Food Matters

As an elite athlete, I've always known it is important to fuel your body properly. When the body does not receive the nutrients it needs, the effects on the body are felt tremendously and therefore performance is compromised! I've more recently been informed that proper nutrition is not only important for elite athletes but it is also very important to the everyday ordinary person!

I recently watched a documentary called "Food Matters" (which I strongly recommend watching). The message of the movie comes from Hippocrates quote "let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food." The effects of food on health is an issue that keeps arising over and over in my daily life. We live in a society that feeds on nutritionally-depleted foods with chemical additives and we have a tendency to rely on pharmaceutical drugs to cure our illnesses. The focus of the film helps us rethink what we have been taught about modern medicine and health care. In this movie, several leading experts in nutrition and natural healing express their thoughts on the how we are harming our bodies with improper nutrition. They claim with the right kind of foods, supplements and detoxification, we can treat chronic illness as serious as terminally diagnosed cancer!

As my biology teacher always said "you are what you eat!" I encourage you to watch the film. It can be found on instant netflix or at any movie store. I guarantee you, it will make you rethink what you eat and the effects is has on your health.

The Season may be Over but the Skiing is NOT!

When you think of the end April, you think of spring, sun, crocuses, bikes, running and the sort. Well, that is not the case here! There is still 2-3 feet of snow in my yard and tons of skiing to be had! The past couple weeks have been filled with several back-country adventures, cross-country skiing and lots of what we call "crust-skiing." Snow is still in the forecast for this week, so we will see how much we get...could be another foot! Here are some pictures from our adventures:

Colin crust skiing

We found the secret Iron Creek Hot Springs

Enjoying the last day of groomed skiing at Galena!

Carey hot springs

A beautiful day of crust cruising

Making some tele turns

Check out our turns

A view from the top

Morgan, Chris and Colin at the top of Gladiator

That's a Wrap!

It's hard to believe the 2010-2011 ski season has come to an end! The spring series super tour did not disappoint in Sun Valley, Idaho. After a huge snow storm, the week kicked off with the U.S. National 30/50k with pristine conditions and progressed to the super tour finals. It was a long week of racing, but thanks to all the volunteers and organizers, it turned out to be a great event!

The week did not go as well as I had hoped but I managed to pull off one of my best races of the season on the last day off competition on the hillclimb up Dollar Mountain. This is not a usual cross-country event...instead it was a 4 kilometer skate race up an alpine ski resort. Right from the start I charged up the mountain. I definitely came to a point where I wasn't sure I was physically capable of finishing, but thanks to all the spectators, the cheers kept me going. I crossed the finish line and collapsed to my knees, completely out of breath! Whoa! I had given it everything I had! Later that afternoon, I was unexpectedly called up to the podium to receive my 4th place award!! I had no idea that the race went that well! What a nice way to end the season!!

Making my way up Dollar Mountain

Woman's podium for the hill climb

The following day, the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation put on another very successful Fast and Female event! With over 70 girls attending, 7 Olympians and 23 ambassadors, we spent the day skiing, playing games, dancing, doing yoga, listening to Olympic advice, eating lunch and signing posters! What a great day!

My 9-10 age orange group!

All the girls!

Now it is time to get rested, do some relaxing and go on some adventures! Winter is still in full swing around here, so we are making the best of it and enjoying some fun back-country skiing.

Racing is Underway!

A big week of racing in Sun Valley, Idaho is underway!!! The men's 50k classic National Championship race kicked off the series yesterday. Unfortunately, the guys awoke to freshly fallen snow with temperatures hovering around 30 degrees, making for difficult waxing conditions. They skied 7 laps on a relentless course with a total of 4491 vertical feet of climbing! Whoa! Talk about a tough race!!! Just to give you an idea of how hard it was, 10 guys dropped out!! Congrats to the guys who hung in there and finished the race! Way to go!

