APU

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

div class="MsoNormal"After thinking I was going to watch the race from the sidelines, the competitors instinct took over….and I decided to race!nbsp;nbsp; I hate to admit how much I agonized about the decision, but I am happy with the outcome.nbsp; While it was not my best race of the season, it was a very solid performance.nbsp; My plan was to start slow and build into the race. Nearing the finish, I remember thinking that I wish I had 10 km to go in the race because I was gaining on a pack of skiers right ahead of me.nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Here are a few pictures that Rob took of all the wonderful fans from the race today, more to come tomorrow.nbsp; Lots of work to do:nbsp; packing, logistics, and trying to find to my ski bag which has mysteriousl disappeared (which is a problem if one if trying to transport 20 pairs of skis.nbsp;nbsp; Rumor has it that Petra Madjic travels with 100 pairs of skis!)nbsp;nbsp; /divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal"I was almost embarrassed by all the support out there today and these past two weeks.nbsp; You guys are awesome and I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.nbsp; I feel like I was the luckiest racer out there.nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; /divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal"Hugs to everyone,/divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal"Holly/divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal"P.S. nbsp;nbsp;Because of Olympic rules, I can’t post race photos for a few more days…but count on a HUGE post of race photos once that time comes!!!!/divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal"------------/divdiv class="MsoNormal"Linda Cresup of Anchorage made this sweeet banner! Thanks Linda!/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4navTu-7NI/AAAAAAAAA4g/FwzQNVsHq3U/s1600-h/DSC08414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4navTu-7NI/AAAAAAAAA4g/FwzQNVsHq3U/s320/DSC08414.jpg" width="320" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"..a close up./diva href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4ncTkkDpJI/AAAAAAAAA44/zMalmpsDFsI/s1600-h/DSC08451.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4ncTkkDpJI/AAAAAAAAA44/zMalmpsDFsI/s320/DSC08451.jpg" width="320" //abr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"....on the jumbo-tron after finishing my 30 km race/diva href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4ncilDL21I/AAAAAAAAA5A/W6blUGac9Ls/s1600-h/DSC08517.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4ncilDL21I/AAAAAAAAA5A/W6blUGac9Ls/s320/DSC08517.jpg" width="320" //abr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"SUPERFANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! nbsp; nbsp; .....along the final 180 turn to the finish/diva href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4ncroANoxI/AAAAAAAAA5I/QZIM6OaS1bA/s1600-h/DSC08522.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4ncroANoxI/AAAAAAAAA5I/QZIM6OaS1bA/s320/DSC08522.jpg" width="320" //abr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Erica and Jaime!/diva href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4nczra3PAI/AAAAAAAAA5Q/RvbWkC2vfk4/s1600-h/DSC08523.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4nczra3PAI/AAAAAAAAA5Q/RvbWkC2vfk4/s320/DSC08523.jpg" width="214" //abr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"This has got to be the coolest picture of the coolest people at Callahan Valley!nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4nc8BLZsaI/AAAAAAAAA5Y/oitE4twsFdM/s1600-h/DSC08533.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4nc8BLZsaI/AAAAAAAAA5Y/oitE4twsFdM/s320/DSC08533.jpg" width="320" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Friends Erin and Rob Gates from Portland drove up for the weekend. nbsp;(Erin is from the US, Rob from Canada...thus the flags.)/diva href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4ndDoiX75I/AAAAAAAAA5g/ejU_e2WV6_8/s1600-h/DSC08542.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4ndDoiX75I/AAAAAAAAA5g/ejU_e2WV6_8/s320/DSC08542.jpg" width="214" //abr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"G-A-N-G-S-T-A nbsp; nbsp;style! nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;that's right......./diva href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4ndLHkSSuI/AAAAAAAAA5o/5swE_slrjbA/s1600-h/DSC08547.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4ndLHkSSuI/AAAAAAAAA5o/5swE_slrjbA/s320/DSC08547.jpg" width="320" //abr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Eli is #1. nbsp;Period. nbsp;Plain and simple. nbsp;Any questions??!!!!!!!!/diva href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4ndSqI38lI/AAAAAAAAA5w/k5w9n7HUrCE/s1600-h/DSC08550.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4ndSqI38lI/AAAAAAAAA5w/k5w9n7HUrCE/s320/DSC08550.jpg" width="214" //abr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"My family (w/ John, Steve, Emily, Katharine, Karen)/diva href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4ndbE-WGNI/AAAAAAAAA54/QtjkeXNbZ_M/s1600-h/DSC08561.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4ndbE-WGNI/AAAAAAAAA54/QtjkeXNbZ_M/s320/DSC08561.jpg" width="320" //abr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Rob's family: nbsp;Heather, R, me, Erin, Frank)/diva href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4ndiEX3xqI/AAAAAAAAA6A/zp6k5F6TBro/s1600-h/DSC08565.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4ndiEX3xqI/AAAAAAAAA6A/zp6k5F6TBro/s320/DSC08565.jpg" width="320" //abr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Japan's skiers totally kicked butt today and the Japanese fans loved it!!!!! nbsp;Go Japan! nbsp;whoop whoop/diva href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4ndpUOTF7I/AAAAAAAAA6I/J8_SsM_3U34/s1600-h/DSC08572.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4ndpUOTF7I/AAAAAAAAA6I/J8_SsM_3U34/s320/DSC08572.jpg" width="320" //abr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Kikkan amp; myself. nbsp; Hat's off to Kikkan on a great race today and a stellar week!/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4nd6bWr5EI/AAAAAAAAA6Y/YiKOfUo5Nfw/s1600-h/DSC08590.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4nd6bWr5EI/AAAAAAAAA6Y/YiKOfUo5Nfw/s320/DSC08590.jpg" width="214" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Super-lady-APU-master-skiers!!!! nbsp; nbsp;bling anyone? nbsp;:)/diva href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4neC2c4pKI/AAAAAAAAA6g/KCSlheH9q_0/s1600-h/DSC08595.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4neC2c4pKI/AAAAAAAAA6g/KCSlheH9q_0/s320/DSC08595.jpg" width="320" //abr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"I found this on the trail on the walk out with my family. nbsp;Norwiegian fans have business cards claiming their fan-li-ness!!! nbsp; nbsp;THAT is awesome. nbsp; nbsp;.....still awesome./diva href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4neJfo0nXI/AAAAAAAAA6o/NbbNQAwmgtw/s1600-h/DSC08598.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4neJfo0nXI/AAAAAAAAA6o/NbbNQAwmgtw/s320/DSC08598.jpg" width="320" //abr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Peter Graves. nbsp;The voice of skiing commentary. nbsp; This is his 8th Olympics as an announcer. nbsp;wow!/diva href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4neRWvfZDI/AAAAAAAAA6w/JOyM8YQKd6E/s1600-h/DSC08606.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4neRWvfZDI/AAAAAAAAA6w/JOyM8YQKd6E/s320/DSC08606.jpg" width="214" //abr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Anchorage ladies!! nbsp; (and Shawn Lillifjell on the left!) nbsp; boo-yaa!/diva href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4neZF23FjI/AAAAAAAAA64/b6lt2bA7-7Y/s1600-h/DSC08611.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4neZF23FjI/AAAAAAAAA64/b6lt2bA7-7Y/s320/DSC08611.jpg" width="320" //abr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"***the rest of these pics from the the race on the 25th, Relay day.....but I like the pics...../divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Mr. Wild William. nbsp;The Man with a Plan. nbsp; nbsp;O to the I to the A!/diva href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4nerTsQw3I/AAAAAAAAA7A/OxN3xYsAXlY/s1600-h/DSC08308.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4nerTsQw3I/AAAAAAAAA7A/OxN3xYsAXlY/s320/DSC08308.jpg" width="214" //abr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Gotta love the Norgweigian's outfits! nbsp;/diva href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4nezaO2WNI/AAAAAAAAA7I/OK4Iui7ELxU/s1600-h/DSC08328.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4nezaO2WNI/AAAAAAAAA7I/OK4Iui7ELxU/s320/DSC08328.jpg" width="320" //abr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"....along the 180 turn to the finish in the stadium/diva href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4ne6sv-ofI/AAAAAAAAA7Q/38M5zuktCGk/s1600-h/DSC08352.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4ne6sv-ofI/AAAAAAAAA7Q/38M5zuktCGk/s320/DSC08352.jpg" width="320" //abr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Go Alaska! nbsp;(thanks to the Knapp's!)/diva href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4nfBqkpCtI/AAAAAAAAA7Y/LaK3bZAm6E8/s1600-h/DSC08354.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4nfBqkpCtI/AAAAAAAAA7Y/LaK3bZAm6E8/s320/DSC08354.jpg" width="320" //abr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Ron Randall being interviewed on the Jumbo-tron after Kikkan TORE IT UP in the relay first leg!!!!/diva href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4nfMXHDUoI/AAAAAAAAA7g/j3gm_t8rVnA/s1600-h/DSC08362.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4nfMXHDUoI/AAAAAAAAA7g/j3gm_t8rVnA/s320/DSC08362.jpg" width="320" //abr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"I stuck around to watch history in Nordic Combined. nbsp;Billy Demong......1st place! nbsp; THAT was COOL!!!!!/diva href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4nfbMkHT1I/AAAAAAAAA7o/R0mKUraX_P0/s1600-h/DSC08375.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4nfbMkHT1I/AAAAAAAAA7o/R0mKUraX_P0/s320/DSC08375.jpg" width="320" //abr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Billy on the podium! nbsp;Johnny (L) second, and an Austrian in 3rd (R)/diva href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4nfjG-5fVI/AAAAAAAAA7w/ZdxmflIHjzQ/s1600-h/DSC08388.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4nfjG-5fVI/AAAAAAAAA7w/ZdxmflIHjzQ/s320/DSC08388.jpg" width="320" //abr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Fans and the flags (I liked the shot!)/diva href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4nfqv8HT1I/AAAAAAAAA74/B5DO1X-9-v0/s1600-h/DSC08408.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4nfqv8HT1I/AAAAAAAAA74/B5DO1X-9-v0/s320/DSC08408.jpg" width="214" //abr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0000ee; text-decoration: underline;"br //span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6401505974719455979-4347425153692388464?l=hollyskis.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

