Becca Rorabaugh

a href=http://www.beccarorabaugh.com/Becca_Rorabaugh/Blog/Entries/2011/1/23_Nationals_and_more_Pathogens_files/Stadium%20Group%20Pic.jpgimg src=http://www.beccarorabaugh.com/Becca_Rorabaugh/Blog/Media/object001_5.jpg style=float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:216px; height:123px;//aNationals weren’t the highlight of my season so far. Luckily they were still good enough to get me to u23s, but starting out the week racing sick just isn’t the way to have a good race series. I haven’t ever felt so crappy the day after a race: my whole body felt like a headache in every muscle. It was very weird. However, I had managed to get a 4th place for U23s in that first classic sprint so it still may have been the right decision. It definitely took its toll on the 10k classic two days later though. That should have been a good course for me, and APU girls were kicking butt. My body had different ideas, and while the result ended up being the same for u23s, every downhill turned into a positive self-talk session. “Okay Becca, you know you don’t really have the juice right now... the question is what will you do with what you have?” It seemed like when I wanted to ask more of myself, my body just wouldn’t respond. In the end I definitely put what I had out there. I am proud to say I didn’t let off, but in truth I didn’t have the pop I needed for the top-10 that I wanted.br/br/In the end of the week it turned out that my two 4th place u23 finishes were enough to get me to u23 Worlds. So really I can’t complain, I am in Estonia! So far I have seen a whole pile of guys in green suits singing an excellent chorus in the airport, a Hummer totally covered in postage stamps, and some really insightful restroom icons. br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/We are driving to Otepaa as i write this and try to stay awake. It’s really great to be back on the road after being sick (AGAIN) after nationals. That 2nd sickness means the scenario for these championships is similar to that of nationals: go in guns blazing and throw down whatever you have in the tank. It’s hard to race with a ton of confidence when there is a good chance that my fitness is not as high as I would like it to be, but there is something exciting about giving it all you have and hoping against the odds that something good might happen. This is ski racing after all, its nothing if not slightly unpredictable!br/br/Now that i am on the road, and somewhere foreign, I plan to do more blogs with photos. So, I will keep you posted!

a href=http://www.beccarorabaugh.com/Becca_Rorabaugh/Blog/Entries/2010/12/29_Christmas-Virus_files/Photo%20on%202011-12-29%20at%2014.19.jpgimg src=http://www.beccarorabaugh.com/Becca_Rorabaugh/Blog/Media/object001_4.jpg style=float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:216px; height:123px;//aI have the christmas virus. Not like the consumerism madness that admittedly afflicted me before the 25th, but really, a virus. I call it the christmas virus because I got it on christmas day, something that seems to happen way too often.br/br/To begin with, I was surrounded by recovering or regressing illnesses in my family. As soon as I got to Anchorage, Eliza started to catch a cold. This was a problem because I promptly spent 7 hours in a car with her, breathing, while she was alternately chilled and hot with a sore throat. So four days later I ended up with exactly the same thing. However, I felt amazing right up until then, and probably got a little carried away on my christmas ski. Classic skiing in Fairbanks is by far the best, and because I love it so much (and was skiing with the Hanneman boys who were skating) there is a good chance that I went too hard, which could have facilitated my immediate plunge into the world of illness.br/br/The photo above is what my world of illness looks like. It’s the view of the TV from the couch that I am sitting on and have been sitting on for four days. The first day I watched around 5 hours of Pride and Prejudice movies, and concluded that I like the older version slightly better. Since then I have watched Star Wars, Avatar, The Proposal, and Robin Hood. The Usual Suspects and Gone With the Wind are on the docket as upcoming attractions, although with my departure date being tomorrow and a lot of packing to do they might not happen. I have quite a bit more energy today, so it’s going to be difficult to make sure I rest properly and kick this virus’ skinny little bum. That energy might become useful when all of the packing and planning comes into full swing though: if Nationals go well I could be heading directly from the east coast to Estonia and I need to plan for that as well!br/br/Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year etc... and if you’re already in Maine, see you soon!