Today was the women's 30k classic National Championships. Luckly we woke up to quite different conditions that the previous day. Instead of clouds and snow, we had blue skies and sun!!! Instead of soft slow tracks, we had solid fast tracks. Instead of warm temps with slippery conditions, we had cold temps with bomber kick conditions. To say the least, the women lucked out with a perfect Sun Valley day of skiing! This however did not make the race easy. The pace was pushed right from the start...within the first couple kilometers of the race the field of skiers had already broken up. A lead pack of five girls took off, with girls strung out behind. I maintained 10th-11th place for the first couple laps and managed to move into 9th by the end. It was a tough day of race but fun none the less.

A beautiful sunny day at Lake Creek

Making my way up one of many hills

My number one fans, Noi and Rob

We have a day off tomorrow and then the Super Tour Final takes off on Tuesday! This will include:

Tues: 2.8/3.3k skate prologue
Wed: 10/15k classic race
Thurs: off
Fri: Classic sprint
Sat: 5k skate hill climb

Its going to be a tough week of racing but I am excited and ready for it. Lets hope for some sun and some good ski conditions!

A view out the kitchen window

A huge pile of snow from the storm last week...leaving 2+ feet!

Keep you posted!

Idaho Nordic

Once again, I had the pleasure of putting on a ski clinic for the Idaho Nordic Master's group, in Boise this weekend. Instead of conducting a dryland camp, which most of the clinic's are, I was able to give these master's some help on-snow. After working with this group for the past four years, it is amazing to see the vast improvements they have made...and great to see the growth in beginning skiers as well. (Pictures soon to come)

Unfortunately, the Super Tour race in Truckee, California scheduled for this next weekend was canceled!!!! Big bummer!!!! Instead our team will stick around Sun Valley and continue to get good training and preparation in for the U.S. Distance Nationals and the Super Tour final the end of this month. The snow is good and the skiing is great around here!

I will keep you posted on the upcoming races!

Cheers!

A week in Hayward

If there's one lesson I've learned over the past couple weeks it would be this: "Be flexible and adaptable to unexpected changes."

This lesson has popped up several times over the past two weeks. It all began when we were in Aspen, Colorado. After a week of beautiful sunshine, it began to dump snow the afternoon we were planning to leave for Madison, Wisconsin for our next competition. Later that evening, we were informed that the sprints that were scheduled around the Madison capitol were called off. For obvious reasons, law enforcers pulled the permit to allow cross-country ski racing to occur in the midst of 70,000 protesters! We immediately switched our plans and flew to Minneapolis instead, so we could head to Hayward, Wisconsin to begin our preparations for the Birkie the following weekend.

We enjoyed some great skiing on the pristine groomed trails of the Birkie from Cable to Hayward. Thanks to Dennis Kruse, we had nice and comfortable living conditions! The highlight of the week was visiting a bear den! And YES, there was a bear in it! I was a little hesitant to stick my head in the cave but it was exciting to see the bear in there.

George taking a peek at the bear

After a week of skiing on the birkie trail, eating a lot, and feeling good, I was ready to put the 50k course to the test. The forecast called for chilly weather, and sure enough it was!!! At the start of the race, thermometers read -10 F degrees! eeeekkk!!!! Everyone was bundled from head to toe. Unfortunately, that did not keep people from getting frostbite! The race was going well until my right contact froze and fell out at the 10k mark. While I was a little blind, at least I could see out of one eye:) As the race progressed, the temperatures did not warm up much. And then at the 40k mark, I lost my other contact! Oh great, now i really can't see! Despite the lack of eyesight, I managed to stay in the lead pack. Once the pace really picked up in the last 3k it was difficult for me to see the trail. Unfortunately, i lost a few seconds in those last few kilometers and just barely missed the podium. I was happy with my 4th place effort. Now, I am recovering from a frostbit eye!

Birkie sprints

After a long couple days of travel, I made it back home! And the lesson I learned of "being flexible and adaptable to unexpected changes" resurfaced again this morning as I was informed that my Grandma passed away. She died a peaceful death at the age of 97! She was an amazing woman and every time I think of her she puts a smile on my face:)

Grandma De Yong and I

On the Road Again...

After a nice few weeks in Sun Valley, we are on the road again. Last week we had the excitement of hosting the Boulder Mountain Tour in town. With over 800 racers in town, the place was a zoo! The Festival kicked off with a sprint relay in downtown Ketchum. Spectators lined the course and cheered as the racing took place. I teamed up with Colin Rodgers and we managed to sneak away with a close 3rd place finish.

