Friday, September 30, 2011

REGISTER IF YOU ARE IN UTAH!!!!

LESS THAN A WEEK TO THE EVENT!
Make sure to share this info with all your athletes!
GIRLS AND PARENTS! CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!
Park City, UT / Canmore, AB (September 1, 2011) - A dynamic and inspiring group of world-class female athletes is preparing to host a once-in-a-lifetime Fast and Female event in Park City on October 8, 2011 at the USSA's Center of Excellence.

Held in partnership with the U. S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) and open to girls ages 9 to 19 practicing all sports, the event will feature an afternoon of fun and non-competitive dryland training followed by a motivational presentation. The activity will conclude with a yoga segment and an autograph signing session.

The highlight of the Fast and Female Park City event will be the presence of the following 25 world-class female athletes representing the sports of Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Cross-Country Skiing, Freestyle Skiing, Snowboard, and Speed Skating:

- Shannon Bahrke (Moguls)
- Erin Bartlett (Short Track Skating)
- Sadie Bjornsen (XC Skiing)
- Brittany Bowe (Long Track Skating)
- Holly Brooks (XC Skiing)
- Sarah Chen (Short Track Skating)
- Callan Chythlook-Sifsof (Snowboardcross)
- Annelies Cook (USA Biathlete)
- Emily Cook (Aerials)
- Alexa Devereaux (Aerials)
- Jessie Diggins (XC Skiing)
- Alyson Dudek (Short Track Skating)
- Kaitlyn Farrington (Halfpipe)
- Faye Gulini (Snowboardcross)
- Morgan Izykowski (Short Track Skating)
- Zina Kocher (Canadian Biathlete)
- Jana Lindsey (Aerials)
- Chelsea Marshall (Alpine)
- Andrea Mayo (Biathlete)
- Netanya Mintz (Long Track Skating)
- Kikkan Randall (XC Skiing)
- Melanie Shultz (Canadian Biathlete)
- Jessica Smith (Short Track Skating)
- Kathryn Stone (Biathlete)
- Liz Stephen (XC Skiing)

On this special occasion, more than 150 aspiring female athletes will get first-hand experience from this select group of athletes - all of which are active World Cup/Europa Cup competitors and the majority of which are Olympians.

"Sports have taught me so many important life lessons and have made me the person I am today," said Shannon Bahrke silver medalist in moguls at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, bronze medalist at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and 2003 World Cup Champion.

"Setting lofty goals, working hard to achieve them, and never giving up when things get hard are just a few of those lessons that I want to instill in young female athletes. I know they can do anything because girl athletes are awesome and we rule," concluded Bahrke who became the first US women's freestyle skier to win multiple Olympic medals with her bronze medal in 2010.

The key objective for the afternoon will be to motivate girls to stick to sports by exposing them to inspiring and positive female role models. It is said that girls are six times more likely to drop out of sports than boys.

"I chose to be a part of 'Fast and Female' because I know the difference it has made for me to live a fun and active lifestyle," said Emily Cook, a two-time Olympian with five career World Cup podiums. "I am really excited to help pass on the lessons that I have learned through sport like teamwork, leadership, being confident and having fun to young women in our community and to have some time to play and sweat with these amazing ladies," she added.

As a non-profit and North-America-wide program started in 2005 by Chandra Crawford - Canada's 2006 Olympic gold medalist in cross country - Fast and Female is intensely focused on delivering effective programming to keep girls in sports. So far in 2011, Fast and Female has hosted a total of 10 events, reaching 1,030 girls. The Park City event marks the fourth event held on U.S. soil this year and also the first U.S. event ever held with ambassadors from sports other than cross country skiing. Past Fast and Female events held in the U.S. in 2011 took place in Maine, Alaska, and Sun Valley - all on snow.

"It's been a fun journey bringing Fast and Female to the US in cross-country," said Kikkan Randall, lead Fast and Female ambassador in the US and double World Cup winner on the Cross-country circuit in 2011. "I'm really excited for the opportunity to expand into more disciplines with this Park City event," added the full-time athlete who has held three Fast and Female events in her hometown of Anchorage since 2009.

To complement the youth programming, parents and coaches are invited to join the "Amazing Tips Seminar". While the girls will be taking part in the dryland stations, adults will have the opportunity to attend three insightful presentations on Sport Psychology/Mental Toughness with Dr. Lauren Loberg, NCC, CC-AASP (Director of Athlete Career and Education), on Nutrition/Fueling the Fast Female with Adam Korzun (High Performance Dietician) and on Injury Prevention and Body Maintenance with Jess Tidswell, PT. DPT, ATC (Medical Resident Physical Therapist/Athletic Trainer). All three guest speakers are experts in their respective fields and employees of USSA.

The registration fee for the youth segment is $20 per participant and includes a Fast and Female t-shirt, a Buff, a snack, an autograph poster. Parents and coaches can also secure a seat by purchasing a ticket for $20 which includes access to the seminar and a Fast and Female t-shirt valued at $20.

All registrations are compiled online at http://ffparkcityoct2011.eventbrite.com/. Please note that financial assistance is available for participants in need. Please contact info@fastandfemale.com to inquire.

