Full Sass by Liz Stephen

New "Friends of Liz" hats ready for order!

2012-01-28T23:42:00.000-08:00

Thanks for all the support SKIDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you would like to purchase a hat you may do so at: www.skidasport.com or by dropping in to Onion River Sports in Montpelier!

Austrian National Champs

2012-01-28T13:29:00.000-08:00

Just a few photos up from today. Late here now in Ramsau, and I must get some shut eye!

Matt and Erik: Our awesome duo of coaches and wax techs for our training week in Ramsau and the Austrian National Championships that we crashed today. Thanks guys!

Guys podium

Girls Podium

Bird with some fast junior skiers

Esther, me, Chandra, Ida and Aimee after the race today.

Just a few smiles to brighten your day!

2012-01-12T05:43:00.000-08:00

Post Tour de Ski Smiles

Ramsau=Smiles

Sunset in Seiser Alm = Smiles

Fast and Female buffs+mountains and sun = smiles

Friends = Smiles

Spa + relax = smiles

Lounge chairs in Italy=Smiles

Life with mountains, good friends, sun, support, travel, racing, resting = smiles.

Ciao for now, more words and pictures soon

WHITE CHRISTMAS = Ramsau!!!!!!!!!

2011-12-22T04:29:00.000-08:00

I really don't mean to rub it in, but we will be having a white Christmas here in Ramsau, Austria! If I could share some of this snow with all of you back in the States who are snowless, I for sure would. But as I can't, I have been doing my absolute best to enjoy every ounce of it. Last night we went to the second run of the Men's World Cup Slalom race in Flachau, Austria, just a quick 30 minute drive away. It was a snowy night and the crowds were huge. What a show to be a part of. A World Cup night slalom in Austria, yeah, there were some people there. The day before was the Women's race and Kikkan, Jeff and I caught the first run, which was really cool.

Now we are all settling in for Christmas together. There haven't been many times in my life when I have been happier than I am right now. We have an unbelievable team of people who train together and sit at meals longer than necessary because we are just chatting. We share ideas, thoughts, watch movies, play music, share really embarrassing things about ourselves like the fact I have listened to the complete Harry Potter series at least 8 times over again and can pretty much quote all 7 books. And now you all know that too, but my point is, we are all friends, not just teammates, who share a common interest that we get to try and perfect every day and are psyched to help one another get better too. There have been days and weeks that have been hard for one of us or another, and the group has held these people up. We are a unit, not just a bunch of individuals who happen to all be good at the same thing and are forced to be together and get along. We have gotten past that and are a genuine team, and it is this simple change in the way we think of one another and the way we think of the group as a whole that has been the change we needed to make to become faster. I am this happy because I am surrounded by people who I care about and who care about me. I am surrounded by people who I am working together with to try and be great, and there is nothing that I can think of that is more inspiring to be a part of than that. I don't want to be anywhere else but right here, where I am now. I love ski racing, I love my team, I love snow. I will be very happy to make a snow angel for all of you who are praying for snow. Just let me know. Until Christmas....

Sarah Schleper and Kikkan right after Sarah gave Kik her coat in the finish zone because she said it matched her hair!

Day 1 of National Team's Christmas Vacation. Yahtzee.

Holly cutting some perfect Tele turns in the fresh powder on the most perfect day of skiing there is. I can't help it, I'm totally addicted to this life.

Holly smiling big. Andy, Holly and I went classic touring day 1 here and our faces hurt because we smiled so big the whole ski. The whole team was like a bunch of giddy kids on Christmas morning. Skiing really doesn't get better than this.

More from Day 1 skiing. Since then we have gotten about 2 feet of fresh snow and it is now officially a winter wonderland here.

The first morning I woke up and opened my curtains this is what I saw. Crescent moon, white snow everywhere and fresh ski tracks. I really don't mean to be rubbing this in to all of you stuck somewhere this time of year with no snow and freezing rain, but I recognize I kind of am:)

Yep.

Rogla got a bunch of snow the night before the classic race and then even more the night before the Sprint day, so it really made it look extremely pretty everywhere.

Speaking of pretty! Here she is! The star of the day! Chandra Crawford, on her first World Cup individual podium since Lahti in 2008. She is a star in every way. She supports her teammates to all ends and is the most positive, outgoing, champion of a person you could ever hope to meet. She is a girl you should all root for, cheer for, and watch closely because she is just gaining momentum.

Women's podium on Sunday.

That's the smile that seems to never leave Chandra's face. It's like a sunny day.

Noah and Sim after Simi's Semifinal. Congrats to Sim for his first World Cup top 10!

Ida sprinting it out in her first World Cup quarterfinal! YEAH!

This was our hotel in Rogla. It was some sort of hotel/PT center/Spa/Rehab facility/waterpark/nursing home. It was tough to tell, but the Christmas crew did go check out this outdoor pool on our last night just to do a few cannonballs, you know, they just make you feel good.

Complete with bathrobes.

The Christmas Crew our last night in Rogla. Pizza. Yum.

Me and my new guitar!!! Andy Newell bought a new one and I got his "Washburn Rover" travel guitar! So, I am trying to learn a new skill, opening up the artsy section of my brain. I'm still working out how to unlock the door, but it's been really fun to try.

Red sky at night, skiers delight. Beautiful sunset in Rogla.

Disjointed Post about Winter and other Excitement!!!

2011-12-09T04:43:00.000-08:00

JOSIE!!!! Congratulations for making it into this world and for picking such incredible parents to be raised by! I can't wait to meet you. Congratulations parents:)

This blog goes out to my teammate and friend, Sadie Bjornsen, as she got on her first World Cup podium in the team sprint this weekend in Dusseldorf, Germany. Congrats Sades!! Kik, you did ok too:)

My second favorite car ever, topped only by the Panda Fiat. This thing is a three wheeler!

Newell and I skiing our first day in Davos last week. 1.4 Kilometer loop, which had been the standard this year before the snow storm that dropped 1.5 feet on us the last 4 days.

We headed to Pontresina, Switzerland for a training day last week, 1 hour from Davos over a twisty pass, but it was worth it to get a little sun and 4K of skiing.

Coffee post ski in Pontresina. Sweet.

Ladies Sprint Podium yesterday!!

Mens Sprint Podium. It was so great to see Emil on the podium again, as he has had a slow start with a nagging hamstring injury and this was his first race back!

It really couldn't have been a more perfect day to ski race yesterday. Sun was out, tracks were firm, course was in great condition.

My good good friends from East Montpelier came all the way to Davos from visiting their daughter Maia (who has been my friend since kindergarten!) in Germany to watch me race. It was so amazing to have people I consider family in Europe. We had an evening together in their cute little apartment where they cooked me a delicious home cooked meal and the company makes you feel like you are all back home in Vermont. It was such a nice, refreshing break from the norm. Thanks for making the trek guys. You rock:)

The Ruka Triple

2011-11-28T13:42:00.000-08:00

The World Cup has officially begun again and we have just finished our second weekend of racing with the second annual Ruka Triple, otherwise known as the Kuusamo mini tour. It is a stage race, three races in three days, all accumulative on one another. The first day this year was a classic sprint, the second, a 5K skate race, and yesterday, the final day, a 10K classic. The last day is a pursuit start, meaning they start the person leading the race from the previous two days first and the send the rest of the field respectively, based on how far back they are to the leader. So, for example, I started 48^th, 2 minutes and 18 seconds behind Marit Bjorgen, the leader from the previous two days. It makes the whole race really exciting, not matter where you start, as if you start first you have the whole field chasing you and if you start last, you have the whole field to chase! It is like the best game of tag that I can imagine, so, as I had some chasing to do, I thought of myself as the “IT” person and went to work. At the end of the day I ended up 35^th, just out of the points (top 30) and with the 36^th best classic leg of the day, which is my best classic result on the World Cup ever, so I was satisfied and really proud of my teammates who all had great races at some point over the weekend.

Last weekend we opened the World Cup season with two races in Sjuesen, Norway. The first was a 10K skate race, in which I tied my best ever World Cup result with an 18^th, and then we had an awesome relay the next day finishing in a pack of 5 teams, but ending up 9^th. It is really fun to be able to see some real improvements as a country and team on the World Cup, and the stoke is high, momentum is building and we’re fired up for the rest of the season.

As for the rest of my life besides racing, I am doing really well. I am traveling with a great group of people and I am stoked to be in Europe for the whole season this year. It has been really fun getting to see all of our Swedish friends from this summer, especially Anna Haag and Charlotte Kalla. We have actually been going on team jogs with our two girls teams! I cooled down with some of the Italians after the race yesterday as well and am really enjoying getting to know people on other teams, which I hadn’t taken advantage of in past years on the World Cup. So, that’s been a highlight of the season so far.

Today we leave Kuusamo to go to Davos, Switzerland, probably the most relaxing and one of the most beautiful stops on the World Cup. This year, however, we will be leaving a 5K manmade loop here for a 1.4K manmade loop in Davos! Hopefully it will snow next week so I can ski some of my favorite trails! Mary, Chris and Maia Stone will be at the World Cup that will be held there in 2 weeks, so I will get to see some really good friends and am really hoping to be able to take them on a long ski up one of the pretty valley’s here! SNOW DANCE!!!

Below are a few pictures from our travels, but there are not as many as I was envisioning! Guess I need to actually get the camera out a bit more often instead of just taking mental images! More soon.

Guys relay team in Sjuesen

Girls on relay day!

We have had a lot of Birthdays this trip and here is Sadie on her night

I got to sit in the leaders chair for a while in the first race of the year, as I had an early bib number, so that was really fun. I can see why people want to win, they hook you up with furs and a comfy chair to sit in, it's pretty awesome!

A photo Max Cobb (USA Biathlon) sent me from the Sjuesen weekend.

REGISTER IF YOU ARE IN UTAH!!!!

2011-09-30T18:16:00.000-07:00

LESS THAN A WEEK TO THE EVENT!

Make sure to share this info with all your athletes!

GIRLS AND PARENTS! CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!

http://ffparkcityoct2011.eventbrite.com/

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.

Lake Placid to VT to PC

2011-09-24T11:27:00.000-07:00

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 1^st. 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 8^th, 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 29^th and staying until November 6^th, 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 30^th, 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.

Pretty Good Inspiration

2011-09-15T16:01:00.001-07:00

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

Alaska Glacier Camp and Camping Trip

2011-08-27T13:26:00.000-07:00

There are so many pictures from our camp, I can't possibly post them all, but I need to start somewhere. Below are some pictures from our week at Eagle Glacier and Chandra and my post Glacier camping trip in Seward. We had an awesome camp, the first Women's Training Camp I have ever been a part of, and the skiing on the glacier was great. Thanks to the USST Coaches who were a part of making this happen and to APU and Eric Flora for hosting it! More photos coming, but here is installment #1.

It's a girls camp, so yeah, we got along pretty well!