Number 3 must have been "my number" because I ended up 3rd in the 32k tour as well. Although a little disappointed with the result, each year my result gets a little better.

Podium picture: 1st place, Sylvan Ellefson, Evelyn Dong. 2nd place, Chelsea Holmes, Leif Zimmerman. 3rd place, Brian Fletcher, Nicole De Yong

I am currently in Aspen, Colorado. After a long 12 hour drive, we made it to the beautiful, sunny valley last week. The Super Tour circuit and the college circuit joined forces and raced a 5/10k classic race on Saturday and a 21k skate race, known as the Owl Creek Chase, on Sunday. Racing at 8,000-9,000 feet is always a bit challenging, but good none the less.

We are enjoying the next few days here before we head our next stop: Madison, Wisconsin.

Stay posted! More updates and pictures to come!
Happy Valentine's Day!

Recharging

Well I have to say its been nice to be home, in one place, for the past couple weeks. Days have been filled with training, resting, a little work and of course some play.

After recharging in one place for a while, my schedule for the second half of the season is slowly coming together. I am looking forward to the Boulder Mountain Tour, which takes place right here in Sun Valley next weekend! The Tour is in its 36th year and this race is just as big of a deal as the American Birkebiner...well, at least for those that live here. It is a 32k skate race that begins at Galena Lodge and takes you down the Harriman Trail, through the Boulder Mountains and ends at the SNRA. While the total elevation is a net loss, it is a tough race with very little rest and recovery.

After the Boulder I will travel to Aspen, Colorado to take up a couple Super Tour races, a 5k classic and a 21k skate. The 21k Owl Creek Chase is on the opposite side of the spectrum compared to the Boulder. Instead of a net loss in elevation there is a huge net gain, bringing you all the way up to over 9,000 ft. whoa! Gotta get pumped for that one.

The following week will bring me to the Midwest where I will race another weekend of Super Tour races in Madison, Wisconsin. These races are fun and unique because they take place in the middle of downtown, around the capitol square. I will race a classic sprint and a 7.5k skate criterium, which will be a new racing format for me.

And then...its the BIRKE!!! Yep, already getting the Birke fever! This 52k race from Telemark to Hayward, Wisconsin is America's largest cross-country ski race with over 7,000 racers!!!! It is definitely quite the scene with so many people, but fun to race in such a huge race.

That is the plan through February and then it will be time to recharge again and get ready for U.S. Long-Distance Nationals and the Super Tour Finals which are being hosted right here in Sun Valley the end of March! Lots of excitement for this valley...looking forward to it!

Until next time!

U.S. Nationals Update

Wow, it has been way too long since my last post! My apologies! It has been a busy few weeks of traveling, racing and more traveling! As you probably recall from my last post, we had U.S. Nationals in Rumford, Maine the beginning of the month. It was a crazy and somewhat challenging week given the very little amount of snow! We arrived to 32 degrees with brown grass, dirt and twigs everywhere! "Hhmmm, maybe it is somehow just magically snowy up at the race venue" I thought to myself. That was not the case however.

The first training day was a bare...dirt, rocks, twigs everywhere! Disappointingly I ruined my skis. The forecast called for warmer temperatures and rain on race day. Ug! That turned out to be true, but the race was still a go! We raced the classic sprint in probably the worst conditions I have ever skied in. Despite the conditions, racers still had their game face on...it was time to put uncontrollable variables aside and just race as hard as you could. I skied a strong qualifier but missed advancing to the semis by less than a hair in a photo finish. My day ended short, but I immediately put that performance aside and focused on preparing for the races in the days to come.

As a result of the lack of snow, organizers decided to postpone the distance classic race by a day to give organizers more time to create a 2.5k loop with man-made snow. Luckly temperatures dropped into the 20's and they were able to make snow. The organizers and volunteers did a good job of preparing a 2.5k loop. Thanks for all your hard work!

