VAN RIDES (Chronicles from the Not-So-Glamorous Side of Ski Racing)

Nordic ski racing in all of its snowy and sweaty glory is a thrilling, competitive, and dynamic sport.  Race days are full of tense and vibrant energy as legacies, goals, dreams, and races are won or lost.  Endorphins fly around like snowflakes and random yet incredibly exuberant dance parties are frequent occurrences.  The flashy suits, the glitter, the screaming, the photo finishes… Everything surrounding race day is full of excitement.

But what spectators commonly don’t see are the slightly-less-than-exhilarating sides of skiing.  The background events of racing (AKA a professional skier’s typical, run-of-the-mill, every day life) aren’t always as dazzling as the races themselves. Shocking, right??

So I’ve decided to create a new blog series titled “Chronicles from the Not-So-Glamorous Side of Ski Racing”.  Picture it like a blog-version of the TV series “Dirty Jobs”.  I’ll cover everything from cleaning klister to crashing on rollerskis to living in hotel rooms to what it’s like to race in the pouring rain.

And our first subject?  A personal favorite. Van Rides!

Packing up the SVSEF limo

PRE- VAN RIDE: Packing. 12-15 ski bags each weighing 50+ pounds, pole tubes, wax boxes, wax benches, duffle bags with zippers barely hanging in there, backpacks, food bags, boot bags, trash bags, bags with who-knows-what-but-it-could-be-dead-bodies-and-why-on-earth-did-you-bring-all-this inside; it ALL has to fit on top of, inside of, or behind the 15 passenger vans that we are all soooo in love with.  God forbid we forget anything.

The view from the back of a 15 passenger van (isn't it scenic?)

HOUR ZERO: Everyone clambers in, jostling (only slightly competitively) for their most preferred van spot. For some, this is the front row: easy access to the doors so you can pee faster at gas stations, you can see out the front window (aka less carsick-ness), and this is generally a central location for conversation. (BONUS: control of the radio or auxiliary cord.)  For others, the back rows are where it’s at: you can sleep, it’s perfectly acceptable to not talk to anyone at all because you can claim temporary deafness (thank you headphones), and there’s usually a tiny bit more room.

HOUR ONE: Fitful sleep for some, shot-gunning coffee for others.

HOUR ONE AND A HALF: Someone farts.  All the windows roll down as faces are shoved into sweatshirt hoods and jacket collars. Cold air blasts in for about 30 seconds. Windows go back up, leaving the van smelling only slightly better than before. (You never truly realize just how bad a van smells until you step out of it to pee at a gas station and have to get back in a couple minutes later.)

HOUR 1.75, 2.5. 3.75, 4, 5, ETC: Pee stop.  Basically every half an hour because we endurance athletes love nothing more than bragging about how hydrated we are.  Untangle yourself from seat belts, pillows, blankets, bags, iPod headphone cords (the worst), somebody else’s legs, and gingerly climb out of the van trying in vain not to pull a muscle. Fall out of the van doors, stumble into a gas station that’s definitely seen better days, and try not to touch anything in the bathroom. (I’ve gotten super duper good at opening doors with my feet.)  Skip around the parking lot to shake out your legs and don’t make eye contact with any locals.

HOUR THREE: Are we there yet? How long is this van ride again? Oh, 12 hours? Well that’s fun.

HOUR THREE AND FIVE MINUTES: … Are we there yet?

HOUR FIVE: Lunch stop. After much heated debate, a location for lunch is chosen. Preferably near a grocery store so a run for more food can be simultaneously completed.  Eat as fast as you can, get back in the van, feel instantly disgusting.

HOUR SIX TO TEN: Stare out the windows at the landscape and count cows. Crawl into a coma if able and hibernate under heaps of jackets.  Plead with your iPhone battery to keep lasting through the drive, and then compete to see who gets the charging stations. (FRIENDLY HINT TO ALL MAKERS OF 15 PASSENGER VANS: It would be to everyone’s benefit if you just installed 15 charging stations instead of a depressing 2. This is the technology decade people.) Plow through a book if you’re lucky enough to be able to read in the car without feeling like you’re going to yak. Pretend to be productive and write a blog post.  Watch as much of a movie as your computer battery will allow.  Text everyone you know trying to start a riveting conversation, but then you remember that most normal people are currently at work so that’s not going to be very successful. Text your mom.

