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Holly Brooks

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Yeah JOS!

Holly BrooksMarch 12, 2010

So..... I have raccoon eyes from Presque Isle Maine - who would have thought? nbsp;For those en route, bring your sunscreen and klister skis not to mention crust cruising skis because it's good!br /br /It's been great putting the "coach hat" back on for the week. nbsp;It adds good balance to my life as a skier and I absolutely love working with the kids. Its funny to see the same nervousness that I experienced just two weeks ago at the Olympics (myself) in them now. It really brings the experience full circle. All in all, they did a great job and I'm really proud of each and every one of them.br /br /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5r4h0fs6HI/AAAAAAAABFU/KJfgxepNKtE/s1600-h/DSCF0498.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5r4h0fs6HI/AAAAAAAABFU/KJfgxepNKtE/s320/DSCF0498.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Awesome J2 girls in the van pre-race :)/divbr /Today was the third of three races and APU juniors had some stellar results - both with places and learning experiences. For some of them, it's their first time at a National-level race and it was hard to come into the experience with specific goals beyond "making the team." nbsp;I can relate to this with my first world cup and Olympics. I didn't know what to expect or where I would fall in the pack. I only hope that the experience has been positive for them and that it will motivate them to train hard this summer!br /br /div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5sGsGpjl1I/AAAAAAAABF8/fDUb0louJYM/s1600-h/DSCF0523.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5sGsGpjl1I/AAAAAAAABF8/fDUb0louJYM/s320/DSCF0523.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Sunny day - sunny venue/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/S5sGZtHA9PI/AAAAAAAABFs/SaiTb88UjHY/s1600-h/DSCF0520.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5sGZtHA9PI/AAAAAAAABFs/SaiTb88UjHY/s320/DSCF0520.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"J1 boys "Potato Ceremony" nbsp;(Because that's what they do here.) nbsp;Forrest Mahlen is in second and Jack Novak is in fifth. nbsp;I'm sorry that I didn't catch the other ceremonies but I was still working - this was the last of the day.nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Special note: Both Forrest and Jack made "MOM"patches for their jackets to represent their sponsor!!!/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/S5sGS_TsS1I/AAAAAAAABFk/mT-UiVFTJgM/s1600-h/DSCF0513.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5sGS_TsS1I/AAAAAAAABFk/mT-UiVFTJgM/s320/DSCF0513.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Me and Kylenbsp;/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/S5r_ciF4x2I/AAAAAAAABFc/xd-Tkj-jqsU/s1600-h/DSCF0511.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5r_ciF4x2I/AAAAAAAABFc/xd-Tkj-jqsU/s320/DSCF0511.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"APU boys signing autographs for the local kids :)nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br /a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5sGh0OOnwI/AAAAAAAABF0/7nVAZk0eUrc/s1600-h/DSCF0505.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5sGh0OOnwI/AAAAAAAABF0/7nVAZk0eUrc/s320/DSCF0505.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"We have a U-haul to carry around kid's skis and bags for transport.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/S5sJxJ2WtaI/AAAAAAAABGM/GYK8ksOF2RI/s1600-h/DSCF0492.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5sJxJ2WtaI/AAAAAAAABGM/GYK8ksOF2RI/s320/DSCF0492.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"I haven't taken too many pictures here but this shot exemplifies many of the trails here.... I will get more active with the camera next week while I am here waiting for the national 30k championship and Super Tour finals - Tour de ski style. (More on that later)nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Time to move on with the night's chores. I am giving a talk at the closing ceremonies/awards presentation tomorrow and I need to organize my thoughts.nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"On a completely separate note, my brother finally posted his Olympic-trip overview in case you haven't seen enough pictures. You can check it a href="http://www.tweak3d.net/forums/showthread.php?51579-Two-Weeks-At-The-Vancouver-2010-Winter-Olympicsamp;p=355116amp;viewfull=1#post355116"out here/a. He has a TON of pictures. Thanks for doing that Scott!nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"More to come soon - just have to write that speech and watch the Alaskan kids kick some butt in the relay tomorrow!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="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6401505974719455979-3359097172463881917?l=hollyskis.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

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XCFeeds

Pictures, pictures, pictures!!