Skiing on the glacier was incredible. The grooming was bomber every day thanks to the endless work of Casey and Mike.

HELICOPTER!!!! Thats the beauty that flew us up to the glacier. Keith and Deb, the owners of Alpine Air and their employees are so friendly and are an incredibly amazing group of people. Chandra and I actually got stranded in Girdwood, AK on our way back from camping in Seward the following week and ended up spending a night in the hangar! So cool! Keith even took us out to Sushi! Talk about hospitality!

Corey and I really enjoying our first helicopter ride!!!

And Sadie, really enjoying some chocolate bread pudding!

Hard not to smile on a sunny day up here. It is really, really beautiful.

Dance party lead by Jessie Digging and Chandra Crawford. Kikkan won the award for most into it, though, I'd have to say. I mean, look at that party outfit you see all the way at the end of the line! DAMN GIRL!

Chandra and Matt putting on a little sing-a-long for us non musicians.

A bit hard to see, but the glacier is pretty big. There are about 8K of trails with good climbs and fun downhills.

After the glacier, most of the group headed down the next night to camp on a gravel bar at the bottom of a glacier in Seward. We checked out Mt. Marathon with the champion from this year, our very own Kikkan Randall, and oh how I wish I had pictures to show you all. It was the craziest uphill scramble I have ever been on and an even crazier decent. I would try to describe it, but I will have to just post a video when I get one, because you wont understand the amount of crazy you have to be to race this race. No offense Kik, but seriously. After a great night of camping with the team and checking out the glacier in the morning, Chandra and I headed out on a rainy run called Lost Lake. It was beautiful, despite the cold drizzle and at times downpour, and we even made it back a minute before the gym showers closed!!! YES!!!

Chandra and I stayed a night at a place called Kayakers Cove, which was a 45 minute ferry ride off the coast of Seward. It was one of the most relaxing days I have spent anywhere in a long time. We arrived in the pouring rain to these cute little cabins and after meeting the other guests and caretakers, decided a short lay down would be good. We ended up taking a 2 hour nap, which is basically unheard of from me, but rain on a tin roof is the ticket to relaxation, for sure. When we woke, we decided to fire up the wood fired sauna with the caretakers and ran back and forth from the ocean to the sauna for the better part of an hour. It was amazing.

We did a cool Kayak tour of the shoreline the next morning, and it actually stopped raining for most of the time we were out, which was a nice bonus. Such beautiful sights, the water was tropical blue colored and the cliff walls were enormous, not to mention the waterfalls. I'd come back here in a heartbeat, but next time with a fishing pole, as our caretaker showed us how easy it was to catch a salmon from her kayak!

Fly Like an Eagle

2011-07-23T15:20:00.000-07:00

A little off-roading adventure on our OD ski the other day!

We were planning on heading to Eagle Glacier mid-day tomorrow, but as the weather looks like it is going to get pretty nasty starting later tonight, we are going to take advantage of the opportunity to get up and get settled on the glacier this evening. We will be up there until next Sunday and will have limited access to the outside world, but I will be posting updates on my Facebook page, to keep you all updated as often as possible. I am really excited as I have never been in a helicopter, so I am looking forward to experiencing that tonight. Stay tuned, but tune into Facebook, not this page for the next week. We have had a great week of dry-land this last week here in Alaska, with killer weather and a great training group, so hopefully the weather will keep rocking for another week, but either way our training group will. We finished our dry-land week with a classic time trial this morning, with Jessie Diggins leading the charge and setting a new record for the course!! Yeah Jess! Heading off to do a run and strength now and then hitting the road to Girdwood to board a helicopter. Into it. Also, keep checking in on the USST Facebook page, as we will be posting a request for a vote on the best women's training group video. We chose our top 5 from 21 that were sent in and now it is up to you guys to chose our winners. Thanks a ton to all the girls who motivated and sent in awesome videos. We had a blast watching all of them and I stayed up until midnight last night trying to pick my top 10. It was extremely hard to chose my favorites. Anyway, more to come soon, but until then, keep keeping on.

I'm sending all my good wishes, thoughts, and prayers to the people of Norway. I hope you can feel the World's support with you during this awful tragedy.

On a happier note, though, WELCOME PETER STEPHEN!!!! Here is the newest member of my family! My cousin, Josh, and his awesome wife Kate had their baby last week and thought I would share a couple photos with you all to put a smile on your faces.

Welcome to the World and family Peter Stephen!!

Mom, Kate, and Peter, both healthy and very happy! So excited to meet him!!

Josh, this is my new favorite photo of you. Does life get better than that, Peter? No way. So happy for you guys.

Alaska Women's Camp

2011-07-20T14:21:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures/394 to be precise from the last few workouts at our Women's Camp in AK. It's been really awesome to see Alaska in the summer and having such an awesome training group each day is unbeatable.

Click here to view these pictures larger

Being a Girl v. being a Boy Factor...

2011-07-20T08:25:00.000-07:00

So my really, really great friends at the Snowfarm sent me a video that made me want to be a girl this week during our girl camp in Alaska, and a boy next week when they head to New Zealand for 3 weeks. God? Could you hook me up? Thanks for making me feel really loved you all, and not to mention making me long for a loop on the perfectly groomed tracks. WOW!

Enjoy the video below!

Thanks Guys!

http://sharing.theflip.com/greeting/102309101/sid/04d9a20c579a9b227a2f06aa886a9b4c

Quick Catch Up

2011-07-18T17:54:00.000-07:00

On my way back to Park City from Sweden a month ago, (not sure how a month has already passed by, but it has) I stopped to visit Vermont for a few days. It was nice to have some time there in the summer, as I usually miss out completely on this time of year in Vermont. My parent's garden was just getting into the swing of things, so we were pulling asparagus, lettuce and plenty of herbs for dinner each night, which is living the dream for me for sure. These pictures are extremely out of order, so prepare to get confused now!

My Cousin Josh and his beautiful wife Kate, who braved pregnancy and just gave birth yesterday to a 7 pound baby boy named Peter. So excited to meet him!!!

Alex Shaffer, Cory Wubbles and my Mom last week in Park City. My mom came out for a visit at the tail end of my big training week which was super awesome. We got to spend some really good time together and had a few BBQ's with really good friends, like the ones above.

Matt enjoying the company of a really cute dog named Lulu, on a really beautiful evening in Park City.

My Mom and I met at the top of The Canyons Ski Resort after ski motored to the top of the gondola and I ran on the mid-mountain trail from town. We ate lunch at a fancy restaurant at the top and then enjoyed a free gondola ride down!

I received a surprise package from good friends last week which contained a bunch of delicious Vermont goodies and a tie dyed T-shirt that says "Peace, Love and Cows" on it. So, as you would guess, they pretty much nailed it in terms of what I'm in to!! Thanks Andrea and Theo!!!

I participated in a mud run with a bunch of the USSA staff the other week which benefitted gynecological cancer research. There were some serious costumes as you may be able to imagine, what with all the feminine products out there and a bunch of women let loose to support a cause. One of my favorite moments was when a male supporter of one of the teams ran by in a tampon necklace. You definitely don't see that kind of commitment every day!

We were at the race to support a USSA staff member and her fight against Ovarian cancer, so this was one of the posters on our decorated van.

I did a rollerski clinic when I was home for a newly started group called the Lebanon Summer Ski Program. A lot of the kids were experiencing their first go round on the rollerskis, which is a challenging day for all, so Kudos for all of you who braved that first day! They were a really great group of athletes and they are all working together all summer to get a bit better for this year's season. Training with a group of fun people is the fastest and definitely most fun way to improve, so find a club or a buddy and go for a run!

Our first two moose in Alaska. These guys blocked Grover into his apartment within 10 minutes of him arriving!

Every trip home I try to hit up the local creemie stand (which is what soft serve frozen yogurt is called in central to northern Vermont, and really no where else). Today's flavor choice: blackberry with chocolate sprinkles. Yummmmmm.

My brother, Andy, recently got really into mountaineering and rock climbing. This is him at the top of either Mt. Baker or Mt. Hood, not positive which.

I believe this is a shot from the top of Mt. Baker, but it could be Mt. Hood too. It's one of the most beautiful pictures I have ever seen, so I wanted to make sure you all got to see it too. I have seen some amazing places in my life, but it seems my brother is getting to see even more spectacular places and in unfamiliar times of day for most of us.

My brother continuing his badass streak. So proud....wow.

NENSA REG CAMP GIRLS VIDEO!!!!!!

2011-07-05T06:38:00.000-07:00

We have received our first entry for our Women's XC Summer Training Camp Videos. PSYCHED because it rules. Really hoping to get some more! Come on girls! I know there are a ton of training groups out there. Watch NENSA's, get some motivation and make your own. It does not take long and the process is a fun one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbaLToVwTi8

Check out the US Women's Ski Team one here:

http://youtu.be/Dkhj8tXkMiI

ENJOY!!!

This one's for you, Chris

2011-06-19T04:31:00.000-07:00

This post is in memory of Chris Ludington, avid skier, runner, and outdoor enthusiast, not to mention a fan of all things fun and challenging. He encouraged others to be the best they could be, and supported his friends and family in whatever they chose to pursue. He taught everyone he met how to appreciate life, love each day to it's fullest, and find fun even in places you never would have looked for it. Chris, I will miss the way your smile would light up a day, and how much compassion you showed for others, but because of who you were, your spirit will live on forever in all who you touched, which was an enormous amount. My thoughts are with you Johanna, Tyler and Sue. I logged some serious K today for Chris in the ski tunnel. He would have gone nuts to see this place. All my love to you all.

If you would like to contribute you may do so here:

Contributions may be made to the Chris Ludington Scholarship Fund, c/o Lamoille South Supervisory Union, John Pike 202 Copley Ave., Morrisville, VT 05661 or Livestrong at livestrong. org, or P.O. Box 6008, Albert Lea, MN 56007-6603

Rest Day

2011-06-15T02:54:00.000-07:00

Kikkan, Anna and I had a rest day today, so, like our last rest day, we slept in until we couldn't anymore, which happened to be 10 am, again! So awesome! We had a leisurely breakfast which ended just as Emil was coming home from his morning session of paddling. A couple hours later we met Sara Lindborg for lunch at the top of a water storage tank. It was a really nice restaurant and we enjoyed the view after an arduous climb up many flights of stairs!

Emil, Sara, me and Anna enjoying a nice lunch.

The hot water storage tank on top of which is the restaurant we ate at.

Kikkan and I at the top of a small mountain on an island just across the water from Ostersund. Sara took us on a long run the first morning we arrived which started at the ski tracks and rolled through the forest and then along the lake back home.

Kikkan and Sara

Anna and Emil posing by/on their car.

A view from our run the first day.

Anna posing in her new Helly Hanson sailing jacket!

Emil ready to weather anything.

Pizza night! Yes, you are seeing that right, banana. Interesting and pretty darn good!

Yummm......

Lunch in the sun!!