!--StartFragment-- br /div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"Kikkan skied a great first leg of the 4x5k relay yesterday. She tagged off in fourth place after skiing a super strong race. nbsp;I started out hard but there wasn't a whole lot I could do to maintain the pace or our team’s fourth place position. nbsp;There were some very strong second leg skiers that I was up against including Justyna K, the current World Cup leader from Poland. o:p/o:p/span/divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 21px;"br //span/span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4gb3lRtPWI/AAAAAAAAA34/sitDnQN7S6U/s1600-h/DSC08400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4gb3lRtPWI/AAAAAAAAA34/sitDnQN7S6U/s320/DSC08400.jpg" //a/divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"Yesterday’s race was also the 14supth/sup day of the Olympics and my fourth race here.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanThe Olympics are starting to take their toll on me on me and as it turns out, I am very, very tired.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanIn the past two races I haven’t felt like I can “charge and recover” like I’m used too.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanIf I ski an uphill to hard, that’s it. My legs fill with lactic acid and I’m not able to ski like I know I can. Looking back at yesterday’s 5k I think there were times when I skied my warm up faster than the actual race itself.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanThis is obviously no good. o:p/o:p/span/divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"Most athletes here at the Olympics planned their training to “peak” during the Games meaning, they organized their training so that they would ski faster here than they have all year.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanThis was not a possibility for me due to my late decision to even make the team. I came into the 2009/2010 season with very few “points races” that would qualify me for the US team. Therefore, I had to ski fast from the go starting in November 2009.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanI skied fast in the early season to get my name in the mix and had to hold it with good performances in January at US Nationals. In hindsight, the situation I put myself in forced me to ski fast all year. Now it’s February and in some ways, “I’m out of training.”span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanErik Flora, my coach used a dart analogy to describe it, “You had to use lots of your darts for qualifying races – you used them in November, December, and January.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanAt some point, you just run out of darts.”span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spano:p/o:p/span/divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"You can also think of training like money in the bank.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanIn the summer and fall months, you put in hours and they mature like a good investment.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanIn the winter, you are forced to take them out to perform.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanIf you have to withdraw too much too early, you are left with a zero balance at the end.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanThis summer, after I decided that I wanted to make the Olympic team I was forced to take two months away from training due to my Mt. Marathon a href="http://fasterskier.com/2009/12/exertional-rhabdomyolysis-what-is-it/"Exertional Rhabdomyolsis/a injury.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanUnfortunately that was two months were I wasn’t putting much-needed “money in the bank.”span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanIn many ways, that (“my lack of base”) is hurting me now when I want or need it most./span/divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"In many ways I have fewer responsibilities here than I do at home. I am not coaching sessions, I have someone that makes my bed and takes out the garbage (!) but there are so many other components of the games that take time, energy, and focus.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanComing into the Games I waffled back and forth about how many races to attempt. Basically, when it comes down to it, I thought I could do more than it turns out I can.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanI had been looking forward to the 30k race more than any other race here at the Games and now my participation in that is questionable. o:p/o:p/span/divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"Sometimes I've been known to be loyal to a fault. nbsp;Part of me was/is tempted to ski the 30k mass start just because I know that tons of friends and family came here to watch me ski it.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanBut, I know that is the wrong reason to start a race.... I can't make something out of nothing, especially an Olympic 30k. nbsp;It's not a matternbsp;of “just trying harder” or “digging deeper.”span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanIt’s not something that can be fixed with a 15-hour night of sleep like a sore throat. I’m out of energy and the tank is empty. I feel horrible because I know that people have put a lot into their plans to watch and support me….. to everyone that made sacrifices and plans to be here to watch me ski I’m am VERY VERY SORRY.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanI wish there was something that I could say or do - I just didn’t know. o:p/o:p/span/divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"So - chances are I will be watching the 30k from the sidelines. I hope that friends and family will accept this and if so, I look forward to seeing all of you tomorrow./span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4ga_26shAI/AAAAAAAAA3w/luLtzvR1zeU/s1600-h/DSC08346.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4ga_26shAI/AAAAAAAAA3w/luLtzvR1zeU/s320/DSC08346.jpg" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"(This is only a fraction of the people that were out there cheering me on yesterday - thanks you guys!)/divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 21px;"br //span/span/divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"Sincerely, o:p/o:p/span/divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"Hollynbsp;o:p/o:p/span/divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 21px;"br //span/span/divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 21px;"ps. APU juniors: Kick butt and have fun at the second day of State today - I'm proud of you guys!nbsp;/span/span/div!--EndFragment--div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6401505974719455979-4133914199260101764?l=hollyskis.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"They drove throughout the night and showed up just in time to watch Petter Northug (the Norwegian Anchor with the ego the size of a beach ball) throw down in the men's 4x10k this morning......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/S4XMkBVjFwI/AAAAAAAAA2o/4rPMrCbvTY4/s1600-h/IMG_0628.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4XMkBVjFwI/AAAAAAAAA2o/4rPMrCbvTY4/s320/IMG_0628.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"They came complete with blue homemade Alaska Tu-tus (even the non-Alaskan, Jayne, was wearing one!) nbsp;and x-tra tuffs - just in case the weather gets sloppy.nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //diva href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4XN9oPrrnI/AAAAAAAAA24/W080Ls_qFMU/s1600-h/IMG_0631.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4XN9oPrrnI/AAAAAAAAA24/W080Ls_qFMU/s320/IMG_0631.JPG" //abr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Although the weather has changed from blue to grey, the level of spirit amongst family and friends seems to be rising - it should make up for any lack of sunshine for sure. nbsp;Last night I got a text from one of the masters athletes that I coach. A group of them are coming down to watch the relay and the 30k. nbsp;She informed me that they "bought out the USA section of Party World." nbsp;I can't wait for this one because these ladies know how to dress up in style!nbsp;/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/S4XQR8dbVXI/AAAAAAAAA3A/HEdBxqYuUfc/s1600-h/IMG_0617.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4XQR8dbVXI/AAAAAAAAA3A/HEdBxqYuUfc/s320/IMG_0617.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"(Spectators watching the diamond screen while the racers are out of site)/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"It seems like the back-end of the Games are loaded with friends and family coming to watch the races. It's funny because I feel like I've been here a long time and even though we still have two races left, the reality of life and logistics after the Games are already starting to pile up. nbsp;How will I get all my stuff from Whistler to Vancouver? Transport to and from the Closing Ceremonies, getting from Vancouver to my flight in Seattle, a packed schedule for a couple days in Alaska, a plane ticket that still needs to be purchased to coach Junior Olympics in Northern Maine, etc, etc, etc. nbsp;The list goes on and on. Honestly, it's a bit overwhelming and I'm doing my best to focus on the task at hand - the OLYMPIC races yet to come.nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"What else?nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"We have a team meeting at seven to talk relay details/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"I'm watching the Russia/Canada hockey game via the live room feed in the background - Canada is leading 4-1 and the home crowd is going WILD/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Rob put my "moose hat," (from opening ceremonies) on Ebay. It's already sitting at 300 plus dollars. While it's a nice momento from the Games it's also 1/2 of a plane ticket to the next race that I need to go to.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/S4XSdawKK2I/AAAAAAAAA3I/sz7eb-g0M7k/s1600-h/IMG_0637.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4XSdawKK2I/AAAAAAAAA3I/sz7eb-g0M7k/s320/IMG_0637.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"I am keeping this one which I think it much sweeter. I'm sure my grand kids will someday be stoked to get this if I can keep track of it that long....nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4XSuykOfEI/AAAAAAAAA3Q/FUMIiPDahGo/s1600-h/IMG_0638.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4XSuykOfEI/AAAAAAAAA3Q/FUMIiPDahGo/s320/IMG_0638.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Last but not least, thanks again to all of the friends, family, and strangers that have either wished me well or help made this Olympic experience possible. Everyday after a race, men's or women's I run into folks from Alaska or Washington that are out here cheering their heads off - thank you! nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"(Another) special thanks to my husband Rob who has helped me with EVERY aspect of skiing and life. This has been a long, exciting road for him too and he deserves a big vacation when racing season is over! nbsp;(Perhaps the two of us together!)nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //diva href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4XTWI8rdCI/AAAAAAAAA3Y/P46lf7tPCZM/s1600-h/IMG_0636.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4XTWI8rdCI/AAAAAAAAA3Y/P46lf7tPCZM/s320/IMG_0636.JPG" //abr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Go APU skiers......here in Whistler, at home in Anchorage, at JO's and Arctic Winter Games in a few weeks, masters, Wednesday nite ladies, OIA'rs at Marathons (chris, chris, Mr. WorldLoppet Champion, bill, rw)./divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br /a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4XkR8ozX-I/AAAAAAAAA3g/ve02jX-zreo/s1600-h/DSC08109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4XkR8ozX-I/AAAAAAAAA3g/ve02jX-zreo/s320/DSC08109.jpg" width="214" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"And, here is my new friend I met today!/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br /a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4Xkk7qVtHI/AAAAAAAAA3o/DNuY7arubX4/s1600-h/DSC08070.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4Xkk7qVtHI/AAAAAAAAA3o/DNuY7arubX4/s320/DSC08070.jpg" width="320" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"I'll report back tomorrow with some interesting stories from the relay for sure./divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Have a great evening!nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Sincerely,nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Hollynbsp;:)nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6401505974719455979-2909019087328956846?l=hollyskis.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

