the same level together. Even though we are not directly racing each other anymore; everything is still a competition for us! If he wins two National Titles, then I better win three! If I make the Olympics, then he better too! So, here we are, at an even count now. Both competing in our first Olympics together.... so who is going to win this one?

An awesome Family full of support!

He is the younger brother after all- he is supposed to be a little twerp!

Anyways, as you can imagine, I am pretty excited for what is going to come. Last year was a ton of fun for our pre-olympic world cup in Sochi, so I am looking forward to seeing what the real show will be like this time around!

I have been recovering from a pretty bad flu virus the last two weeks, so it has been so nice to be able to train again. I wrote up a little summary of these past two weeks and the hardships for the NNF. Check it out here:
NNF Blog

Thanks to everyone for all the kind notes you have sent!! It is pretty exciting.

From here is is one more week of training up here in Seiser Alm, Italy- and then our final World Cup before the Olympics. I am already excited to get back to racing after nearly 6  months off from racing.!

16 days with 6 French Frogs

16 days of holidays and the six French boys that live in Jo’s house!! 16 days of resting, recovering, and revamping for this next period of racing. 16 days to wake up late, wash my laundry, wax my own skis, bake some cakes, skype with my family, catch up on emails, plan my next semester of school, talk to some media from back home, organize my bags. 16 days to forget I am a ski racer, and truly recover and relax. These are the 16 days I spent in Meribel, France for both Christmas and New Years.

Jo vs. Sadie. Fat vs. Skinny... the ongoing controversy :)

Snow, mountains- winter wonderland!

I have been visiting my boyfriend, Jo, now for four winters in Meribel. It has always been a special place for me, because it is a place I can release all the pressures of being a ski racer- and fully recover my mind and body. Generally I spend a week alpine skiing, eating home cooked meals, and trying to learn some French. So, when I made the decision to stay in Europe for Christmas, Meribel, and boyfriend time sounded the best!

The boys don't have an oven- so cooking happens in a toaster oven.

The Meribel Ski Club was always out on the trails, smiling and being awesome!

I got to train a few days with these enthusiastic little buddies! So nice!

The 16 days started out with a trip home form Asiago with the French Team. They were friendly and generous enough to bring me all the way to Albertville, so Jo only had to come 45 minutes to pick me up. It was so convenient and nice of them, so thanks Frenchi’s for that!

Pretty quickly after arriving, it was already Christmas; so Jo and I took off for his parents house in Hauteville, only two hours away, and had a great family holiday. It sure was different than normal, but an awesome time! We started the evening with a firework festival, and then went all the way until 3:30AM eating, drinking good red wine, and celebrating the holiday. While most of it was in French, it still felt so good to be around some family, and in a cozy home, rather than a hotel room! I learned that the holiday celebration wasn’t too different in Europe than what I was used to.

 

Maubet Christmas Tree

Jo letting Leo open his present for him.

Jo's mom, Diane used to ski for the US Ski Team as an alpine racer. It has made it extra special sharing everything with her because she can relate so well! Here she is rocking this year's Olympic Gloves. Our biggest French supporter!!

Christmas Day

Christmas Dinner with Jo's Family and Friends

one of our many courses of Christmas Dinner- I am proud of myself for at least trying everything!

For the next two weeks I had a great time of building back into some training, meeting some great people on the Nordic trails, making friends with the young junior team of Meribel, baking, skyping home with good internet, watching the Tour de Ski on the TV, and just relaxing!

I got to meet some of Jo's clients. Here is "Whats",  a young boy from Paris that was skiing with Jo for the week. Rocking some awesome American spirit, even my pink shades during lunch!

The nordic trails run across the alpine slope quite a bit- so I happened to run into Jo and his clients some. Here is one of the young boys from a friendly family from Paris. They are supporters of the American squad, which is always so fun to hear!

The older brother

making friends with Jo's parrot!

At times I was really struggling and having a hard time resting. Every day I would watch my teammates on the TV doing so well racing day after day. It is hard in our sport; we spend 11 months of the year pushing our bodies, our minds, and our hearts. All we know and learn is to push, push, push. So when it comes time to rest; everything is foreign to us. We aren’t familiar with the feelings, so we hate it. Not only that, aside from pushing my body in training, I am also constantly stressing my mind with school. I always have homework to be done, reading to do, and something pressing in school. My mind functions on a level of stress that I grown really familiar with. So, for the first part of this break I was going crazy and loosing my mind. Resting, and no stressful school work to get done (I had a two week Christmas break from school). It was driving me nuts!! I felt like a bump on a log! Even though I knew that was the goal... there was something terribly unsatisfying about the whole thing. But, I kept telling myself this was just as important as the actual training, and eventually I came around. By week two I started to do some intervals, and get into some more training; so life got better pretty quickly.

 

Watching the Tour de Ski. One Computer was delayed with the sound... so sound from one, picture from the other.