We will head to Torsby with the Women's team tomorrow after a training session here in the morning. It will be hard to leave life with Emil and Anna, as we have had many good laughs, meals, training sessions and just overall a great time with our hosts. Emil has said a couple of times that he is taking us to the airport for an unexpected flight out, but we are still here so he must have been joking! More from Torsby and the ski tunnel!!

YEEEHAAWWWW!!!

2011-06-13T04:28:00.000-07:00

Congrats to my brother, Andy, who summited Mt. Baker last weekend!

Sweden Update 1

2011-06-12T08:18:00.000-07:00

Instead of copying and pasting a blog I have written to this site I am going to send you to another site you should check out. The site is www.nccsef.org. It has updates of what skiers are doing and ways to give back to programs that help support young skiers trying to become the best they can be. It's one you should bookmark for sure if you like to be in the loop of the ski world. Anyway, there will be an update posted shortly from my time in Sweden with Kikkan. It's been amazing so far and I know it's going to be tough to leave. Hope summer is treating everyone well!!

Best,

Liz

Shelley

2011-05-12T06:12:00.000-07:00

SGSEF and BMA Celebrate Shelley Glover's 25th Birthday	May 2011

Dear Friends of Shelley,

This month, on May 14^th, Shelley Glover would have celebrated her twenty-fifth birthday. To honor her life and legacy, the Shelley Glover Sports Education Foundation (SGSEF) is launching an endowment drive to raise $25,000 by May 14^th, 2011, kick-starting the expansion of its mission to formally include all three of Shelley's favorite sports - skiing, swimming, and soccer.

In tandem with SGSEF's campaign, we would like to provide fellow Burkies with an opportunity to make a gift to BMA's Shelley Glover Fund. Annual proceeds to the Shelley Glover Fund go toward desired training equipment for the Glover Training Center or toward young ski racers' participation in BMA's junior development programs, such as the Junior Program, December Development Camp (formerly known as Christmas Camp), and summer training camps. BMA's Shelley Glover Fund honors Shelley's life, by supporting young athletes in pursuing their passion to be competitive skiers.

If you'd like to make a gift to the Shelley Glover Fund, you may do so online by visitinghttps://www.burkemtnacademy.org/giving?rc=1 or by sending a check to:

Shelley Glover Fund

BMA

60 Alpine Lane

East Burke, VT 05832.

Whether you make a $25.00 gift to honor Shelley's 25^th birthday or another amount, know that your support will make a positive difference. Please be sure to make a note on the online payment form/check that your gift supports the Shelley Glover Fund!Please know that this gift is an Annual Restricted gift and will not be counted toward BMA's Annual Fund goal. If you have not already made a gift to this year's Annual Fund, we encourage you to join your fellow classmates and make a gift!

Shelley holds a special place in the hearts of those whose lives she touched here at BMA and beyond. Whether on the ski hill, in the classroom or during free time in the dorms, her positive energy, drive to excel, and sense of humor motivated us all. The SGSEF and Burke Mountain Academy feel so blessed to keep Shelley's inspirational spirit alive through these memorial funds. Please know that your support is greatly appreciated.

On behalf of SGSEF and Rich, Carmella and Bonnie Glover with love, we thank you.

Visit SGSEF's Facebook page and leave a birthday message for Shelley!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/group.php?gid=2334709640

The East to the West

2011-05-11T12:18:00.000-07:00

After the season I flew home to Vermont and spent 3 weeks at home, catching up with friends and hanging out with my parents. I really love the weather in Vermont in the spring, rainy, foggy and just damp, but every once in a while you will get a sunny day and it has a special feeling. Like a really good friend who you don't get to see much giving you a hug. Kind of like my dog, Charley, giving her pal Tad (my Uncle and Aunt's dog who spent 2 weeks at our house) a little spooning love in the picture above!

I flew to New York City the last weekend I was home and met up with Noah Hoffman to watch a friend perform as a dancer in an Opera at the MET, in which she did awesome, and the Opera itself was incredible too.

We checked out Staten Island, walked much of the city, ran in central park, saw Chicago on Broadway (which was really good), ate some awesome food, and enjoyed some serious spring sunshine. Being in the city is fun every so often, but as some of you may be able to imagine, I was overwhelmed and felt perpetually lost. Without Noah, I would still be somewhere in Queens trying to get to the Upper West Side! Julie, who has been a professional dancer for the last 10-12 years or so, just left the company she was with for her whole career. She took us around the city on Saturday, which was super fun, and I went to my first hot yoga class! As you can imagine, she is quite flexible and at points you would be hard pressed to be able to tell we were doing the same pose, but it felt great and I was sore sitting on the Amtrak home on Sunday.

I am now back in Utah for the training season. Our first camp is in Bend, Oregon the last 2 weeks of May and then I am most likely going to fly to Ostersund, Sweden to meet up with Kikkan and train with some of the members of the Swedish National Team. I have wanted to do something like this for a long time and Kikkan has done all the leg-work to get the trip off the ground, so the opportunity is too good to pass up. The US Ski Team is not funding this trip, but because of all the money that was raised with the Friends of Liz hats, made and donated by Skida, I am going to be able to fund this trip. I want to thank all who bought a hat and supported me this season and in past seasons.

Simi Hamilton and I are living up in a condo in Deer Valley for the summer that the Ski Team rented for athletes coming into town to do altitude testing or training in Utah. Simi and I are here full time, but over the course of the summer most of the athletes on the team will spend some time in it as well. It is ski in ski out, so we are right on some great trails for summer biking, running, hiking and whatever else, which is great.

Yesterday Barb Jones and I went on an awesome run in Salt Lake that headed straight up to the hills behind their house and up to the snow on a peak called Black Mountain. As you can see from the pictures, there was still plenty of snow to find.

Post workout snack! Pickle, walnut and cheese sandwich with a side of wine. Soooooo good!

Life is good here in Utah and I’m psyched for a summer of good training again.

FAST AND FEMALE in Sun Valley!!

2011-04-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have never heard of this, here is some info on how to get involved and how to learn about events coming to your area. GREAT EVENT in Sun Valley on Sunday!

Fast and Female Concludes 2011 US Winter with Fabulous X-Country SkiFest in Ketchum, Idaho

For more event pictures, please visit and "LIKE": http://www.facebook.com/fastandfemale

Ketchum, Idaho / Canmore, Alberta (April 4, 2011) - Fast and Female hosted its third and final X-Country SkiFest of the year on American snow this past Sunday in Ketchum, Idaho. Held under clear and sunny skies, the event was highlighted by the participation of 70 female ski enthusiasts between the ages of 7 to 19 years who had the opportunity to spend a morning of inspiration with 23 ambassadors - 7 of which are Olympians.

As part of the unique event, Fast and Female event participants kicked off their day with first-hand ski tips from some of the world's best cross-country ski racers including Kikkan Randall, Liz Stephen, Holly Brooks, Caitlin Compton, Morgan Arritola, Chandra Crawford (Canada), and Biathlete Sara Stedebaker. All ambassadors volunteered their time to the event and dressed the part to ensure a fun and relaxed atmosphere.

"It was super awesome," said 17 year-old participant Emily Williams. "We had so much fun dancing, singing and learning new technique drills. It was amazing to spend the day with these great athletes."

After the skiing, all girls enjoyed a healthy lunch, took part in an inspirational speech, and concluded the day with a fun yoga/dance session.

"The speeches were really inspirational and not just for cross country skiers," admitted Kailey Wilt, age 14.

In keeping with Fast and Female's vision, each event segment served a specific purpose to motivate girls to stay involved in sports as a tremendous vehicle for reaching one's personal and athletic best.

"The looks we saw on our athletes' faces today showed us what an important message Fast and Female sends to young women," added Kelley Sinnott from the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation. Sinnott played a key role in coordinating the event along with colleague Ashley McQueen.

Throughout the 2011 winter, Fast and Female hosted three events in the USA, reaching a total of 470 girls in Maine, Alaska and now Idaho. Historically, events are not only inspiring for the young participants but even ambassadors leave the day feeling energized.

"It's always refreshing to be reminded of kids' energy and enjoyment of whatever they are part of," said World Cup racer Liz Stephen. "Fast and Female is a wicked program and the local community and Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation did an awesome job with all the work!"

Parent volunteer, Gretchen Wagner, also commented on the impact of the day: "What an amazing group of women! It was great to see all of the girls inspired by these fast female heroes. Smiles from ear to ear!"

All event participants left with a Fast and Female t-shirt, Buff and autographed poster.

This activity was made possible thanks to valuable local partners such as the Works of Grace Foundation, the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation, Cheatwood Photography, and many parent volunteers. Fast and Female's national sponsors - including Best Buy, Buff Multifunctional Headwear, lululemon athletica, and Cold-FX - are also providing resources to make this event possible. For a complete list of Fast and Female national program supporters and sponsors, please visit: http://www.fastandfemale.com/default.asp?lang=&mode=webpage&id=89.

Fast and Female will be releasing more event information shortly. Until then, continue to visit http://www.fastandfemale.com/

ABOUT FAST AND FEMALE
Fast and Female is a not-for-profit society started in 2005 by Chandra Crawford - 2006 Olympic gold medalist in cross-country skiing. The organization's mission is to ensure that girls remain supported, motivated, inspired, empowered to stick to sports and the healthy lifestyle. Fast and Female fulfills its mission of "Empowerment Through Sport" by hosting fun-filled, non-competitive initiatives all across North-America aimed at exposing young female athletes to inspiring female Olympians and elite level athletes. The young girls who attend Fast and Female events today will lead it in the future, may it be as athletes, coaches, volunteers, parents, and community leaders. For more information about Fast and Female, visit http://www.fastandfemale.com/

CONTACTS:
Marie-Hélène Thibeault
Executive Director
Fast and Female
Phone: (403) 678-4806
Email: mthibeault@fastandfemale.com

Ashley McQueen/Kelley Sinnott
Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation
Phone: (208) 720-2558/ (208) 720 8998
Email: Ashley@svsef.org /Kelley@svsef.org

Catch up from Lahti...

2011-03-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I think at least 50% of my posts have started with "catch up from ____" so maybe my new blog page title should be titled "catch up". A bit/a lot of catch up needs to happen again here, so here are a few pictures from Lahti, Finland and beyond, and as usual, more to come.

Morse farm shirt and Skida hat being sported in front of the jumps at Lahti. As I didn't bring a ton of shirts or hats, these were both sported a lot over the winter!

Morgan, Holly and Kikkan with a bunch of Finnish kids who were headed out to watch the jumping competition one day. Not a rare sight in Europe. Safety vests always too.