The classic race resumed on Wednesday. I unfortunately woke up with a bit of a cold and very low energy. I completed my warm-up and decided to give the race a go...four times around the 2.5k loop. I managed to ski the first lap in control, but going into the second lap my entire body felt like lead...I had no energy whatsoever. What do I do? Fight the fatigue? drop out of the race? I expressed how i was feeling to my coach and he recommended that I save my energy for the 20k race the following day. And that is what I did...half way through the race, I decided to drop out. Definitely not an easy thing to do. I've only dropped out once in my entire ski career and it is not a good feeling! I quickly put that disappointing performance behind me and once again started preparing for the next race.

Dropping out of the Wednesday's classic race definitely fueled the fire for Thursday's 20k skate race. Still not feeling 100% I went into the race with a completely focused attitude. My plan was to ski the first couple laps controlled and work into it each additional lap (7 laps total). I kept a consistent pace throughout the race and skied almost the entire race with another skier, exchanging leads. I ended up 9th overall, just 4 seconds out of 7th! Overall I was pleased with the effort but bummed to miss 7th by such a small margin.

Giving it everything in the 20k skate

Three races down, one to go! The last race was the skate sprint. I skied a solid prelim, qualifying in 8th place. I went into the quarterfinal 100% determined to advance to the semis, which I hadn't done yet this season. I charged off the start in the lead. I managed to maintain my lead as I hammered up the hill and down into the final 200 meters. I won my quarterfinal, finally making it into the semis! I was feeling strong and once again went into the semis ready to charge. All was well until the final 100 meters...I was fighting for third place when it came down to a lunge to the finish! Yet again, it was a photo finish. I ended up getting the short end of the stick and missed qualifying for the A-final. Instead I was in the B-final. I had lost a bit of steam from the previous efforts but managed to finish 9th.

Leading the charge in the quarterfinals

The conditions in Maine were definitely challenging! We can only hope for better next year! Thanks to all the organizers and volunteers for making it possible!

Once again, I had the privilege of helping with Fast and Female in Bethel, Maine. It was a very successful event with over 130 girls attending! It was a day filled with skiing, lunch, dance and yoga! I had fun with a group of 30 girls, ages 9-10. Our group name was "The Green Goblins."

Great group of girls out to have some fun! Thanks to all the supporters and organizers

The Green Goblin Girls!

I am currently back in Ketchum, recovering, training and getting ready for the second half of the season.

Thanks for checking in!
More later!

Kicking off the Season in B.C.

After a three hour van drive, three plane rides, two nights and a lot of lost sleep, Colin and I finally made it to Vermont yesterday. Traveling during the holidays is always a gamble, but I was hopeful we wouldn't run into any weather or mechanical delays...unfortunately, that did not happen. Needless to say, it is nice to finally be here and unlike the people in front of us who were trying to fly to London and couldn't get a flight until December 31st, we were only delayed one day and will be able to enjoy Christmas with family.

The racing season kicked off for me in the last two weeks. The first weekend we raced in Silver Star British Columbia. I have now been there a handful of times and it never gets old! There is always an abundant amount of snow, good ski conditions, and the beauty of being able to step out of the front door to ski. The first race began with a classic sprint. I felt a bit slow off the line but was able to post a decent time to qualify in the middle of the pack with a 13th place finish. Going into my quarterfinal, I felt good and strong. I put myself in a good position but was not able to sustain my pace up the final hill loosing a place. I ended up 13th overall.

The next day was a 10/15k skate. We woke up to a foot of soft, new snow. These conditions are some of the toughest to race in. The snow was so soft that the groomers were not able to pack it down before the race began. Instead it made for a very slow long race. While I felt a bit bogged down with all the snow I reminded myself that everyone was battling the same conditions and feelings. It was not my best result, but I hung int here and ended up 13th.

A couple days later we made our way to Rossland, B.C. about a 3 hour drive. We arrived to quite the opposite of what we found in Silver Star...icey and glazed ski trails. They did a good job of grooming and mixing up the snow to make it skiable. Friday marked the start of a three day mini tour with a skate sprint race. It was a very fast course! I qualified 13th. I was skiing a great quarterfinal round, positioning myself in second place to advance to the semis, when on the last hairpin turn, a girl crashed in front of me and I was unable to get around her without getting tangled up. Bummer! During the time of the tangle-up, the other skiers got around us and our day of racing was cut short.