HOUR TEN AND A HALF: Sleep. Wake up thinking you’ve slept for hours and you’re at your destination, but really you’ve only slept for 10 minutes and now you have to pee again.

HOUR ELEVEN: Travel through the US-CAN border. (Coaches, please count your athletes pre-border arrival.) Pray to every supreme-being you have ever heard of that the border patrol decides to be nice and not search your vehicle because you can’t remember if you ate the apple in your bag or not, and you’re going to have a super fun time explaining to them what the blowtorch is for and why you have about 50 explosive-looking tubes of an incredibly sticky substance called “klister”. Hold your breath, hand out passports, buckle up, answer all of the seemingly unrelated questions (why do they want to know if we have family in Russia…?), and make it through. 

HOUR ????: ARRIVE AT YOUR DESTINATION! LAND!! FREEDOM!! AMERICA! (or Canada, whooo.) Leap out of the van, kiss the ground, realize you now have to unpack everything and you can’t feel your legs. Instantly wish you could get back in the van and just go to sleep.

Sometimes your vans get stuck and nice gentlemen in
pick-up trucks have to pull you out of the snowbanks.
"Everybody out.. and PUSHHH"

Some can't wait for van rides, others are not as thrilled.

Shaking Out the First Races of the Season: Trust

Hello from Bozeman, Montana! With the last few weeks, the racing season has officially started.  It's absolutely surreal to finally be putting on a SVSEF Gold Team race suit (thank you to Podiumwear), and standing on the line facing the courses and competition after all of the hard work, sweat, and tears (that's actually not a joke though) that went into this summer and fall.  Racing season is HERE!  And I literally couldn't be more excited. Clearly.

These past two weekends were eye-opening reminders of how unforgiving ski racing can be, and therefore, how much trust goes into the process.

Now. You're probably all like "Dude. It's skiing. You start, you ski as fast as you can, you finish. Why would trust matter?"  Well, let me enlighten you.  First we'll start with a quick definition, just to clear things up a bit.

Trust (noun): firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone of something.

Synonyms: confidence, belief, faith, certainty, assurance, conviction, credence, reliance

Alright.  Now that that's all cleared up, maybe you can see it. Trust underlies almost every aspect of nordic ski racing.

First, you need to trust your skis.  Whether this is cornering on skate skis, kicking on classics, or just surviving sketchy downhills, having trust in your skis is starting the race confident that you chose the right pair.  I am notorious for not trusting my classic skis.  I'll work all season trying to learn which skis work for which conditions, how to kick each pair of them, and where my kick zones are, but ask me by the end of the season and I'll probably tell you I only truly trust one or two pairs. But this season, I'm really trying to get it down.  I'm confident that Fischer has sent me some awesome pairs, and the classic races this weekend gave me a chance to "bond" with them. (Literally, each training ski is like a date.)

Pre-race in West Yellowstone!

Tim, Clark, Andrew, Tom, and Colin = the SVSEF A Team

Second, you need to trust your coaches.  This one may seem obvious. Your coaches pick your wax, they prep your skis, they give you tactics, they calm you down or pump you up, they write your training plans, they drive you to the races, and they put all of their energy into doing everything they can to help you perform your best.  If you don't trust your coaches, racing can get real hard real fast. (Shoutout and thank you's to the A TEAM this weekend: Colin, Tim, Tom, Andrew, and Clark completely nailed it, and it made the weekend awesome!)

And while you're at it, fill out your training log. oops.

Third, you need to trust the training.  It is so easy to get to the start line and have a mini-freakout in the back of your mind about all the work you have (or feel like you haven't) done in the past 6 months. But let's be real, you can't cram a season's worth of training in at last moment. There's nothing you can do about it now, so you might as well take a deep breath, realize that the training plan is created the way it is for a reason, and whether you feel ready or not, it's time to race.

