Silver Star to Canmore

On Monday we made the 7 hour drive from Silver Star B.C. to Canmore Alberta. It was one of the most beautiful and most scenic drives I have ever experienced! We lucked out with a clear, sunny, cold day which made for some spectacular views of the Canadian Rockies!

The view from the car window!

All ten of us, trying to peak our heads out the front windshield (all the windows were foggy)

After hearing so many wonderful things about Canmore, I am finally here to check it out myself. The Canmore Nordic Center is an amazing venue with world class trails, racing and facilities. They hosted the nordic ski events for the 1988 Winter Olympics and have hosted several world cup events. It is truly a high-caliber racing venue...and the amazing scenery tops is off!

A glimpse of the beauty at the Canmore Nordic Center

We arrived to some colder temperatures, -14 Celsius. A weather front with warm winds, also known as Chinook Winds, moved in on Thursday bringing in some warmer temperatures, +3 Celsius.

Today we raced our first of two back to back classic sprints. Temperatures were warmer than expected, resulting in moredifficult and more technical waxing. The course is a long climb to the top (3 minutes of climbing) before a long sweeping down hill brings you into the stadium for a 150 meter stretch of hard double pole. Today I finished 13th (3rd American) in the prelims...not a great or satisfying result. In preparation for a strong race tomorrow, I decided to sit the rounds out in order to get rested and ready to go! I feel like todays effort was a good "practice-run" for tomorrow. Now I know how my skis run, where to push harder and how to ski the corners. I learned some valuable things from todays race and I am ready to learn from those things and use them to create an even better performance tomorrow!

Ski on!

In Canada...

Week three of racing is quickly approaching! After spending a few additional days in West Yellowstone, the Sun Valley Team traveled to Bozeman. We were greeted with some chilly weather...well below zero! Despite the cold, we raced a skate sprint on Saturday and a 10k classic on Sunday.

I qualified 7th in sprint race, just 3.5 seconds out of 1st! So close! I went on to win my quarterfinal heat but ended up getting boxed out in my semi-final, putting me in the B-final. I did not have quite enough steam in the sprint to the finish and ended up 10th overall. I felt like i put in a a good effort but didn't not end with the result I was hoping for.

Saturday's sprint really did a job on my lungs and I am still recovering from the "after race cough." The following day we had a 10k classic race on a very challenging course with temperatures well below zero! Not the most pleasant racing conditions. I felt pretty tired from the sprint race the day before, but i tried not to think about how tired I was. I focused on skiing smooth and relaxed. I crossed the finish line feeling disappointed...at that time i had no idea where I ended up result wise, but based on the way I felt racing, I figured I had a mediocre result. I felt like I was missing that extra gear in the race. After my cool down, I was surprised to find out that I ended up 6th! I figured that if i felt that way and ended up 6th, then I know that on a day where I am feeling good, I can produce an even better result!

We are currently in Silver Star B.C. There is lots of snow here and it is cold:) I am hoping for even better results this weekend...every race seems to get better and better, so hopefully that will continue:)

Look for results at www.zone4.ca

Aawww...sigh of relief!

Hello! The races in West Yellowstone have concluded! To me, this is a sigh of relief...the first races are always nerve racking and it is nice to have them DONE!!!

Since the qualifier on Wednesday, I competed in the 10k skate race on Friday and the 5k classic race on Saturday. The skate race went alright. I skied smooth and maintained a good pace the entire way, but I was lacking making that shift to the next level. Instead I felt like i was out for a cruise in second gear the entire way. I ended up 14th overall (11th American), a result I was not completely happy with.

I woke up Saturday morning feeling tired and sore. I did not sleep well the night before, due to the infamous "skier cough" and my entire body felt sore from the skate race the day before. I did my best to loosen up my body with a light morning run and stretching. I went into the race relaxed and had little expectations for myself, other than going out and skiing as hard as i could. My goal was to ski relaxed and smooth and not to start to fast! After the first 2k, I received a split that I was in 5th, eight seconds out of 2nd. In a 5k race, every second counts...I kept reminding myself of this as I hammered up the last big hill and skied the final kilometer to the finish. I kept my 5th place position, but a few girls who started behind me, finished with a faster time, thus bumping my position back to 8th (4th American).

Overall, I am happy with my results. There is some room for improvement, but I am confident it will come as the racing progresses! Our team is headed to Bozeman on Thursday for the next races of the season. Keep you posted!

A not-so-flattering picture of me racing

First Race of the Season

Well, the first race of the season is now history! It wasn't a typical race, instead it was only the qualifying round of a classic sprint. Usually we complete a qualifying round to determine who makes it to the quarterfinals and so on, but today was a 5 minute all-out sprint, start to finish! Because of the length of the race, there was not much room for error!

