Les Saisies Training Week

So much to catch up on, but I think I will just post a few photos from the last couple weeks to get you all up to speed!

Tour de Ski!!!!

7 races in 9 days

Happy 30th Kik!! (Kikkan and her husband Jeff)

Kik's birthday was celebrated in style with mustaches for all! We even skied in them, getting more than a few laughs from more than a few people!

Holly and I riding the huge Steinback made out of snow in Val Mustair, Switzerland!

This was a great day, as I qualified for the sprint heats for the first time in my career on the World Cup!! Top 30 make it to the rounds and I was number 30 in qualification!  I am all the way on the left in this picture, and I was REALLY fired up this day.  So fired up that I moved up to 25th on the day! Psyched!

Therese Johaug was the fastest climber on the final stage of the Tour up Alp Cermis.  She won a 32 inch plasma TV, which I know most of you men reading this would be totally amped about.  I am more into the flowers and pride she is holding, but, a TV would be nice too!

Kik and I post Alp Cermis climb.  I was 2nd on the day, which was my first ever World Cup podium, though it doesn't totally count as it was not a "normal" cross country ski race, but cool all the same.

Me and Matt.  He has coached me from the beginning and it was really cool to have him at the finish of the Tour this year.  He had back surgery last year so couldn't be there for last year's Tour, so he was pumped to be at this year's.

My tech, Oleg, me, Peter and Cory.  These guys are all techs for the team and they work their butts off to make the best skis possible each and every day for us.  We have a small team of staff, so everyone is on all the time, working extremely hard and making our job possible.

The Tour de Ski crew, minus the boys and the techs, at the top of Alp Cermis. Steph, the lady second from the right, is our awesome masseuse who makes this whole Tour possible for us.  And, she is a volunteer! 

Our Tour team of ladies. Jess, Kik, me, Holly.  Smiling, tired, proud and happy to be finished with this year's Tour.  Each year has had it's ups and downs and having a supportive team around you to help you through all of it is essential.  We have that nailed down.

A few of us went to do a show team sprint the night of the final stage in the Tour de Ski.  Ida and Jessie were a team and Holly and I formed another team.  A few of us did this event last year and had a blast. We were all so blown out from the Tour, but it is so fun that we made the trip over again.

Training/Recovery Week In Val di Fiemme

Holly and I all smiles post Tour de Ski

Sunny Val di Fiemme

Not so awesome toilet situation here in Italy....and yes, this is made for both genders.  #notawesome

Matt in his new training jacket! Ski team Iran!! If only the world could put differences aside and throw an arm over each other's shoulders and move on.

Pizza in Italy is THE BEST!! I took that whole thing down in one sitting and it was not even hard.

Matt and I made a trip over to the Rossignol Factory where all of my custom boots are designed and produced.  Here is the team of guys who makes it all possible for me.  They are the most helpful guys I have ever had the pleasure of working with. I totally scored when I decided to work with Rossignol 5 years ago.

Birthday ski! Two years in a row I have been in the Italian Alps on a super sunny day for my birthday. LUCKY ME!

A gift from my goddaughter, Charlie Moore! 

The birthday crew! Matt, me, Jessie and Noah. We had a week of chill training together in Predazzo, Italy after the Tour de Ski ended.  Just what was needed for some good recovery.

World Cup Weekend in La Clusaz, France

This is also good recovery:) Noah and Andy soaking in some Vitamin D.

Our dessert cheese plate in La Clusaz, France.  They don't joke around with their cheeses here in France.

Pre race day in La Clusaz, France

Welcome to Les Saisies, France!!

Training week before Pre-Olympic World Cups in Sochi, Russia!

Jessie surprise snow angeled herself this morning on our long ski together. 

The crew on our ski this morning! 100k of nordic trails, all freshly groomed each day and the views, oh the views....being a nordic skier on days like today....yeah...the best...ever.

Ida, Matt, Jessie and I

Andy, Ida and I soaking in some happy rays!

This place does not suck.  Views of Mont Blanc along with many other huge peaks add to the epic trails.