a href=http://www.beccarorabaugh.com/Becca_Rorabaugh/Blog/Entries/2010/12/19_Rossland_Wrap_Up_files/IMG_4129.jpgimg src=http://www.beccarorabaugh.com/Becca_Rorabaugh/Blog/Media/object001_3.jpg style=float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:216px; height:123px;//aSo we are in the airport in Spokane, headed home for christmas. It’s so crazy to be done with period one racing! After three days straight of waking up and racing, I woke up today expecting to get ready and race again. I was a little surprised at myself considering how tired I was before the race yesterday, but I think that’s a good thing because I am not sick of racing, and will be rip roarin’ ready for nationals. br/br/Yesterday was a mixed bag of results. Jessie Diggins pulled out some crazy classic skiing and blew both Holly Brooks and Sadie Bjornsen out of the water. Jessie had the fastest time of the day by over twenty seconds! APU girls still kicked butt though, with the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th fastest times of the day. Morgan Smyth’s time was 2nd, and Sadie’s was 3rd, And I was 5th. Holly was showing a little wear and tear from the weekend, but still had the 6th fastest time. So if it had been a 10k classic interval start race we would have essentially taken 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th places. However, our places in the overall mini-tour were not quite as good. The hot tub afterwards was quite good though!br/br/The boy’s race was much more pack-oriented than ours, and there was almost a ten person lead pack for most of it. Lars was hanging in there in second for most of it, but just wasn’t able to make the overspeed final kilometers to the finish. He wound up fourth overall.br/br/After packing and travel waxing up a storm last night, we left Rossland at 7am. Today is going to be an airport day, and I should be into Anchorage at around 8:15pm! Look out Alaska, here I come!

a href=http://www.beccarorabaugh.com/Becca_Rorabaugh/Blog/Entries/2010/12/18_Second_day_Rossland_files/DSC_1688.jpgimg src=http://www.beccarorabaugh.com/Becca_Rorabaugh/Blog/Media/object000_2.jpg style=float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:216px; height:123px;//aWell, that was fun. It was a totally perfect day for a skate race in Rossland. The trails were very fast, and the temperature was around 20º. Times were very fast and very tight, the top five women and the top five men were separated by only eleven seconds. br/br/Holly kicked butt, as usual, winning the day. Sadie also had a good one, ending up in 5th, while Fitz pulled out her skate skillz and got 4th. Morgan and I were 11th and 10th respectively. American women made up eight of the top ten, so it was a good day for the US!br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/In the guy’s race Lars Flora got the win, over a very tough Canadian field. Only four americans made the top 10, but APU’s Brent Knight and Mark Iverson had some of their best distance races so far finishing 14th and 15th (6th and 7th Americans). James Southam got 11th, 5th American.br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/br/Tomorrow is going to be exciting! The start list is at a href=https://www.zone4.ca/results.asp?id=3266zone4.ca/a and it’s fun to look at. There are some good speculations to be made! Will Holly hold off Sadie? Can Lars take the two canadians?br/The only way to know is to find out tomorrow...

a href=http://www.beccarorabaugh.com/Becca_Rorabaugh/Blog/Entries/2010/12/17_New_Blog%21_files/DSC_0115.jpgimg src=http://www.beccarorabaugh.com/Becca_Rorabaugh/Blog/Media/object000_2.jpg style=float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:216px; height:123px;//aApparently my recent iWeb troubles may have had to do with the blog on my website, so for now I am scrapping it and starting afresh. If people have been trying to check my site, sorry that I have had so much trouble this fall. I am learning a lot about it though! By the end of this, I will be an iWeb expert.br/br/Today we had the first race of a three day series. APU kicked some butt, taking first and second in the women’s skate sprint. Well, tied for second. I don’t know what it is with Holly and those photo finishes, but this time she didn’t get edged out. She and Peri apparently were so close that even with a finish camera, it wasn’t possible to tell who got it.br/Lars Flora was fourth in the men’s race after moving his way up from sixth in the last part of the final. br/br/My race was interesting. After an uninspired prelim that put me in 24th, I led my quarter final until the top of the first hill. After getting passed on the top, I passed the girl back going up another hill and was leading into the final downhill. There, I decided that I was doing too well, and face-planted. I was pretty mad about that, but in the end I still improved my place from the prelim and proved that I was able to go fast. I just didn’t get the result that I would have liked.br/br/Tomorrow’s race is a 5km skate, which should be fun. However, Sunday’s race is the one that I am really excited about. It’s a pretty exciting one because it is 10km classic, and it’s a handicapped start. Usually the end of pursuit or tour-style races are skate handicapped start sections. This time it’s classic! br/br/I am glad to hopefully have my site back up and running now. If you’re having trouble with any part of it, please let me know.