Congratulations to Bret, Todd, Johnny, and Billy on their Nordic Combined Silver Medal!!!! Caitlin and I were watching the live feed from our room and literally sitting on the EDGE of our bed. nbsp;Those guys had a great race and showed that their team work has paid off. They are setting a great example for the country and US Skiing. nbsp;It's really inspiring. Here is a picture of the TV:br /br /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4RikLus8jI/AAAAAAAAA2A/eD7Ch-ECOKo/s1600-h/DSCF0290.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4RikLus8jI/AAAAAAAAA2A/eD7Ch-ECOKo/s320/DSCF0290.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"It must be an awesome feeling...... It was fun to watch the boys compete in a 4x5 event. nbsp;They raced the same course that we will be using for the women's 4x5, only our race includes two classic legs on a different course. Relays are often some of my favorite events in skiing. Most people consider cross country an individual sport (and it largely is) except for events like the 4x5. nbsp;I'm excited to have a competitive team and think that we have a chance of turning in a good result. Here is our women's team in order of appearance!!!!nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Our classic "Scrambler" Kikkan:nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br /a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4RjefGtJzI/AAAAAAAAA2I/kXwFv66xWxA/s1600-h/Kikkan.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4RjefGtJzI/AAAAAAAAA2I/kXwFv66xWxA/s320/Kikkan.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"I'm classic skiing second - it should be fun because I think that Kikkan will keep us in the mix and I'll get a hand off which should put me in a big group of girls.....nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4RjyiUIg4I/AAAAAAAAA2Q/03TuHTJg_-0/s1600-h/Holly.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4RjyiUIg4I/AAAAAAAAA2Q/03TuHTJg_-0/s320/Holly.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Mo has turned in some solid skating results lately so I'm excited to be tagging off to her for our third leg (and first skate leg)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/S4RkOgHzeSI/AAAAAAAAA2Y/DciIaNejmBo/s1600-h/Morgan.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4RkOgHzeSI/AAAAAAAAA2Y/DciIaNejmBo/s320/Morgan.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Last but not least, our skating maniac, my roommate Caitlin will be our anchor!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/S4Rkaz3N5WI/AAAAAAAAA2g/GT5dcr6iblw/s1600-h/Caitlin.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4Rkaz3N5WI/AAAAAAAAA2g/GT5dcr6iblw/s320/Caitlin.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"nbsp;We'll do a "race prep" workout tomorrow, practice some tags, watch the boys race, and then it's our turn! We'llnbsp;havenbsp;onenbsp;daynbsp;ofnbsp;restnbsp;andnbsp;thennbsp;it'snbsp;movingnbsp;ontonbsp;thenbsp;30knbsp;classicnbsp;massnbsp;start.nbsp;It'snbsp;beennbsp;nicenbsp;tonbsp;havenbsp;anbsp;couplenbsp;ofnbsp;"downnbsp;days"nbsp;herenbsp;atnbsp;thenbsp;Gamesnbsp;andnbsp;Inbsp;seenbsp;itnbsp;pickingnbsp;upnbsp;fastnbsp;andnbsp;gettingnbsp;really,nbsp;reallynbsp;busy.nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Alsonbsp;-nbsp;thisnbsp;isnbsp;offnbsp;subjectnbsp;butnbsp;ifnbsp;anynbsp;Alaskanbsp;and/ornbsp;APUnbsp;folksnbsp;arenbsp;innbsp;thenbsp;Whistler/Squamishnbsp;areanbsp;wenbsp;arenbsp;havingnbsp;anbsp;get-togethernbsp;TONIGHTnbsp;atnbsp;Howenbsp;Soundnbsp;Brewerynbsp;innbsp;Squamishnbsp;fromnbsp;5:30-8pm.nbsp;nbsp;KTUU,nbsp;Channelnbsp;2nbsp;newsnbsp;isnbsp;goingnbsp;tonbsp;benbsp;there.nbsp;nbsp;Thenbsp;addressnbsp;isnbsp;37801nbsp;Clevelandnbsp;Ave.nbsp;Hopenbsp;tonbsp;seenbsp;somenbsp;ofnbsp;younbsp;there!nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Havenbsp;anbsp;wonderfulnbsp;day,nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Hollynbsp;:)nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6401505974719455979-6951109984501170327?l=hollyskis.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

Sorry for the absence of a Sunday blog. I guess I needed a day off!br /br /I just got back from the venue after watching the team sprint. I was able to watch the finals from the grandstand which was a new, fun experience. Congrats to Germany and Norway that both skied gutsy races and took home gold medals. Also congrats to both the men's and women's USA teams who skied solid races in the finals after moving on from the semis. I had a great classic ski through the "rec" trails this morning after going back for a "second round" of klister.br /br /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4MS7gDcXzI/AAAAAAAAA00/i88WaWd6BPo/s1600-h/DSC06901.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4MS7gDcXzI/AAAAAAAAA00/i88WaWd6BPo/s320/DSC06901.jpg" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"(Check out this AK fan!)/divbr /Perhaps my greatest realization from my Olympic experience is the realization that the best skiers in the world (Olympic Champions, World Champions) are real people; they have good day, they have bad days. nbsp;Sometimes they make mistakes, and other times, they pull off miracles. nbsp;Here is a list of things that I've seen that have brought me to this realization:br /br /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4MVOtr3kXI/AAAAAAAAA08/oh9ieNN8Nsg/s1600-h/Holly+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4MVOtr3kXI/AAAAAAAAA08/oh9ieNN8Nsg/s320/Holly+4.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"(waving at the camera before my start the other day)nbsp;/divbr /*The gold medal favorite today, the Swedish men, fell on a fairly straight-forward hill in the semi-finals and didn't even make it to the final.br /br /*Bjorgen may seem unstoppable but she needs a day off too - and sits this race to rest up for the rest of the games.br /br /*Someone watched Tobias Angerer eat THREE Big Macs before winning a silver medal in the men's 30k pursuit. nbsp;(Virpi has been seen eating them too)br /br /*Astrid Jacobsen of Norway was still crying after the men's final because of her sub-par (for Norway) performance in the team sprint.br /br /*Team Belarus was having an awesome race in the semi-finals, neared the finish in second place and accidentally took the LAP lane instead of the finish lane - that happens EVEN at the Olympics - opps.br /br /*The strong Finnish women's team has yet to bring home a single medal from any cross country event.br /br /*I saw Charlotte Kalla struggle to get in a fifth pull-up in the weight room!?!br /br /*Olympic Champions snow plow too!br /br /*Even super-star Northug finishes races outside the top 40.....br /br /*Ola Vigen Hattestad, one of the best sprinters in the world didn't start today for Norway due to a sore throat.br /br /I'm not suggesting that we all start eating Big Macs or snow plow rather than step turn but it's great to realize that these guys are human, they aren't untouchable, and that someday, hopefully sooner rather than later we will be winning medals too.br /br /Here are a couple more pictures to end the post with:br /br /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4MYjCb0l-I/AAAAAAAAA1E/z5HVYwR0yUo/s1600-h/IMG_0574.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4MYjCb0l-I/AAAAAAAAA1E/z5HVYwR0yUo/s320/IMG_0574.jpg" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"In the Whistler Village....br /br /a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4MaNbN05HI/AAAAAAAAA1k/ZH9slIktk48/s1600-h/DSCF0238.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4MaNbN05HI/AAAAAAAAA1k/ZH9slIktk48/s320/DSCF0238.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Check out this BELL!/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/S4Magiq-abI/AAAAAAAAA1s/SVBlpKRTrss/s1600-h/DSCF0223.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4Magiq-abI/AAAAAAAAA1s/SVBlpKRTrss/s320/DSCF0223.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Norwegian Spirit/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4Mar7iEMcI/AAAAAAAAA10/Pgpfsb8pqTw/s1600-h/DSCF0241.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4Mar7iEMcI/AAAAAAAAA10/Pgpfsb8pqTw/s320/DSCF0241.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"My family at the venue.....nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br /a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4MZDgq0fPI/AAAAAAAAA1U/EMXod7NPMwI/s1600-h/DSC07736.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4MZDgq0fPI/AAAAAAAAA1U/EMXod7NPMwI/s320/DSC07736.jpg" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"I thought I would end with a blue-sky post as the weather is supposed to take a turn for the worse here in a couple of days...... Thanks so much for all the wonderful cheering and kind words of encouragement. You are all great.nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Thanks for reading - more to come soon!nbsp;/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/6401505974719455979-4552304141164271634?l=hollyskis.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;"Everyone has their rough days.... In yesterday's race, the silver medalist from the 10k skate dropped out. Petra Madjic didn't start because she's out for the season with 3-4 broken ribs and a pneumothorax (punctured lung), one of the top Norwegians dropped her pole, was having a tough time, and then didn't finish..... Others had great days. Marit Bjoergen won her second gold medal and third medal of the 2010 Olympic Games. It's fun to see her come back so strong after a couple years of struggling. I had a rough race. I was tired, my legs filled with lactic acid the second loop of the classic portion and it was near impossible to hold the race pace I know I am capable of. It's hard to swallow having a tough race here of all places - the Olympic Games were you want to preform your best. My family is here, the race is on TV, I've received so much support from friends, family and people that I don't even know.nbsp;/spanbr /span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;"br //span/spanbr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4ALrqHZqWI/AAAAAAAAAzA/A7pgJOBj_vc/s1600-h/tickets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4ALrqHZqWI/AAAAAAAAAzA/A7pgJOBj_vc/s320/tickets.jpg" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divspan class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;" Rather than moping around and feeling sorry for myself I am trying to learn from the experience. This will be my first whole season of racing in nearly 6 years - how does my body handle the load? Today was my third race in 5 days - in hindsight, perhaps that was too much. This was now my 5th International racing experience.... I have learned a ton in the past couple of weeks, not to mention the past couple of months. I am learning what works and doesn't work physically, mentally, and emotionally. I am looking forward to future weeks, future months, and future seasons where I can improve upon my approach. nbsp;/spanbr /span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;"br //span/spanbr /span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;"I would be surprised if you found someone at the Olympic Games that wouldn't like to win a gold medal. We are a select group of individuals that are here because we are highly motivated, goal oriented, and (hopefully) because we love what we do. But, there is only one gold medal per event at the end of the day and most athletes here won't win a medal at all. While gold, silver, and bronze are certainly hyped up, the Olympics are more than winning medals...... the Olympics are about perseverance, pursuit of excellence, and being the best that you can be. I had a very hard day yesterday but I plan on doing everything in my power to rest, recover, and come out strong for the remaining races of the Games.nbsp;/spanbr /span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /span/spanbr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4ALabxf3sI/AAAAAAAAAy4/HteHIYdQmOE/s1600-h/Believe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4ALabxf3sI/AAAAAAAAAy4/HteHIYdQmOE/s320/Believe.jpg" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divspan class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;"Perhaps the highlight of my day yesterday was getting a surprise cool down partner after the race. Oeystein Petterson, (fondly known as the "Sausage" from a famous streaking event) one of the top Norwegian sprinters was skiing next to me and asked how my race went. I told him it was a "tough day" and he put everything in perspective. He said, "You're only allowed to be upset for one hour, then you have to move on. This is the Olympic Games and it's sunny out. Skiing is FUN!" Now, remember that this guy comes from a country with more ski pressure than anywhere on earth and here he is lecturing ME about how skiing should be fun. We skied the whole 3.75k loop together. We talked about this sprint race where he made the A final but was taken out on the big corner, we talked about my races, upcoming races, the courses, spectators, etc, etc. nbsp;/spanbr /span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;"br //span/spanbr /span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;"So, maybe I didn't win the race, but the GO HOLLY banner than my mother in law sewed was the biggest banner in the entire stadium! A media representative actually asked me about it in the mixed zone! nbsp;/spanbr /span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;"br //span/spanbr /span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;"Also, Christa Case wrote some really nice articles in the Christian Science Monitor. The first article talks about my quest to make the team. a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Olympics/2010/0219/How-Anchorage-fell-in-love-with-Olympian-Holly-Brooks"Click here/a if you're interested in reading it. The second article is titled, "The teams behind every Olympic athlete: parents, friends, and fans. a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Olympics/2010/0219/The-teams-behind-every-Olympic-athlete-parents-friends-fans"Click here/a if you're interested in reading that one. /spanbr /span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;"br //span/spanbr /span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;"The plan for today is a recovery jog - I'm also going to watch and cheer on James and Bird in the men's pursuit. I get to watch with my family and Rob - SWEET.nbsp;Good luck and have fun to all the APUers skiing the second day of Region Championships today!/spanbr /span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;"br //span/spanbr /span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;"More soon/thanks for reading, Holly :) /spandiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6401505974719455979-7403324104381177213?l=hollyskis.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

