Wow, a lot has happened since my last update in Aspen! I returned to Sun Valley after Aspen and put in a good week of volume training. My travels brought me to Vancouver, where I met up with my family and I was able to experience and take in the sights of the Olympics. The day I arrived, I checked out the city of Vancouver, on a day when the Canadian hockey team was playing the US! The streets were filled with people and sports bars were roaring with loud cheers! I also checked out Granville Island and the Olympic cauldron. Just being there, got me really excited!br /br /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/S46eEVoaPWI/AAAAAAAAAkc/rToRaO5yjxg/s1600-h/2010+Olympics+058.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/S46eEVoaPWI/AAAAAAAAAkc/rToRaO5yjxg/s320/2010+Olympics+058.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444462796900810082″ border=”0″ //a/divdiv style=”text-align: center;”span style=”font-style: italic;”My family and I!/spanbr /br //divdiv style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/S46eEs_gokI/AAAAAAAAAkk/fuKAZ0NYno4/s1600-h/2010+Olympics+039.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/S46eEs_gokI/AAAAAAAAAkk/fuKAZ0NYno4/s320/2010+Olympics+039.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444462803171713602″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-style: italic;”A view of the Olympic Cauldronbr /br //span/divI stayed in Whistler and arrived just in time to enjoy one beautiful sunny day! I watched and cheered at the team sprint, where good friend, Kikkan Randall and ITA alum, Caitlin Compton, finished with an excellent 6th place finish! The excitement carried into the night and I attended the medal ceremony, where the US Nordic Combined team earned a silver medal in the team relay! It is so exciting to see those guys perform so well! Congratulations! I also attended the men’s 4x10k and the women’s 4x5k as well! They were very exciting races!br /br /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/S46faOdcNvI/AAAAAAAAAk0/2C4fgtPnq_Q/s1600-h/2010+Olympics+048.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/S46faOdcNvI/AAAAAAAAAk0/2C4fgtPnq_Q/s320/2010+Olympics+048.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444464272444503794″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-style: italic;”The best US cheering squad!br //span/divbr /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/S46fZ7QtgqI/AAAAAAAAAks/DVyEx-pRWFw/s1600-h/2010+Olympics+045.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/S46fZ7QtgqI/AAAAAAAAAks/DVyEx-pRWFw/s320/2010+Olympics+045.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444464267290837666″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-style: italic;”The start of the team relay sprint/spanbr //divbr /My time in Whistler flew by and before I knew it, I was on a plane to Europe! I am currently in St. Francois, just outside of La Feclaz, where I am racing this weekend. I spent the first few nights in Chamonix and enjoyed a day checking out the town and taking the Aguille de Midi up Mont Blanc. The weather was incredible and the views were spectacular! Chamonix is a beautiful place! Thank you Charla and Rob for letting me stay in your wonderful and quaint French home:) I had a great time!br /br /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/S46hB66WtRI/AAAAAAAAAk8/YgHpfdFU1uU/s1600-h/Europe+2010+012.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/S46hB66WtRI/AAAAAAAAAk8/YgHpfdFU1uU/s320/Europe+2010+012.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444466053903463698″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-style: italic;”Mont Blanc in Chamonixbr /br //span/divdiv style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/S46hCKm3vuI/AAAAAAAAAlE/OzrS9wpGqIE/s1600-h/Europe+2010+051.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/S46hCKm3vuI/AAAAAAAAAlE/OzrS9wpGqIE/s320/Europe+2010+051.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444466058116710114″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-style: italic;”Walking the streets of Anceybr //span/divbr /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/S46hCSBQ_MI/AAAAAAAAAlM/sS1HULNKvhE/s1600-h/Europe+2010+065.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bfd1dFDmRWA/S46hCSBQ_MI/AAAAAAAAAlM/sS1HULNKvhE/s320/Europe+2010+065.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444466060106464450″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-style: italic;”Ancey: 2018 Winter Olympic Bidbr //span/divbr /I am gearing up for a classic team sprint on Friday, March 5th with teammate Caitlin Compton. We will get a day off before we race the 5/10k skate on Sunday. I am looking forward to the races! The snow is good higher up in the valley where we are racing.br /br /I will keep you posted on how it goes! Cheers!div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5903545846797966075-8211226187523570015?l=in-the-arena-nicole.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
Category: XCFeeds
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Closing
I arrived home in Minneapolis in time for dinner last night. It’s been a whirlwind of a finish to the Olympics–working out, attending events, medal ceremonies, packing, closing ceremonies, and traveling. I realized on my trip home that since November 1st, I’ve spent more time in Canada for training camps, NorAm races, World Cups, and Olympics, than I’ve spent in the US. It’s great to be back in the Cities now with a couple feet of snow on the ground and sunny skies. I’m looking forward to kicking back for a few days and enjoying my time at home.