So over the course of the winter, starting before Oslo, I developed a lot of pain on the back of my heel. I have some pretty good bumps, shown here in these lovely pictures of my feet, and the combination of tight boots, a slightly different fit in this year's model, and not paying enough attention to the pain I was getting until it was too late, I developed bursitis in my heel. It got so bad that in order to race in Lahti I had a cobbler cut a hole in the back of my boot so I was able to put my foot in it. I have not raced since then and have seen 2 specialists so far to try and take care of the problem. Bursitis can take 8 weeks to heal up, so I am 3 weeks in and have had some relief in the pain, though still cannot touch the area comfortably. The good news is that it is not painful unless something touches the area, so I learned today that I am cleared to train and do whatever doesn't hurt it. So, that's great! There is a surgery I can have if I want to that would shave down the extra bone growth that I have, but with surgery there is always a long recovery and possible complications, so I'm going to try and avoid it. I decided not to race in Sun Valley for the Supertour Finals and long distance Nationals and try and give my foot a bit of a break from ski boots and stress on the tendon. I did go up to watch the first 2 races, now am back in Park City, Utah and am headed back to Sun Valley for the final races and Fast and Female the day following. Then I am headed East to see a final doctor and be in Vermont for a bit of mud season, which I hear is in full effect!

Kikkan on the Podium at World Cup Finals in Falun!!! SO COOL!!!

YEAH BUDDY!! Just in case anyone is wondering about the effects of cracking a bottle of Champagne post World Cup Podium, ask Kikkan. The effects of toasting with your team of wax techs, coaches and teammates and enjoying the success you have just achieved keeps the momentum going. Kikkan toasted with Champagne after every podium she was on and she was on more of them this season than ever before. Not saying the bubbly did it, but I am saying enjoy and take in success when it happens, because it doesn't happen every time you strive for it.

Me when I found out!

So, I road tripped to Vail, Colorado to see the first doctor, 5 days after returning from Europe. I was surprisingly not sleepy and got to catch up with some great friends and see the sun full on for the first time in a little while. I did forget sunglasses though, so skiing that day was extremely bright! Oh and funny thing, as I'm driving on I-70 just outside of Vail, I look over and see Phil Comen from Onion River Sports driving next to me! Really funny. We didn't get to catch up, as we were headed to different places and you can't say too much in a driving snowstorm yelling between two cars going 70, but it was good to se him.

The Vail trails. Thanks for the Vail Valley Ski Club for letting me tour around on their trails!

I headed out after my ski on my way back to Park City, but such is so often the case for me, I glanced at the map instead of looking twice (a good rule of thumb for me every time) and, wanting to take a new way home, ended up driving through Steamboat. Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but when it takes you 3 1/2 hours to get there from Vail, when you can get there in 1 1/4, you know you have gone the long way. As I was settling in for a long drive toPark City that night, I saw off on my right a ski area, with groomed nordic trails. The sun was setting and the moon was coming up and so I pulled a U-ey and went for a ski. Meanwhile, my friend Sarah MacCarthy called me and her parents live in town, so I ended up staying at their house for the night and going on a really great ski in the morning with her dad. We followed it up with a tour of the Steamboat Library and breakfast and then I headed out.

Night ski in Steamboat. Really pretty night.

Me at Sarah's house with her dog and cat!

And the funny thing is that this is Sarah with my dog, Charley, a week earlier at my house with my parents when I was in Europe! House swap! Thanks parents!

I did a lot of driving, listened to a lot of music and saw a couple dinos.

Dinosaur, Utah

Just a cool tree.

Road trip must.

I blew bigger bubbles, but this was the last of the gum, so I was a but compromised.

WHAT?!? Earings that are as big as my I-Pod? Pretty sweet fashions in this world. Wish I had a pair of these for choice occasions.

More pictures from Sun Valley and life soon.

World Champs Briefly

2011-03-04T06:24:00.000-08:00

Team Photo in our sweet new BD sweatshirts.

The best Parmesan cheese I have ever tasted! AMAZING! Straight from a local Italian farm with 200 Buffalo. Cool.

Ice Caves at the Holmenkollen Venue. Pretty sweet looking, though I never went in them.

Bird in the skate portion of the pursuit, just off the lead pack.

The Hoff hassling any and all he could.

Harvey and his gap on the rest of the field. Gutsy move that day, really impressive, and one of these years he is going to hold it the whole way.

Feed zone in the pursuit. Total craziness.

Mens pursuit day. Crowds were huge and only got bigger through the week.

Norwegian Fans. They would cheer for everyone really loudly and cause deafness if you were Norwegian.

View of the ski jump and some of the stadium

Spectators were literally everywhere, and not just one row, but 50 rows deep and along the entire course. They packed into the woods, between trees, anywhere they could possibly be, they would go. Every day. For 10 days. It must have been exhausting. The day of the mens pursuit 3,000 people missed the race because they were in line for the trains for so long. So, they started hiking to the venue 5 hours before the races would even start. It was nuts. Camping would for sure be the way to go, for the added fun factor and the time saver!

Steph (our awesome volunteer massage therapist from Caribou, Maine), Kikkan, Sadie, Jessie, Holly, me, and Nancye Rahn (USST staff member who took her vacation to come watch our races!)

Me, the US Ambassador to Norway, and Nancye. The Ambassador and his wife invited us to their house one night to mingle a bit. Super nice.

A very cute, very fired up Norwegian kid, of which there were many.

Medals Ceremony entertainment the night of the Canadians win in the Team Sprint. We were extremely fired up and I for sure thought I was Canadian that night. So psyched for those guys!

Medals Ceremony. Awesome singers and performers.

And extreme costumes!

No words. This guy is into it.

The Swedish Princess and Prince who came to watch the Swedish women receive their gold medal.

Pretty psyched Gold Medalists!

More pretty pumped Gold medalists, Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey. Congrats guys!!!

Billy Demong being honored for his 6th place finish

Todd Lodwick celebrating his 5th place

And more fans just celebrating anything and everything they could.

I have lots more to say, and will continue to post stories from the Championships, but wanted to get something up before everyone got sick of waiting and spammed my blog or something! Sorry for the long waits.....more soon! Final World Cup for me in Lahti, Finland tomorrow then flying home to Park City. Super psyched to see some friends and get ready for spring series in Sun Valley at the end of March.

Drammen World Cup to Oslo

2011-02-22T05:55:00.000-08:00

Drammen is a town that is known for their city sprint every year, but this year they did something different and hosted a World Cup up on the town's ski trails. As I have never been here before, it was cool to see a new town and ski at a new venue. Saturday we raced a 10k classic and then us distance skiers drove to Oslo to our hotel for the entirety of World Champs. The sprinters stayed another night and raced a skate sprint on Sunday, in which the North Americans had a really great day. Kikkan took home her third World Cup gold of her career, second this year, which was SUPER exciting to see, and a great way to head into the Championships, where the first race is another skate sprint on the course she was second in last season! It should be a really exciting event, which you should be able to watch live from the USA on www.fromsport.com. Check it out. The canadians also had a great day, with Alex Harvey finishing 2nd and Lenny Valjas qualified 4th and finished 9th! Huge day! We were watching the races from the bar in our hotel where they projected it onto a wall for us! Pretty sweet.

An older street in Drammen. Really cool architecture right by the river

View of the river in Drammen.

This is the downtown square in Drammen where the city sprints usually take place. It would be quite an event to be part of some year.

Drammen library. There is a college here and this library is incredible. I sat in a comfy chair by one of the many windows for part of an afternoon one day and read my book. It's always good to find a hang out place in each town that is out of the hotel room for me. I sleep better, relax better, and feel better not trying to rest in the room I sleep in. So, this was my Drammen spot.

Having the World Championships in Oslo is going to be unreal. As Oslo is the birthplace of nordic skiing, saying people are into it over here, really doesn't come close to summing up how into it these people are. To give you a small idea, we are still 2 days out of the championships and people have had their tents set up out on course for a good couple weeks now. "Camp Gjerdalen" just went up yesterday and is already manned by some of his many friends and family. Im not sure I can sum up exactly how sweet this event is going to be, but it's going to be unreal. We are fired up as a team, and are ready to rock. This is going to be fun. It's time to get into it!!

Stadium in Oslo. 80 Piston Bully passes? 100? Whatever it is, it's a lot.

Tad on day 1 with the 120 meter jump in the background.

Tad, Matt and Canadian Brook Gosling out on a ski the first day. It's cold, but this day in particular was really sunny and nice.

A really awesome old Saab 9-6 I saw. Made from Jets.

Olympiatoppen

2011-02-07T04:54:00.000-08:00

I traveled to Oslo, Norway on Wednesday evening and arrived at the Olympiatoppen (the Norwegian Olympic Training Center) on Thursday morning. If you are a skier trying to get some good training in, this is the perfect place to do it. There are literally hundreds of kilometers of ski trails right out the door, many that connect to the Holmenkollen trails, which is great for us, as we are preparing for the World Championships which will be held on those very trails. It's dorm room living and buffet food, a strength facility which is huge, and a train that runs into town every 15 minutes. Its really quite perfect and very easy living. Today we get a few more U.S. athletes, but up until today Simi, Morgan, Pete and I have been the crew. We all had some hard intervals this morning which we did on the World Champs courses. Last night we prepped for them by watching the Women's 30K race from last year on these courses, which really is quite a race to get you psyched up for some hammering. Tomorrow we have some easy distance and then Wednesday we will drive up to Beitostollen, Norway where we will race a Scandinavian Cup mini tour on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Pete, Mo and I walking the streets of Oslo last night after a great dinner and afternoon in town. We met up with one of my Norwegian friends from my Burke days who gave us a tour of the Old City, the Architecture Museum and some coffee shops!

Locals on the train after the daily ski. Routine. Pretty sweet.

View from the ski trails yesterday. Double tracked classic trails are definitely my favorite and there are tons of them here. Really pretty.

A few pumped people during yesterdays ski.

All pictures are from Simi, as I have yet to break out my camera! Whoops! More soon.

January Training Block/VT Time

2011-01-28T14:10:00.000-08:00

Berlin Elementary Winter Carnival!

Some of the kids and I after the Berlin Elementary School Winter Carnival. Winter Carnivals are a really neat thing that some of the schools around here are doing. Kids head outdoors and learn and participate in different activities for a couple hours in the afternoon. There are different stations, cross country skiing, sledding, snow sculpting, and snowshoeing, and each kid gets to try out all of them by the end of the series of carnivals. Kids get to try out new things, see if any strike an immediate interest, play outside with their friends and enjoy winter and being healthy together. I was super stoked to be a part of one day of it. Thanks Berlin!

Berlin Elementary student enjoying the time outdoors and on skis!

U-32 Night Sprints!

I was also invited to participate in some night sprints at my old high school, U-32, where nordic skiing has really taken off. Mark Chaplin and Kathy Topping, the same coaches who coached me for cross country running in the fall and track in the spring, have done an amazing job grooming fun trails (about 8K) and striking up an interest in the community towards nordic skiing. The team is huge and filled with kids who are excited to be a part of a supportive team and of course to be skiing around in the cold dark in spandex suits! We are so weird. U-32 ran a great event of night sprints that had a good turnout of kids from other area schools and clubs. I was pumped to get the invite and had a blast skiing around the 1k loop. It was awesome. Thanks for a great event Mark and Kathy and keep up your great spirits U-32 Raiders!