This is going to be a quick one because we have a race today.... the start is at 1pm. nbsp;I've heard different rumors about the weather but it's supposed to be anywhere from 6 to 9 above, (Celsius) nbsp;A couple of us were actually joking about taking one of our race tops and turning it into a short sleeve. It was hot yesterday during pre-race training and it's supposed to be even hotter today for the race. We plan on taking feeds every loop to avoid any dehydration problems.br /br /Here are a couple of pictures from yesterday. Sorry for the late post:br /br /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S362ZXh3uBI/AAAAAAAAAyI/Q465bLU9SNY/s1600-h/DSCF0162_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S362ZXh3uBI/AAAAAAAAAyI/Q465bLU9SNY/s320/DSCF0162_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Today is a four-lap race, two of classic, then two of skate. This is a "transition area" where we switch both our poles and skis. nbsp;The race wax is definitely going to be klister and skiing up on this plastic mat with sticky skis could prove to be challenging for some..... we saw a few wipe outs during practice. nbsp;The goal is to switch your gear as quickly and efficiently as possible. As a junior coach, I've seen all kinds of funny things happen in transitions including kids skiing off with one skate pole and one classic pole. nbsp;I'm going to take an extra two seconds this afternoon to make sure I don't make any dumb mistakes!nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br /a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3621Ukd7lI/AAAAAAAAAyQ/9piUz1FM080/s1600-h/DSCF0166_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3621Ukd7lI/AAAAAAAAAyQ/9piUz1FM080/s320/DSCF0166_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Some of the race volunteers made some statues in the stadium... Erik (my coach and APU Program Director) and I took a quick break to get a shot with them!/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/S363OXwpU7I/AAAAAAAAAyY/YZbkUkbvq9k/s1600-h/DSCF0171_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S363OXwpU7I/AAAAAAAAAyY/YZbkUkbvq9k/s320/DSCF0171_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"There was a biathlon race yesterday at the venue just adjacent to the cross country stadium. There are TVs in the athlete lodge and we get live feeds from the race. It's fun to watch other events with athletes, coaches, and techs from all the other ski countries.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/S363hiyhp8I/AAAAAAAAAyg/GMGI-T7d1RE/s1600-h/DSCF0178_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S363hiyhp8I/AAAAAAAAAyg/GMGI-T7d1RE/s320/DSCF0178_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Here is a pretty sweet picture of the athlete lodge/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S363rCAcysI/AAAAAAAAAyo/xZvyeAy-FsQ/s1600-h/DSCF0187_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S363rCAcysI/AAAAAAAAAyo/xZvyeAy-FsQ/s320/DSCF0187_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"While I was waiting for the bus ride back to the athlete village I ran into my buddy, Brad Marden who is randomly the "wax tech" for the Bermuda ski team!!!! nbsp;Brad was offered the "position" just a couple of days before the Olympics started!nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Today is the first day where there is only one cross country race at the venue - the men's pursuit happens tomorrow. Our starters for today are myself, Caitlin, Mo, and Liz. I'm number #51... wish us luck! nbsp;Go Team USA!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/S365E0bkJ5I/AAAAAAAAAyw/ncVEhTQdCzc/s1600-h/DSCF0193_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S365E0bkJ5I/AAAAAAAAAyw/ncVEhTQdCzc/s320/DSCF0193_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Thanks for reading and thanks so much for the continued kind words,nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Holly :)nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6401505974719455979-4776315732034433874?l=hollyskis.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"Sometimes you get peanut butter when all you want is jelly... I was looking forward to soft tracks and slush and showed up at the venue to find classic tracks resembling "ice luges." nbsp;I'm not big into making excuses for goals that come short - and I won't. Sometimes, you just need to be faster, or have more experience, or be tougher. Today I needed, or at least wanted to be faster than I was.nbsp;/span/span/span/spanbr /br /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3znmuwDIbI/AAAAAAAAAww/2z8Et7ivT2Y/s1600-h/DSC06576.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3znmuwDIbI/AAAAAAAAAww/2z8Et7ivT2Y/s320/DSC06576.jpg" //a/divbr /span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"I had two goals coming into the classic sprint. First, I really wanted to qualify for the rounds by skiing into the top 30. I was 1.6 seconds from making that goal. My other goal was to improve upon the result of my race on Monday. I did that by moving up four positions in the field. (Yes, it was a smaller field overall but I have reason to believe that the whole front end of the field was represented.) nbsp;Now that I've had some time to reflect upon my result I realize that maybe it wasn't as bad as I initially thought. It's important to take things into perspective. This was only my 7th sprint race in the past 5 or so years and my fourth International racing experience ever. This is the Olympic Games for crying out loud and I was the 38th fastest women in one of the greatest competitions on earth. How sweet is that?nbsp;/span/span/span/spanbr /br /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3zpK1Q_roI/AAAAAAAAAw4/UBGK4Qtd4Z8/s1600-h/DSC06757.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3zpK1Q_roI/AAAAAAAAAw4/UBGK4Qtd4Z8/s320/DSC06757.jpg" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"I think that ski racing has a knack for bringing out true character in individuals. I once heard a really sweet quote that goes something like this, "a true hero is humble when they win and gracious in defeat." Not that I "lost" or anything but when I crossed the finish line I was bummed and there was nothing I wanted more than to have a few minutes to myself. NOPE. "You've been randomly selected for doping control"..... Now don't get me wrong, I'm all about clean competition and fair play but today was rough having to walk through the media's "mixed zone" followed by an entourage of chaperones and escort/doctors to doping control...... Four bottles of water later and a pee experience where you're squatting over a small cup surrounded by mirrors with your pants at your ankles and your shirt pulled up over your belly button isn't my idea of fun. It's experiences like these that make we wish we could just trust that everyone was competing fairly. Oh well.nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3zrZlfEB-I/AAAAAAAAAxA/4wKga-LZSmE/s1600-h/DSC06611.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3zrZlfEB-I/AAAAAAAAAxA/4wKga-LZSmE/s320/DSC06611.jpg" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"After my "pit-stop" I hurried back to the athlete lodge because it was time for the quarterfinals to start. Two of my American teammates, Kikkan and Simi, made it into the heats and I wanted to cheer them on - even if it was through a tv screen. It was funny to be AT the venue and almost prefer to watch the TV because you could see more of the race through the live feed. I did go out to find my family and husband for the finals. It was fun to watch the race in what was HOT SUN.nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br /a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3zuqlV4uHI/AAAAAAAAAxI/3HB0xUbRaR8/s1600-h/DSC06789.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3zuqlV4uHI/AAAAAAAAAxI/3HB0xUbRaR8/s320/DSC06789.jpg" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"My sister Robin, myself, and brother Scott, aka "mountain man" right now :)nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Perhaps the most dramatic part of the whole day was the fact that the heavy favorite, Petra Majdic of Slovenia fell off the course ten feet into a STREAM during the warm up. nbsp;She broke one ski, both her poles, and really hurt her back. nbsp;She finished the day with a bronze medal. That was impressive! nbsp;There are a couple photos -a href="http://www.nbcolympics.com/photos/galleryid=425757.html#bruised+bronze+hurt+majdic+wins+medal"click here/a. nbsp;There is an even more impressive video somewhere but I haven't located it yet.nbsp;/divbr /Anyways, congratulations to Kikkan for an awesome preformance and 8th place finish today - that was impressive! Time to get some rest so I can prepare for Pursuit training tomorrow.br /br /Thanks for reading and thank so much to everyone who was out there cheering for us today. You guys were great!br /br /More to come soon,br /Holly :)br /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3zwq_u7zKI/AAAAAAAAAxo/l-Z4agFFE5Q/s1600-h/+Rob+and+Holly+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3zwq_u7zKI/AAAAAAAAAxo/l-Z4agFFE5Q/s320/+Rob+and+Holly+.jpg" width="240" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Rob and Holly pre-10k/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br /a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3zxChJs3lI/AAAAAAAAAx4/LQHxNi60FFQ/s1600-h/Kaladi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3zxChJs3lI/AAAAAAAAAx4/LQHxNi60FFQ/s320/Kaladi.jpg" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"How's this for a "care package!" (Don't worry, I'm sharing!)/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6401505974719455979-8904261848265033731?l=hollyskis.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