Everyone on the team is great about keeping in contact over the break. Here is a talking frog from Ida that gave me an awesome update on the extra blue skiing in Davos... and it even spoke a little French to me :)

A care package I received mid-week from Marine Dusser. American Peanut Butter!!! Awesome

Unfortunately, the last week, all six boys in Jo’s house each got some odd version of the flu. With the holiday season comes tourists and tons of sickness’s. Everyone is sick, and coughing everywhere, and germs are “flying everywhere”. I tried to calm the storm, and keep my immune system firing; but unfortunately by the end of the trip I started picking up a mild version of the flu. So after resting for what seemed like all winter; I am stuck resting a little bit more now until I get healthy.... darn!

Jo introducing me to a world of seafood!

But I have arrived safely in Czech Republic, and getting ready to hopefully be healthy enough to race this weekend. There is no snow on the ground, aside from on the tracks, so that is always funny! But the course is plenty filled, and the weather looks like there is some moisture and cold in the future. It has been so fun to re-unite with the team again! Not only that, I have been receiving some awesome care packages and presents from the US which have been awesome! Peanut Butter, American Coffee, new additions to my wardrobe... it has been awesome!! Thanks everyone for keeping me happy and going!

Stoked Selfie!! Coffee, power bars and a sweet tank top from  Kittiwake AK. Christmas of American necessities! Thanks to Zuzana for brining over and Calisa for helping organize. You guys rock!

I also am so happy to now know I have officially made the Olympic Team. The first criteria is to be top 50 on the overall World Cup standings, and I finished 25^th in the distance standings- so that means I have made the first criteria. So that is so exciting, and so awesome!! I can’t even wait to see what it will feel like to walk into my first opening ceremonies, compete in the Olympic suit, hear our National Anthem when a medal is won; the whole thing!! I have been dreaming about making the Olympics sine I was a young girl, so it is so awesome to have it finally come true. There were some recent publications that came out on the local news and Alaska, and the NPR:

NPR 

King 5

So now it is time to find my health, cheer on my brother back in the US at Nationals, and gear up for another block of great racing! Thanks everyone for your great notes lately congratulating me on the Olympic Team. As always, I love hearing from you all, and appreciate it so much!!

Fun fact of the Holiday. Jo takes his parrot in the shower with him, and is kind enough to ry him off afterwards!

The Highs and Lows of Period 1

I haven’t been great about blogging from weekend to weekend through Period 1 since I have spent most of my time that I am not skiing with my nose in my school books. I have two weeks off from school now, so I am finally catching up and finding some time to reflect on this past month and a half of racing in Period 1. I will take you through a couple highs and lows to give the summary of this awesome past 6 weeks!

Starting with Beito in my first race overseas, I finished with a confident place; and started to believe in myself from there. The next two weekends were full of classic skiing. The classic sprint and 5k Classic in Kuusamo, the 10k and classic leg of the relay in Lillehammer... I was having a classic dream come true. Each weekend I was finding new confidence, new belief in myself, and I was having so much fun!

NordicFocus photo

After arriving in Davos following my exciting weekend in Lillehammer filled with my first 4x5 relay medal; I was still jazzing on so much excitement and enthusiasm. I was struggling to sleep; because I just felt so excited all the time. When Erik Flora arrived on Tuesday, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face as I talked to him; I was still just so happy! As we skid around the courses in Davos, we caught up, and had some technique talk- I had some great AH-HA moments. We reviewed the racing, talked about where I can improve, talked about what is going well, and even came up with some new technique ideas... one of which was shortening my poles. After debating about this with Erik since three years ago when I joined his team; I finally gave in. I went and talked to the International Swix Techs, and they laughed at me. “You are using 150cm and 160cm”!!! They couldn’t believe it. So they happily cut a pair of mine down, and instantly I was in disbelief. It felt so much better! So with my new technique ideas, my new training ideas, and some new confidence from simply spending some time talking with Erik; I looked forward to the weekend of skate racing! I have been working on my skating this summer a lot; and I have started to make some improvements; so I couldn’t wait to put it to the test.

 

Figuring out some boot issues too- my newest boot has my name on the tag... may be spelled wrong, but it is the thought that counts!

But suddenly I came screeching into a low. When I woke up Friday morning, I had a sore throat. Not just the high altitude, dry climate sore throat; but the swollen, sick sore throat. I lay in bed for an extra ten minutes; trying to convince myself this was nothing, it would disappear if I went out and did some race prep. I haven’t been sick on the road since two years ago when I spent Nationals in Rumford on the side line as I fought off a terrible sinus infection. So, I was bummed to say the least! Not only that, I was so excited for this skate race! But what I had realized was that I was just running on too high of a “jazzed” level. I had been so stoked for three weeks, I was finishing up some very stressful finals in class, and my body just decided “ok Sadie, that’s enough mon ami”!!! As I moved out of the room, hoping to keep Ida healthy, I went across the road and spent a day in bed. On a positive note, I finished my entire Accounting Final- so I had one huge stone off my chest. Next was convincing myself to not be bummed out. Missing a race happens to everyone, and it won’t effect any outcomes if you relax and accept it. So after some good encouragement from Matt, Erik, and my teammates; I slept a night in piece, and woke up feeling so much better.

Spending some time with my good friend from home, Taylor Clayton. It was so nice seeing her, reminding me to keep things in perspective! She traveled all the way from Geneva on the train to watch me race. Sadly she got to see me stand on the side lines and get healthy instead- but still meant the world to see her on the other side of the world here!