And my babysitter JoJo came to surprise me too!!!

HOME!

I have been home in Vermont for a good 5 weeks now, with a week spent at US Nationals in Rumford, Maine. Its been great to have a solid training block and be home in Vermont with my family and such great snow. I got a cold after nationals and have had time to recover from that, raced the Colby Carnival and got to catch up and stay with some long time friends the Poole's and race up in Canada this past weekend as well. I'm ready to be hitting the road now though, as it's mid-race season and being home gets a bit itchy after a while. I am heading to Oslo now for a few days of training on the World Championship courses, then we will drive up to Beitostolen, Norway for some Scandinavian cups next weekend. After that we have one World Cup weekend in Drammen, Norway and then back to Oslo for the World Championships. This is going to be a seriously fun event and a huge deal over in Norway, as they are expecting between 200 and 300 thousand fans!

My dad on a ski with my dog Charley. Super great snow in VT these days, and it seems to just keep dumping. Awesome.

My Mom, my dog Charley and I went for a little classic tour in the snow this morning before I headed to the airport to catch a flight to Newark, NJ and then Oslo, Norway. Currently I'm still in Burlington, but getting out looks good, so I'm keeping my fingers uncrossed because I have yet to cross them and things are going well.

My mom and Charley. The snow is so light and perfect and the woods are really beautiful. Super great to be able to just walk out the door of our house and ski. So fun.

I headed up to Orford, Quebec this past weekend to do a mini-tour race series. Orford has awesome trails and I highly suggest checking it out if you haven't been there and are looking for a new place to ski. Its really pretty, has great grooming and what seems to be an endless trail system. Thanks to all the race organizers for their work on putting the races on. It was really fun to be a part of.

Updates to come again more frequently!! Stay tuned.

Friends of Liz

2011-01-12T07:58:00.000-08:00

There is also a new button added to my blog site directly to the right that has the word Donate on it. This is the first step in a project called Friends of Liz, which the hat company, SKIDA is helping me with. We have come up with a hat, which is in production now, that will be my design and have a patch on it with the Friends of Liz Logo on it. This should be up and running with pictures of the hat over the coming weeks, so stay posted, and again, thanks for all you already do to support me.

Check out Skidasport.com for cool hats, bandanas, neck warmers and headbands!

US NATIONALS

2011-01-12T06:50:00.000-08:00

US Nationals in Rumford, Maine just ended and it was a great event. I traveled to the event with my old club, Burke Mountain Academy, and coaches Pete Phillips and Matt Johnson were my wax techs and support squad for the week. It was great to be back with Burke and spend some time getting to know the athletes on the team. I will be traveling with Burke to Sun Valley for US Distance Nationals and Spring series at the end of March and am already looking forward to it. The racing went well, though I did not have my best showing in the 10k classic, the 20k skate the next day gave me a chance to redeem myself and I was really happy with my effort that day. The sprint on Saturday went better than expected, finishing 7th at the end of the day, which I think is my best Nationals sprint result ever. I am home now battling a cold, which will have me missing the Supertour in Lake Placid this Friday and Saturday, but I can't really complain as this is about as good a time as any to get sick. I will be home training until February 1st when I head to Europe.

Here are a few pictures from the week, courtesy of Ian Harvey and John Farra and a video clip that was taken.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cSeeZsTRyE

Me, racing the 20K skate race on Thursday.

Noah Hoffman leading a train of the ultimate US National Champion this day, Lars Flora and CXC's Brian Greg who finished the day in a strong 6th.

Women's Podium from 20K Skate

Thanks to all my supporters and sponsors. This is a long road, full of bumps, holes and flying saucers. Avoiding what you can is only part of the game. Sickness, injury, fatigue, mental burnout, these happen in a career to most. Getting back on your feet, jumping into the air and becoming better than you were before the crash, that's the real game, and it's always the support of fans, friends, and family that make your brain know it's possible.

10K classic race. The volunteers and race officials did a great job pulling these races off, given the amount of snow they had to work with. To be honest, when I showed up the day before this race to check out the trails and help shovel, I didn't think there would be any way they could put a race on the following day, especially a race with 600 athletes competing. But they did, and it was good. Thanks a lot to all who helped get this event off the ground.

Highland cows on the way to Trapp Family Lodge (www.trappfamilylodge.com) for a ski pre-nationals. Beautiful place, Vermont is.

Now home for 3 weeks to eat home cooked meals, train hard and well and get ready for the rest of the season. Pumped.

Davos to France

2010-12-16T05:38:00.001-08:00

2010-12-05T09:07:00.000-08:00

Pictures with no words

2010-11-28T06:26:00.000-08:00

To Gallivare!

2010-11-16T04:35:00.000-08:00

On Monday morning we woke up to a day of easy travel to Gallivare, Sweden, the first World Cup stop of the season. After a leisurely breakfast of the usual spread of oatmeal, breads, jams, fruits, pickles, cheeses, mini Finnish pancakes, yogurt, muesli and coffee, tea and juice, we climbed in the van and pulled out of Muonio. Immediately, we left the main roads, crossed the boarder into sweden and found ourselves on two lane, icy roads, with endless kilometers of snow-plastered pine trees, lakes and reindeer. It was about 250 kilometers to Gallivare, and with about 100 to go we started to worry about the amount of gas we had in the tank, as the gas light had been on for about 20k and every town we came to consisted of merely a blue sign with the town name and a house or two, but definitely no petrol station. So, with about 80k's to go, we decided it was not looking too good for us and we better ask for some help. So we pulled into a driveway and an older, weathered man walked out of the house, wearing a light fleece jacket and no gloves. He turned out to be a reindeer farmer who was receiving a shipment of 200 reindeer in the next 20 minutes, but as he had no diesel, he called all of his friends and one of them who lived a couple of kilometers away had some diesel we could buy. So we waited with him while his reindeer were delivered, which was quite a process and then went and got ourselves 5 liters of diesel from his friend down the road.

Mo at the Reindeer farmer's house, caught in the moment of adventure.

If you order 200 Reindeer for your farm, this is how they come, in a double stacker semi.

Sunset in Gallivare when we arrived at 2 pm.

While we had run our van was out of gas, the second van, carrying all of the gear and 3 people, began leaking oil and broke down at a gas station. Some locals, who turned out to be reindeer herders (it may be becoming clear what people do around this part of the world for professions), took Jocke, Kris and Fish to their house where they made them coffee and attached a homemade trailer to the back of their Golf. Then they loaded Jocke's stuff in it (he was headed to the airport so he had all his stuff with him) and everyone piled into the small car. Picture it, the reindeer herder, his wife, Jocke, the Bird and the Fish all squeezed into a Volkwagen Golf. Pretty funny.

We all arrived in Gallivare safe and sound, thanks to the kindness of humans. This morning's ski was awesome and in a couple hours a few of us will head out for an afternoon night ski. Others will run, others will lift weights and others will rest. Everyone is fired up, last year's Supertour winner, Chirs Cook, shows up this afternoon and we will be fielding 2 relay teams on Sunday. It's an amazing way to start the season, having a big traveling team, and knowing there are about 15 other American's racing in Roveniemi this weekend as well.

Here are a few more pictures from this weekend's events.

Newell at the Alpine World Cup in Levi carrying the flag. After the races on Sunday a few of us jumped in the van and headed over to Levi, a town about 45 minutes away to catch the second run of the men's World Cup slalom. We had 6 guys racing and two qualified for the second run, Ted Ligety and Will Brandenburg. Ted skied to an 18th place finish and unfortunately Will, who had skied up from bib 35 in the first run to 8th, straddled and skied out. It was really fun to be in Finland watching our alpine guys do their thing.

Alpine World Cup in Levi, Finland.

Sprint and 5/10k update from Muonio

2010-11-13T04:08:00.000-08:00

We had an awesome start to the season yesterday. Kikkan skied her way to a win in the skate sprint and Ida Sargent from Team Green/Dartmouth/USA made it to the semi's in a very strong field of World Cup women. Andy Newell had a bit of a tough day, but the first races of the season can be a bit tough and rocky at points, so there is no stress. Today, the women raced a 5k classic. It was my first race of the season and I felt ok, though did not ski very fast, however I am looking forward to tomorrow's 10K skate. In the men's 10k classic today, Kris took it out hot with a win, and the other boys looked strong as well. So, we have had a very strong start to the season with many more races to come. Spirits are high and it is great to have such a large American crew over here this year. Team Green, Maine Winter Sports, BSF and others have come over and it has really beefed up our squad.

Ida after yesterday's race!

Morgan, Noah, Ida and Pete fired up for one another.

Kikkan cresting the top of the first hill out of the start yesterday. She lead the charge every heat all day long. Very impressive skiing.

Newell in his quarterfinal

Kikkan addressing the press in the finish zone.

Muonio

2010-11-11T04:36:00.000-08:00

We arrived on Monday night to Muonio, Finland, after a solid 30 or so hours of travel time. We are way up here, where it is dusk all the time. The sun is always rising or setting, but here, you don't base your day's plans around the hours of daylight. There are hundreds of kilometers of skiing in the middle of winter here, and almost all of them are lit. Daylight is man made, rather than created by the rising of a large star, and darkness is plentiful, so there are many chances for night skis, which are some of my favorites. Races kick off tomorrow with a skate sprint, then a 5/10K classic race on Saturday, followed by another 5/10K skate on Sunday. YEAH BUDDY!

Just when you thought that High Sierra couldn't make a bigger backpack, they do, and Kikkan and I still managed to fill them. Now they really don't fit in the overhead or under the seat in front of you. Walking to my seat on the plane is what it must feel like to be the master of the game "Sorry". I have to say it to every passenger sitting in the isle seat, as the side pockets full of water bottles hit them in the face as you pass by.

Simi scraping a pair of skis on day 1. We are lucky to have the support of one of our wax techs, "Juqui", (really unsure of the spelling on that one) here, not to mention 2 fired up coaches in Brian Fish and Pete Vordenberg.

Day 1 of skiing in Muonio. There is really good snow here and about 25K of skiing, so no complaints will be coming from up North, and we are WAY UP NORTH. Check this place out on a map. The quickest way will be to find the arctic circle and go 250 kilometers north. Up here, daylight literally disappears to the tune of almost 9 minutes a day, or about an hour a week!

Halloween

2010-10-31T18:25:00.001-07:00

Really creative post by Johnny Klister, I think. Wow. Really creative.

http://johnnyklister.com/2010/10/johnny-klister-halloween-costume-guide-put-down-the-lady-gaga-costume/

Ketchup from Ketchum

2010-10-08T12:13:00.000-07:00

After an awesome camp in Sun Valley/Ketchum, Idaho, I headed to The Dells in Wisconsin for the 2nd annual century bike ride for Shelley Glover. Now, every town has their thing, and the towns that don't, build some sort of large sculpture and call themselves the home of the largest banana or sheep or pineapple. See below.

