Racing, Pig Noses, Deck Jumping, and Heaven

The past couple weeks "on the road" have included racing, pig noses, deck jumping, and landing in nordic ski heaven. On the racing front, I want to start off by bragging about my talented teammates. On each of the race days I had something to be excited about, regardless of my own results, because it was inspiring to see the friends I've trained with all year kill it!

Here's Kate Fitz, coach Flora (standing in for his brother), and Holly Brooks with the leader bibs for the weekend. Bart, Iverson, and Sadie also made impressive podium performances. It's pretty awesome to be apart of the most stacked nordic ski team in the country.

The racers with the best points get to start first in the sprint race. Above is Sadie, Holly, and myself (R-L) as the first female sprint starters in the festival which fell on Thanksgiving Day (Reese Hanneman photo). We had 4 individual races in 3 days. Here are a few pictures of me in the individual distance races, courtesy of Swix Sport.

Ronsse in 5k Classic (Andy Canniff photo).
At the top of the course in the 5k Classic race (Andy Canniff photo)
10k Skate Race (Andy Canniff photo).

Each evening after racing we go for an easy 30min post-race walk-the-dog paced jog to promote recovery. Here's Kasandra, myself, and Kate (above) in our "pig nose" masks that are used to help protect our lungs in cold weather. Prior to the cold weather, West Yellowstone got a gigantic dump of snow. One morning, when the roads weren't plowed and we couldn't get the van out of the driveway we had snow fights and jumped off the deck instead.

Playing in powder will never get old no matter my age...
Front flipping Wrecka and ninja Fitz.

As soon as the racing wrapped up in West, we packed up our skis, gear, and boxes of non-parishable food and hopped in the team vans for a 2-day drive up to Canada. We are currently doing a little training camp in Silver Star, BC, which is one of my favorite places to ski in North America. Whenever Im here I feel like I'm living in one of those shakable Christmas snow globes.

Here's Greta Anderson walking the doorstep of our pink house to the ski trails this morning. I'm told that at one time there was a law that each house must be painted with at least 5 different colors, so there are some very creative color combinations and designs.

A bunch of blue smurfs ready to hit the ski trails.

HBrooks, Sadie, Ronsse, and GA.

It doesn't get much better than this. Silver Star is an easy place to get in a solid amount of volume in an "off" race weekend, and we're all looking forward to racing on the World Cup quality race courses next weekend.

Ronsse, Fitz, Tazmannix, Sadsarue, Morgo, Hbrooks, and GA. Life is good!

Racing Season Kick Off and Early Season Schedule

We have made our annual pilgrimage out to West Yellowstone and are excited to be here and get the racing season underway! Skiing and racing in West, or "Jellystone", is a tradition for a large portion of the American Nordic skiing community this time of year. Similar to everyone else out here, we are psyched to try out the gear of the new season, get in some k's in good tracks, and test our fitness after a year of training.

Here is most of our ladies team strutting our are stylin' NEW Swix uniforms, and E'Klaar buffs! I'm also enjoying the new modifications to Atomic's latest skis, boots, bindings and Swix's new poles!

One of the bonus features of the new skis is they come with an edible tip!

... Just kidding. That's just Sadie getting some H20 hydration on her 21st bday yesterday. Although in all seriousness, we have been making sure we are well hydrated since we went Anchorage's coastal climate at sea level to Montana's drier western climate at altitude.

We are also aiding the acclimatization process is by adjusting our training accordingly and taking plenty of iron throughout the week. Today was our third day at altitude-- the day when O2 saturation levels are typically the lowest-- so we skied easy and only trained once. I have also been making sure I eat plenty of red meat in conjunction with vitamin C-rich fruits or vegetables to help aid iron absorption and to help prevent any symptoms associated with anemia.

Luckily, there are no lack of food options in the APU house. Our 19 athletes and coaches will not go hungry.

Here is Morgan Smyth checking out our mountain of food in the living room before we put it away. This 3G Costco run of bulk food items and produce will hopefully last through this entire week and will help supply our cooking in the month to come.

Speaking of which, below is my Early Season Travel and Competition Schedule:

American Supertour

Nov 24: Cl and Sk Double Prologue, West Yellowstone, MT

Nov 26: 10k Skate, West Yellowstone, MT

Nov 27: 5k Classic, West Yellowstone, MT

Canadian NorAms

Dec 11th: 1.4k Classic, Sovereign Lake, Vernon, BC (CAN)

Dec 12th: 10k Skate, Sovereign Lake, Vernon BC (CAN)

Canadian NorAm "Mini Tour"

Dec 17th: Skate Prologue, Rossland, BC (CAN)

Dec 18th: 10k Cl, Rossland, BC (CAN)

Dec 19^th: 5k F, Rossland, BC (CAN)

Christmas Break

Dec 21-28 Anchorage, AK

US National Championships

Jan 2nd: 1k Classic, Rumford, ME

Jan 4th: 10k Classic, Rumford, ME

Jan 6th: 20k Skate Mst, Rumford, ME

Jan 8th: 1k Skate, Rumford, ME

American Supertour (continued)

Jan 16th: 5k F, Lake Placid, NY

Jan 17th: 1k C, Lake Placid, NY

...And then we will see what the season brings from there!

It's going to be a well-earned adventure. I'm looking forward to the highlights, challenges, and fun experiences and hope to "take you with me" in a way!

Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for reading,

Katie

Inspiration

If you want to be inspired, check out this video of Joan Benoit Samuelson and her brave move to become the first Olympic gold medalist in the women's marathon.

When I first saw this video years ago I had to watch it a couple times because it made me eager to give my best to training and racing. And somehow, through my racing travels and pursuits I found myself receiving generous hospitality at the Samuelson family Sugarloaf condo last spring (thanks to Sylvan's friendships and connections). The places ski racing can take you and the people you meet never cease to amaze me.

Which is why I'm looking forward to being back "on the road" once again! First stop: West Yellowstone, MT. Yahoo!

The Northern Fruit Company

I am proud to announce that Northern Fruit Company will continue as my financial sponsor for the 2010-2011 racing season! I feel honored to represent a company that promotes health and encourages community development as much as Northern.

The Northern Fruit Co. is located in Wenatchee, Washington, and is committed to providing customers with the highest quality of fresh fruit. At Northern they grow and ship over 1 million boxes of the best apples, cherries, and pears each year.

Here I am, Northern's proud Nordic skier pictured with boxes of "Nordic" apples I found in my local grocery store in Anchorage. With Northern's highest quality standards and state-of-the-art fruit preservation methods, fresh, healthy fruit can be available year-round.

Doug Pauly, a leader on Northern's production team, is a former teacher from the Yup'ik village of Kwigillingok, AK. It was there he gave my parents their first introduction to Nordic skiing. Since Doug moved back to the "Apple Capital of the World", he has helped Northern excel and has continued to be a leader in advocating Nordic skiing, healthy lifestyles, and community development.

I am incredibly grateful for Northern's support. I will represent the Northern team to the best of my ability this season!