a href="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/193A628E-E11F-4754-9A9E-7AA1F06A37A8_files/IMG_3892_1.jpg"img src="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/Images/IMG_3892.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:130px; height:130px;"//aMy Incredibly tardy blog post on the summer is here! Yellow leaves have been seen on the Coastal Trail, it’s rainy in Anchorage, and there is an unmistakable bite in the air here. Even when it’s nice out, it’s just a little chilly. This means it’s fall, and time for me to put up some comments and

a href="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/F1F6AC55-A35E-49EB-9734-89FD7604D9F1_files/IMG_3682.jpg"img src="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/Images/IMG_3682.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:130px; height:130px;"//aWell, I have been nefariously bad at blogging this summer, but I am trying for the grand comeback here now. Since my last blog post way too many things have happened for me to fully fill you in, but I will touch on the basics. As the photos above illustrate, I had a few hiking and crust skiing adv

a href="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/D5CE37D9-D93C-4DA1-A453-FCDCAAADFF19_files/IMG_3499_1.jpg"img src="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/Images/IMG_3499.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:130px; height:130px;"//aSo far this spring has been excellent. After the races in Maine (which went pretty darn well, a good solid way to end the season) it was time to do all the things that I don’t do while training, in short order. First I went on a one nighter in the White Mountains near Fairbanks with my sisters, Da

a href="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/A790BAF2-E900-44AC-8437-A8A0C48E2B7A_files/IMG_0761_1.jpg"img src="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/Images/IMG_0761.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:130px; height:130px;"//aToday it’s been so beautifully sunny, I think that I managed to fully sun burn my whole face. Except my forehead, but there may be time for that later. I do know that I skied way too long and didn’t mean to. That doesn’t happen too often, I am quite fastidious about doing the exact workout that I

a href="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/9C148577-99AC-4D50-B754-46C298863227_files/IMG_3426_1.jpg"img src="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/Images/IMG_3426.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:130px; height:130px;"//aSo here it is, for all you doubters and cynics, I got that darn photo. Incidentally, the biggest and probably only doubter and cynic was me, but thanks to some serious encouragement from friends I developed some chutzpah. It took me a couple of days, I had some bad luck and bad timing in the proce

a href="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/E8C2747D-5CF5-49DA-839D-D0B490979326_files/IMG_3395_1.jpg"img src="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/Images/IMG_3395.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:130px; height:130px;"//aWell we did a short classic prologue today. For me it went okay, not totally awesome but not a total disaster. I felt a little slow-mo at the start, and my 30th place reflected that. On the bright side, Mikey Sinott kicked some serious butt, ending up 6th with a 39 point race. For you Nordic Nerd

a href="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/75AA4072-DE5F-4FA8-86A3-A1C3096AD000_files/IMG_3390_1.jpg"img src="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/Images/IMG_3390.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:130px; height:130px;"//aWell it’s winter here. That is for darn sure. The temperature is -11ºc, the wind is apparently not blowing according the same sign that told me that, but I can tell you it is. Better yet, look at t

a href="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/8BB2931A-CB80-4F3A-A680-463D6C34E15A_files/IMG_3360_1.jpg"img src="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/Images/IMG_3360.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:130px; height:130px;"//aDespite all kinds of second guessing and hesitation, I raced today. I have spent too much time this week agonizing over silly questions like “do I have a sore throat”, and “am I sick” or “should I sk

a href="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/3F15D025-65B3-488A-BA25-59CADC141CE7_files/70850224_1.jpg"img src="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/Images/70850224.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:130px; height:130px;"//aThis is preposterous. Utter fiddle sticks. Unbelievable, though altogether too believable. Banished, locked up, key tossed into a bottomless pit of doom. If you are planning on resting or aware tha

a href="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/3F15D025-65B3-488A-BA25-59CADC141CE7_files/70850224_1.jpg"img src="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/Images/70850224.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:130px; height:130px;"//aThis is preposterous. Utter fiddle sticks. Unbelievable, though altogether too believable. Banished, locked up, key tossed into a bottomless pit of doom. If you are planning on resting or aware tha

a href="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/0EBC4485-D8B8-4017-AEDA-25D7439A584B_files/P1010571.jpg"img src="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/Images/P1010571.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:130px; height:130px;"//aThis is an excellent photo from Reese Hanneman, taken when we spent the night at his uncle’s house in Seatte enroute to Canmore. I need to get me one of these! I even got to goose the engine a littl

a href="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/87F5DAB4-89AF-4200-B805-8C861053E888_files/Snapshot%202010-02-16%2016-28-57.jpg"img src="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/Images/Snapshot%202010-02-16%2016-28-57.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:130px; height:130px;"//aFor the past few days I have, as I imagine many people have, been glued to the TV. This is not my natural state (in fact I don’t even own a TV) and have actually been glued to Don’s TV. The generosit

a href="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/FF7FD896-550B-439D-8FA0-7F082D1B1E84_files/IMG_3329_1.jpg"img src="http://web.me.com/brorabaugh/iWeb/Becca%27s%20site/Blog/Images/IMG_3329.jpg" style="float:left; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:130px; height:130px;"//aI am happy that I got to go race in Canmore this year. I think that getting an idea of what the World Cup is like is a really good thing for me to do at this point, and plus I got a bit of a suntan.