I was one of the first girls out of the gate and intended to ski smooth and relaxed. I had a hard time finding that smoothness and felt like more of a spaz. The corners were tricky and I was lucky to make it around with out loosing my balance. Once I came to the final 100 meter incline, I felt like i was beginning to ski smooth and fast. I pushed it all the way to the finish line just to feel my lungs burn! Whew, the race was over!

I ended up 13th overall, a relatively mediocre result. Despite today's result, it was good to go through the motions of race preparation and racing itself! It always takes a few races at the beginning of the season for me to get moving. I am looking forward to Friday's 10k skate...if anything, it will be good to get another race "under my belt."

Click for Today's Results

On the Road Again

Whoa, it is nice to finally be on the road! The past week has been a whirlwind in preparation for leaving Sun Valley for the next 2 months! Despite the business of getting all the odds and ends finished before leaving, I was able to put in some final, quality workouts. My third ski of the season was a 13k skate time trial. The lack of snow and the compact trail made it a little difficult to get stability, but I tried to focus on staying smooth and relaxed. Now that I have been on snow a hand-full of times, I am beginning to feel more comfortable with the longer skis and adjusting to the balance.

In addition to getting some quality workouts in last week, I enjoyed spending my last couple days with the kid's at the YMCA. It is hard to believe that I won't see them for 2 months! We had fun playing in the bouncy castle and the second grade girls surprised me by hiding the lockers!


I am currently in West Yellowstone with all the other cross-country skiers in the country! We are enjoying the new snow fall and the great skiing. The energy is high and people are anticipating the first races of the season! With the Olympics just 2.5 months away, you can tell people are more fit than ever.

Our race schedule looks like this:

Wednesday, November 25- Sprint Qualifier
Friday, November 27- 10k Skate
Saturday, November 28- 5k Classic

Stayed tuned for updates!

First Ski!

Yep! We are officially skiing in Ketchum, Idaho...well, technically we are skiing about 15 miles north of Ketchum. This morning I enjoyed a distance skate ski on well groomed trails with beautiful sunshine and a teamperature of 11 degrees, bbrrrr! There is about 8-10 inches of fresh snow with more to come in the forecast. I am hoping I can put the rollerskis in the closet for good!



We are headed to West Yellowstone in a week to kick off the first races of the season. From there we will travel to Bozeman, Silver Star, Canmore and then up to Anchorage for U.S. Nationals! Cheers!

Cranking the Intensity

The past two weeks have been chalked full of intensity! Racing season is less than three weeks away and it is time to get fast! Last week consisted of a 3x(4x400m) + 4x200m track workout, 6x4min L4 classic rollerski intervals, and a 2x25min L3 mooshoofing interval session.

I gave myself a full day of rest before I jumped into a strength test the following week. I was happy to produce some improved results...indicating that my time in the gym is paying off. The test consisted of a minute of pull-ups, minute rest, minute of sit-ups, minute rest, minute of push-ups, minute rest, minute of box jumps, minute rest, minute of dips, DONE!!!! My arms were flooded with lactic acid when I finished but I set a new record!

The week progressed with another 3x(4x4oom) track workout and some L4 skate intervals. Whew! its been tough couple weeks but its the best way to get faster!

I topped off the week with a trip to the Sawtooths. I enjoyed a few nights at a friends cabin where I put in a couple hours of wood-cutting, took advantage of a "natural' contrast bath with a river and a hot-springs called the "boat box" and went for a great over-distance hike/run in the White Cloud Mountains! We ran into 1 1/2 feet of snow toward the top! We lucked out with a beautiful, sunny day...but definitely a little chilly.

The count down to the first race in West Yellowstone is 17 days! Lets hope for some snow and we'll be in business! This next week will contain some tough workouts but will be a fairly low-volume week. time to bring it on!

Sure Signs of Fall...

Yes, it is hard to believe that October is already coming to a close... snow is in the forecast and day light savings ends next week! While these are sure sings of fall, the close of the cross-country season, the annual fall Idaho Nordic Clinic and hiking in snow-covered Sawtooth Mountains are as well.

The Community School Cross-Country running season came to an end this past week with Districts. Unfortunately, several of the runners were struck with sickness and were not able to run or run to their full potential. Despite our low attendance, we had some great performances from Torin Tucker and Morgan Atikinson, both of whom qualified for state! Congratulations to both of them!

Katie, running her heart out!