My sore throat was gone, and I was feeling like I could have the energy to race on Sunday. Saturday consisted of another day of relaxing and sleeping, preparing for Sunday.

Sunday’s sprint turned out surprisingly well. I qualified into the heats, and went on to have a strong heat, and as I rounded the final corner setting up a good sling shot for the finishing stretch; I slipped on the ice and went down all too quickly. I got up, and skid into the finish bummed.... that was so close! I took ten minutes of frustration, and then moved on; many more healthy skate sprints to come! And with excitement, I watched three of my teammates qualify into the semi’s!! Sophie even went on to get 9^th, her first top ten, on a tough course with a fully stacked field; INCREDIBLE and so exciting!!

 

Bryan Fish photo

So last week I spent the week trying to get healthy. After racing Sunday, my nose started running, and the sickness set in a little more. I took some days off, tried to really rest up, and I went into this weekend feeling healthy just in the nick of time! Friday morning I woke up without the usual congestion; and I knew I was set for another weekend of classic... yes!!

Doing some race prep as a team on Friday- Austin Caldwell photo

We wish it was actually snowing!!!

Soph and I are really trying to work on our lunges. This is us listening and really trying to understand as Matt explains lunges are more simple than you imagine!

This weekends world cup’s were held in Asiago, Italy. As we drove into town at night, and the city was surrounded with Christmas lights, and Christmas spirit, I instantly felt at home. I had this breath of “familiar feelings”. The holiday spirit just got me so excited and so happy! It turned out to be a wet and warm weekend! With temperatures far above freezing, the little white path of snow along the town park quickly became brown! By the end of the weekend it was much more dirt then there was snow!

I may not have a Christmas tree this year- but Asiago had one for me! Austin Caldwell photo

 

The streets were closed in the evening for walking, shopping and celebrating!

The view from Sophie and my balcony!

Saturday was the individual sprint, which went well. I qualified in 5^th; and went on to finish 16^th. I was a little disappointed to not make it into the semi’s- but this period has been a good learning curve for me! Each weekend, I get a little bit better at skiing heats. I hold my own a little more, I find some holes to move through the pack a little more, and I learn where I am loosing time on everyone! The cool news is I know I have the speed; now I just have to learn to apply it in the chaos! But it is coming!

 

Franco Sella photo

Getting ready for the start. Austin photo

Who said you were allowed to smile!!!???

The perfect example of a typical 90 degree corner on this course... keep your cool... and be the first one to the corner! Salomon photo

Sunday was the exciting part, the Team Sprint. I have always loved team sprinting because of its combination of endurance and sprinting skills. It is this hybrid race that has become one of my favorite events! US put two teams on the start line, both of which were in the fight for a medal all through the semi’s and finals- which was so exciting!! We put on our relay socks, fought hard, and came away super happy with a 5^th and 8^th place. We know we are within striking distance, and all we needed was the hope!!

Ida and I rocking the relay socks! Austin photo

We actually spent most of the race skiing with each other!

Trying to find the fastest snow... often not in the tracks! Austin photo

Both teams racing hard and in the mix- so awesome!! Austin photo

 I wrote a little “play by play” story on the National Nordic Foundation website; so be sure to go check it out. Here is the first scene of my story- be sure to visit National Nordic Foundation to see the full story! Just click on the blue, and it should take you there!

Scene 1- Preparation

Act 1: In Asiago, it all started with a 6 AM wake up call. Races were held early in Italy because of the warm temperatures and the quickly melting snow. This meant that techs were waking up at 4:45AM to start preparing and testing in the dark!! Yikes! A 6AM race morning means that I need to start my day with a cup of American Coffee to truly wake me up for a relay day!

 

An early and dark morning in the stadium- NordicFocus photo

Act 2: Head over to the venue, gather my equipment and start testing with my tech, Randy Gibbs. Last night they decided to salt the course, which means that the tracks are a mix of icy and soaking wet in the tracks. This means that I need to pick a ski that doesn’t grab on the ice, but also kicks when I have to jump in the tracks. Randy helps me dial this down, adjusting a few things here in there; always in the same calming voice reminding me that it will work! I pick my skis, hand them off to him, and head out to finish my warm-up

Randy, keeping his cool, and helping me get the very best skis! Eli Brown photo

Act 3: I do my final hot laps around the course making sure I am fully warmed up. I try some practice exchanges with Kikkan, visualize some places to go around people, and find places on the course to make moves. I look for best line out of the stadium, find the places on the course that the snow is still icy, and dial my entrances into the 180 degree corners.

coming in hot to an exchange. Austin photo

 

So pumped and proud of my teammates!! Austin photo

I have now arrived in France, where I will be spending two weeks resting and recharging for the rest of the season. I will get to spend Christmas with my boyfriend and his family here, so my first holiday away from home will hopefully feel like home! Just like the Methow, there is not much snow here.... so it is starting familier!

Happy Holidays to everyone and thanks for following and sending so many encouraging emails this past 6 weeks! They have meant to world. I wish you the best warm wishes through the holiday!