Hey all,br /br /The start list is posted. I am bib #50 - again. nbsp;There are only 54 racers in the field but that is not to be underestimated.nbsp;These are 54 of the fastest women in the WORLD! nbsp;Racers have to qualify for the sprint race by having good FIS Sprint profiles. nbsp;That removes many of the "exotics" (I was informed tonight that that is the proper term) and folks racing for non-traditional ski countries. Anyways, my start time is 10:27:30 for those that are interested. I've heard that some of the "live" coverage isn't live whatsoever but some of you are clever enough to disguise your IP addresses to receive coverage from other countries. I don't even begin to know how that works....br /br /Anyways, thanks for all the support. I'll report back tomorrow after this is all said and done.br /Good night,br /br /Holly :)div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6401505974719455979-3968869269228172377?l=hollyskis.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

nbsp;Two hours of technical difficulties and a deleted blog later..........br /br /Thanks so much for all the kind words about the race yesterday.nbsp; You guys are all AWESOME. And, special thanks to the Schoens who forwarded a link to my NBC coverage from Anchorage's KTUU website.nbsp; To check it out, clicka href="http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=11987641" here/a.nbsp; The co-comentator, Chad Samela compared my Olympic appearance to the Lions making the Super Bowl.nbsp; I don't know anything about football but I am going to venture to say that he was calling me a long shot (or last minute) to make this team which is completely true :) br /br /A big agenda to cover on the blog this afternoon! nbsp;First of all, this was the seen out our window this morning - the first time that we've seen ANY new white stuff in the athlete village:br /br /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"nbsp;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3tCzY3uvxI/AAAAAAAAAwI/eyDpV4NaopY/s1600-h/DSCF0138.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3tCzY3uvxI/AAAAAAAAAwI/eyDpV4NaopY/s320/DSCF0138.JPG" //anbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"The conditions inspire me to publish a packing list for those that are enroute to Whistler to watch and cheer:nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"1) Bring your rain boots - or, if you're an Alaskan, bring your x-tra tuffs! This was the seen today at the venue:nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //diva href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3tDG1K3FPI/AAAAAAAAAwQ/ddxYlxMOgTo/s1600-h/DSCF0141_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3tDG1K3FPI/AAAAAAAAAwQ/ddxYlxMOgTo/s320/DSCF0141_50p.JPG" //abr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"2) If you plan on doing any nordic skiing down here, bring FISH SCALES! I would not want to be out here classic waxing. Skate skis or running shoes will do the trick too.nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"3) Bring your patience for the security lines and the buses.nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"4) Your smile - the volunteers and everyone involved in the Olympics is super happy and nice - don't be the odd one out!nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"5) USA costumes and schwag - the Nowegians have us totally out done with National pride on the side of the ski trails... be loud, be colorful, and if you're Alaskan, don't forget your flag!nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"6) Last but certainly not least - bring your camera to capture the moment (I got a new water proof one for the occasion after my other one died.)nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"This was a random scene at the venue this morning:/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/S3tEHHhE7uI/AAAAAAAAAwY/EyrD6AhM3Yk/s1600-h/DSCF0140_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3tEHHhE7uI/AAAAAAAAAwY/EyrD6AhM3Yk/s320/DSCF0140_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"nbsp;My training session earlier today focused on preparing for tomorrow's classic sprint.nbsp; It should be fun and exciting... be sure to tune in.nbsp; I hadn't fallen on the trails at all until today - Kikkan and I were doing speed work on the course and I bit it HARD on the 180 degree high speed corner.nbsp; I had snow stuffed down my practice bib and my jacket.nbsp; Hope that doesn't happen tomorrow.nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"The condition were variable, per the usual at Whistler Olympic park.nbsp; When I first got there it was 33 degrees and snowing hard.nbsp; Perhaps the one constant is there was so much water in the snow that the tracks were actually BLUE instead of white!nbsp; For my training session I used my "zero" skis.nbsp; Zeros are basically new-school no wax skis that excel in conditions like we are seeing here.nbsp; I've included a picture of the bottom of my ski...nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //diva href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3tE6xfU1pI/AAAAAAAAAwg/YN3QA_MxKjo/s1600-h/DSCF0142_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3tE6xfU1pI/AAAAAAAAAwg/YN3QA_MxKjo/s320/DSCF0142_50p.JPG" //abr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"nbsp;Ski selection and wax will be critical in tomorrow's race. I'm looking forward to it! My goal is to qualify for the elimination heats which necessitates at top 30 preformance.nbsp; I did it in Canmore last week - let's see if I can do it again.nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Last but not least, I would like to wish all of the APU skiers who are competing in Middle School Championships and High School Region 4 GOOD LUCK this week!nbsp; This photo is my lame attempt at a wave -nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3tGMwscMXI/AAAAAAAAAwo/BIKuegUj3H8/s1600-h/DSCF0148_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3tGMwscMXI/AAAAAAAAAwo/BIKuegUj3H8/s320/DSCF0148_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"nbsp;I miss you all and think of you often!nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"That's it for now... my stomach is grumbling,nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Holly :) /divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6401505974719455979-3559019126164262159?l=hollyskis.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

Well, the first race is over... officially. nbsp;I wasn't nearly as nervous as I could have been...after all, it was the Olympics. nbsp;Just the world's best skiers!!!! nbsp;In the Canmore World Cup I remember the announcer saying, "this will be live for 100 million viewers overseas" nbsp;Well, there are probably even more viewers for the "big show." nbsp;Oh well - my motto was, smile at the start camera and ski as hard as I could. The "secret" if there is one is that this was just another ski race.br /br /(Bynbsp;thenbsp;way....nbsp;Inbsp;cannotnbsp;officiallynbsp;postnbsp;anynbsp;picturesnbsp;ofnbsp;thenbsp;skinbsp;racenbsp;itselfnbsp;-nbsp;eithernbsp;ofnbsp;myselfnbsp;ornbsp;anyonenbsp;else.nbsp;Therenbsp;isnbsp;anbsp;rulenbsp;tonbsp;protectnbsp;NBC'snbsp;sponsorshipnbsp;ofnbsp;thenbsp;event.nbsp;While it initially sounds like a bummer, it's important to protect sponsor's rights because they make the Olympics happen!)br /br /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3o-RTh3rlI/AAAAAAAAAvU/-Cbz2lStPuo/s1600-h/DSCF0125_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3o-RTh3rlI/AAAAAAAAAvU/-Cbz2lStPuo/s320/DSCF0125_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Left to right: Dad - Don, Friend - Chip Treinen, Me, Husband - Rob, Brother-Scott, Sister-Robin, Mom-Chris.nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"The race was two laps of 5 kilometers. The conditions were actually perfect. nbsp;Yesterday, they salted the course and it was TOO hard. The days before it was super soft. nbsp;Today was a happy medium. I started conservatively because the last two 10k skate races that I've had I've started really hard and fallen off my own pace. nbsp;I haven't seen any splits but I have a feeling that I skied pretty even laps. Skiing through the stadium was awesome but one disappointing part was that there was many parts of the course with absolutely no one. The top of the course was the hardest because it was gradual uphill, long, and absolutely no one was there.nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"I can't say that I'm overjoyed with my result - 42nd. I was middle of the pack. nbsp;Who doesn't want to do better, myself included? nbsp;But, I find it important to remember that this was just my third International race, the first and second which were one and a half weeks ago. Many of my competitors are fulltime athletes, most which have a plethora of International experience including support from their national teams. Ten kilometer skate has not been my strongest event recently and I hope to improve upon my results later this week. It would be SWEET to have a top 30 on Wednesday and qualify for the sprint heats. nbsp;We'll see!nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br /a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3pC0sj4smI/AAAAAAAAAvc/-fOOS3bn4X4/s1600-h/DSCF0130_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3pC0sj4smI/AAAAAAAAAvc/-fOOS3bn4X4/s320/DSCF0130_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Thanks to my mother-in-law Sue who made this huge handmade surprise banner! nbsp;There was surely some other good fanfare at the event including the Dario Fan Club. nbsp;The Swiss skier took Gold today with a smashing time a full 24 seconds ahead of the silver medalist!/divbr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3pEuThmE_I/AAAAAAAAAvk/OoJm5ci7-hc/s1600-h/DSCF0128_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3pEuThmE_I/AAAAAAAAAvk/OoJm5ci7-hc/s320/DSCF0128_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"A couple of other things that happened today:nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"*During my warm up I saw one of my college coaches, Tom Olson who came out to watch the race. nbsp;Tom was always wonderful to me and the rest of the ski team at Whitman and I owe a lot of my experience to his hard work. Tom - it was GREAT to see you out there.nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"*Seeing my family and Rob was great too. nbsp;Rob actually came into the athlete village for dinner. He was awestruck by the temporary dining tent (the biggest, white plastic structure that you've ever seen!) and most of all the amount of food and the choices offered. nbsp;His comment was, "Its a good thing I'm not eating here everyday - I would gain 10 pounds!" If you know Rob this is very funny....nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"*We came up with the next phone application that someone should invent. Have you ever heard of schazam (sp?) the application where you hold your phone up to a song and it will look up the title of the song and the artist? nbsp;Well, we wish that an application existed where you could find out what sport different athletes belonged too. I suppose if we were really that curious, we could ask them!nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"*I heard that I actually received decent NBC footage today but haven't been able to view it myself. nbsp;Funny enough we aren't authorized to view NBC videos because we don't have an IP address from the US. nbsp;I guess the USA Team house doesn't count?!?/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br /a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3pHAVNw3-I/AAAAAAAAAvs/x_GAIDt4LP0/s1600-h/DSCF0135_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3pHAVNw3-I/AAAAAAAAAvs/x_GAIDt4LP0/s320/DSCF0135_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Rob and Holly in the "dorm" roomnbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Well, that's it for tonight. Thanks for following. Tomorrow I have training on the classic sprint course. I'm looking forward to skiing klister tomorrow! (Probably)nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Good night and thanks so much for all the support - you guys are the best!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/6401505974719455979-6686291618265752990?l=hollyskis.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