Holly BrooksMarch 11, 2010

At long last, here are some Olympic action shots that I promised awhile back! nbsp; I don't have pics of everyone, but here is a selection. nbsp;Better late than never!br /br /I'm in Maine right now...more on JO's in a bit. nbsp;-Holly nbsp;:)br /br /br /div style="text-align: center;"James finishing on stadium curve./divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fwrmqK_AI/AAAAAAAABBE/l-D5kjQBtVc/s1600-h/DSC06933.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fwrmqK_AI/AAAAAAAABBE/l-D5kjQBtVc/s320/DSC06933.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;"Skate race/divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fy-nqhusI/AAAAAAAABB8/dkpqJxYE_2s/s1600-h/DSC06887.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fy-nqhusI/AAAAAAAABB8/dkpqJxYE_2s/s320/DSC06887.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;"Pack of skiers. nbsp;Notice the cameras on the snowmachines./divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fz1ewcroI/AAAAAAAABCc/rJYZAoyAfS8/s1600-h/DSC06746.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fz1ewcroI/AAAAAAAABCc/rJYZAoyAfS8/s320/DSC06746.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;"Relay/divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fzkOBGjWI/AAAAAAAABCU/NK2BHLE4pUk/s1600-h/DSC08231_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fzkOBGjWI/AAAAAAAABCU/NK2BHLE4pUk/s320/DSC08231_2.JPG" width="212" //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;"Kikkan in relay./divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fzQ3R_WzI/AAAAAAAABCE/7XM2fxpwsAw/s1600-h/DSC08156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fzQ3R_WzI/AAAAAAAABCE/7XM2fxpwsAw/s320/DSC08156.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;"Relay (thanks for Seth for photo!)/divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fzXYHXPSI/AAAAAAAABCM/Z2PxvOuZkB0/s1600-h/DSC08208_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="230" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fzXYHXPSI/AAAAAAAABCM/Z2PxvOuZkB0/s320/DSC08208_2.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;"Training day./divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fxt-mHS-I/AAAAAAAABBU/8tNeJx0pEMw/s1600-h/DSC06407.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fxt-mHS-I/AAAAAAAABBU/8tNeJx0pEMw/s320/DSC06407.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;"Pre-race game face./divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fw3D0BKvI/AAAAAAAABBM/f9PVdsydJeM/s1600-h/_MG_0024_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="237" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fw3D0BKvI/AAAAAAAABBM/f9PVdsydJeM/s320/_MG_0024_2.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;"Pursuit./divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fx-OdVGjI/AAAAAAAABBc/butoqzvGC_o/s1600-h/DSC06815.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fx-OdVGjI/AAAAAAAABBc/butoqzvGC_o/s320/DSC06815.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;"Kikkan finishing sprint relay, eventually beating out Sara Renner (CAN)./divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fyMFt6ZxI/AAAAAAAABBk/nLjlpzd9U_E/s1600-h/DSC07922.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fyMFt6ZxI/AAAAAAAABBk/nLjlpzd9U_E/s320/DSC07922.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;"Pursuit day./divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fyb9IF22I/AAAAAAAABBs/VjTln9nT8mI/s1600-h/DSC06858.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fyb9IF22I/AAAAAAAABBs/VjTln9nT8mI/s320/DSC06858.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;"br //divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fyyakEEeI/AAAAAAAABB0/Z_gGNe1iWs8/s1600-h/DSC06874.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fyyakEEeI/AAAAAAAABB0/Z_gGNe1iWs8/s320/DSC06874.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;"br //divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f0cHL5AyI/AAAAAAAABCk/Bq7K5Imtapk/s1600-h/_MG_0093_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="237" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f0cHL5AyI/AAAAAAAABCk/Bq7K5Imtapk/s320/_MG_0093_2.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;"Liz Stephan/divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f0mDI9IjI/AAAAAAAABCs/QKwH2KC52z8/s1600-h/DSC06451.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f0mDI9IjI/AAAAAAAABCs/QKwH2KC52z8/s320/DSC06451.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;"Morgan Arritola/divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f0v1j0rpI/AAAAAAAABC0/OIQXFU0k3XU/s1600-h/DSC06467.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f0v1j0rpI/AAAAAAAABC0/OIQXFU0k3XU/s320/DSC06467.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;"Caitlin Compton/divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f05vglaaI/AAAAAAAABC8/KuJ6z9E3hgQ/s1600-h/DSC06500.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f05vglaaI/AAAAAAAABC8/KuJ6z9E3hgQ/s320/DSC06500.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;"Channel 2 KTUU live news feed from Restaurant in Squamish./divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f1Q0JWHBI/AAAAAAAABDE/7II8JDBd-zc/s1600-h/_MG_0694.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f1Q0JWHBI/AAAAAAAABDE/7II8JDBd-zc/s320/_MG_0694.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;"Thanks for the lovely banner Alex Okeson and family!/divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f1a8nlhNI/AAAAAAAABDM/dVBxOXVMr9E/s1600-h/_MG_0932.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f1a8nlhNI/AAAAAAAABDM/dVBxOXVMr9E/s320/_MG_0932.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;"This gentleman is from Peru. nbsp;He's a member of the Kongsberger club outside Seattle/divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f1vHdnprI/AAAAAAAABDc/8-K2v56Xyk8/s1600-h/DSC06596.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f1vHdnprI/AAAAAAAABDc/8-K2v56Xyk8/s320/DSC06596.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;"Caitlin Compton/divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f1k7DhjXI/AAAAAAAABDU/nTgp5aMvCzk/s1600-h/DSC06570.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f1k7DhjXI/AAAAAAAABDU/nTgp5aMvCzk/s320/DSC06570.JPG" width="320" //a/divbr /br /br /div style="text-align: center;"Torin in sprint qualifiers./divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gLiSXl_JI/AAAAAAAABDk/lQVeQtFLW1o/s1600-h/DSC06693.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gLiSXl_JI/AAAAAAAABDk/lQVeQtFLW1o/s320/DSC06693.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;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Garrot in sprint qualifing./diva href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gLueFGFGI/AAAAAAAABDs/rhkfo7jbAvY/s1600-h/DSC06702.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gLueFGFGI/AAAAAAAABDs/rhkfo7jbAvY/s320/DSC06702.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;"Petter Northug....the world's fastest 100m sprinter...this guy is incredible. nbsp;You gotta see it to believe it./diva href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gL-qliztI/AAAAAAAABD0/XoYI1m0Cd_o/s1600-h/DSC06781.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gL-qliztI/AAAAAAAABD0/XoYI1m0Cd_o/s320/DSC06781.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;"br //diva href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gMc1lIWeI/AAAAAAAABEE/Cspv2pgn5YI/s1600-h/DSC06864.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gMc1lIWeI/AAAAAAAABEE/Cspv2pgn5YI/s320/DSC06864.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;"br //diva href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gMpq0pApI/AAAAAAAABEM/DOFXl9aZ5T8/s1600-h/DSC06886.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gMpq0pApI/AAAAAAAABEM/DOFXl9aZ5T8/s320/DSC06886.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;"James in on finish stretch./diva href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gM6P2kU9I/AAAAAAAABEU/cXKfHEoFCQ0/s1600-h/DSC06936.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gM6P2kU9I/AAAAAAAABEU/cXKfHEoFCQ0/s320/DSC06936.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;"Freeman finishing./diva href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gNPW2_9tI/AAAAAAAABEc/z2Rrx_FfBbU/s1600-h/DSC06941.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gNPW2_9tI/AAAAAAAABEc/z2Rrx_FfBbU/s320/DSC06941.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;"br //diva href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gNzqYZxAI/AAAAAAAABEk/2EVwDMvn374/s1600-h/DSC08491_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gNzqYZxAI/AAAAAAAABEk/2EVwDMvn374/s320/DSC08491_2.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;"The gang going to opening ceremonies (well, most of the gang.... a few missing...)/diva href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gPDy40SrI/AAAAAAAABEs/MbPEHWjIeh4/s1600-h/DSCF0033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gPDy40SrI/AAAAAAAABEs/MbPEHWjIeh4/s320/DSCF0033.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;"Pursuit race. Perianne Jones on the left, me on the right./diva href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gPmZ4CteI/AAAAAAAABE8/NHDZLKUr_QE/s1600-h/holly_pursuit_passing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gPmZ4CteI/AAAAAAAABE8/NHDZLKUr_QE/s320/holly_pursuit_passing.jpg" width="203" //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;"br //diva href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gP4b0p6hI/AAAAAAAABFE/L7m4JTrrf4U/s1600-h/IMG_6263.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gP4b0p6hI/AAAAAAAABFE/L7m4JTrrf4U/s320/IMG_6263.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;"br //diva href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gQJZixVmI/AAAAAAAABFM/mcYB6w5rUy0/s1600-h/IMG_6438.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gQJZixVmI/AAAAAAAABFM/mcYB6w5rUy0/s320/IMG_6438.JPG" width="240" //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 //divbr /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;"br //divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6401505974719455979-9209302697819471663?l=hollyskis.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