History Is Being Made

Pure emotion looks like this.  Our relay team after finishing 3rd, our best result ever, in the World Cup in Gallivare, Sweden last week

My wax tech's Birthday!!!  Happy Birthday Oleg!!!!

Day 1 in Gallivare.  Kikkan Randall, 3rd (best distance result ever in history for a US woman) and Holly Brooks, 5th (PR result for her as well).  I guess we will start off with a bang, then!

For the first time in US history, we had a relay team on the podium last weekend.  It was an incredible day, full of emotion, determination, heart and soul and absolute joy.  This is the team of women that made it all happen.  We are missing just one, Sadie Bjornsen, who is racing in the USA this first World Cup period.  Matt Whitcomb, our coach, should have been in this picture as well as he is a major part of why we were able to make this dream a reality.  Thanks for all the support and enthusiasm from back home.  We certainly feel it over here.

Me in the relay socks!

Me chasing the Norwegian down in my leg of the relay.

PODIUM!!!!!

Our Relay Team.  They basically had to kick us off the podium we stayed on it so long taking pictures!

Kikkan, me, Chandra and Holly enjoying a delicious Bulle that one of our wax tech's wives made for us while we were in Gallivare.  Bulle is my favorite Swedish pastry, and these go down in the books for some of the best ever.  Thanks Tina!

Our Women's Team in the stadium in Ruka

Some Finnish media time!!

Sunrise/sunset here in Ruka.  Photo courtesy of Jessie Diggins

Chandra Crawford and me in Ruka the other day.  Chandra is a member of the Canadian Women's team (also an Olympic Gold Medalist from the Torino Games!) and has been on many training camps with our team over the last few years, including our trip to Sweden and Alaska this summer.  She is putting me up at her house in Canmore for a week after the World Cups!  Psyched to listen to her play guitar and sing, cook some meals together, and otherwise snuggle it up for the pre Christmas time.

2nd!

This past weekend I had my first races of the season.  Saturday was a 5k classic race and Sunday was a 10k skate.  It felt great to get a couple races under my belt and I had some solid results, including a second on Sunday!  It was pretty fun to be standing on a podium in Europe and to have Justyna Kowalczyk, one of the biggest names in Cross Country skiing, on the step above me!  Thank you for all the support from the waxers, coaches and my awesome teammates who helped make this day so special!

Me and a few of my awesome teammates who were so genuine and psyched for me and my good result.  It makes all the difference to have such solid support behind you.

A racing shot!

My prize for the day!  A locally made traditional wooden coffee cup. Stoked!

Ladies team with one of the local volunteers

Justyna and me! She was really friendly and leaned right in with a big smile for a picture.

The Podium from left to right: Me, Justyna Kowalczyk, Yulia Tchekaleva

Euro Tour 2012 Begins

I traveled to Muonio, Finland, a small town 2 degrees North of the Arctic Circle last Sunday where our season begun this weekend with some FIS Openers.  These are the races where you blow some cobwebs out before hitting the World Cup next weekend.  It is pretty dark most of the day up here, as you will see from the pictures below, which have actually been lightened a bit on my computer!  Here are a few pictures from the week so far.

We started off the week with a school visit to one of the local middle schools.  The kids were shy at first, but then warmed up to us and began to practice their English, which, needless to say, is MUCH better than any of our Finnish!

Jessie racing hard yesterday in the Classic Sprints

Ida sprinting for the line.  The race started and ended on a very steep climb, so it was a real battle all the way to the line.

Holly with one of the volunteer kids, who are actually the same kids we visited earlier this week!

Simi racing in one of the heats.  He lost all of his bags on the way over and currently only has received 2 out of the 3 he checked!

Ida's post race smile.

Part of the cheering crew, Sylvan and Noah.

Newell is in the yellow and black suit on the left.

Ida finished the day with a strong 6th place!

Newell finished the day in 4th!

Noah, Holly and I went to visit the owner of the local ski shop who knows Dave Knoop, Executive Director of NNF, one of the major donation sites for supporting up and coming cross country athletes in the USA.  He was fired up to get the "hello" from Dave!