It's the eve of my first race:br /br /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3jSAjEXrfI/AAAAAAAAAuU/D5zS-dW9yic/s1600-h/DSCF0117_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3jSAjEXrfI/AAAAAAAAAuU/D5zS-dW9yic/s320/DSCF0117_50p.JPG" //a/divbr /I'm bib #50.... starting at 10:25. The seeded racers (the 20 fastest) usually start last but due to the unpredictable weather conditions, they are starting 10 skiers in. nbsp;In the men's biathlon race earlier today some of the fastest skiers werenbsp; !--StartFragment--span style="font-family: Times;"sabotaged/spannbsp;when it started to snow towards the end of the race and the snow slowed down considerably. nbsp;This is all part of the unpredictability of Whistler. Sometimes it may be in your favor, sometimes it will work against you.... this morning they actually salted the course (literally) and the conditions were just the opposite. In places I thought it was TOO hard. Have you ever been skiing on bulletproof corduroy and your ski gets stuck in a rut? nbsp;Anyways, I'm confident that it will be great out there tomorrow! br /br /Some of you have been asking - "What other races are you doing?" nbsp;Here is my schedule as it stands now:br /br /Tomorrow - 10k Individual start skate racebr /Wednesday 2/17 - Classic sprintbr /Friday 2/19 - 15k Pursuit (1/2 classic, 1/2 skate + transition time)br /br /I hope to compete in the women's 4x5k relay race on the 25th and the 30k mass start classic on the 27th. But, the coaches won't be naming those starters until they see how we are skiing in the first couple of races. nbsp;We want to make sure that THE fastest racers represent the US here!br /br /Speaking of represent, CONGRATULATIONS to the Nordic combined boys who finished 2nd, 4th, and 6th today. nbsp;Johnny Spillane made an awesome move with 1/4k to go and took the silver medal - the first Nordic Combined medal in US history! For more info on the Nordic combined guys, check out this a href="http://fasterskier.com/2010/02/spillane-ends-u-s-noco-quest-with-silver/"link/a. nbsp;Right now those guys are on a private Learjet on their way back to Park City for training before flying BACK here for their next race! (Compton just googled Learjet statistics and it can hold 9 passengers which includes the toilet which is a certified seat?)br /br /On another note, here are a couple of pictures from the athlete village:br /br /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3jYV9R6SCI/AAAAAAAAAuc/q8rPnYNz-vk/s1600-h/DSCF0103_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3jYV9R6SCI/AAAAAAAAAuc/q8rPnYNz-vk/s320/DSCF0103_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"This is "HOME" for now. nbsp;We share it with a couple of smaller countries including Australia and Great Britain.nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Here is another style of lodging:nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br /a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3jYnmF3IpI/AAAAAAAAAuk/88zWVqgJ_4c/s1600-h/DSCF0111_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3jYnmF3IpI/AAAAAAAAAuk/88zWVqgJ_4c/s320/DSCF0111_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"It's pretty sweet because everyone has flags or country-specific decorations on their buildings.nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Apparently the Vancouver organizing committee felt the need to house Norway in a trailer due to the country's long-standing lead in the winter Olympic medal count. nbsp;(They are serious about their "own the podium" campaign.......)/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3jZ45xXt2I/AAAAAAAAAus/7bFE7CESiKQ/s1600-h/DSCF0109_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3jZ45xXt2I/AAAAAAAAAus/7bFE7CESiKQ/s320/DSCF0109_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Just kidding. nbsp;Actually, there are a few trailers for over-flow support staff :)nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br /a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3jaEkC_mdI/AAAAAAAAAu0/zGBFw52jQRQ/s1600-h/DSCF0104_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3jaEkC_mdI/AAAAAAAAAu0/zGBFw52jQRQ/s320/DSCF0104_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Here are a bunch of the blue-coat Olympic volunteers have a jam session outside of the Olympic village "living room." nbsp;The volunteers have been absolutely AWESOME. They are all super friendly and patient. Kudos to them. I feel like I actually saw a statistic somewhere saying that there have been 25,000 volunteers involved in this effort? That is IMPRESSIVE.nbsp;/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/S3jahfluYPI/AAAAAAAAAu8/Jfgz2WTb7y4/s1600-h/DSCF0105_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3jahfluYPI/AAAAAAAAAu8/Jfgz2WTb7y4/s320/DSCF0105_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"This is the Vitamin Water bar... you can try ALL flavors if you wish :) nbsp;There are also coke and powerade machines everywhere and you only have to "wave" a little tag in front of the machine and whatver you want will fall...nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"There are "bat-phones" where you can call anywhere in the world for free... also an arcade where you can play dance, dance revolution or pin ball - it's all here.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/S3jaxOadPLI/AAAAAAAAAvE/9JWEU31lJ8Q/s1600-h/DSCF0108_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3jaxOadPLI/AAAAAAAAAvE/9JWEU31lJ8Q/s320/DSCF0108_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Hand sanitizer is a HUGE theme here at the Games. These stations are EVERYWHERE. nbsp;I think you have to walk by 8 separate dispensers walking into the dining hall. There is also a handy sign which gives you 8 steps of instructions in case you forget HOW to rub your hands together?!/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/S3jbyyHckBI/AAAAAAAAAvM/SFyG8YVrnEA/s1600-h/DSCF0115_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3jbyyHckBI/AAAAAAAAAvM/SFyG8YVrnEA/s320/DSCF0115_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"There are also some subliminal messages hiden in the village rockery...nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Alright - that's it for now. Time for bed. I have a big day ahead of me. Can't wait to see Rob and my family out there!!!!nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Good night,nbsp;/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/6401505974719455979-3246400886574658688?l=hollyskis.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

I just got word that there were two fatal avalanches in Alaska yesterday. nbsp;One up Hiland road and one on the Kenai Peninsula. Not all of the names have been released but we do know that Jim Bowles, President of Conoco Phillips Alaska was one of the victims. nbsp;My heart goes out to everyone involved in this tradjety, the families, the Conoco employees, and all of the friends that are left behind to deal with this accident.br /br /Under Jim's leadership Conoco has been a wonderful contributor to cross country skiing in Alaska. nbsp;For the past two years they have been the title sponsor for US Nationals at Kincaid Park, they have been a long time sponosor of the APU program, and they have recently jumped on board to help my Olympic pursuit. br /br /Avalanches scare me to death - as many of you know, my husband Rob was buried for ten minutes in a small slide last year in British Columbia. Luckily I wasn't there to witness it but it was still a very difficult experience for me.br /br /Mynbsp;span style="font-family: Times;"condolences/spannbsp;to everyone affected by these slides. nbsp;My heart goes out to you.br /br /Sincerely,br /Hollydiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6401505974719455979-3429599547989146503?l=hollyskis.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