Fourth, you need to trust your competitors.  This weekend we faced one of the iciest courses I have ever skied on, and it didn't help that it was a classic mass start race.  And I'm not exaggerating, the race was delayed by a full hour because even the coaches were afraid to go test wax. Once the sun hit the race course, the snow slowed down a little, but the downhills still mimicked massive ice slides.  In this case, you had to be confident that the skier next to you wasn't going to crash and take you out at the same time. And if you weren't confident in the person next to you, you had to trust your instincts and adjust your line on the course to stay on your feet.


Finally, you need to trust yourself.  This one is my favorite, but it's also the hardest.  Confidence creates successful performance in so many ways, but it's dynamic, unstable, and susceptible to change at the slightest event. Great example: when you're racing and you make a mistake (ahem, crashing into the V-boards and the fence on the lap turn), you've got to be confident in your ability to calm down, catch up, and get past what just happened (no matter how embarrassing). If you let a mistake slip you up, you'll spend the rest of the race wasting energy by panicking. And that's not productive.

So. Trust.  What happens if you don't have it? You second-guess decisions, you overanalyze your technique, you avoid taking risks, and you dwell on past mistakes.  Nobody wants all that in their head while trying to race their best. Trust the process and the results will come.

After a couple great weekends in Montana, we're heading up to Rossland, BC tomorrow for some classic sprints and classic distance racing.  I'll be back in Minnesota on the 17th, and headed up to senior nationals on the 31st.  Hooray!!

Thanksgiving with my amazing host-sister LONI!

Shenanigans in Bozo

MOM!!!! So excited to have her in West Yellowstone.

This team is pretty great.

A Skier's Holiday Calendar

Life as a nordic skier is an awesome one. But I'm not the first to say that we are notorious for missing out on traditional holidays. Whether it's training, traveling, training, racing, resting, or.. training, holidays to us are the quick moments in between all the rush that we get with family and friends.

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of traditional holidays. Don't get me wrong, I love the chance to be close with people I don't see all that often, I absolutely LOVE giving gifts (like it's my favorite thing ever, you don't understand), and I definitely won't say no to some delicious food (hi, I'm Paige, I like to eat).

But the thing that gets me about holidays is the hype that surrounds them. There's so much pressure to have the MOST fun or do things the RIGHT way and follow every single tradition in the book, and if you don't, it's like you did your holiday  completely wrong. Which makes it hard for athletes, because the demands of training and racing usually don't yield to drinking beers on a boat on the Fourth of July, sleeping in on Christmas morning, or staying up until past midnight to ring in the New Year.

So, for the sake of those who aren't skiers, I compiled a list of the holidays as interpreted by skiers.

And for the sake of skiers, feel free to commiserate (and celebrate!) with me.
_______________________________________________________________________________

Thanksgiving: "Merry-First-Day-of-Racing!" (SO EXCITED!)

Black Friday: "Thank-God-There-Isn't-A-Mall-In-West-Yellowstone Day"

Christmas: "Stock-Up-On-Training-Gear-And-Then-Go-Training Day" (cough.. BeFAST, Toko, Smith Optics, Bjorn Daehlie)

New Years Eve: "Well-This-Is-Nice-But-I-Have-To-Be-Asleep-By-Ten Eve"

New Years Day: "Another-Year-Another-Senior-Nationals Day"

Idaho Human Rights Day: (I had no idea this was a holiday but it is so..) "Exercise-My-Right-To-Exercise Day"

Groundhog Day: "I-Really-Hope-Winter-Keeps-Going Day"

Valentine's: "You're-Really-Actually-Dating-Your-Skis-Anyway Day"

Daylight Savings Starts: "Finally-It's-Not-Dark-During-Practice Day" (arguably the best day of the season)

St. Patrick's: "OMG-The-Season's-Over-What?! Day" (obviously the worst day of the season)