The deadline to register online is October 6, 2011. On-site registrations will be at a rate of $25 per participant.
This activity is made possible thanks to valuable local partners such as USSA, US Bank, Einstein's Bagels, and Knead a Massage. Fast and Female's national sponsors - including Best Buy, Buff Multifunctional Headwear, Cold-FX, LUNA Bars, and LIT Glitter - are also providing key resources to make this event possible. For a complete list of Fast and Female national program supporters and sponsors, please visit: /default.asp?lang=&mode=webpage&id=89.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Lake Placid to VT to PC












Pete, my newest second cousin and his mom Kate and One-Way bear!















Pete!!!!!















Racing the annual Climb to the Castle race up Whiteface. This year was the best weather we have ever had, for sure. No winds, no snow, and sun!















Men's Climb to the Castle podium. Left to right: Noah Hoffman, Kris Freeman, Tim Burke


















I gave a quick bounding clinic and slideshow to the Ford Sayre Ski Club which is always really fun because of what an awesome group of kids they are. They are always excited to learn and improve and their excitement is infectious. I always leave with more energy than I came with. Thanks for hosting me!












Dinner with good friends following the clinic.

Hello everyone! Been a while since I touched base, eh? My travels have been continuous, but in the best way, as I have been in all my favorite places in the last 6 weeks. I spent a good 3 weeks in Park City after returning from Alaska and then hit the road to Lake Placid, New York for our annual camp there. This year was the first year it has been in September instead of October, and we benefited from incredibly nice weather, both warmer and dryer than in past years. Lake Placid serves as one of our first real intensity blocks of the summer, doing 2 speed sessions and 2 hard interval sessions and 3 time trials in 12 days, so needless to say, I needed a bit of a break all after the camp. So, I headed to my favorite place in the world to do a little R and R; home to Vermont! My parents took great care of me, though we were all disappointed that my brother, who had planned to come home as well was unable to make it at the last minute, so it was a bit quieter than we had all hoped, but nice all the same. For someone who spends so much of the time on the road, being able to spend a few weeks a year in the house and community you grew up in is really special. I can’t emphasize enough how incredible it is to be supported by the Central Vermont community. It’s remarkable how much people care in this community. Businesses are interested in doing whatever they can to support me athletically and I can’t walk down the street without seeing someone who knows me and asks how skiing is going. It’s something that’s impossible to take for granted, as it is made so obvious by so many. So, I just want to say thank you to everyone who supports me and what I’m trying to accomplish, but also how much the community does for one another too. It is the strongest community I have ever been a part of and I feel extremely lucky, so thank you.

I am now on a plane on my way back to Park City after spending the afternoon in the North End of Boston yesterday with my parents. I am pretty sure if I lived anywhere near there I would have to work out twice as much just to be able to eat twice as much. What incredible food everywhere you go. Coffee shops, pastry shops, bread shops, tea shops, Italian restaurants on ever side street, gelato, specialty food shops, it’s amazing and delicious and I can’t wait to go back. I am firing myself up to do an off-road half marathon at Snowbasin tomorrow, so that should be fun, mostly because I get to see Morgan Arritola, who I haven’t seen all summer. Then I will have a week in Utah before our camp starts on October 1st. I have been busy for the last 6 weeks setting up a Fast and Female event (for those of you who don’t know what this organization is, check it out at www.Fastandfemale.com) on October 8th, for hopefully 150 girls ages 9-19. They will get a chance to meet over 20 Female National Team members and Olympians from 7 different sports and will be playing all afternoon with these women. It should be an amazing day, so I am really looking forward to the event.

I will be home again on October 29th and staying until November 6th, when I will leave for the entire winter in Europe! For people who may be interested in coming to a dinner to support an organization called the National Nordic Foundation (NNF), Gus Kaeding and his family will be hosting a dinner on October 30th, where all proceeds will go to NNF. For more information see the poster below. Until next time….

Fundraising Dinner

with

Olympians Andy Newell and Liz Stephen plus NNF Director Dave Knoop

in support of the

National Nordic Foundation

Oct 30, 2011 4 P.M.

Meet, listen to, and share a gourmet meal with

Andy, Liz and Dave as they share their life enriching lessons of the trail.

“For the Lessons of the Trail Are the Lessons of Life”

Dinner at

The Kaeding Household

55 Kaeding Road

Worcester, VT

$50.00

Suggested Minimum Donation

Benefits the NNF

Dinner Limited to 30 Lucky Guests

RSVP to 802-249-8345 or gus.kaeding@cxcskiing.org

Support Tomorrow’s Stars Today

The National Nordic Foundation exists to help America’s young, dedicated, and driven Nordic talent realize their, and America’s, long term potential in sport and in life. The biggest hurdle facing American Nordic racers is gaining consistent access to international quality coaching, training, and racing experiences from ages 15 through 25. Providing future generations of U.S. Nordic athletes earned access to a progression of international quality competitive experiences, and there life enriching lessons, represents this nation’s greatest Nordic development opportunity and funding need. The National Nordic Foundation exists to fulfill this need. Please donate to the National Nordic Foundation and support tomorrow’s stars today as their quest for athletic accomplishment on the trails prepares them to achieve their potential in life while inspiring others to do the same.


Thursday, September 15, 2011

Pretty Good Inspiration

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jal4OkZtz8g&feature=player_embedded