Hey Everyone,br /br /Here is the "mondo-post" that I've been wanting to write for a while. I have my new camera...... and finally have a couple of extra minutes. I've delayed training this am because theoretically I wanted to sleep in. (I say "theoretically" because I was woken up this morning by random drug testing) We returned from opening ceremonies last night at 1am. Getting down and back to and from Vancouver took forever. That said, I don't regret my decision to go to the opening ceremonies at all. (Some folks opted to stay behind and watch on tv) This being my first Olympics, I was really looking forward to marching!br /br /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3bsCVyz6fI/AAAAAAAAArU/-IMWw3owe5o/s1600-h/DSCF0080_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3bsCVyz6fI/AAAAAAAAArU/-IMWw3owe5o/s320/DSCF0080_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Although there were tons of long waits the energy was incredible... on probably 50 different occasions our whole group burst out in "USA, USA, USA" chants. nbsp;I won't say that I'm usually the most patriotic person on the block but I think I can speak for everyone that this was a time when we were all reallynbsp;proud to be Americans!nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"nbsp;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3bsvJgnzdI/AAAAAAAAArc/NnPtQUglrH4/s1600-h/DSCF0064_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3bsvJgnzdI/AAAAAAAAArc/NnPtQUglrH4/s320/DSCF0064_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Here is our flag-bearer.... he is a 5-time Olympian and two-time medalist. nbsp;Speaking of lugers (sp?) the hardest part of last night's ceremony was the announcement that the Georgian Luger, Nodar, had actually passed away from his accident. I feel horrible for his family, his teammates, and of course him. All 40,000 or 60,000 (?) of us last night had one minute of silence to honor him and his Olympic dream.nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"But, onto happier things.... Here is the view just before entering the stadium:nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br /a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3bvgCWlxtI/AAAAAAAAArk/-QZD8BiWDSA/s1600-h/DSCF0070_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3bvgCWlxtI/AAAAAAAAArk/-QZD8BiWDSA/s320/DSCF0070_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Everyone always talks about "the moment" that you first enter the stadium... it was pretty incredible. nbsp;I think that I had about 10 seperate episodes of full-body goose bumps! nbsp;I think it's finally sinking in that I am at the Olympic games!nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Here is a picture of Compton with Shawn White and Bode Miller. I wanted to get a picture too but I could tell that Bode, especially, wasn't too psyched about fan-fare amongst his own teammates and decided against it. Good for Caitlin though to just dive right in!nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br /a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3bwMfIhAmI/AAAAAAAAArs/3pKWUkx5gDY/s1600-h/DSCF0089_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3bwMfIhAmI/AAAAAAAAArs/3pKWUkx5gDY/s320/DSCF0089_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Caitlin and I were in line right next to the figure skaters so it was interested to talk with them. One of the ice dancers had a HUGE scar on her hand from a fall where her partner's skate cut her hand to the bone: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/S3bwxy-3KrI/AAAAAAAAAr8/J-EVWvMSfJc/s1600-h/DSCF0062.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3bwxy-3KrI/AAAAAAAAAr8/J-EVWvMSfJc/s320/DSCF0062.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"It might be hard to see in this picture but it was an awesome scar. I also thought it was interesting that she was only 19 yet had been skating with her ice-dancing partner for 10 YEARS! nbsp;That means they've been working together since they were 9 years old! nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Here are a couple more pictures of us staging in Whistler before getting on the buses:nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br /a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3bxOd9vTAI/AAAAAAAAAsE/5e-RLEICKgE/s1600-h/DSCF0033_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3bxOd9vTAI/AAAAAAAAAsE/5e-RLEICKgE/s320/DSCF0033_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Most of the cross country squad...nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3bxVWm3EgI/AAAAAAAAAsM/gyMNs07G5HQ/s1600-h/DSCF0038_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3bxVWm3EgI/AAAAAAAAAsM/gyMNs07G5HQ/s320/DSCF0038_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"And my Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center teammates, Kikkan, James, and myself rocking the Ralph Lauren...nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Back to the skiing! Training yesterday was awesome. Erik and I tested skis after getting a sweet pic in the waxing cabin:/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br /a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3bxjzhtCRI/AAAAAAAAAsU/GZY4OMvH1SY/s1600-h/DSCF0004_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3bxjzhtCRI/AAAAAAAAAsU/GZY4OMvH1SY/s320/DSCF0004_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"It's HARDLY freezing at night. nbsp;The first 2k of my ski was semi-frozen water-logged snow. By the second lap, everything was breaking up and the fast downhill corners literally had 6-10 inches of HEAVY SLOP. nbsp;Try that at high speeds with tiny skis. I think it would even be a challenge for the super G skiers! We're wondering if they will ever salt parts of the course in an effort to get it more firm?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/S3bwgoMJSyI/AAAAAAAAAr0/-YugdhPQSP0/s1600-h/DSCF0007_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3bwgoMJSyI/AAAAAAAAAr0/-YugdhPQSP0/s320/DSCF0007_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"I have NO IDEA why Sarah Palin is on the door of our waxing cabin....? I've already had a couple of questions from other countries when they find out I'm from Alaska.nbsp;/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/S3bybddkIlI/AAAAAAAAAsc/-QE6a88Vz6s/s1600-h/DSCF0024_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3bybddkIlI/AAAAAAAAAsc/-QE6a88Vz6s/s320/DSCF0024_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Here is the stadium/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/S3bykOA905I/AAAAAAAAAsk/kAg2ZciXVG0/s1600-h/DSCF0023_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3bykOA905I/AAAAAAAAAsk/kAg2ZciXVG0/s320/DSCF0023_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"This is a train-track for a camera that can film the finishing stretch. They also have cameras that travel via telephone wires suspended in mid-air plus tons of cameras operated by people on the course. Should make for great coverage!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/S3by63y_f_I/AAAAAAAAAss/JRiTyF6r6W4/s1600-h/DSCF0016_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3by63y_f_I/AAAAAAAAAss/JRiTyF6r6W4/s320/DSCF0016_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Here I am in the Olympic stadium with my training bib on. You can't go anywhere without the thing/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Last but CERTAINLY not least, I want to thank my husband Rob who has been working double time on my behalf:nbsp;/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/S3bz5w_Wp2I/AAAAAAAAAs0/CqI7BohQgvY/s1600-h/Holly+and+Rob+..+YEAH!.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3bz5w_Wp2I/AAAAAAAAAs0/CqI7BohQgvY/s320/Holly+and+Rob+..+YEAH!.jpg" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Not only is he still working fulltime as a firefighter but he has been busting his butt trying to help me out with the blog, trip logistics, helping me get the gear I need, the whole "GO HOLLY" campaign, and trying to help line up a couple of sponsorships for me. nbsp;In addition, he's doing everthing at home - cleaning, paying bills, setting up our house sitter (Erin you rock!) taking care of the cat. nbsp;The poor guy hasn't gotten to work out in 3 days! nbsp;(If you know Rob, that is a giant sacrifice!) nbsp;Without him this whole Olympic pursuit certainly wouldn't be possible. I owe all of this time him - he was in fact, the person who told me I could make the team when I didn't believe it myself....... I am very excited that he will be joining me down here tomorrow. I only hope that he has a chance to relax and enjoy the great aspects of the Games. Thanks so much for everything Rob - I love you! nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Ok, off to late training.... I'll end on one of the latest hair-dying pictures:nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br /a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3b1IvbmJ0I/AAAAAAAAAs8/sL1OvuVz6r4/s1600-h/boys+with+hair!+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3b1IvbmJ0I/AAAAAAAAAs8/sL1OvuVz6r4/s320/boys+with+hair!+.jpg" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Thanks APU boys!nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Have a wonderful day,nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Love,nbsp;/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/6401505974719455979-2670990922520588728?l=hollyskis.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

Hey Folks...this is Rob(holly's husband). nbsp;She asked me to put up a quick blog....I just talked to her, she was in the motorcade traveling from Whistler to Vancouver for the opening ceremonies. Get this.....the motorcade of buses full of US athletes had armed vehicles ahead of them, armed vehicles behind them, and even a helicopter above them...all the way to Vancouver!! nbsp;How's that for security!?br /br /Here is a great link (in Dutch, nonetheless) to watch live streaming of the opening ceremonies (thanks for Frank in Boulder for locating this):br /br /span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px;"br /a href="http://www.livescorehunter.com/live-streaming-video-other-sports/" style="color: #0068cf; cursor: pointer; font-weight: inherit; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"http://www.livescorehunter.com/live-streaming-video-other-sports//a/spanbr /span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px;"br /br /Just click on the link you're interested in (tonight: "Ceremonies: Opening Ceremony") and then start clicking on all the links until one of them works for your computer. nbsp;/spandiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6401505974719455979-4362501341026900551?l=hollyskis.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

This will be short, cause I'm running out the door to the opening ceremonies! nbsp;(an all day process....we leave the village at 1 PM and get back super late tonight)br /br /Check out this photo sent to me from Mrs Gray's 3rd grade class at St. John Fisher School in Portland, Oregon! nbsp; These students took the time to make these great signs and send a picture! nbsp;So, why not post it on my blog as thank you?!?! nbsp; I'm fortunate to have ya'll cheering. nbsp;Thank you, you rock! nbsp; FYI, Mrs Gray is married to Rob's college friend, Alex.... thus the connection! nbsp;Apparently, Mrs. Gray's 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students have a surprise package that Rob will deliver once he arrives here in Whistler on Monday!br /br /br /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3XKWCICu6I/AAAAAAAAAp8/amzx-WH0_VU/s1600-h/MrsGrays+kids.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3XKWCICu6I/AAAAAAAAAp8/amzx-WH0_VU/s320/MrsGrays+kids.jpg" width="320" //a/divdivbr //divbr /br /br /Hugs to everyone! nbsp; nbsp;Let the Games begin!br /br /-Hollydiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6401505974719455979-3228462538966565276?l=hollyskis.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