Easter: "Chocolate-Because-I'm-Not-In-Season Day" 

Cinco de Mayo: "Time-To-Start-Training-Again Day"

Mother's Day: "Thank-Your-Mother-For-Her-Endless-Patience-and-Support Day"

Memorial Day: "Try-To-Remember-How-To-Rollerski-Without-Looking-Like-An-Idiot Day"

Father's Day: (see: Mother's Day)

Fourth of July: "This-Is-A-Free-Country-But-I-Have-To-Train-Tomorrow Day"

Labor Day: "It's-Officially-Fall-So-You-Better-Hope-You-Did-Enough-Work-This-Summer Day"

Columbus Day: "Get-Out-And-Declare-Those-Trails-Yours Day"

Halloween: "I-Don't-Need-This-Excuse-To-Wear-Spandex Day" (Also known as: "My-Coach-Scheduled-a-Time-Trial-Tomorrow-Morning Day")

Daylight Savings Ends: "Well-It's-Pitch-Dark-When-I-Train-Now-So-That's-Cool Day"

BONUS: Your Own Birthday: "Lolz-You-Just-Moved-Up-An-Age-Category Day"

_______________________________________________________________________________

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, for those of you headed out to West Yellowstone, find me on the trails and we can ski and hug and cry and chat and all that.  For those of you at home, give your loved ones hugs, they're lucky to have you.

To round off this post: I've spent the past 5 years (holy crap that's a lot) in West Yellowstone, Montana for Thanksgiving. Here's to the memories, and to making many more!!

Forest-Fairy MSC Suits, circa 2009

Literally babies.

The drive from MN to Montana is not always easy, especially in snow storms.

Thanksgiving Dinner for a Thanksgiving 5k

Ohh the Olaf crew.

FAST Performance Training circa 2011?

Olaf retaking the traditional pic

I'm pretty lucky I get my mom (and Dad sometimes) for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day SKI! Of course.

And don't forget racing!

But don't worry, we don't miss out on Thanksgiving dinner (yes that's homemade lefsa).

Let's hit the road! Happy holidays!!

19 Thoughts from a 3 Hour Workout on a 2k Loop

1. Jesus Christ it's still dark out why do we have to start this workout in the pitch black of morning I could have slept for at LEAST two more hours and I definitely didn't drink enough coffee and I'll NEVER be a morning person no matter what anyone says

2. Okay well at least skiing in the dark makes me feel like I'm going a whole lot faster than I actually am. Thank god.

3. Oh look, only another 15 minutes until the sun comes up. Only 2.5 more hours to go!

4. Do you think anyone will notice if I just go hide in the woods?

5. Man my legs are tired.

6. Also my arms.

7. Also my core. Also everything.

8. What should I eat when this is over? I think I'll make an omelette. No, a quesadilla. No.... a sandwich. Or maybe I'll just have ice cream. People would judge me if I just had ice cream. You know what? I skied for 3 hours today. I deserve the ice cream.

9. Although grilled cheese sounds super good too... Okay grilled cheese and ice cream it is.

10. ... Is it socially acceptable to eat grilled cheese and ice cream at 10:30 in the morning?

11. Okay.. starting to look a little bit like a blind penguin, focus on technique for a bit. Right arm in, left arm back, even weight shift. Relaxed shoulders.

12. What lap is this again? 39? Is this what it feels like to be one of those ponies at carnivals that just walks around in a circle for hours?

13. I am 400% over this workout.

14. Okay, but it's actually pretty gorgeous out. Point to Canada. Nice job Canada.

15. And I guess I'm feeling pretty decent now. It just took a little to work into it.

16. Oh look, teammates! Hi friends. I'll ski with them. This is nice.

17. OH my gosh it's already been 2.5 hours WHERE did the time go I am almost done with this workout! Well now I'm feeling pretty good. This is pretty fun I guess. I really do like skiing.

18. Wait I have to be DONE now? But I could totally keep going! I'm finally getting my technique down! And it's actually nice out! And I'm skiing on snow and not rollerskis! And there are mountains!