Last week, Colin and I had the opportunity to coach a dry-land clinic for the Idaho Nordic Ski Club, based out of Boise, Idaho. Two sessions focusing on technique were offered, one for double pole and the other for skate. Once technique was reviewed and improved, we put it into practice with some speeds and sprint relays. It is always fun to help the Idaho Nordic crew and witness the vast improvements they make. Good job team!

An attentive group of Idaho Nordic skiers

Tristen, demonstrating some good double-pole technique

A close finish for the Pitt brothers

Today, I went for a wonderful over-distance run/hike in the Sawtooth Mountains! My lack of playing in the mountains this summer made me appreciate what I missed out on. The mountain tops are covered in snow!

A snowy hike in the Sawtooth's

A view of Sawtooth Lake

Snow is in the forecast for this week! We will see how much accumulates and whether or not it will be enough to strap the skis on and tromp around. I'll be sure to let you know if such a thing happens.

Lake Placid Wrap-Up

The Lake Placid Camp at the Olympic Training Center concluded Wednesday with the annual Climb to the Castle time trial. Anyone who has done it, knows how grueling and tough this race is! It is a five-mile climb up the Whiteface Mountain toll road and gains a total elevation of 3,500 feet. It is one thing to race up the road in the first place and it is another thing to race up the road in adverse weather conditions. Weather was not on our side on Wendesday and racers toughed out the rain, wind, fog and sleet!

The lead woman's pack, charging up the mountain through the fog!

Wednesday was definitely a mental race! I went into the race excited and ready to put the hurt on. The first two miles of the race started at a comfortable pace with a long train of girls. The pace gradually picked up as the race progressed, slowly breaking up the pack. I positioned myself in the middle of the pack and made an effort to close the gap when girls dropped off. By the third mile, the train broke up and I was with the front pack of five girls. The weather began to change and the fog, wind and rain began to settle in...the tough part of the race was on! I tried to stick with the pack but they slowly pulled away from me. Before I knew it, I was all by myself. Once you get dropped from the pack, it is very difficult to catch up by yourself. I kept my head down and worked as hard as I could against the wind. At one point, the wind was so strong that I was hardly moving! I anticipated the pack of girls behind me to catch me, but I was pleasantly surprised when I crossed the finish line by myself, one minute ahead of anyone else. I finished 6th over-all, two minutes behind the top female. This was a good and encouraging result for me, but I still have a two-minute gap to work on.

I am currently spending the week in Vermont with my boyfriend, and enjoying some rest and recovery after such an intese camp. The fall colors in the east are always amazing and beautiful!

Level 4 bounding intervals up Whiteface.

I am headed back to Kethcum on Thursday. Five inches of snow fell in Kethcum last week, enough to put the skis on and tromp around. I'm sure it has melted by now, but I am looking forward to some snow and maybe some early skiing this season. Until then, I will enjoy the beautiful scenery in the east!

Quick Update

Hello All!

I am currently in Lake Placid, New York for a 12-day training camp at the Olympic Training Center. Coming east for this camp every fall is a yearly tradition. The Sun Valley Team is currently here but will soon be joined by the CXC team, the National Team, and several other top skiers from around the country. It is always a good camp with a high caliber of athletes and a tough week of training. The roller skiing is amazing out here with access to several country roads providing varying terrain. We went for a run in the Adirondak State Park today and enjoyed the beauty of the fall colors around us.

We have some good training ahead of us. I will be sure to update more in the next few days!

The Woes of Roller Skiing

We roller ski day in and day out...we put our skis, boots, poles and helmet
on an walk out the door to do what we do every day, TRAIN! We rarely think about the possible consequences of roller ski safety. For those of you who don't know much about roller skis, they do not have breaks and even the smallest about of debris, such as pebbles, rocks, pine cones and leaves can cause huge problems.

In Sun Valley, it is mandatory for athletes to wear a helmet roller skiing at all times, even on the bike trail. This past summer we've had our fair share of roller ski accidents. Today I topped it off with a hard crash on the pavement. I was 20 seconds into an interval, carrying good speed when a pine cone got lodged into the front wheel of my ski. My entire body catapulted forward, leaving my feet and skis behind. I came down and hit my head hard on the pavement! I immediately felt a sharp, cracking pain in my head. Tears came instantly as the pain seemed almost unbearable. I slowly made my way back to my feet and found a crack in my helmet! Whew! After eventually collecting myself and grasping the pounding headache, I managed to finish my workout with a cool-down.

All I can say is I am really glad I was wearing a helmet! A headache all day long hardly compares to a concussion or even head trauma! It definitely saved my head!

Cross-Country Season is Underway!

It's that time of year again! Students are in school, cross-country runners are racing, and the leaves are beginning to fall!

