We spent last weekend at a cabin on Benka Lake near Talkeetna. It’s always a great family get-away. When we were up there this past summer, we hiked a little way out the Montana Creek South Fork trail, which is nearby. It was a family hike, so we didn’t make it very far. [...]
WHEW! nbsp;The Olympics are over. The flame is out. No more athlete cafeteria.... needing my credential everywhere I go, coach shuttle buses for transport..... walking around feeling like Captain America (Team USA uniforms) randomly running into Petter Northug, etc, etc. nbsp;Life after the Olympics includes freedom to move around on your own, eat meals out of sight from Ronald McDonald, and the necessity of a wallet (!)br /br /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4w-o33ew_I/AAAAAAAAA8A/g6oaeoIXmxQ/s1600-h/DSCF0361.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4w-o33ew_I/AAAAAAAAA8A/g6oaeoIXmxQ/s320/DSCF0361.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"(We considered skiing in these ponchos that they gave us because it was POURING rain - this was the morning of the 30k!)/span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"br //span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Yesterday was hectic. nbsp;Think moving out of a college dorm - huge mess and not enough time to properly say goodbye to anyone. nbsp;To make matters worse my big ski bag was lost in the hectic jumble of everything so I had 23 pairs of skis and no bag :( nbsp;Athletes flying out of Vancouver scored with an automatic luggage check in INSIDE the village. nbsp;But, I'm flying out of Seattle so I had to "schlep" my bags around and get them to my parents who drove them to their house. After "moving out" we took a shuttle to the Vancouver athlete village just in time to see the US/Canadian Hockey final. nbsp;Although I'm always rooting for the US, the benefit of Canada winning the Gold was that everyone was in a good mood for closing ceremonies. nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4xAQbEQk8I/AAAAAAAAA9A/5gUJy-Mlh7A/s1600-h/DSCF0421.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4xAQbEQk8I/AAAAAAAAA9A/5gUJy-Mlh7A/s320/DSCF0421.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"I hung out with Callan (Snowboarder from Girdwood) during the Closing ceremonies wait...nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4w_WaaIFZI/AAAAAAAAA8g/vN2Inb9AlO8/s1600-h/DSCF0426.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4w_WaaIFZI/AAAAAAAAA8g/vN2Inb9AlO8/s320/DSCF0426.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Ran into the Russian Curlers who are already excited for 2014!/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4xAdVP6ojI/AAAAAAAAA9I/GwldTu72Il8/s1600-h/DSCF0433.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4xAdVP6ojI/AAAAAAAAA9I/GwldTu72Il8/s320/DSCF0433.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Took some pictures with the Swedish women including Kalla, the 10k skate Olympic Champion (in the center.) nbsp;I'm totally psyched because I traded a bunch of my USA gear for some Swedish Gear.... after all, I am 1/4 Swedish!nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4w_iJZ8v2I/AAAAAAAAA8o/0fs09zXqrxI/s1600-h/DSCF0455.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4w_iJZ8v2I/AAAAAAAAA8o/0fs09zXqrxI/s320/DSCF0455.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"A big part of the Closing Ceremonies is the "hand-off" from the Olympics that just ended to the Olympics of the future. nbsp;Thenbsp;presentationnbsp;wasnbsp;anbsp;bitnbsp;eclecticnbsp;andnbsp;I'mnbsp;notnbsp;surenbsp;thatnbsp;Inbsp;leftnbsp;knowingnbsp;anythingnbsp;aboutnbsp;Sochi?nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br /a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4w_vFl71PI/AAAAAAAAA8w/UX4JcSVaToc/s1600-h/DSCF0461.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4w_vFl71PI/AAAAAAAAA8w/UX4JcSVaToc/s320/DSCF0461.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"The finale to the ceremonies was a bunch of "big-dollar" moose blow-up floats, Canadian "Mounties" and Hockey Players. nbsp;There was some stand-up comedy that totally flopped.... lots of Inside Canadian jokes that they didn't even laugh at (the person sitting next to me actually said, "I think I can hear crickets chirping") and some really, really bad performances by Avril L and Alanis M. All in all, I honestly thought the Closing ceremonies were a let down. nbsp;There was a bit of redundancy with the Opening Ceremonies but only this time, everyone was tired and we felt like we had seen it before.nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4w_44VGd_I/AAAAAAAAA84/SkKEuWJZZ1k/s1600-h/DSCF0462.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4w_44VGd_I/AAAAAAAAA84/SkKEuWJZZ1k/s320/DSCF0462.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"I have a lot more that I want to say, stories that I want to tell, people that I want to thank but right now I need to make the most of my precious time in Seattle. I have a couple hours to visit with my grandmother and great Aunt. I will write more tomorrow on the plane en route to Anchorage! nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"~Holly :)nbsp;/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6401505974719455979-4117245988555700961?l=hollyskis.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kymjc32TFR1qzt3xbo1_500.jpg"/br/br/ppre race./p
The 2010 US 30km/50km Championships and SuperTour Finals are just a month away, and organizers in Madawaska and Fort Kent, Maine are preparing for an outstanding event. With ample snow at both the 4 Seasons Lodge in Madawaska and the 10th Mountain Lodge in Fort Kent (host of 2004 and 2011 Biathlon World Cup events), competitors can expect excellent racing conditions and challenging courses. The SuperTour Finals will follow a tour-de-ski format, which will yield...