19. But I'm definitely still not a morning person. And I love coffee (Lizzie's!!!) too much... and naps and quesadillas... and there's plenty of time for more skiing later.... yeah I think I'm good.

Me, Mary, and Makayla on Frozen Thunder

We wrapped up our camp in Canmore with a skate time trial and one of the hardest over-distance workouts I have ever done.  I've learned that when I'm faced with a long and tough workout, I really just have to put my head down, shut up, and focus purely on the task at hand; AKA trying not to trip, sprain an ankle, or have a complete meltdown. That doesn't mean I don't love what I'm doing, and it doesn't mean I don't want to be there, it just means that every ounce of my energy is being directed toward concentrating on the workout. Which is one of the reasons I love my sport, sometimes it just demands your full attention.

We're back in Sun Valley for two weeks, counting down the days to the West Yellowstone Ski Festival and the kickoff of our racing season! From there it's on to Bozeman, MT, then to Rossland, BC (Canada), and then before we know it, home for Christmas. I have a feeling this season will fly by.  Until we leave, we've got the SVSEF Wild West Game Dinner and lots of training to tackle. Bring on the snow!

Play Hard, Give Back!

The Sun Valley Gold Team is super excited to announce our partnership with Play Hard Give Back (PHGB), a local company based out of Ketchum, Idaho.  PHGB works closely with athletes to help them in reaching their goals, but also gives them an opportunity to contribute back to and make a difference in the community that supports them. 

PHGB creates absolutely DELICIOUS trail mixes and granola bars, which the athletes sell from their own "storefront" page. Part of the proceeds from the trail mixes and bars go to help fund the athlete's career, but part also goes to the social cause of the athlete's choice. How cool is that? 

The SVSEF Gold Team has decided to support the Willie Neal Environmental Awareness Fund (WNEAF), a cause that is especially close to our hearts and the hearts of many other skiers and winter athletes.  A portion of all of the products sold off of the Gold Team member's PHGB pages will be given to the WNEAF.  The mission statement of the WNEAF is to promote responsible choices through education, community involvement, and environmental initiatives. They do so through supporting Idle-Reduction Campaigns, putting up No-Idle signs, supporting a No-Idle bike tour, and developing a bike commuting program, all activities aimed at creating responsible environmental decisions among the community.

So. How can you help?

Visit my page at PHGB and order some delicious goodies! (Trust me, these snacks are SO good and they're perfect for when you're out on the trail. I highly suggest the Rise and Shine Trail Mix.) You have the option to submit a one-time order, or even subscribe to a monthly delivery! The best part? The snacks come right to you! 

This is an awesome way to support an athlete you are close to, support a cause that all athletes value, and receive some tasty snacks in return.

Thank you all for your support! See you out on the trails! 

- Paige

#givesyoupurpose

Life Outside the Comfort Zone

Hyndman is the tall pointy one in the background

Last weekend, my teammate Makayla and I set out to hike up Hyndman Peak, the highest point in the Pioneer Mountains. After about two hours of hiking, we got to the base of the mountain, and decided to climb straight up instead of following the trail up to the saddle and then up the side. So we started scrambling up, climbing over boulders and scree (a new word I learned, which I'm interpreting to mean rocks that could slide down the mountain and kill you at any second).

Now.  Let's not forget that I am fully and completely 100% Minnesotan. When I first got to Idaho, I didn't even know what "hiking" meant. I saw it on the schedule for the first week of training and had to ask my host sister Loni, "So, does that mean like, running?" (It doesn't.) And while I'm trying my best to get the hang of it, my body and brain still aren't used to hanging off the side of a cliff with about a four hundred thousand feet drop (or at least what feels like it) below me.

I'm exaggerating. A little. The point is, Makayla has grown up hiking and climbing around in the mountains. When she's put in a sticky situation, she gets excited and wants to keep climbing up. My natural instinct in a sticky situation? I've realized it's to get down or get out, preferably the easiest way I can.