However, The Dells is known as the Waterpark Capital of the World, and once you have been there you will understand why. The town is filled with hotels that have huge, medium and small indoor and outdoor waterparks attached, and it is a scene. However, I have found the ultimate reason to go to The Dells and it is for the road biking. Now I am not someone to toot the sport of road biking's horn, as the way I see it, it is simply a good way to get a sore butt, neck and back, and buzzed by cars all in the same go. Plus most road bikes come with that handy little digital computer that insists on showing you how many miles you have gone and the speed you traveled them at, which really only makes the whole experience worse when you travel at an average speed of 2 miles an hour. So, I don't go too often. However, on this particular Saturday I went for 100 miles with 2 very good friends and in an incredibly beautiful area. So, if you are looking for a beautiful spot to road bike or rollerski or ride your motorcycle or tricycle, head to The Dells. You are in for a nice surprise. Here are a few pictures from our ride.

Bonnie Glover and Keely Kelleher in the last 10 miles of the ride

Hello Foliage! WOW!

Bonnie, me, Keely and Julia Littman at breakfast the morning after the ride

Keely and Bonnie near Devils Lake, WI. Next year in September if you are looking for a great Saturday activity in a beautiful place to benefit a great cause, come do the Shelley Glover Century Ride. You can check it out at: www.shelleygloverfoundation.com

Since the ride, I have spent time in Utah, climbing Timp, adventuring with friends and training hard.

Me up on Mt Timpanogus

Matt at the top of Timp. Think BYU has been up there at all?

Now I am in Lake Placid at our last dryland camp of the season. Lots of intensity is on the schedule and has already started with the annual Climb to the Castle. To see pictures check out: http://www.nccsef.org and to see some video check out: http://www.dartfish.tv/Presenter.aspx?CR=p1490c6378m184593

We are staying at the OTC until the end of the week when I will head to Vermont for the last training block before we head to Northern Finland for the season openers.

Sun Valley!

2010-09-13T16:32:00.000-07:00

Camp is going great. Today is an off day then back into some hard training through the end of the week. Really great weather here in Sun Valley, so we have been soaking up the last days of real summer before heading into fall.

Morning off. Coffee, breakfast then straight to check out the local willow tree house made by a local artist.

Wood chip floor made for an incredible smell

Definitely one of the cooler things I have seen

It is made with no twine or any substance to hold it together. Simply willow trees weaved together. Super sweet.

Matt Whitcomb stand-up paddle boarding on Petit Lake. We went for an awesome 3 hour run around Redfish Lake then headed to the Sinnott's cabin on Petit Lake. Thanks to the Sinnott's for great food and an epic afternoon at their lake house.

Totally beautiful here. We went tubing, stand-up paddle boarding, played horseshoes, wake-boarded and swam until our teeth chattered. It was straight up the best day I can remember during the last week, which is saying something because I have had an awesome week.

Diggins loving the wood chip floor.

Gelso, Simi, Matt and Tim in the boat going out for a round of tubing and wake-boarding.

PS I forgot to show you how cute these guys are....

2010-09-08T13:04:00.003-07:00

Oh, them too, but I meant....

This guy....

and this guy....

And all those guys. Pigs are the worlds cutest creatures. Someday I will have one named Foxtrot, when I own a farm, and I will wear overalls and flannels every day. Dream big.

Fresh Tracks Farm

2010-09-08T12:52:00.000-07:00

Fresh Tracks Farm and Winery just opened a new wine tasting building that I went to visit when I was home a couple weeks ago. I highly recommend going to check it out, especially if you have not tried any of their wine before. I would suggest getting the sampler, as you get to taste every variety they have and walk out with your very own Fresh Tracks Farm wine tasting glass! Not to mention the company you get to sit and chat with are not half bad! Thanks for all the support Kris and Christina have given me! Go visit the farm! The building still smells like fresh cedar. Best smell in the world!

Fresh Tracks Farm

Onion River Nordic Epic Day!

2010-09-03T07:13:00.000-07:00

Onion River Nordic invited me on their annual epic adventure day last Sunday. Super fun group of kids and I was fired up to be a part of it all. Thanks for all the wonderful support from the parents and of course to Dan Voisin for setting the whole thing up!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?facebook=true&sourceId=984136008703

On THE Field? No way! YATZEE!!!!

2010-08-25T10:15:00.001-07:00

Wally, Chelsea Marshall (Olympic downhill skier), me and Matt on the field at Fenway. Yes, I took some dirt home. It was sweet.

Let me just say, fairly high stoke level at this point.

New Zealand!!

2010-08-08T17:57:00.000-07:00

Mo, Bernie and Simi

Team photo. Left to right: Noah, Kikkan, Andy, Morgan, Simi, me, Kris.

Left to right: me, Simi, Lev (a Russian athlete), and Andy. Day off in Queenstown.

Pete working with Bird on some technique goals. The coaches put a ton of effort in every day. Pete = All In

Matt = All In

Grov = All In

Bernie Gardner: coach of the year and best performance of the day. Bernie is just one of those guys that you want to be around all the time. Always laughing, smiling and working hard. He has spent over 7 months of his life at the Snowfarm and is not a professional skier or an employee. In all that time, no one has ever seen him frown.

Boys sprint final. It all came down to a leg throw between Andy and Simi.

Chandra putting the hammer down in the sprint

Girls 10K classic podium. Left to right: Chisa Obayashi (a Japanese athlete who trained for a month in Bend this spring), me, Morgan Arritola.

Boys 15K classic podium. Left to right: Ivan Babikov, Devon Kershaw and Kris Freeman.

Canadians, Noah and Bird training together. It was super awesome having both of our teams here at the same time this year. To be able to double the training buddies on a given day, double to competition at these summer races, double the people to hang out with in our off time, it really boosts the camp to an incredible level. Our two teams have met up for 2 camps this year, which is 2 more than any other year and they will be in Park City next month for a camp, so I will be able to train with them again at that point, as well as with Kikkan, as she is coming down too. The Canadians are a great group to be around, too, always joking and yelling and laughing, as well as working super hard out on the trails, so it is a win win for our two teams for sure.

Not sure I need to comment...it's so good in New Zealand. So good.

Bend Camp

2010-06-02T13:56:00.000-07:00

There is not much better than the smell of things drying out after a soaking summer rain. You know the smell, pine trees blowing in the breeze, the earthiness of the ground potent and full, flooding your nostrils. It is a smell of new life, of things drinking up water and breathing out fresh oxygen. There is that humidity in the air that can feel almost too thick to breath, but there is no staleness in it. Today was an over distance (OD) workout and we woke up to a dreary rain and wind blowing outside. As we drove up to Mt. Bachelor, where our groomed ski trails awaited us, (thanks to the Mt. Bachelor groomers!) the rain only got harder and more persistent. So, parked, we climbed out of the vans, nordic skiers from all over the country and Canada, including Olympic biathlon sit skiers, and dressed in our best rain gear from trash bag vests to plastic bag socks, we hit the trails. There are almost always ups and downs in a 3 hour ski. Moments when you feel great and moments when you think you might just quit, but with a GU, a happy dance, a teammate to ski with or a song to amp you up, you can get through most things. I happen to have an amazing team, people whom I call my family, a group of coaches who stood in the pouring rain, chilled to the bone for the entire 3 hours, touching up our skis and keeping spirits high or taking a lap with us to work on technique, so there were relatively few "moments" for me. It is these days when, climbing back in the van at the end, soaked to the bone, tired, and chilled is one of my favorite feelings in the world. It is like the smell after a soaking summer rain. It is a giddy happiness that flows through my body. I have just done something that was not fun for the whole time, but made me a better skier and taught me how to push through things that are not always that sweet. It is the high five from my teammates who you just accomplished this thing with. It is the laughter that flows out with the silly stories of the ski, or just with the knowledge that you just got better today, and getting warm is in your future. I have a great team and I am pushed and encouraged by them every time I step out the door to train. We are a team on and off the race course, which is the type of team I want to be a part of, and we are a team who are proud of each other. We can be better, and we know we can, which is why we are working towards a goal together instead of apart, and I would not want to do it any other way but this. We have had a great camp with each other and with other club programs and teams and after tomorrow we will all head back to our respective homes or training venues for a few weeks until we meet up again for New Zealand in July. I am already psyched. Thanks to everyone who made this camp happen and for all the energy everyone brought each day. Town of Bend, thanks for being so hospitable and to Mt. Bachelor for firing up your groomers for us once again. We will look forward to next year!

Habitat for Humanity

2010-04-23T18:25:00.000-07:00

Habitat for Humanity with the US Women's silver medalist Hockey team and Team for Tomorrow. Pretty awesome day!

Hockey team member Erika Lawler and our wall!

So proud!

http://www.teamusa.org/news/2010/04/22/athletes-participating-in-habitat-for-humanity/35515?ngb_id=3

There are some photo's to the right of the link too that you can check out. This topped off one of the coolest couple days that I have ever been a part of. The US Olympic team got to meet President Obama, First Lady Michelle and Vice President Biden and his wife Jill. It was incredible. Michelle held my hand for the whole photo shoot, which must have lasted 30 seconds and I got to shake Barack's hand. It was quite surreal and it was the first time in my life I have ever been "starstruck". I have a lot to catch up on and will post pictures of my spring very soon so check back for more updates over the next couple days!

Do Something Big - with Shaq

2010-03-11T02:35:00.001-08:00

To all who have supported and encouraged me over the years,

2010-02-07T21:15:00.000-08:00

Onion River Nordic skiers going above and beyond as usual! Thanks guys!!

I have tried to reflect over the last couple of weeks on what being named to this 2010 Olympic team has meant to me. I have tried to remember different points in my career and which ones were key to me making this dream possible. I have tried to remember the first time I won a race, and I don’t know the answer, but I can remember my first teammates. I have tried to remember the first time I thought of how cool going to the Olympics would be, and I can’t remember. I cannot seem to remember nearly as many bad days as I can good ones. What I do remember is racing the lifties from the top of the training hill at Burke, in a full-blown tuck all the way to the bottom, fear not even a consideration. I remember the rush of putting Nordic skis on for the first time, and how nervous I was that I was going to be laughed at, but instead, found support and encouragement around every turn. I remember chasing my teammate Carina Hamel around on the Burke Nordic trails every day for a year wanting to be just like her. I remember the people on my first International race trip, and the venue, and how big some of the other girls were, but I could not tell you any of the results from the races. I remember every day I have skied with kids, as they are the best people I know to remind you how to love what you do.

I have tried to live my life as best I can with focus on the here and now moment. Any time I have focused on the outcome of a certain race or goal, I have forgotten why I do what I do. And now, here I am, five days away from opening ceremonies at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and I am focusing with all my might on seeing this as just another piece in the process of my life. I have goals, I have dreams, I have desires, but they are just in place to help structure the journey.