Due to Olympic regulations, there have been a number of photos I haven’t been able to post over the past couple of weeks. I’ll be posting a few of those (especially race photos) as I get caught up, as well as tales from new adventures. For now, here are a couple of shots from the Closing Ceremonies. . .
- Caitlin Compton, Garrott Kuzzy, Andy Newell, Torin Koos, Morgan Arritola, Liz Stephen, Kikkan Randall, and Holly Brooks
The 1932 US Olympic cross country team prepares for the Closing Ceremonies. Our teammates James Southam and Kris Freeman were still up in Whistler competing in the 50km Classic while we were staging.
The procession took us through the Vancouver Athletes Village and onto buses into the Stadium.
Vancouver was full of Canadian hockey fans on their way home from the Gold Medal game. I’m not sure if they’d have been cheering for our bus had the game gone the other way. . .
The procession took us around the Olympic Torch in the Stadium. In addition to Arritola, I realized afterwards that there are a couple of Nordic skiers in this shot including my buddy Roberto Carcelean, Peru’s first Winter Olympian, and Petter Northug, the 50km’s Gold Medalist from Norway.
TV camera’s roamed the crowd, capturing the reaction of all the athletes. I even heard from several people that I got a little TV time on NBC.
Here, the crew kicks back with front row seats to the festivities. Closing Ceremonies was a cool way to wrap up the end of the Games. Afterwards I traded one of my hats for a Russian “See you in Sochi” jersey.
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The Fever.
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Boutot 22nd in Individual
Otepaa, Estonia – In tough conditions with gusting winds and blowing snow athletes struggled with consistency in the shooting range. The MWSC’s Grace Boutot was on good pace hitting 9 of her first 10 shots. In her 3rd stage Boutot struggled to find the center in swirling winds missing all 5 targets, but recovered in time for her final stage to hit all 5. Boutot finished 22nd overall, but showed good signs on the tracks. “I was really happy with how I felt today. I was disappointed with my 3rd stage, but minus that one stage the rest of the race was pretty good”, stated Boutot afterwards.br /br /The rest of the American Team struggled at times too in the range. Annelies Cook was the top female hitting 16 of 20 finishing 28th, Susan Dunklee finished 37th with 8 penalties and Laura Spector and Hannah Dreissigacker finished 51st and 52nd with 11 penalties. Leif Nordgren finished 17th in the Jr. Men’s race with 5 penalties. Casey Simons led the Sr. Men hitting 14 for 20 to finish 40th. Wynn Roberts arriving from Vancouver missed 7 to finish 45th and Zach Hall 46th with 5 penalties.br /br /The next race is Thursday with the Relays.div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6813061107698506856-5675525330023420201?l=mwscbiathlon.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
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More Whistler Notes
a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_T8lplfcx_Ro/S41BT8rg0MI/AAAAAAAAAcU/yj36aB1d5Bg/s1600-h/skitesting.JPG” target=”_blank”img style=”margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 239px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_T8lplfcx_Ro/S41BT8rg0MI/AAAAAAAAAcU/yj36aB1d5Bg/s320/skitesting.JPG” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444079335522750658″ border=”0″ //aThe work at Whistler was rewarding on many levels. First and foremost, it was great to join the team from Slovenia again. I really enjoy working with the service team – Miha, Gianluca, and Stefan – and really appreciate the excellent work they do for every race. Equally enjoyable is the opportunity to see the athletes and coaches who have become good friends during the past few years.br /br /The service work for the Olympics remained the same protocol that we’ve used at World Cup events for the past few years. These games may be the highest priority for all the racers and service crews, but the processes and precision and focus on excellence is the same.br /br /There is variation from day to day, but I think the most memorable were the few things that were constant throughout these two weeks, that marked the start of every day:br /br /First,
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Skiing the Montana Creek South Fork Trail
We spent last weekend at a cabin on Benka Lake near Talkeetna. It’s always a great family get-away.