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XCFeeds

Pictures, pictures, pictures!!

Holly BrooksMarch 11, 2010

At long last, here are some Olympic action shots that I promised awhile back! nbsp; I don't have pics of everyone, but here is a selection. nbsp;Better late than never!br /br /I'm in Maine right now...more on JO's in a bit. nbsp;-Holly nbsp;:)br /br /br /div style="text-align: center;"James finishing on stadium curve./divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fwrmqK_AI/AAAAAAAABBE/l-D5kjQBtVc/s1600-h/DSC06933.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fwrmqK_AI/AAAAAAAABBE/l-D5kjQBtVc/s320/DSC06933.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;"Skate race/divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fy-nqhusI/AAAAAAAABB8/dkpqJxYE_2s/s1600-h/DSC06887.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fy-nqhusI/AAAAAAAABB8/dkpqJxYE_2s/s320/DSC06887.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;"Pack of skiers. nbsp;Notice the cameras on the snowmachines./divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fz1ewcroI/AAAAAAAABCc/rJYZAoyAfS8/s1600-h/DSC06746.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fz1ewcroI/AAAAAAAABCc/rJYZAoyAfS8/s320/DSC06746.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;"Relay/divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fzkOBGjWI/AAAAAAAABCU/NK2BHLE4pUk/s1600-h/DSC08231_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fzkOBGjWI/AAAAAAAABCU/NK2BHLE4pUk/s320/DSC08231_2.JPG" width="212" //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;"Kikkan in relay./divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fzQ3R_WzI/AAAAAAAABCE/7XM2fxpwsAw/s1600-h/DSC08156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fzQ3R_WzI/AAAAAAAABCE/7XM2fxpwsAw/s320/DSC08156.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;"Relay (thanks for Seth for photo!)/divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fzXYHXPSI/AAAAAAAABCM/Z2PxvOuZkB0/s1600-h/DSC08208_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="230" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fzXYHXPSI/AAAAAAAABCM/Z2PxvOuZkB0/s320/DSC08208_2.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;"Training day./divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fxt-mHS-I/AAAAAAAABBU/8tNeJx0pEMw/s1600-h/DSC06407.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fxt-mHS-I/AAAAAAAABBU/8tNeJx0pEMw/s320/DSC06407.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;"Pre-race game face./divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fw3D0BKvI/AAAAAAAABBM/f9PVdsydJeM/s1600-h/_MG_0024_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="237" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fw3D0BKvI/AAAAAAAABBM/f9PVdsydJeM/s320/_MG_0024_2.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;"Pursuit./divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fx-OdVGjI/AAAAAAAABBc/butoqzvGC_o/s1600-h/DSC06815.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fx-OdVGjI/AAAAAAAABBc/butoqzvGC_o/s320/DSC06815.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;"Kikkan finishing sprint relay, eventually beating out Sara Renner (CAN)./divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fyMFt6ZxI/AAAAAAAABBk/nLjlpzd9U_E/s1600-h/DSC07922.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fyMFt6ZxI/AAAAAAAABBk/nLjlpzd9U_E/s320/DSC07922.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;"Pursuit day./divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fyb9IF22I/AAAAAAAABBs/VjTln9nT8mI/s1600-h/DSC06858.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fyb9IF22I/AAAAAAAABBs/VjTln9nT8mI/s320/DSC06858.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;"br //divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fyyakEEeI/AAAAAAAABB0/Z_gGNe1iWs8/s1600-h/DSC06874.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5fyyakEEeI/AAAAAAAABB0/Z_gGNe1iWs8/s320/DSC06874.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;"br //divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f0cHL5AyI/AAAAAAAABCk/Bq7K5Imtapk/s1600-h/_MG_0093_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="237" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f0cHL5AyI/AAAAAAAABCk/Bq7K5Imtapk/s320/_MG_0093_2.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;"Liz Stephan/divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f0mDI9IjI/AAAAAAAABCs/QKwH2KC52z8/s1600-h/DSC06451.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f0mDI9IjI/AAAAAAAABCs/QKwH2KC52z8/s320/DSC06451.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;"Morgan Arritola/divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f0v1j0rpI/AAAAAAAABC0/OIQXFU0k3XU/s1600-h/DSC06467.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f0v1j0rpI/AAAAAAAABC0/OIQXFU0k3XU/s320/DSC06467.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;"Caitlin Compton/divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f05vglaaI/AAAAAAAABC8/KuJ6z9E3hgQ/s1600-h/DSC06500.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f05vglaaI/AAAAAAAABC8/KuJ6z9E3hgQ/s320/DSC06500.