I just raced in my final World Cup before the games in Canmore, Alberta. Before this I had a three-week training block in Park City, Utah and I have to admit, it was hard not to delve into total training mode. I have told myself every day for the last 24 days, that the Olympics are right around the corner, that they are next month, and then, they are in 2 weeks, and sure enough, here I am, staring at the five day marker of day one at the Olympics. So, what now? I have prepared the best I know how, used the resources I have available to me, trained, day in day out for the last seven years and now I have a new challenge waiting for me. I am part of a team who I believe completely in and am inspired by. I have coaches who I not only trust but who believe in me as well, and are all people I consider great friends. I have one of the best jobs I can think of, as each day I go to work by pulling out gear of one sort or another, a bike, a pair of skis, running shoes, barbells, a swim suit, and then proceeding to check out what the woods have to offer on that day. My job, in its simplest form, is to become the healthiest, fittest, strongest person I can possibly be. Imagine if we could all be so lucky.

So, my point is this. No matter what happens in 10 days, or in 20 days, I will still lace up my running shoes, will still put on my ski boots, still pick up some heavy weights and put them back down, and still rip around through the woods in any fashion I can, because this thing, this huge thing that we call the Olympics, is a huge deal, but that’s all it is. It is a huge deal that happens once every 4 years in my sport. It is a huge deal that I may only get to experience once, but it is not life or death. So what now? Now I put on a bib, lace up my boots and go ski as hard as humanly possible. This thing we call the Olympics, that happens once every four years, is now five days away. What I do now, is let the training, preparation and hard work carry me and try like hell to do my best.

What I do now, is get inspired. I am packing my bags to go to the Olympic Winter Games, the real ones, the ones we all dream about. What I do now, is thank all of the people who have been beside me, behind me and ahead of me for the last 23 years of my life, as there is no way I could have begun to live a life as awesome as mine is without you. What I do now is live. I live it up, because this may only happen once. What I do now is get goose bumps, teary eyed and jittery because I am about to compete on the biggest world stage there is, doing what I love to do more than anything else.

So in five days, let’s all fire up. Let’s all watch athletes do what they love, watch them compete and try to better their best. Let’s all get inspired. Whether you are an athlete who made the team, or one who tried like hell but didn’t, a parent, a friend, a coach, a loved one, a kid with a dream, lets all make a pact. Let’s all get inspired. Let’s all push ourselves to be better at something, anything. Thank you for pushing me. Thank you for inspiring me to do my best. Thank you for the countless pep talks and the unending belief in me. Thank you for inspiring me. Thank you for supporting me and keeping this sport fun, because the term “fun” really doesn’t sum it up.

Did a Fast and Female event last night in the streets of downtown Canmore. These guys are into it...50 truck loads of snow covering 4 blocks of main street. As the sprinters all said, "These conditions are nicer than any city sprint on the World Cup!"

Zumba dancing for a warm-up with the Fast and Female athletes!

Sarah Renner after her third place finish on Saturday! She may be the nicest Canadian you will ever meet, which is saying a lot as Canadians are the nicest people you will ever meet!

CANMORE WORLD CUP!!

2010-02-06T08:30:00.000-08:00

The Canmore World Cup is in full swing here and the American team has begun to throw down with some awesome results yesterday in the 10/15K skate. Today is the classic sprint and 5 men and 2 women qualified in the top 30 so will do the rounds in 45 minutes. I am headed up to watch, the weather is perfect and I have an off day today. Yesterday was a tough day for me, but it's funny how the sun can brighten up any mood, and watching others kick ass in their own races. So, today is a new day, and today I am a spectator. Here are a few views of the course and the weather. It doesn't get any better for cross country skiing.

This photo is dedicated to Paul Mangi who passed away on Wednesday. I remember very vividly walking into Mangis after school with my dad to buy a loaf of bread and seeing Paul and his wife Elaine. They would always hand me a roll, fresh out of the oven, and I can still taste them to this day. My thoughts are with you Elaine and your whole family.

Pat Casey: Glamour Coaching!

Flags for all the countries

Men's 15K skate

Bomber tracks!

Moon rise

View from Tomas Grandi's parent's bed and breakfast. If you ever come to Canmore be sure to look "The Paintbox Lodge" up for accommodations!

Three Weeks in Utah!

2010-01-13T11:11:00.000-08:00

Fresh Tracks Farm, Berlin VT. Headgear sponsor this year!! Check out their website: www.freshtracksfarm.com

Back in Utah!! I just rolled back into Park City after being in Alaska for US Nationals. It is great to be back and the snow, though old and thin is really good on the cross country trails. Went for a birthday ski with Garrott Kuzzy and Matt Whitcomb at Sundance yesterday! So beautiful up there, and some of the most fun trails to ski. Really nice crowd up there too. I will be training here for 3 weeks, as I will not be going to U-23 Championships this year, as it is a lot of travel for right now. Here are a few catch up pics from Nationals in AK and a couple from SoHo too! Thanks to Ian Harvey for some of the race shots!!

Men's A Final in the classic sprint. The junior skiers were very impressive this week. Watch for great things at the World Junior and U-23 Championships in 2 weeks in Germany. These guys are ripping it up! # of juniors in men's A final: 3

Dartmouth and Team Green's Ida Sargent ripping it up in the classic sprint. Another one to watch at U23's. Really impressive classic sprinter.

Sun Valley's Kate Whitcomb skiing to a victory in the Women's B Final.

Perfect tracks and the view isn't half bad either.

Lindsey Williams qualifying

Kikkan Randall showing us all how it's done. Do not pass up the chance to watch

this lady rip it up. She is the real deal in every way.

Me during the 20K Classic race. Snowy, tough day for everyone. The goal: Be the toughest.

Me and Steve Mangan, an amazing cross country runner from New York. He was fresh off an outstanding running season and heading into his ski season. His coach, Bernie Gardner, was one of my hang out buddies in New Zealand this year. He is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met and it shows in his athletes as well.

Me in the 10K skate race skiing with Jamie Bronga from UAA.

Rebecca Dussault and Caitlin Compton decorating posters for Fast and Female

There were 280 girls who showed up for the event put on by Kikkan. It was an unbelievable turnout and everything went extremely smoothly and was really fun. One of the teams: Hot Pink.

Matt Whitcomb after a ski at Soldier Hollow a few days ago. Perfect conditions and temperatures, and nothing is better than feeling the sun on your face in the West after a long time away from it.

Thanks to Corinne Prevot, a Burke Alumni and Middlebury student who started Skida (the company who made the hat I am wearing!) for all her incredible support over the years. If you have not bought a hat or neck warmer from her yet, GET ON IT! They are the most comfortable and cool hats you will ever have. Her website is: www.skidasport.com. Check it out!

Christmas Time in Vermont

2009-12-28T17:33:00.000-08:00

I have been at my parent's home in East Montpelier since I traveled back from Davos, Switzerland two weeks ago. I have yet to miss a Christmas here with my family, and this year my brother, Andy, who lives in Seattle, was able to come home for a few days as well. I am enjoying my last day at home tomorrow before heading out to Alaska for Nationals. Coming home is always awesome, time with my parents, time with my dog and just plain, time. It is great.

My parent's home with the newly erected barn!

Family snowshoe

My brother, me and my cousin Josh and his wife Kate!

Christmas doll from Norway whom my Mom named Sigrid

Took Charley for her first ski on the snowmobile trails with me. It was incredibly fun. We both had headlamps, as it got dark while we were out there, and it was an experience I will never forget, and will repeat tomorrow!

Andy sporting his new glasses

Dad doing a dance!

Andy and the dreaded gift of "the puzzle"

Next year's Christmas card, or it would be if we sent Christmas cards

Burke Mountain from the Sutton Ridge

Morning light

Mom performing carols

Christmas pudding burning the traditional flame

Charley in action!

Rough life, eh?

DAVOS!

2009-12-10T22:18:00.000-08:00

The internet is very in and out here, but Davos is one heck of a place. I think for many of us, it is one of the favorite spots on the tour, and when you come from dark scandinavia, the sun feels even better. Races this weekend are a 10/15K skate on Saturday and a skate sprint on Sunday. I head home on Monday, so these will be my last races over here until later this season.

First morning! AAAHHH!

Mo, enjoying the sun

My two favorite things: trains and alert-shirt orange

Gormet meals at the Hotel Kulm

Moon rise over Davos

Hotel Kulm staff Christmas party. Here, the tradition goes that if you are a bad kid that year, Santa will put you in his sack and take you out into the woods and leave you, so kids around here are much more behaved!

Pete Vordenberg and his wife Barb Jones.

Kuusamo Report

2009-12-04T07:56:00.000-08:00

Canadian bowling team.

Team USA Bowling

Mo i.e: "The Ocho"

Newell turning 26!

Davos, Switzerland now, where there is not only plenty of snow and good coffee but something called "sun". Crazy, but that thing shines bright and lights up your life. Pretty awesome feeling the Vitamin D kick in again. Pictures to come. Sprinters are in Dusseldorf this weekend, then we will all meet up here in Davos for next weekend's WC. Results for this weekend will be at: www.fiscrosscountry.com. Tim Burke 2nd in a 20K individual start biathlon race today!! Stoke is high here! Alpiners in Aspen this weekend, ski jumpers and combiners in Lillehammer, nordic supertour in Bozeman (results at: www.summittiming.com.) The results for all this will be at: www.fis-ski.com. The winter is here, races are happening, it's time to get stoked and start cheering from your seats at home or from the sidelines of a race course. Let's get fired up.

Suomi!

2009-11-24T10:29:00.000-08:00

First news I have....

My good friend Emily Carver made the newspaper in Maine for her work with the AmeriCorps! Check it out!

http://knox.villagesoup.com/place/story/trekkers-hires-carver-as-americorps-member/183538

We traveled to Finland on Monday morning early after a long bus ride to Oslo immediately following the races on Sunday. We are pretty far north, so it is plenty dark here most of the day.

Spirits are HIGH! And the lights are plenty bright, though Vitamin D levels will decline here.

More soon.

Portable Bridge Construction: Day 1

2009-11-21T06:41:00.000-08:00

Kikkan after her best distance skate race ever.

The morning we woke up to. Sun!

XC Ski fans toasting marshmallows on the side of the race.

A few Swedish fans and their blow up doll!

Some days will not go as you planned. In fact, most days will look a bit like Swiss Cheese, full of things that are unexpected. What I have always done is simply try to avoid the holes as best possible, so as not to fall in. However, what I should be doing is building a portable bridge that I can put down as soon as I see the hole and carry it with me to help get over the next one. Today, I began constructing my bridge. Today, I discovered a hole 1:30 before my race that I let myself fall in and once I was in, climbing out became even harder than missing the hole entirely would have been. Let me explain.