When we were up there this past summer, we hiked a little way out the Montana Creek South Fork trail, which is nearby. It was a family hike, so we didn’t make it very far. […] -
The day after….
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;”
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pre race.
img src=”http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kymjc32TFR1qzt3xbo1_500.jpg”/br/br/ppre race./p
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The Birkie
Sorry for the lack of updates at such a crucial time of the season. This past week was Birkie week and we have been away from internet service and totally absorbed in all the wonderful Birkie festivities. Most of the CXC team headed to Hayward, WI, immediately after the Madison Winter Festival. I stopped in […]
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Madison Winter Festival
Last weekend was the Madison Winter Festival SuperTour. This event takes place around the Wisconsin Capitol building and is always cool no matter what kind of weather or snow conditions are thrown at us. Here are some photos from the day courtesy of Renee Callaway. There are lots more at www.winter-fest.com if you click on […]
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Games Over
I’m the last American athlete in the Whistler Olympic Village. It’s a little hard to believe that what in all likelihood are my last Olympics are done. Any athlete spend so much time, energy, sweat, and money to get to the Olympics and now that is over it is a little surreal. Fortunately I don’t have much time to dwell on it. Racing continues in a big way with World Cups the next two weeks. Next Saturday a 30k pursuit and the following weekend a 50k skate in Oslo, site of the 2011 World Championships.
So yesterdays 50k was by far my best race of the Games. I settled in early and didn’t try to force my way up, instead picked up places where it was easy too. Taking the inside track on long sweeping corners and working the tops of hills and fast lines to avoid bottlenecks on downhills. Before long I was right up front cycling forward and back in the pack as will happen in mass starts. 20k in, I made my first ski change with about 15 others and by the top of the second climb we had caught the pack again and was back near the front without too much effort by 27k. My second pair wasn’t quite as good as my first and I really wanted to get back on the first pair that was kicking easier and were a little faster so I made a switch at 30k with a handful of others. That was where I lost the pack. Of the people who switched when I did only one made it back to the group. I was so close to getting back up to them, only 4 or 5 seconds by the top of the course before we descended and hit a long gradual section and they were gone… I have to say I’m a little annoyed with myself for the decision to change when I did… A Czech skier and I battle the rest of the way until 2k to go when I made a little surge on a climb and dropped him and I came across the line in 28th. My best international result of my career. I left the race happy that I was able to do that but wondering “what if”… Unlike most years I get two more great chances to race these guys. Can’t wait!
Thank you to everyone who has helped me out over the years and all those who have been cheering me on the last few weeks. So many people have played a roll in getting me to this point and I so grateful to each of you. It has been an awesome experience!
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Games Over
I’m the last American athlete in the Whistler Olympic Village. It’s a little hard to believe that what in all likelihood are my last Olympics are done. Any athlete spend so much time, energy, sweat, and money to get to the Olympics and now that is over it is a little surreal. Fortunately I don’t have much time to dwell on it. Racing continues in a big way with World Cups the next two weeks. Next Saturday a 30k pursuit and the following weekend a 50k skate in Oslo, site of the 2011 World Championships.
