By Eli Brown, Fischer XC Race Director
 for the rest of the week. As you can imagine, this really put a damper on my training. I was only able to do upper body lifting and easy double pole rollerskiing. Sometimes, the body needs a break and it will find a way to get one. This week I am feeling better and am back on a normal training schedule. This weekend I ran a 2.8 mile uphill race held here in Gunnison. It was a good intensity session. The rest of my week will include a 30 min. level 3 pace pursuit, some hard level 5 intervals bounding, a distance rollerski with speed, an over distance mountain bike ride and the all important 3 visits to my local gym.</p><p><b>How has your body reacted to the San Diego camp? What are your thoughts on this type of training?</b></p><p> My body absorbed the training very well I thought. It took me a couple of days to get into the groove and see the results we were looking for while taking lactates on the roadside, but then it was right on for the next 11 days. I have an unusually low lactate production, which makes me need to go hard from the start to get enough lactate built up. For example, the other ladies had the ability to go too hard and would have to at times harness their efforts so to not create too much lactic acid in their muscles. I on the other hand went nearly all out for every interval. The amazing thing is that we did 176 min. of level 4 intervals in 9 days!<br /><BR><center><img src=)
Photo By Pete Vordenberg, USST Coach, TeamToday.org
How does it work for you to balance traveling with the USST and your family?
So far it has worked out well to be together as a family for all of the travel, training, and racing. It has to be a family commitment or stuff at this level would tear a family apart. There are times of frustration and disappointment for sure, but we manage to work through them. As a family we have very strong Christian beliefs so at times the environment around the team is less than pleasing. Overall the team enjoys having us along and it is becoming more enjoyable every time we meet up with them. They have come to accept that Sharbel and Tabor are just as much a part of this endeavor as I am. It is very costly to have 3 people from one family following the hectic schedule of the USST, but it is worth every cent. We have already seen how neat it is to be sharing in this unique life experience as a family. People tease us that our son, Tabor, will need additional pages added to his passport by age 5.
Is your son, Tabor, going to be a ski racer?
I would like to predict the future and say yes, but I’m not getting my hopes up. Right now, he is pretty turned on to things like basketball, hockey, and biking. I think that as he gets a better taste of skiing in the next couple years that he will realize that it is something we love as a family and that it really promotes the healthiest lifestyle of any of the sports. I can’t even fathom going into a sweaty, stinky gym or a freezing ice arena to watch him in competitions. He will always be able to cross train doing all his other favorite sports.
Who does Tabor hang out with most on the ski team?
Tabor has definitely found a favorite person to hand out with when we are on the road with the USST and other elite athletes. Usually, any girl on the team is fun to be with, but I would have to say that Hilary (Hilaly as he says it) takes the cake. She is so creative and energetic and he magnatizes to that. Plus, she has funky hats and a red puppy dog travel pillow!
 in your years away from ski racing?</b></p><p>I am a very competitive person and love to keep in shape so it was natural for me to continue to get out and enjoy what I love best about an athletic lifestyle. I still needed the peacefulness and the reward that comes from working up a sweat while out on the trails in God’s beautiful creation. I think I did a handful of competitions, biking, skiing, and running. My favorite memory is the year my mother and I won the Elk Mountains Grand Traverse when I had only skied 9 times. This is a 77km free-heel race, which gains 6,000 ft. in elevation as it navigates from Crested Butte, CO to Aspen, CO starting at midnight. You have to carry everything on your person for 24 hours of winter survival if need be.</p><p><b>Is your training any different from USST teammates because of your years off or family commitments?</b></p><p>My training has always been drastically different from others. My family commitments and living at high altitude are the biggest factors in my training schedule. I am usually only able to train once a day, so this it limiting on how many hours I do. On the upside, living at altitude naturally requires that you do fewer hours. I have to make sure that all of my sessions are quality because I don’t have much time for quantity.</p><p><b>As a person whose skiing life has come full circle, what advice would you give to aspiring juniors?</b></p><p>Firstly, have fun! Skiing is invigorating. I would also say that it is very important to set goals which are realistic and motivating. Juniors have to realize that they have many years to be in this great sport. One season will not make or break them as a ski racer. They need to be confident enough to experiment with what makes their training and racing click, and to be serious enough to stick to that. </p><p><b>How can we get more women into xc ski racing? How can we keep more women in the sport longer?</b></p><p>I think that we can get more women into the sport by using its natural attractiveness to draw them. I think this attractiveness plays out as having a healthy lifestyle, getting to travel the nation and perhaps other parts of the world, getting to exercise with positive, motivated people; it’s relatively an injury free sport, it requires that you train doing all sorts of activities which keeps your from getting too burned out.</p><p>As far as keeping women in the sport, I think we need to encourage women no matter what path they take while on their way to the top. I have a completely unique way of doing things, but I have a ton of support from the top down, so I know it will work for me. I think that women’s skiing will see an increase in interest and commitment in the next couple of years because of efforts already underway to make women more educated, self motivated, and excited in general. I know that this is a big concern among the women on the USST. We want to raise the level of U.S. skiing and are taking steps in that direction.</p><p>Please follow Rebeccas progress through the year by visiting her website at;</p><p><a href=http://www.rebecca.inknoise.com)
www.rebecca.inknoise.com