Eventually we scaled across the side of the mountain and found the saddle, but by that time we had realized just how cold winter is when you're up that high. We peeked over the edge, took some pics (who doesn't look great in pictures with frozen smiles?), and made our way back down. The view was amazing. Not gonna lie, I was pretty relieved to hit flat land, but I was still exhilarated from surviving the death march, and I was happy we didn't turn around.

Following Makayla as we picked our way across the side of the mountain 

The hike with Makayla helped me realize something.

This entire experience (moving out west, skiing professionally, traveling around the country, spending lots of time with people I had never even met before, scrambling around on the side of mountains), it's ALL outside of my comfort zone. It's still a rare moment when I feel completely and totally confident and comfortable with where I am and what I'm doing. There are definitely some times where I feel like I'm barely holding on to the edge, and others where I have to catch myself, stop, breathe, control the urge to get out, and then find a new place to put my feet.  

But when we get to the top, the view is worth it, in all metaphorical and literal senses of the word. When we ski in places like Park City and Canmore, when I get a chance to train around Olympians and girls who are just as passionate about this as I am, when we have team dinners and end up laughing so hard our ribs hurt, and during simple skis where everything clicks and I can feel myself getting stronger, it's a reminder that someday I won't feel quite so out of the comfort zone that I'm used to.

It's not going to be easy, but it's just a matter of time, I think.

Told you the view was worth it.

Now for UPDATES! After an awesome week with the US Team in Park City, and a rest week at home in Sun Valley, we are currently training on Frozen Thunder in Canmore, Alberta. It's a strange feeling to be on snow again, but we're anxiously doing the snow dance in hope that we can get off the 1.5k groomed loop by the end of the week.  I am counting down the days until West Yellowstone and the start of the race season!

On Overcoming Road Blocks

Any athlete will tell you that sometimes things just don't go your way.  It rains. You get sick.  Injuries occur.  Motivational blocks hit you.  Bad luck happens.  But for me, the main difficulty in any obstacle to training is the mental challenge that comes with it. We're trained to put so much value into our workouts, whether easy or difficult, that to sit out on any of them, especially in a professional setting, is no easy task.

Junior year of college, I sprained my ankle in October, got mono in November, and crashed and ended up with a concussion in January.  (We called it the trifecta from hell.) It was the season of bad luck, but out of the struggles of trying to train and race around sickness and injury, I learned to read my body and train based on how I feel. By the end of the season, I thought I would always be able to make the right call when it came to training while being sick or injured.

Or so I thought.

It turns out, each new season brings with it a refresher course on "making the right call".  Even though I learned some solid lessons the year of the trifecta, I've figured out that the first (or maybe even second) time I get sick/injured in a new season, those lessons aren't always the easiest to remember. 

That's when we need our teammates and coaches and family and our subconscious to remind us that not only is the training important, but the recovery is part of our job too. And it's better to miss a couple of days than be sick for a couple of weeks.

So, for stubborn, anxious, high strung people like me, here's a list of wonderful things to do while you are quarantined on the couch:

• Read a book. (or four)
• Learn to knit. (I did that when I had mono and made 12 scarves in 7 weeks. Your friends and family will absolutely love it.)
• Take advantage of the steam room. (It seriously helps with coughs/sore throats/congestion, no matter how claustrophobic it is. Just pretend you're in Hawaii.)
• Blow through entire seasons on Netflix. (Highly recommended: New Girl, Criminal Minds, and Gilmore Girls.)
• Stretch and roll. (You might as well be helping our your muscles some way while you're resting.)
• Figure out how to perfect fruit smoothies. (Recipe ideas here.)
• Color. (Kid you not, it's pretty therapeutic.)
• Call a friend - or your mom - to catch up. (Sometimes all you need is a conversation to take your mind off of being sick. And who better to do it with than someone who loves you right?!)
• Take deep breaths. (Yes, you're missing a workout right now. But would that workout be doing you any good if you coughed your way through it? Probably not.)

