BEND...the place to be!

Bend Oregon is a great place to be right now if you are a cross-country skier...and even if you aren't a skier! The weather has been amazing this past week, with temps in the mid 70's! Each day begins bright and early at 6am on the dot and brings us up to Mt. Bachelor to enjoy first tracks on pristinely groomed trails. Within the first hour of skiing the track softens up and wonderful skiing is to be had! Our workouts consist of longer distance days, interval days and over-distance days. It is great to have so many different clubs and skiers from all over the country skiing in Bend...U.S. Ski Team, APU, X-C Oregon, CXC, Sun Valley, Maine Winter Sports, UAA, Utah, etc.

Summit of Mt. Bachelor

Morgan Arritola skiing up the hill

Chris Grover checking Andy Newell's lactate levels

Coach Travis Jones, waiting for the results

Mikey Sinott

Me, enjoying another beautiful day of skiing!

We are in Bend for another four days before we begin our 8 hour drive back to Sun Valley. Until then, we will continue to enjoy the wonderful skiing and the sun! Till next time!

10 Day Cleanse

What is a cleanse? What is the purpose? Can I really go 10 days eating only certain food items? Will I feel any better? Any different? These are all questions I asked myself the first time I did a cleanse. And the answer is, “YES!” I just finished my second 10 day cleanse and I was reminded one, how hard it is and two, how simple and easy it is. I know that doesn’t make much sense, but if this is something that sounds crazy to you, let me try to explain…

First off, let me clarify by saying that a cleanse is not a fast. In this particular cleanse called, Heart of Nourishment, by Hale Sofia Schatz, the purpose is to simplify digestion and rid your body of toxins. It is a food based cleanse where you feed yourself regularly throughout the process. It is broken down into three phases: Phase 1-Fruits and Vegetables; Phase 2- Grains, Seeds and Nuts; Phase 3- Protein. Each phase can be prolonged as long as you wish. For example, I ate fruits and vegetables for 3 days, then I added grains, seeds and nuts on the 4^th day and by day 5 I added limited protein. I have to admit that the first few days were the most difficult. I definitely did not feel rejuvenated and refreshed. I made the mistake of going for a 2 ½ hour run on day 4 and bonked big time. Once I moved into phase 2, rice and quinoa tasted so good! By day 5 I needed protein! Once I reached the third phase, I felt like my body was responding to the cleanse. I let go of my old patterns and I became very aware of what I was eating and what I did not need! It was tough to cut out sugar and sweets.

Overall, I believe the cleanse was very beneficial for me. It is a powerful way of bringing mindfulness and sensitivity to your relationship with food and makes you aware of how simple eating can be. It is a good way for me to start a new season…completely cleansed. And it gets you into a good habit of eating more fruits and vegetables on a regular basis.

If you are interested in learning more about the cleanse or trying it yourself, you can check out this website: www.heartofnourishment.com

Back at It!

Its amazing how fast a month of rest and play goes by! April is over and it is the beginning of May...it is time to start training. Our first official day of training was Friday, May 1st. With the abundance of snow in the mountains, we were able to do our first L3 workout on snow! Thanks to Colin and Mikey who groomed a nice 4k loop, we did not have to drag our roller skis out... not yet.

Despite the lack of spring-like weather here in the valley, we are diving into training full-on. Today we completed our first L4 workout: 4x5min running. The rest of the week will consist of 5-6 distance workouts, 2 strength workouts, and 1 L3 interval session.

I am excited to begin a new season with new training buddies, new training plans, new training goals and new experiences. After a month of rest, I am recharged and ready to go! Game on!