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!