Basically, you can't get over the roadblocks in training by forcing your way through them, no matter what level of skiing you are at.  You just have to be patient and make the harder choice to wait until you're in the clear. And we all need reminding sometimes.

Choose BeFAST.

Shameless-plug-for-BeFAST's-awesome-new Pom-Pom-hats-and-performance-SubZero-neckbands-that-you-should-all-go-buy-right-now-because-nobody-likes-looking-bad-or-freezing-in-the-winter!

www.befastsportgear.com

Ski Camp: Lake Placid Edition

The girls training group was giant, and so much fun!

A couple of weeks ago we wrapped up two weeks of training at the Olympic Training Facility in Lake Placid, New York.  Mary, Ben, Colin, and I joined up with skiers from the U.S. Ski Team, SMST2, the Green Team, BSF, and more, to put in some solid and intense training hours.  Highlight workouts of the camp consisted of some threshold intensity workouts, a quality bounding session up Whiteface, two time trials (a sprint race simulation and the Climb to the Castle), and a couple of ODs (a run up Mt. Marcy and a classic ski). Needless to say, I was pretty tired, but it was a happy tired.

So one of the main objectives of ski camps like this for athletes like m is purely to learn. The camp offers the chance to train with not only some of the fastest skiers in the country, but the world. These skiers have been through the ropes before; they know how to get sh** done. (Not to mention they're pretty darn awesome people to be around in general!)

Group shot after the last workout of camp

 For the sake of making a list (because who doesn't like lists??), here's some fun stuff I learned.

1. Technique

We worked on technique on almost every single workout. We watched videos of World Cup skiing before the workouts, and videos of ourselves after the workouts. All of the coaches were extremely helpful in giving us advice out on the roads, and we spent entire hours focused on striding, starting, double poling, skating, climbing, and bounding efficiently.  I learned that for me, it really helps to follow other skiers and mimic how they ski. The distance you cover flies away when you spend so much of it concentrating purely on your motions. 

Working on striding technique with Coach Pat biking next to us

2. How to climb a hill.

The second to last day of camp, we tackled the Climb to the Castle, a skate rollerski race up the roads on Whiteface, one of the highest peaks in the Adirondack mountains.  The race is a little over 5 miles long, and has legitimately no flats or downhills. Honestly, it was one of the hardest races I hae ever done and it's probably a good thing that I had no clue what was coming because I probably might have hidden in the woods to "accidentally" miss the start if I had. But if there's any time to figure out how to climb up a hill effectively when you're dead tired, that was it. Shoutout to Liz and Tim for dominating! 

Gorgeously vibrant views at the top of the climb..

I may or may not have thought this sign was lying.

So. Much. V1.

 3. How to inspire.

We had the opportunity to participate in a Fast and Female event, a program devoted to inspiring young girls to get out and be active, even if they aren't a part of an organized sport.  And it was so much fun! Even though the group was small, it gave us the chance to interact with the girls one-on-one, and hear about the girls' passions and dreams for the future.  The Champ Chat (question and answer session) helped me realize how much of an impact professional and amateur athletes can have on younger athletes, even if we don't realize it at the time. Our actions through training and every day life reflect how we reach our successes or failures. It's a pretty big, but pretty awesome responsibility. Oh. I also learned how to African dance, albeit not very successfully.

The group before the festivities began.

4. The East Coast isn't too bad of a place.

I'll let the picture below explain it. The rollerskiing in Lake Placid was some of the best I have ever experienced. Thanks to Ben's family for hosting us for dinner, and Colin's family for letting us stay with them on travel days!

 

5. How to tackle a Vermonster.
(I'm a little amazed at how disgusting I did not feel after eating all that ice cream. And cookies. And brownies. And candy.)

The complete list of everything involved in what we devoured.

Pre-pig-out.

 6. Home will always be home.
 After camp, I got to spend an amazing week at home seeing my family, best friends, and Sam. It really made me feel that no matter what part of life I am in, or where I am living, Minnesota will always hold a big chunk of my heart, and will always be my true home.