With the unfortunate sequence of events the previous day, I was psyched and ready to ski fast the next day in the 5k skate. I went out fast and tried to maintain a high tempo and speed the entire race...5k is a short race! I received some good splits along the way but knew that there were some fast skiers behind me. I ended up 9th... a result I was satisfied with (at least I didn't end up 13th like several of the previous races!)

The final day of the tour ended with a 10k pursuit classic race. This means that our combined times from the previous two days were added up to determine our start time for the classic race. I began 1:30 minutes behind the first starter. I bolted out of the start and caught the racer in front of me within the first 1/2 kilometer. At about 2.5 kilometers, I was feeling a bit heavy and bogged down...maybe I was a bit too excited at the start and started too fast? A pack of skiers from behind caught up to me and I tired to hang. I hung for a couple kilometers until a couple of them took off and I as left skiing with one other girl. We skied the entire second lap together. I began to feel a bit better toward the end, so I tired to gap the skier in the last 1/2 kilometer, but was unable to drop her. It came down to a sprint in the last 100 meters. Unfortunately, I did not have the strength in my arms to beat her in the double pole sprint...guess what place I ended up? Yep, 13th! Maybe if I knew I was racing for 12th place I could have mustered up the strength to not get 13th.

Hopefully, I have put all the 13th place finishes of the year behind me! I am spending Christmas in Vermont before I head to Rumford, Maine for US Nationals late next week. Getting psyched and ready...all for now!

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

Home Sweet Home

I arrived in Anchorage two weeks ago and was very excited to be home! From what I had heard, there was plenty of snow on the ground and the skiing was great! Well little did I know, I arrived just in time for a record breaking and unprecedented ice storm! As I was driving home from the airport at 2 am I asked my sister, "how can it be 24 degrees and raining?" I was perplexed.

I woke up later that morning and the roads were a complete sheet of ice! School was canceled, cars were in the ditch, people were falling on the ice...it was a mess! I was quite tired from traveling so I didn't plan on training much that day. I kept hoping the rain would stop and turn to snow...but that did not happen. Unfortunately the next two days was much of the same! I didn't loose hope, but I was beginning to wonder what I was going to do if I had to put up with the ucky weather the entire time I was home. The conditions outside were much to treacherous to do any activity, even walk! I took advantage of the indoor running track and even did some speed intervals, and I began to take a liking to swimming once again.

The forecast called for "snow likely" on thanksgiving day. I went to bed the night before just praying there would be snow when I woke up...and sure enough, there was!!!! I woke up to a winter wonderland and it continued to snow all day long. It felt more like Christmas to me than thanksgiving. I was sure thankful for the 8-10 inches of snow!

The skiing since then has been wonderful! It has been nice to catch up with friends and family. I am headed to Silver Star on Wednesday to prepare for the races this coming weekend. They will mark my first races of the season! I am feeling excited and ready. I will keep you posted on how they go!

A Recognition for Change

In order to be the best athlete you can be, it is important to listen to your body, your mind, and your heart. It is easy to get caught up in the daily or yearly training plan and do what you are “supposed” to do, but if your body isn’t responding, or if you mind isn’t in it, or if your heart isn’t there, you will not achieve what you are set out to do.

I came to this realization a couple months ago and recognized that I was going through the motions day in and day out but I wasn’t physically or mentally in the game. Instead of just grinding through it, I accepted the fact that something had to change. Since then, I’ve switched up a few things such as my training plan- listening more to my body and doing workouts suited to the way my body is feeling. I’ve also worked on finding balance in my life- between training, work, and rest. And lastly, I’ve opted out of some training camps to get a change of pace. Things are starting to come around with these few adjustments. I am enjoying skiing, especially now that we are on snow, and my body is responding.

So, instead of riding in a van to West Yellowstone for the first races of the season, and not to mention the 7^th year in a row, I am on a plane headed to Alaska. I plan to get a couple more weeks of training in before I kick off the race season in Silver Star, B.C. As I was packing today, I forgot what it felt like to pack for two months. No matter how hard I try, I never seem to be able to pack “light.” My bags always end up 50 pounds even! I guess it’s hard to pack light when you have 12 pairs of skis in your bag. Aawww, the joys of being a ski racer!