At the starting line!

This past week The Community School Cross-Country Running Team participated in the first race of the season! The Community School and the Wood River High school organized a fantastic meet, right here in Ketchum. We were blessed with a beautiful sunny day.

Zana, pushing it up the last big hill!

The team this year consists of 10 athletes: 6 girls and 4 boys. Unfortunately we had a few sick kids the day of the meet and were only able to race 6 athletes. Despite the few numbers, we went into the race with open minds and decided that this race would help determine where we should set our goals for the rest of the season. The runners did great...but we certainly have some training to do:)

TCS Cross-Country Running Team

I am excited to help with another season of cross-country running! We ended on a great note last year, qualifying both the boys and girls team to state for the first time in school history! We have high standards to meet this year, but with some hard work we can achieve it!

Training with Purpose

Since my last post I have traveled quite a bit! My last few days in Alaska brought me on yet another adventure. I traveled south of Anchorage, to Homer, and enjoyed some great camping, fun, food and play with my family. We took a water taxi across the bay to Halibut Cove and spent some time kayaking, hiking, and gallery walking; the small town is known for their amazing art talent. The weather was perfect and it reminded me why I love Alaska so much!

A view of Grewink Glacier

My mom and sisters, headed to Halibut Cove

A beautiful sunset, with Mt. Illiamna in the foreground

I returned to Ketchum for a short three days before I was on the road, headed to Whistler B.C. for a training camp. After 16 long hours of driving in the van, and pulling over for a 5 hour sleep, we arrived in Whistler! We are currently training with the U.S. ski team in this wonderful town, host of the 2010 Winter Olympics. As always, it is exciting to be here training at the venue, becoming more familiar with the town, and training with fellow competitors.

Part of the crew, lined up and ready to start intervals

The focus of the training camp is intensity...we have five interval sessions in a span of ten days! It is great to be training with some of the strongest athletes in the nation. We are focusing on improving our transitions, our speed and just becoming familiar and comfortable with the courses. Being here gives us the opportunity to visualize and imagine what it will be like to race the course and sprint the final 300 meters to the finish. Each workout is done with complete focus and purpose. The final countdown is on...every month, day, hour and minute counts!

Adele, working on her stand-starts

More from Whistler to come!

An Alaskan Adventure

I am currently in Alaska, enjoying the "Great North" summer. Twelve hours after stepping off the plane, I found myself in one of the most beautiful landscapes ever!...on Kesugi Ridge. I surprised my sister for her 30th Birthday and flew up to Alaskaa couple days early to join her and her friends for a 2 day backpacking trip on Kesugi Ridge. This ridge is located North of Anchorage in Denali State Park and offers amazing views of Mt. McKinley! While the weather was nice, it wasn't quite clear enough to see the entire mountain.

The scenery from the top of the ridge

The backpacking crew!

To acsess the trail along Kesugi Ridge, it is a 1,500 foot hike up to the ridge. The ridge is fairly mellow with some gradual ascents and descents. The ridge trail follows a broad alpine tundra plane past ponds, across creeks and around granite boulders. If you find yourself in Alaska and are looking for a good backpacking trip with amazing veiws, I definitely recommend Kesugi Ridge! It is beutiful!

Hiking the trail along the ridge

Me, among the fireweed!

August is a great time of year to go hiking and backpakcing in Alaska because the berries are bountiful! Within the first hour of hiking we found blueberries, watermellon berries, cloudberries, crowberries and soapberries! Yum, yum, yum! We picked a bag full of blueberries to make ourself some "camp-made" blueberry crisp! It was great!

Busy, picking blueberries for the birthday crisp

Watermellon berries. They are very juicy!

As for training, it is going well. I have been doing a majority of my training by myself since I've been in Alaska, but it has been good to focus on doing the "right" workouts for me. I have been doing a lot of classic rollerskiing and double-poling. I am trying to give my legs a little break to relieve some soreness and fatigue that has built up over the past couple weeks. Hopefully with the right training and the right amount of rest, they will be back to normal soon!

My sisters and I

I am in Alaska for another week and I am looking forward to a recovery week filled with some fun adventures in Homer, Alaska with my family. I will keep you posted!

Recovery Week

After a quality week of training in Utah, this past week was a recovery week...a chance to get rested and do different activities! Recovery weeks are not always easy for me; I am one who does not like to take a day off. Instead of filling my recovery week with "off days," I used "active recovery" to fill those days. In other words, I used low impact activities such as biking, swimming and double pole to let my body rest and recover. Every other day I either swam or biked to all my legs to recover from the fatigue I'd been feeling for the past couple weeks. This was a good way to give my legs a break and get them back under my feet.