Sorry for the lack of updates at such a crucial time of the season. This past week was Birkie week and we have been away from internet service and totally absorbed in all the wonderful Birkie festivities. Most of the CXC team headed to Hayward, WI, immediately after the Madison Winter Festival. I stopped in [...]
Last weekend was the Madison Winter Festival SuperTour. This event takes place around the Wisconsin Capitol building and is always cool no matter what kind of weather or snow conditions are thrown at us. Here are some photos from the day courtesy of Renee Callaway. There are lots more at www.winter-fest.com if you click on [...]
I'm the last American athlete in the Whistler Olympic Village. It's a little hard to believe that what in all likelihood are my last Olympics are done. Any athlete spend so much time, energy, sweat, and money to get to the Olympics and now that is over it is a little surreal. Fortunately I don't have much time to dwell on it. Racing continues in a big way with World Cups the next two weeks. Next Saturday a 30k pursuit and the following weekend a 50k skate in Oslo, site of the 2011 World Championships.
So yesterdays 50k was by far my best race of the Games. I settled in early and didn't try to force my way up, instead picked up places where it was easy too. Taking the inside track on long sweeping corners and working the tops of hills and fast lines to avoid bottlenecks on downhills. Before long I was right up front cycling forward and back in the pack as will happen in mass starts. 20k in, I made my first ski change with about 15 others and by the top of the second climb we had caught the pack again and was back near the front without too much effort by 27k. My second pair wasn't quite as good as my first and I really wanted to get back on the first pair that was kicking easier and were a little faster so I made a switch at 30k with a handful of others. That was where I lost the pack. Of the people who switched when I did only one made it back to the group. I was so close to getting back up to them, only 4 or 5 seconds by the top of the course before we descended and hit a long gradual section and they were gone... I have to say I'm a little annoyed with myself for the decision to change when I did... A Czech skier and I battle the rest of the way until 2k to go when I made a little surge on a climb and dropped him and I came across the line in 28th. My best international result of my career. I left the race happy that I was able to do that but wondering "what if"... Unlike most years I get two more great chances to race these guys. Can't wait!
Thank you to everyone who has helped me out over the years and all those who have been cheering me on the last few weeks. So many people have played a roll in getting me to this point and I so grateful to each of you. It has been an awesome experience!
I'm the last American athlete in the Whistler Olympic Village. It's a little hard to believe that what in all likelihood are my last Olympics are done. Any athlete spend so much time, energy, sweat, and money to get to the Olympics and now that is over it is a little surreal. Fortunately I don't have much time to dwell on it. Racing continues in a big way with World Cups the next two weeks. Next Saturday a 30k pursuit and the following weekend a 50k skate in Oslo, site of the 2011 World Championships.
So yesterdays 50k was by far my best race of the Games. I settled in early and didn't try to force my way up, instead picked up places where it was easy too. Taking the inside track on long sweeping corners and working the tops of hills and fast lines to avoid bottlenecks on downhills. Before long I was right up front cycling forward and back in the pack as will happen in mass starts. 20k in, I made my first ski change with about 15 others and by the top of the second climb we had caught the pack again and was back near the front without too much effort by 27k. My second pair wasn't quite as good as my first and I really wanted to get back on the first pair that was kicking easier and were a little faster so I made a switch at 30k with a handful of others. That was where I lost the pack. Of the people who switched when I did only one made it back to the group. I was so close to getting back up to them, only 4 or 5 seconds by the top of the course before we descended and hit a long gradual section and they were gone... I have to say I'm a little annoyed with myself for the decision to change when I did... A Czech skier and I battle the rest of the way until 2k to go when I made a little surge on a climb and dropped him and I came across the line in 28th. My best international result of my career. I left the race happy that I was able to do that but wondering "what if"... Unlike most years I get two more great chances to race these guys. Can't wait!
Thank you to everyone who has helped me out over the years and all those who have been cheering me on the last few weeks. So many people have played a roll in getting me to this point and I so grateful to each of you. It has been an awesome experience!
Last night I had the easy dilemma, write a blog about the men’s 50km or watch what was the most important hockey game for Canadians in recent history; naturally I choose the latter. I now sit here with a splitting headache and thoughts on the final race of the cross country schedule for the 2010 Olympics. I’m not [...]
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