Oh boy.... so much has happened in the last two days. Its gone by fast but 48 hours ago also seems like an eternity. nbsp;One reason I've been delayed is because my CAMERA BROKE! nbsp;So, instead of blogging earlier, I had to take the entire afternoon to go on a camera hunt into the Whistler village. BINGO. I got one. nbsp;(Can you really think of a more inopportune time to have your camera break - the DAY before the opening ceremonies of the Olympics?!)br /br /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3TsbzGY8bI/AAAAAAAAApU/ANvPPV5c-PY/s1600-h/P2100025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3TsbzGY8bI/AAAAAAAAApU/ANvPPV5c-PY/s320/P2100025.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"This is our room. We had six HUGE duffle bags to unpack. It's a huge mess - and absolutely no storage space. nbsp;In many ways, I really feel like moving into the athlete village is like going back to college. You have a roommate (actually, she's "hidden" in this picture - can you see her? It's not Where's Waldo - it's Where's Caitlin?!)nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"The skiing here has been fun. It makes me wish that I had some Whistler-specific training camps back at Snoqualmie Pass where I grew up skiing! Both days during training it's been 34 degrees and snowing hard. I actually talked to Rob about brining my extra tuff rubber boots from home. The snow flakes are dime-size huge and if you want to have a huge snowball fight, you would be in heaven. There are tons of "course volunteers" out on the trails and one was "marshalling" next to a gigantic snowman today. (I would have gotten a pic for you guys if my camera had been working!)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/S3T1CuKyU2I/AAAAAAAAApc/BXS1DjCnNik/s1600-h/P2100003_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3T1CuKyU2I/AAAAAAAAApc/BXS1DjCnNik/s320/P2100003_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"(My teammate, Liz in front of a Vancouver sign pre-press conference yesterday)nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Today for training I skied on my "zero" skis. For those that aren't familiar, think of it as a new-age waxless racing ski. nbsp;They are particularly good in conditions like we are experiencing here - 32 degrees and snowing. I had heard a rumor that Kris Freeman owns 27 pairs of this partiular kind of ski. I tried to confirm it on the bus ride back from the venue today but he, "didn't really know...." nbsp;It's takes a lot of skis to be a competitive ski racer! nbsp;Also, as a side note - Kris was on the Today show the other day. If you haven't checked it out, here is the link:nbsp;/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-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"span class="yshortcuts" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"a href="http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/35329776#35329776" rel="nofollow" style="color: #333366; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" target="_blank"http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/35329776#35329776/a/span/span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"br //span/span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"It's always great to see our sport bust into the mainstream media!nbsp;/span/span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"br //span/span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3T1-0gvCzI/AAAAAAAAApk/8wXenIlH3Xc/s1600-h/P2100011_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3T1-0gvCzI/AAAAAAAAApk/8wXenIlH3Xc/s320/P2100011_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"(Here is our team walking into the athlete village. It's been grey and pretty rainy but lucky the atmosphere is so good that it doesn't really seem to matter. Lots of the buildings are temporary white tents - the kind you would see at a wedding but only a LOT bigger.nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3T2i_JTg5I/AAAAAAAAAps/iJ66ma-PJxU/s1600-h/P2100016_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3T2i_JTg5I/AAAAAAAAAps/iJ66ma-PJxU/s320/P2100016_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"McDonalds is an official sponsor of the Games and there is a full-fledged restaurant inside each athlete village dining facility. Ronald McDonald sits on this bench 24 hours a day, everyday. Apparently, McDonalds took their top 300 employees from all over the country and brought them here to work as part of an incentive program. So far, I've been really impressed by the food. They have a huge variety/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"and it's pretty good. No complaints.nbsp;nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3T3dX0tJkI/AAAAAAAAAp0/gjEAU4U-6tM/s1600-h/P2100019_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3T3dX0tJkI/AAAAAAAAAp0/gjEAU4U-6tM/s320/P2100019_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"I was also really fired up to see one of Sean McCabe's painting in the athlete lodge at the venue. For those that don't know, Sean was a nordic skier/teacher/mountains enthusist from Winthrop WA that recently passed away from cancer. He has some amazing paintings, many of which are skiers. Check out his website here:nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"http://www.seanmccabestudio.com/index4.html/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"The other thing that's worth mentioning today is that our entire team went to drug testing. This time we had our blood drawn to check our hemoglobin levels. (span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"Hemoglobin is the protein molecule innbsp;a href="http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=5260" style="color: #0033cc; text-decoration: underline;"red blood cells/anbsp;that carriesnbsp;a href="http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=10690" style="color: #0033cc; text-decoration: underline;"oxygen/anbsp;from the lungs to the body's tissues and returns carbon dioxide from the tissues to the lungs.) nbsp;Sometimes high numbers indicate evidence of doping but sometimes levels are high because of dehydration, lots of time at altitude, etc, etc. The coaches had our whole team POUNDING the water and gaterade to avoid any suspentions. If your numbers are found to be high you get an automatic 5 day suspention and are subject to further tests. We can also be testing at ANY time during the day for both urine and/or blood. We turn in extensive "whereabouts" filings that basically tell anti-doping folks where they can find us at all times so they can do surprise tests. Testing is great and helps us protect the integrity of the sport. nbsp;/span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"br //span/span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"Okay, more good pictures to come tomorrow. It will be a busy day between training and attending the opening ceremonies. The ceremonies are a 10-12 hour commitment for those staying up here in Whistler. Lots of driving and lots of standing around. But, I'm REALLY looking forward to it.nbsp;/span/span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"br //span/span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"Talk soon/thanks for reading!nbsp;/span/span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"~Holly :)nbsp;/span/span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"br //span/span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"ps. Thanks so much to Kaladi... apparently an AK coffee care package is on the way. Thank you to Gina Romero (wife of a co-worker or Rob's) who read our coffee worries and put a plan into action! nbsp;THANKS! nbsp;BIGTIME!!/span/span/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"/span/divdivbr //divbr /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"span id="goog_1265953115129"/spanspan id="goog_1265953115130"/span/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6401505974719455979-6635847997919190689?l=hollyskis.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"A HUGE blog post to come tomorrow. It's been a SUPER busy day... while I would love to stay up and write but training, health and rest must take precedence. nbsp;Thanks so much for reading - thanks for the continued support and "talk" to you all tomorrow!nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"And, this is a cool website if you want to watch events. nbsp;I haven't checked it out, but sources tell me it's awesome:/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"http://p2p4u.net/sports/winter-olympics.html/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3OnaSCmMsI/AAAAAAAAApE/IswdzM-tn3U/s1600-h/P2100023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3OnaSCmMsI/AAAAAAAAApE/IswdzM-tn3U/s320/P2100023.JPG" //a/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6401505974719455979-3045682076227667838?l=hollyskis.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

Hey all,br /br /I'm going to try and be brief. It's been a long day and we're getting up early tomorrow to get to the village - and to go train. Todaynbsp;consistednbsp;ofnbsp;driving,nbsp;flying,nbsp;credentialling,nbsp;(isnbsp;thatnbsp;anbsp;word?)nbsp;gettingnbsp;THREEnbsp;dufflesnbsp;ofnbsp;schwag,nbsp;havingnbsp;anbsp;briefingnbsp;onnbsp;ournbsp;pressnbsp;conferencenbsp;fornbsp;tomorrow,nbsp;andnbsp;endingnbsp;withnbsp;annbsp;introductorynbsp;meetingnbsp;co-hostednbsp;bynbsp;Bonnienbsp;Blair!nbsp;nbsp;Enjoynbsp;thenbsp;photos........br /br /It's my turn for the Ralph Lauren shot:br /br /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3JPBhQ1d6I/AAAAAAAAAnk/hz7B72R7-OI/s1600-h/P2090018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3JPBhQ1d6I/AAAAAAAAAnk/hz7B72R7-OI/s320/P2090018.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Also... Freeman is going to be on the Today show tomorrow morning. (He has to wake up at 4am!) nbsp;Check it out.nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br /a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3JR7icqs6I/AAAAAAAAAns/IM2Fy5CG5UU/s1600-h/P2090015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3JR7icqs6I/AAAAAAAAAns/IM2Fy5CG5UU/s320/P2090015.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"My roommate for the next two and a half weeks, Caitlin Compton, at the "check out" line - the one where you don't have to pay :)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/S3JSgGij9TI/AAAAAAAAAn0/7l5i9A74Nqc/s1600-h/blair+-+gold+medals.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3JSgGij9TI/AAAAAAAAAn0/7l5i9A74Nqc/s320/blair+-+gold+medals.jpg" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Bonnie then....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/S3JS1hXUflI/AAAAAAAAAn8/nN2mIWrjDnM/s1600-h/P2090023_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3JS1hXUflI/AAAAAAAAAn8/nN2mIWrjDnM/s320/P2090023_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Bonnie now....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/S3JTNvT9mpI/AAAAAAAAAoE/X2bQ2724tok/s1600-h/P2090010_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3JTNvT9mpI/AAAAAAAAAoE/X2bQ2724tok/s320/P2090010_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"?/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br /a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3JTeu5bZJI/AAAAAAAAAoM/MPN9C1GLO4Y/s1600-h/P2090013_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3JTeu5bZJI/AAAAAAAAAoM/MPN9C1GLO4Y/s320/P2090013_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Liz and her favorite new piece of Olympic wear/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br /a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3JTrPetkiI/AAAAAAAAAoU/t4y6dL34ZTU/s1600-h/P2090016_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3JTrPetkiI/AAAAAAAAAoU/t4y6dL34ZTU/s320/P2090016_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Erik Flora previewing the closing ceremonies attire in the "instant alterations" room/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/S3JT46kKDkI/AAAAAAAAAoc/5xJeMyScSE0/s1600-h/P2090022_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3JT46kKDkI/AAAAAAAAAoc/5xJeMyScSE0/s320/P2090022_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Nordic boys ready to head to the Cape...nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br /a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3JUXxGS76I/AAAAAAAAAok/pM73ztebTTQ/s1600-h/P2090006_50p.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S3JUXxGS76I/AAAAAAAAAok/pM73ztebTTQ/s320/P2090006_50p.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Getting my credential literally a few steps off the planenbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"A couple of other random thoughts from the day.nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"*One thing we learned in our intro today is that there are going to be TWICE as many media people here as athletes. nbsp;That number was a bit mind-blowing to me.nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"*USSA has brought in a media representative to help us with press conference, manage requests, etc./divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"*Both Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancusco were in our dinner meeting (there were only 25 or so athletes.) nbsp;I didn't recognize them at first because they looked like - guess what - REAL people. I suppose when the last time you've seen someone is on the front of a magazine with tons of make-up and airbrushing they may tend to look different. (That said, they still, of course looked great.)nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"*As it turns out McDonalds is the SOLE distributor of coffee in the athlete village during the games. This means NO coffee at breakfast and long lines just to get our am fix. I was overjoyed to learn that my roomie is a coffee drinker too so we're devising a plan as we speak. (Kaladi, if you want to send us a coffee carepackage that wouldn't be turned down!)nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Okay, I need to get to bed. I am very excited to ski the courses tomorrow for the first time - I think I may be the only one on the team that hasn't trained there in both the summer and the winter. No worries - that just adds to the excitment. More tomorrow! nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Thanks SO MUCH for all the wonderful support.nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Sweet Dreams,nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Holly :) nbsp;nbsp;/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6401505974719455979-5296854730061315705?l=hollyskis.blogspot.com' alt='' //div