Double pole intervals

In addition to doing new and different activities, recovery weeks are a good chance to get out and explore and travel new areas. This past week I drove through Yellowstone National Park, over Beartooth Pass, and into the Gallatin National Forsest in Montana. The drive was absolutely beautiful and I saw several buffalo, grizzly bears, coyotes, and moose. I went for a run at the Insideout Trailhead and explored the beauty of the Gallatin National Forest.

The beautiful scenery in Yellowstone National Park

We saw hundreds of buffalo

...and yes, they have the right of way

My recovery week also allowed my to spend some time at the YMCA Kids Summer Camp. We had fun making "kitchen creations" ranging from rice krispie treats to chocolate covered bananas. We also had fun painting eachothers faces...although Alonzo wouldn't let me paint his face after he painted mine!

Alonzo and I with our painted faces!

Sara, showing off her butterfly face

It was a good week and I feel rested and ready to hammer into my volume week!

Soldier Hollow Training Camp

I just returned from a 5 day training camp in Soldier Hollow, Utah with the Sun Valley Olympic Development Team. We took advantage of the great roller ski trails and used the terrain to work on skate V1 and classic stride technique... two things we do not have much of in Sun Valley.

The first day, we worked on our hops with specific plyos: jumping over hurdles, jumping up multiple stairs, single leg hops, etc. We completed the workout with an hour run around the Soldier Hollow trails. I spent most of the afternoon resting and relaxing, trying to make-up for lost sleep the night before. Our afternoon workout was spent doing max strength at the Racquet Club in Park City...thank you Racquet Club! I think everyone is getting pretty strong!

The next morning we woke up to do some 5x4 minute, level 4 intervals up Hermod's Hill. If you are not familiar with the 2002 Olympic Cross-Country Venue, there is a long, tough hill called Hermod's Hill. Even though it was a hard workout, I was pleased with the way I held my technique together and completed the workout as it was meant to be done. After watching my technique video and reviewing it with my coach, I went out that afternoon and skied Hermod's a few more times to work on specific technique.

Wednesday morning we woke up bright and early to hike Mt. Timpanogos. With 4,580 feet of elevation gain, it took us just under three hours to reach the summit. The trail brought us behind waterfalls, across snow fields, along steep ridges, near lakes, eye to eye with mountain goats, and glissades down snow. All in all it was an awesome hike! To top off the day we spent the afternoon at the water park!

On Thursday morning we did a 13k pursuit time trial. A pursuit consists of racing the first half with the classic gear and then switching to skate gear for the second half. The classic portion of the race went well for me. I felt strong and was able to maintain a good pace. After switching to my skate gear for the second half, my legs cramped up and felt as heavy as bricks! Ug...a horrible feeling! The long over-distance hike the day before had done my legs in. I lost quite a bit of time on the skate portion and was disappointed to end the way I did after such a good start. I immediately iced my legs after the race in the 50 degree river! Brrr!

Friday morning we went for a distance classic roller ski, focusing once again, on technique. I received some good feedback on things I was improving on and things I needed to keep working on. That afternoon we made our trek back to Sun Valley. After a long drive and some time spent gatering equipment that fell out off the roof rack onto the freeway, we finally made it home!

All in all it was a great camp with some quality training!

Making our way up Mt. Timpanogos

Kate, surfing on an iceberg!

The summit of Mt. Timpanogos

Olympic Day in Ketchum!

Last week, I had the privilege of celebrating Olympic Day with several kids from the Wood River Valley. It began with a talk on perseverance and included some thoughtful words from Olympians, Laura Todd and Jon Engen. We learned the meaning of perseverance and what it means to try your best and never give up! It was a big word for a lot of the kids, but they figured it out fast!

The YMCA crew

Olympic Day resumed outside at Atkinson's park with games, relays and a 1k fun run! A fun, yet challenging game was the wooden ski relay pictured below. I'm sure all the kids can attest that good coordination and patience is key in this activity.

The counselors even gave it a try!

We played relays with hurdles, speed ladders, push-ups and sprints. The kids were troopers!

Michael blazing through the speed ladder

Casen, pumping out some nice push-ups!

We ended the event with a 1k fun run around the park. Kids from other camps participated in this activity and we even got the mayor of Kethcum, Randy Hall to join us for this part of the event!

Group picture with Mayor Randy Hall

"Racers take your mark...ready, set, GO!"

Running FAST!

Almost to the finish!

Cambria and Melissa, two of our faithful YMCA campers

Olymipc Day was a fun day for everyone! I look forward to celebrating again next year!