We have been training in Beitostolen for 2 weeks now, and exactly one week ago we raced the same exact race that we raced today. However, today, we woke up to a much different day than we have been used to here. The tracks were icy, downhills fast, corners sketchy, uphills tough to get an edge on, but this was race day and this was a hole that was unplanned, as there almost always will be. I skied scared and tentative and all of that overtook my head, so that the simple act of going as hard as possible was even blurry. So today, I start building my portable bridge. This is one race in the bag, one race to learn from, one race to motivate me.

On every day there are those who persevere and those who don't. Today was Kikkan's best distance skate race ever. That is something to smile about. Ben Sim cracked the top 30 for the first time in Australian xc skiing history (I think). They will be jumping in the air for sure tonight. The winner of the men's race today is a biathlete and his tears of joy were enough to take your mind off of your own race, good or bad. Watching the men race after my own effort out there today was inspiring and a reminder that good days or bad, the sport that I picked is one that I love. There will be more holes, and when I have built my bridge, I may need to build a rope tow to get over an unexpected mountain that may emerge in front of me. Adversity is a given, learning to push through it must be the goal.

Only Hell is Hotter

2009-11-20T03:52:00.000-08:00

Yep. You read it right the first time. Basically we are one step below the heat found in Hell itself, us Cross Country skiers. So all you people who thought you picked the dorkiest sport possible, you can pat yourselves on the back and maybe strip down to your spandex on your next ski. Own it, because our sport is not only silver to Hell it is:

Yep, that's right, cool.

The FIS World Cup season starts tomorrow with a 10K Freestyle in Beitostolen, Norway. We have been here for the last 10 days and were able to get a couple races (a 10K Freestyle even!) under our belt on tomorrow's course. Things are going well here and all the other teams have arrived now. There is a 4x5k and 4x10k relay on Sunday for the men and women, and we have been desperately trying to put a women's team together. If we are able to, we will be a North American team, stealing one of the Canadians for our own and likely wouldn't count in the results, as we would be a mixed team. However, the goal for us antsy girls is simply to be able to put a team together so we can race, so not counting in the final results is not an issue for us. Results for the weekend can be found at the new FIS cross country website below. Tally Ho!

http://www.fiscrosscountry.com

Trolls

2009-11-17T03:47:00.000-08:00

Mo and I made friends with a couple of trolls on our day off yesterday!

Mo's new rain boots!! A new addition to my suitcase this year is a Dr. Seuss book on every trip. This trip is my all-time favorite of his: The Lorax.

Newell, Kikkan, Matt and I went on an awesome skate tour this morning. Fresh snow, grooming a few days old, but perfect for balance training and great to get off the race trails for the mental side of things.

We travel to some amazing places as athletes and it is really great to take advantage of the places we are when it is possible to. We are here to ski race as fast as possible, but it is necessary to get away from the venue and explore too.

Ketchup to Beito

2009-11-16T07:25:00.000-08:00

In one week I went from being in East Montpelier, VT to being in Beitostolen, Norway! Here is a bit of a picture book of my last 2 weeks.

East Montpelier Elementary where I went to school. Murals on the wall are still the same, but I swear the chairs and tables have gotten smaller!

Berlin Elementary. I was pleasantly surprised by how many kids had cross-country skied before. Thanks to all three schools for being so welcoming towards me.

My Mom's birthday party the night before I left. I think she would tell you she just turned 30 and I would have to bet that if you met her you would believe her.

Me in the start gate with my East Montpelier Elementary Roadrunners

T-shirt, courtesy of the Kindergarten class!

Same T-shirt in our wax room. Quite a few skis, eh?!

First day in Beito. Team heading to training.

Kikkan and Mo jumping over the trench that emerged from the time we walked to go ski and the time we walked home! These Norwegians get after it!

Our daily lunch: Caviar, Fish paste, and Petter Northug bread. Delicious.

Randy Hill, our sport scientist, thoughtfully brought a blow-up ice bath for us to travel with all winter! Yay! No, actually it is awesome and we have all been in it a lot this past week already. Ice baths are the key to recovery, despite their less than appealing draw in the winter time.

Race 1 of 2009-2010 season. 10K skate for me, but some of the team started yesterday with a classic sprint. It's a great feeling to put on that bib for the first time and charge.

Morgan Arritola getting a sweet ride from a really fast French skier. Mo stuck with her the entire second lap and finished with her. You get passed and you quickly re-focus and stick to them like glue for as long as you possibly can. Mo did just that and had a sweet ride for an entire 5K. The minute you let your mind go to the negative aspect of someone passing you, is the minute your race is over. Re-evaluate, re-adjust and then re-focus. First World Cup races are next weekend here in Beito.

MUHHAHAHAHAHA

2009-11-04T10:49:00.000-08:00

Halloween. Dressed up as an old man and went trick or treating at my 1st grade teacher, Mrs. Cote's house. Pretty fun.

NYC 2009

2009-11-02T18:51:00.000-08:00

Billy D on the Nasdaq wall

I am in awe of what happens in this city. First of all, I don't think you are allowed to be a cab driver here if you do not honk your horn at least every 2 minutes. These streets are alive with sirens, horns, the subway passing underneath you and the constant game of dodge ball you play with the people walking all around you. There are street vendors selling bananas 3 for $1, 3 handbags for $25, 3 "I Love NYC" shirts for $10, 3 bialys for $2, "How about a hotdog Ma'am? 3 for $3!) If you need just about anything in this world you can find it on the streets of New York City. Anything and everything but quiet. Yesterday I had the experience of stepping into the world's largest store, Macy's. I know I'm from Vermont, the state that has the only capital in the US of A with no MacDonalds or Starbucks, and any town larger than Burlington looks gigantic to us, but the nations biggest store! I had to see this. So, I followed the other girls in with one mission, and that was to get our makeup done for free at one of the 75 companies that had a booth in Macy's. I wandered around aimlessly for a while, bumping into shoppers who had a clear mission, until I saw a familiar brand, Clinique, and strode over to the desk. I picked the girl who had the least makeup on behind the counter and asked if she could please help because I had no idea what I was doing. Her name was Matilda and when I told her I needed some makeup (probably pronounced wrong) on my face for a formal ball she asked me what I normally used on a day to day basis. Things started to get comical here, especially when I said that I wasn't sure I had ever put makeup on in my life. To me, that wasn't a big deal. When you spend 4 hours a day in bright colored spandex, it's not the first thing you think to do when you get back inside. To Matilda, born and raised in the city, it was a bit of a shock. So she began to fix me up and 30 minutes later I left the beauty department sporting a look that was a bit different than the one I usually wore. I had heard that this store had 8 or 9 floors of whatever you can imagine, so I decided to venture up to see what was going on in the rest of this maze. Women's shoes were always fun to look at, so I looked at a map and of the store and saw that they could be found on floors 4 and 5! I felt instantly claustrophobic and, as if I was in a fire, searched frantically for a lit-up exit sign. This store was as if someone has taken all the fields around my house, stacked them up and filled them with products. It was enormous, I was overwhelmed and had bonked.

Nasdaq building where we all had our pictures taken as well as our names on the wall!

We then headed to Gotham Hall and as always, the Ski Team Ball is a good show. All us athletes step out of our sweatpants, training gear, and race suits and get into suits, dresses, high heels and makeup and mill about with 500 really psyched up fans of US Skiing. Alongside us were former Olympic medalists Donna Weinbrech, Tommy Moe, and Billy Kidd.

Billy Kidd, me, Mike Engel, Marco Sullivan. Mike and his ex wife Deb Lovci have put me up in Park City for the last 3 summers and Mike came all the way out to New York in support of the US Ski Team and me. Pretty awesome people.

Ralph Green and me with a few of the supporters

The Ski Balls are always a good time and an awesome way for athletes to meet some of the many people who support our efforts.

Whistler

2009-09-02T13:21:00.000-07:00

No pictures, as the internet here is not good enough to upload any. The camp here is going very well and is our first intensity camp of the year. So far we have done L3 classic intervals around the sprint course with a max double pole effort coming through the stadium. Two days ago we did a time trial, some of us did a classic sprint and others did an 8k classic TT. Tomorrow we have L3 skate intervals scheduled and we will have another TT, skate style, on Sunday. Some speeds are thrown in there as well and all sessions we have a great group to ski with and learn from each other. There is a crew of 10 juniors and the Sun Valley ODT are here as well. The team bonding is great and we are all fired up to be with each other again. Train hard, pictures as soon as I can....

GSL FLOATERS CLUB

2009-08-14T14:19:00.000-07:00

I am going back in time a bit with this post, but certain experiences need to be shared sometimes. On my way to Vermont from New Zealand a group of very close friends picked me up at the SLC airport and we began to drive. We all knew where we were headed and we were giddy excitement, and mixed in for me, the sheer joy of leaving airports for a couple of hours. These 3 very good friends and I are members of the GSL Floaters Club. I am not exactly sure how we started this club, but I know the one thing that drew us all into the lake for the first time. Floating. The feeling of being able to enjoy water without inhaling large gulps while trying to stay afloat. The ability to float effortlessly in a large body of liquid, in fact to be able to relax in water! It was a concept none of us had ever even dreamed of, but yet, here we were doing just that. So we left the airport and drove to the spot where it all started. We pulled on our bathing suits, and walked towards the water. Again, that need to relax in water pulled us towards the shore, through the sand fleas, towards the smell of pollution and chemicals. And....

...we all jumped in.

Pollution always enhances the sunsets...

And then, we relaxed some more.

Because we knew that tomorrow we would be back in the Saddle. (Sarah MacCarthy, "Smac")

Photos Courtesy of: Pete Vordenberg and Barb Jones

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BOARDS

2009-08-06T07:47:00.000-07:00

Rule 1: You must smile and you must love the boards.

Step 1: Uncover the pile

Step 2: Carry the boards

Step 3: Brush the sawdust off the boards

Step 4: Paint the edges of the boards

Step 5: Stack the boards in a new place

Step 6: Keep picturing how cool the barn will look

Step 7: Watch all sunsets from the cupola

Step 8: Paint all sides of all boards...to be continued Saturday

Step 9: Repeat

Last 4 days in Never Never Land

2009-07-26T19:22:00.000-07:00

I am into my last 4 days at the Snowfarm, and it has gone by way too fast. We had some storms last week and are expecting more tonight through Thursday, but the snow has been amazing. The team arrived a week ago and so training has taken a step up, not to mention the social aspect they bring. We went down to the Cardrona Hotel on Saturday night and had a dinner off the rock and spent our off day on Sunday in Queenstown. We geared up for a time trial today, a classic sprint for most of the team, but Morgan Arritola and I did a 10K classic. Overall I think it went very well for everyone, as it is July and most of us have not done too much really hard workouts yet.

Intervals with Bird and Kristina Stranberg. Just in case you are worried about how Bird's training is going, he is just chilling in Level 1.

View of the ski trails from the lodge.

Whitcomb doing some video.

Sunset off of Mary's Trail!

Not sure if you can pick out the skiers in the distance, but they are skiing in perfect tracks.