The Season is Just Around the Corner

Since my last post two weeks ago, I was able to get in a good week of on-snow ski training! The skiing, only 15 miles north of town, was absolutely wonderful! Ten inches of fresh groomed trails. The good skiing lasted about a week until some warmer weather rolled in and melted south facing sections of the trail. As of Thursday, it was still skiable but several sections were a bit bare. However, it snowed again last night and there is more snow in the forecast. It is definitely nice to have some early snow and to be able to transition from dryland roller-skiing to real skiing with plenty of time before the first races of the season.

Nice freshly groomed trails!

A big smile on my face for the first ski of the season!

The Community School cross-country running season wrapped up last weekend with several successful performances in Soda Spring, Idaho. The girls ran their way to a team first place finish in the small school division, with Annie Pokorny leading the team with a 4th place finish. The boys team, led by Max Crissman finished 4th place. Congratulations to both teams!

The girls, 1A state champions!

That is all for now, but I will keep you posted as the season hastily approaches!

Cheers!

It's Beginning To Feel A Lot Like...

WINTER!!!!!

I woke up to the first snowfall of the season this morning! 33 degrees and dumping snow...the wet, mushy kind. In this type of weather the number of activities you can do are fairly limited, meaning you can't roller ski because conditions are treacherous and you cant ski because there isn't enough snow. The options are 1) run 2) spin (indoors) or 3) swim . I was quite antsy this morning and felt the urge to be outside in the fresh air, so I chose option 1. The higher I ran, the more snow there was, surprise surprise:) It was such a peaceful and quite run in the snow. I would much rather run in snowfall rather than rainfall! Tomorrow, I quite possibly will get the boards out and head up north to check out the skiing. I'll let you know how it is.

A look outside the window this morning!

On the running side of things, I have some exciting news...both Cutthroat girls and boys teams qualified for state!!! whahoo! It was definitely a close call, but they did it! Congratulations to all twelve runners on the team. We head to state, which are in Soda Springs Idaho (yes, that's where Napoleon Dynamite takes place) on Friday. We compete on Saturday, so please send some positive thoughts our way.

The girls at the start-line with their "fighting faces"

Running is Underway!

The cross-country running season is well underway! Once again, I have the privilege of helping with the Community School cross-country running team this fall. We have a very talented team whom has a very good chance of winning districts and qualifying for state! We've had three meets thus far, and have produced some great results!

The start of the girls varsity race

All smiles after placing 3rd, 1st & 6th

The boys team proves to be quite strong as well. We are short one guy to race as a team. Five runners are needed to rank the team as a team. We are in search of a fifth guy before the district meet in a 1 1/2 weeks! Luckily we have our eye on a soccer player whom we hope to recruit:)

Max finishing strong, ended up winning!

Eric getting psyched and ready for the race

This week our team is a bit disjointed...we have several runners who are skiers as well, so five of our runners are in Lake Placid, New York for a ski camp. Once they return, we are headed to districts. Wish us luck as we head into some big races these next couple weeks!

Smells like Fall

Today officially feels like fall! The leaves have reached their prime for changing colors, the rain is drizzling, and warm, yummy, comfort foods are stewing on the stove. I found this great recipe, thanks to Fine Cooking, that is perfect for the changing seasons! It is an easy one-pot meal, filled with many wonderful spices!

South Indian-Style Vegetable Curry

2 Tbs. canola oil
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
4 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
1 Tbs. ground coriander
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
3/4 tsp. ground turmeric
1/2 tsp. cayenne
1 Tbs. tomato paste
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup light coconut milk
1 3-in cinnamon stick
4 cups cauliflower, broken into 1 1/2-inch florets
3 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 1/2 cups tomatoes, cored, seeded, and coarsely chopped
1 cup carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
1 15 oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
4 oz. baby spinach (about 4 lightly packed cups)
2 Tbs. fresh lime juice
1 tsp. finely grated lime zest
2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro

In a 5-6 quart Dutch oven or other heavy-duty pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium (or medium-low if necessary) and cook until the onion is richly browned, 5 to 7 minutes more. Add the garlic and ginger, cook, stirring, for 1 minute to blend the flavors. Add the coriander, cumin, turmeric, and cayenne; stir for 30 seconds to toast the spices. Add the tomato paste and stir until well blended with the aromatics, about 1 minute.