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;"Channel 2 KTUU live news feed from Restaurant in Squamish./divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f1Q0JWHBI/AAAAAAAABDE/7II8JDBd-zc/s1600-h/_MG_0694.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f1Q0JWHBI/AAAAAAAABDE/7II8JDBd-zc/s320/_MG_0694.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;"Thanks for the lovely banner Alex Okeson and family!/divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f1a8nlhNI/AAAAAAAABDM/dVBxOXVMr9E/s1600-h/_MG_0932.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f1a8nlhNI/AAAAAAAABDM/dVBxOXVMr9E/s320/_MG_0932.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;"This gentleman is from Peru. nbsp;He's a member of the Kongsberger club outside Seattle/divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f1vHdnprI/AAAAAAAABDc/8-K2v56Xyk8/s1600-h/DSC06596.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f1vHdnprI/AAAAAAAABDc/8-K2v56Xyk8/s320/DSC06596.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;"Caitlin Compton/divdiv style="text-align: center;"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f1k7DhjXI/AAAAAAAABDU/nTgp5aMvCzk/s1600-h/DSC06570.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5f1k7DhjXI/AAAAAAAABDU/nTgp5aMvCzk/s320/DSC06570.JPG" width="320" //a/divbr /br /br /div style="text-align: center;"Torin in sprint qualifiers./divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gLiSXl_JI/AAAAAAAABDk/lQVeQtFLW1o/s1600-h/DSC06693.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gLiSXl_JI/AAAAAAAABDk/lQVeQtFLW1o/s320/DSC06693.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;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Garrot in sprint qualifing./diva href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gLueFGFGI/AAAAAAAABDs/rhkfo7jbAvY/s1600-h/DSC06702.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gLueFGFGI/AAAAAAAABDs/rhkfo7jbAvY/s320/DSC06702.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;"Petter Northug....the world's fastest 100m sprinter...this guy is incredible. nbsp;You gotta see it to believe it./diva href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gL-qliztI/AAAAAAAABD0/XoYI1m0Cd_o/s1600-h/DSC06781.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gL-qliztI/AAAAAAAABD0/XoYI1m0Cd_o/s320/DSC06781.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;"br //diva href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gMc1lIWeI/AAAAAAAABEE/Cspv2pgn5YI/s1600-h/DSC06864.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gMc1lIWeI/AAAAAAAABEE/Cspv2pgn5YI/s320/DSC06864.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;"br //diva href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gMpq0pApI/AAAAAAAABEM/DOFXl9aZ5T8/s1600-h/DSC06886.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gMpq0pApI/AAAAAAAABEM/DOFXl9aZ5T8/s320/DSC06886.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;"James in on finish stretch./diva href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gM6P2kU9I/AAAAAAAABEU/cXKfHEoFCQ0/s1600-h/DSC06936.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gM6P2kU9I/AAAAAAAABEU/cXKfHEoFCQ0/s320/DSC06936.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;"Freeman finishing./diva href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gNPW2_9tI/AAAAAAAABEc/z2Rrx_FfBbU/s1600-h/DSC06941.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gNPW2_9tI/AAAAAAAABEc/z2Rrx_FfBbU/s320/DSC06941.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;"br //diva href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gNzqYZxAI/AAAAAAAABEk/2EVwDMvn374/s1600-h/DSC08491_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gNzqYZxAI/AAAAAAAABEk/2EVwDMvn374/s320/DSC08491_2.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;"The gang going to opening ceremonies (well, most of the gang.... a few missing...)/diva href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gPDy40SrI/AAAAAAAABEs/MbPEHWjIeh4/s1600-h/DSCF0033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gPDy40SrI/AAAAAAAABEs/MbPEHWjIeh4/s320/DSCF0033.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;"Pursuit race. Perianne Jones on the left, me on the right./diva href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gPmZ4CteI/AAAAAAAABE8/NHDZLKUr_QE/s1600-h/holly_pursuit_passing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gPmZ4CteI/AAAAAAAABE8/NHDZLKUr_QE/s320/holly_pursuit_passing.jpg" width="203" //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;"br //diva href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gP4b0p6hI/AAAAAAAABFE/L7m4JTrrf4U/s1600-h/IMG_6263.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gP4b0p6hI/AAAAAAAABFE/L7m4JTrrf4U/s320/IMG_6263.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;"br //diva href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gQJZixVmI/AAAAAAAABFM/mcYB6w5rUy0/s1600-h/IMG_6438.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5gQJZixVmI/AAAAAAAABFM/mcYB6w5rUy0/s320/IMG_6438.JPG" width="240" //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 //divbr /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;"br //divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6401505974719455979-9209302697819471663?l=hollyskis.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

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XCFeeds

“Jet-Settin” to Presque Isle…

Holly BrooksMarch 7, 2010

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; font-size: medium;"(I apologize for my lack of pictures /spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"i/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"n/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"nbsp;/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"t/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"h/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"i/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"s/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"nbsp;/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"b/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"l/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"o/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"g/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"nbsp;/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"-/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"nbsp;/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"I/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"nbsp;/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"d/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"i/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"d/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"n/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"'/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"t/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"nbsp;/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"e/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"v/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"e/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"n/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"nbsp;/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"h/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"a/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"v/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"e/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"nbsp;/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"a/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"nbsp;/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"c/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"h/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"a/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"n/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"c/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"e/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"nbsp;/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"t/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"o/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"nbsp;/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"u/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"n/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"p/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"a/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"c/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"k/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"nbsp;/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"m/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"y/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"nbsp;/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"c/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"a/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"m/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"e/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"r/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"a/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"nbsp;/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"w/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"h/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"i/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"l/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"e/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"nbsp;/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"I/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"nbsp;/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"w/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"a/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"s/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"nbsp;/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"h/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"o/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"m/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"e/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"./spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;")/spanspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"nbsp;/span/span/span/spandivspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"/span/spanbr /div br /div class="MsoNormal"My stint back in Alaska was short.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanI wish I could say that I had time to properly recover from the races, catch up on much-needed sleep, and relax but that wasn’t the case at all.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp;nbsp; /spanWhile at home I had just enough time to coach a couple of sessions, give some presentations about my experience at the Olympics, conduct some pre-Tour of Anchorage wax clinics (good luck today everyone!) see my cat, and buy my next plane ticket.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanI didn’t have time to pay my bills (they are currently stuffed in my carry on waiting to be paid) fill out my training log (next on the agenda) or spend any quality time with my husband. span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"L/span/spanspan style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanI didn’t even unpack my bags from the Olympics – I just “re-packed.”span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp;nbsp;/span/divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal"My departure yesterday wasn’t supposed to be quite as hectic as it turned out.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanIt begun with a HEAVY knock on the front door at 6:45am Saturday morning.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanMy body or my mind must have been anticipating it because I jumped out of bed and peered out the window to see who was at the door. Sure enough, they flashed their badges – it was USADA – United States Anti-Doping Association.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanI had been tested on three separate occasions at the Olympics but it was only a matter of time before they found me at home. /divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal"For those that are unfamiliar with the process, as Olympic-level athletes (even when I was a “hopeful”) we have to fill out “where-about forms” that include information of where we are going to be EVERY DAY of the year.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanEach day, we have to provide a 60-minute “time window” and guarantee that we will be and STAY there so that anti-doping officials can show up unannounced and take blood and/or urine to ensure that we are “clean athletes.”span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanYou can imagine that this is a time intensive process, especially for people that travel a lot. /divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal"Their arrival was bad news because I had a big agenda for the day and I had gotten up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanNonetheless, I invited them in and we exchanged pleasantries while I drank 4 pints of water in hopes of providing the necessary sample they were there to collect.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanBetween waiting to pee and all the paperwork, the process took two hours that I had not planned into my day. /divdiv class="MsoNormal"After they left, I had to hurry out the door to try and fit in my training before a 12-noon meeting. I no longer had time to drive to Hillside or Kincaid so I skied from my house on the Tour of Anchorage trail.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanThis usually isn’t a problem but Saturday also coincided with the start of the Iditarod and my ski home was largely interrupted by giving the dog teams right-of-way on the trail……. This was truly an “OIA” (Only in Alaska) problem to have. As frustrated as I was, I had to laugh at my situation. /divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal"I ate a power bar for lunch during my meeting and hustled home to “re-pack” with only an hour and a half before we needed to leave the house.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanPacking was stressful because my mind was clouded and it was difficult to anticipate what I would need for the next three-week trip. /divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal"Rob hustled me to the airport and I checked in for my trip to Presque Isle, Maine. If anyone is wondering, I don’t think there is a place in the United States FURTHER away from Alaska. I am currently on my FOURTH flight of the two-day (no sleep) trip but will be arriving in time to help coach for the first race, the classic sprint, will be well worth the trip. /divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal"Now I just have to hope that my luggage made the four-flight and multiple carriers jump to meet me in the “County.”span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanI packed my still-sweaty classic boots into my carry on just in case it didn’t arrive in time to test wax. If it comes down to it, I will test wax for them in my sweatpants, hoodie, and reading glasses span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"Jspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"This past month there has been a lot of cheering for me…… I am excited to reciprocate the efforts and share my experiences across the pond./span/span/span/divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal"Here is the view when you step out of the airplane in Presque Isle:nbsp;/divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5Rttsu8UQI/AAAAAAAABA8/qzzWCQek_rA/s1600-h/Presque+Isle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S5Rttsu8UQI/AAAAAAAABA8/qzzWCQek_rA/s320/Presque+Isle.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"The town may not be impressive but I have reason to believe that the event and the organization around it will be awesome.nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"More to come/thanks for checking in,nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Holly :)nbsp;/divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //div!--EndFragment-- /div/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6401505974719455979-8432674837566351959?l=hollyskis.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

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30,000 feet up and headed North!