Add broth, coconut milk, cinnamon stick, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low or low and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the cauliflower, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and carrots. Raise the heat to medium-high and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the vegetables are tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Discard the cinnamon stick.

Stir in the chickpeas, spinach, lime juice, and zest; cook until the spinach has wilted, about 3 minutes more. Season to taste with salt. Serve garnished with cilantro.

Yum, yum! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Happy Fall!

U.S. Ski Team Camp in SV

The first week of camp with the U.S. Ski Team just finished up today. The week was filled with intensity, distance, speed, strength and over-distance work-outs.

The week began with a speed workout where we focused on good technique at high speeds. This entailed 3 sets of 6x15 sec speeds focusing on our starts in the first set, skiing smooth transitions around corners in the second set, and over-speed drop-ins in the third set. It is a very focused workout that sees improvements each time it is done.

Much to almost everyone's dismay, it poured rain for our 2 hour run! Now, I know this is Sun Valley, but it does rain occasionally. Everyone was a good sport and we had a great muddy and wet run!

Friday we had a tough workout...a skate sprint time trial. It was set up to simulate a real skate sprint race. Because of the limited number of areas to roller-ski here, we were not able to ski the rounds in heats. Instead, each round was started individually with 15 second intervals. Ultimately, it was a race against yourself each time.



Without much rest, we had a hard double-pole interval workout the next day. 5x3min double-pole up a gradual hill. I was pretty tired from the previous days workout, but it was good to get another hard effort in. Later that afternoon, the SV ODT and the U.S. Ski Team were invited to play field games with the Sun Valley devo and prep team, ages 6-12. We played flag tag and had fun with relays.

Today we went on a great run in the Sawtooth Mountains, at Redfish Lake. The weather was beautiful and the workout was fun. To top off our three hour run, we stopped at Mikey's cabin at Petite Lake and enjoyed a barbecue of great food, thanks to Carol Sinnott, swam in the lake, played bochi and horse shoes, and enjoyed hanging in the sun! Thanks you Sinnotts!

We have a day off scheduled for tomorrow before we head into another week of full-on training. Definitely looking forward to it!

Adventure

After a hard week of training on the glacier, a recovery week was much needed. I took advantage of an easier week and went on some fun adventures in Alaska with my sister, Kristy. We drove 7 hours East of Anchorage to the McCarthy Kennecott area, located at the foot of the Wrangell Mountains. The drive there is not an easy one, seeing as it takes over 2 hours to drive the last 50 miles. We loaded down the car with bikes, backpacks, rain gear, tent, food, water, and everything else we thought we might need for the next five days.


In order to get to McCarthy, you have to park at the end of the road, cross a foot bridge and walk or bike 1.5 miles. Even though the town is quite small with a population of about 40-50, it is a popular tourist destination in the summer. Five miles up the road is Kennecott mine. This area is full of artifacts and history from its mining days in the early 1900's. Copper was discovered in Kennecott in 1900 and the mines and the town of Kennecott were built quickly after the discovery. By 1938 the copper deposits in the mountain were gone and the town was completely abandoned. Over the 30 years that the mine was up and running, $200 million in ore was extracted, making it the richest concentration of copper in the world!


We had fun exploring the old mining town and reading about the history from that time. We ventured out on some cool hikes that took us to a couple of the mining sights. As you can see from the pictures, several artifacts were left by the miners long ago.


Despite some pretty wet, rainy weather and a few run-ins with bears, we had a great time!

During my time in AK, I went on several hikes in the Anchorage area. It does not take long to drive out of the city and be in the middle of nowhere. Kristy and I took advantage of a beautiful sunny day and ran back to a lake called symphony lake. The views are always beautiful there, rain or shine.


I am back in Ketchum and looking forward to a 10 day training camp with the U.S. Ski Team in a week. Fortunately, the team is coming to Sun Valley to take advantage of the great facilities and the endless trails we have in this area. Looking forward to some good training! I'll keep you updated!