Holly BrooksMarch 3, 2010

!--StartFragment-- br /div class="MsoNormal"(Just a warning – this is a long post – I hope that I don’t put too many of you to sleep….. sorry!) /divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal"While getting to the airport (with 5 bags to check) was stressful, now that I’m mid-flight, I have some time to reflect on the past two weeks before hitting the ground (running) in Anchorage. /divdiv class="MsoNormal"I am one of the few athletes returning home after the Games.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanMost of my teammates are en route to Europe to compete at either the spring World Cups or The “OPA Cups.”.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanWhile I would have liked to continue racing, I know the limit of my body.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanI need some rest, plus I am going to coach Junior Olympics in Presque Isle Maine as part of Team Alaska’s coaching staff!span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanI made the commitment to coach in October and I want to keep my word.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanPlus, I’ve been missing all of the people back at home that I work with on a daily basis.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp;nbsp; /spanThere has been plenty of cheering and encouragement for me the past month.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanNow I look forward to reciprocating! /divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S44CTjd0GQI/AAAAAAAAA-A/Q6xAAFAUp9I/s1600-h/DSCF0485.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S44CTjd0GQI/AAAAAAAAA-A/Q6xAAFAUp9I/s320/DSCF0485.JPG" //a/divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"(With my sister, Robin at the airport...)nbsp;/divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal"The past month that I’ve been away, (including the 17 days spent at the Olympics) feel like they’ve gone by fast…. Yet, it also seems like an eternity.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanA LOT has happened since I stepped on the plane January 27supth/sup…… notably less than 24 hours after I was named to the 2010 USA Team.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp;/span/divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal"Here are some things I loved and learned: /divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //divdiv class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"span style="mso-list: Ignore;"1)span style="font: 7.0pt quot;Times New Romanquot;;"nbsp;nbsp; 1) nbsp;nbsp;/span/span/spanHigh level skiing and International racers are no longer a “blackspan style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanbox” for me.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanWhile I wasn’t at the top of the Vancouver results sheet, I feel like I have a much greater understanding of what it takes to get there. This will benefit not just my future skiing career but hopefully everyone that I coach as well. /divdiv class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S44DQx_KMII/AAAAAAAAA-I/eMTo7Eu_IQs/s1600-h/DSCF0220.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S44DQx_KMII/AAAAAAAAA-I/eMTo7Eu_IQs/s320/DSCF0220.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"/divdiv class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"br //divdiv class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"span style="mso-list: Ignore;"2)span style="font: 7.0pt quot;Times New Romanquot;;"nbsp;nbsp; 2) nbsp;/span/span/spanI LOVE the fact that every four years, the World seems to be become united over one thing – athletics and the pursuit of excellence. What other event has the power to bring so many people together?span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanI can’t tell you how neat it was my sport on TVs everywhere.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanThe morning of the 28supth/sup (the last day of the Games) I was running around the village trying to pack up.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanEverywhere I looked, the men’s 50-kilometer mass start event was on TV.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanSecurity guards were watching skiing, athletes from all sports were gathered around the television in the dining hall, the race was playing in the polyclinic.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanIt was everywhere and people were loving it!span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanThere is nothing that makes me happier than seeing folks being introduced to the sport that I love./divdiv class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"3)/divdiv class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;3)nbsp;Don’t be afraid to share your goals with others.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanI think that telling people that I wanted to go the Olympics helped me get there.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanIf you have a “secret goal” consider verbalizing it.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanSometimes the help and encouragement that you receive from friends and family around you is the greatest gift you can receive. /divdiv class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S44A0LVigJI/AAAAAAAAA94/qqGEc6JK6iE/s1600-h/women+in+the+bobsled.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S44A0LVigJI/AAAAAAAAA94/qqGEc6JK6iE/s320/women+in+the+bobsled.jpg" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"(Here are some of the great master's women that I coach that made the trip to Vancouver to cheer me on!)nbsp;/divdiv class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"br //divdiv class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"span style="mso-list: Ignore;"4)span style="font: 7.0pt quot;Times New Romanquot;;"nbsp;nbsp; 4) nbsp;/span/span/spanI have meet and re-connected with so many people by means of my Olympic experience. Whether it’s getting a “congratulations” facebook post from my high school tolo date or seeing Amy and Lib Rust, the set of twins that I “coached” with when I was 10 years old on the sidelines after my 30k race, it was wonderful.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanMy "39-year-old" Great Aunt even bought and learned how to use a computer so that she would be able to follow my blog (and my sister’s too – check out a href="http://rwsb.blogspot.com/2010/02/olympics.html"Robin’s blog here/a.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanShe’s on a long solo bike trip around North America!)span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /span/divdiv class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4361BYIIqI/AAAAAAAAA9Q/qbYTKkWnrj0/s1600-h/DSCF0482.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4361BYIIqI/AAAAAAAAA9Q/qbYTKkWnrj0/s320/DSCF0482.JPG" //a/divdiv class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: -24px;"br //divdiv class="MsoNormal"Things that I won’t miss: /divdiv class="MsoNormal"br //divdiv class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"span style="mso-list: Ignore;"1)span style="font: 7.0pt quot;Times New Romanquot;;"nbsp;nbsp; 1)nbsp;/span/span/spanOur first morning in Vancouver we had a welcome/inspirational speech from Olympic Speed Skating medalist Bonnie Blair.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /span(For those that don’t know, Bonnie is the most decorated female Olympian of all time) Over coffee and bagels, she told us that during her last Olympics she locked herself in her room and only came out for training, eating, and competitions.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanShe never even spoke to her family – she only saw a “bird’s eye” view of them at the speed-skating oval after races.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanAt the time I thought she was absolutely crazy.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanWhile I still think her method was a bit extreme, I understand the stress of the Games and felt first-hand, how much energy it takes to conduct the most simple tasks. I have always been a quick-moving, multi-tasker and I look forward to being able to be on my own schedule and spend time with family and friends without the burden of two buses and multiple security check points. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp;/spanIt frustrated me that I couldn’t spend more time with people that had come so far to see me. /divdiv class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"br //divdiv class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"span style="mso-list: Ignore;"2)span style="font: 7.0pt quot;Times New Romanquot;;"nbsp;nbsp; 2)nbsp;/span/span/spanMy near-future races probably won’t require that I wear a cell phone sized remote GPS attached to my bib! /divdiv class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"br //divdiv class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"span style="mso-list: Ignore;"3)span style="font: 7.0pt quot;Times New Romanquot;;"nbsp;nbsp; 3) nbsp;/span/span/spanCafeteria food.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanThe combination of tapering (fewer on-snow training hours) and eating in a dining hall make you feel sluggish to say the least. I look forward to eating my own food. /divdiv class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S439AZVc1UI/AAAAAAAAA9g/D9aK688BSj0/s1600-h/DSCF0403.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S439AZVc1UI/AAAAAAAAA9g/D9aK688BSj0/s320/DSCF0403.JPG" //a/divdiv class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"span style="mso-list: Ignore;"4)/span/span/divdiv class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: xx-small;"span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 9px;"br //span/span/divdiv class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"span style="mso-list: Ignore;"span style="font: 7.0pt quot;Times New Romanquot;;"/span/span/span4) 4) The necessity of carrying a clunky credential everywhere I go/divdiv class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S43_pv-hwiI/AAAAAAAAA9w/dpOxuE9Egy8/s1600-h/DSCF0202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S43_pv-hwiI/AAAAAAAAA9w/dpOxuE9Egy8/s320/DSCF0202.JPG" //a/divdiv class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"/divdiv class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"I nbsp; nbsp; It's been a busy six months for me.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanBetween my exertional rhabdomyoloysis injury in July, getting married one week later, deciding that I wanted to make the Olympic team, racing the early season, competing in US Nationals at home in Anchorage, starting my first world cup, and then going the Olympics (all while having a job) it’s been busy. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp;/spanWhile it would be fun to sit on a tropical beach for a week to recover, there is no time for that right now.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp; /spanAs my good friend Bill Pearson said in our wedding ceremony, “Holly, you are your best when you are juggling a million things at once.”span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp;nbsp;/spanWell, I suppose that the past 6 month and the next two will be no exception.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp;nbsp;/span/divdiv class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S438VDSZJHI/AAAAAAAAA9Y/DChyNek_8I4/s1600-h/DSCF0487.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S438VDSZJHI/AAAAAAAAA9Y/DChyNek_8I4/s320/DSCF0487.JPG" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"A happy reunited family at the house on Alder Street!/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/S4397M8TK9I/AAAAAAAAA9o/7HJftxX5-YQ/s1600-h/no+coach+zone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl4EmOZ6xTM/S4397M8TK9I/AAAAAAAAA9o/7HJftxX5-YQ/s320/no+coach+zone.jpg" //a/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Bill sent me this picture... the irony is great - a coach/athlete in the "no coach zone" racing at the Olympics!nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"That's it for tonight. I have a busy few days ahead before I take off again - thanks for following and yet again, thanks for the all the support! nbsp;I had a great crew meet me at the Anchorage Airport today when I got in... they welcomed me home and helped carry my bags. If only travel was always that easy!nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"br //divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Good night/Sincerely,nbsp;/divdiv class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"Holly :)nbsp;/divdiv class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"br //divdiv class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"br //divdiv class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"br //div!--EndFragment--div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6401505974719455979-9132059839321894221?l=hollyskis.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

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The day after….

Holly BrooksMarch 1, 2010

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

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OlympicsRacingTech

Ski Switching and Waxing in the 30km Classic

Topher SabotFebruary 28, 20103

Whistler, British Columbia – A combination of relatively extreme weather and the ability to switch skis mid-race led to an interesting wax day in the women’s 30km classic. Wax techs were kept busy during the races testing skis, while racers were faced with tactical decisions of whether or not to take the time to switch. Skiers were allowed to switch up to three times during the race, and could do so only in the “pit”...

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XCFeeds

My 5th (and final) race of the Olympics!

Holly BrooksFebruary 27, 2010

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

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Out of Gas….

Holly BrooksFebruary 26, 2010

!--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

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Alaska Girls are here in force!

Holly BrooksFebruary 24, 2010

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

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XCFeeds

Congrats Nordic Combined! …. US Girl’s Relay Announced

Holly BrooksFebruary 23, 2010

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

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Top Skiers are Human too……

Holly BrooksFebruary 22, 2010

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

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XCFeeds

Perspective on a rough day

Holly BrooksFebruary 20, 2010

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

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Peak Performance Still Eludes Americans In Pursuit
OlympicsRacingUS Ski Team

Peak Performance Still Eludes Americans In Pursuit

Nathaniel HerzFebruary 19, 2010

The silver lining is out there somewhere, but time is running out for the Americans to find it in Whistler. Despite a beautiful day of sunny skies and spring-like conditions, the U.S. mood was somber after its third day of dismal results at the 2010 Olympics. Only one American woman, Morgan Arritola, cracked the top-forty in the 15k pursuit Friday, finishing 38th. The other three—Caitlin Compton, Holly Brooks, and Liz Stephen—were far back in 43rd,...

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Today is pursuit day!

Holly BrooksFebruary 19, 2010

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

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Close… but no cigar…

Holly BrooksFebruary 18, 2010

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

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XCFeeds

Bib 50 again?

Holly BrooksFebruary 17, 2010

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

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XCFeeds

Rain boots, NBC coverage, zeros, and good luck!

Holly BrooksFebruary 16, 2010

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

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One down, more to go

Holly BrooksFebruary 16, 2010

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

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My first Olympic Bib…. plus, the village (and my race schedule)

Holly BrooksFebruary 15, 2010

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

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