So yesterdays 50k was by far my best race of the Games. I settled in early and didn’t try to force my way up, instead picked up places where it was easy too. Taking the inside track on long sweeping corners and working the tops of hills and fast lines to avoid bottlenecks on downhills. Before long I was right up front cycling forward and back in the pack as will happen in mass starts. 20k in, I made my first ski change with about 15 others and by the top of the second climb we had caught the pack again and was back near the front without too much effort by 27k. My second pair wasn’t quite as good as my first and I really wanted to get back on the first pair that was kicking easier and were a little faster so I made a switch at 30k with a handful of others. That was where I lost the pack. Of the people who switched when I did only one made it back to the group. I was so close to getting back up to them, only 4 or 5 seconds by the top of the course before we descended and hit a long gradual section and they were gone… I have to say I’m a little annoyed with myself for the decision to change when I did… A Czech skier and I battle the rest of the way until 2k to go when I made a little surge on a climb and dropped him and I came across the line in 28th. My best international result of my career. I left the race happy that I was able to do that but wondering “what if”… Unlike most years I get two more great chances to race these guys. Can’t wait!
Thank you to everyone who has helped me out over the years and all those who have been cheering me on the last few weeks. So many people have played a roll in getting me to this point and I so grateful to each of you. It has been an awesome experience!
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Swiss Cup Races
div style=”text-align: center;”br //diva onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S4zp9euTZMI/AAAAAAAAARA/Io0_NvVLwv0/s1600-h/IMG_2458.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S4zp9euTZMI/AAAAAAAAARA/Io0_NvVLwv0/s320/IMG_2458.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443983292012651714″ //adiv style=”text-align: center;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-weight: bold;”Erik leading his heat up the hill/span.br //divWe just returned from our last weekend of races as a MOD group. Tomorrow we meet up with about 15 other US athletes and several coaches and head to our last weekend of racing in Europe in La Fleclaz, France. We spent the last four days in Feutersoey, Switzerland where we competed in some Swiss Cup races. The competition was not nearly as deep as the OPA Cup races but there was still many strong skiers to knock heads with. divbr /div style=”text-align: center;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-weight: bold;”A series of aggressive moves by a swiss skier./span/divdivdiv style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S4zqOmdafAI/AAAAAAAAARQ/FtxPLkmn0LY/s1600-h/IMG_2474.JPG”br //a/divdivbr //diva onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S4zqF-v1bjI/AAAAAAAAARI/YgTXp5_4Lqc/s1600-h/IMG_2473.JPG”img src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S4zqF-v1bjI/AAAAAAAAARI/YgTXp5_4Lqc/s320/IMG_2473.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443983438047964722″ style=”display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; ” //adivbr //diva onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S4zrxgrSZnI/AAAAAAAAARw/syVXBqeSF7k/s1600-h/IMG_2474.JPG”img src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S4zrxgrSZnI/AAAAAAAAARw/syVXBqeSF7k/s320/IMG_2474.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443985285401699954″ style=”display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; ” //adivbr //diva onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S4zr8iF8_zI/AAAAAAAAAR4/8Q7c6TBCSOs/s1600-h/IMG_2475.JPG”img src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S4zr8iF8_zI/AAAAAAAAAR4/8Q7c6TBCSOs/s320/IMG_2475.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443985474760539954″ style=”display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; ” //adivbr //divdivSaturday was a classic sprint that ended up turning into a double pole race. The fairly flat course mixed with the really warm conditions created a perfect course to use skate skis and double pole the entire classic course. I have never done this before so it was fun to try it out. It sure does kill your arms pretty quickly. Once again I was reminded how aggressively these Europeans ski in sprint races. We had some strong finishes for the group overall. Erik qualified 3rd in the juniors, Sam 12th in the senior men and me 3rd overall in the ladies, so we all made the heats.br //divdivdivbr //divdivSunday was a distance mass start skate race. When we showed up to the venue it was about 5 degrees (Celsius) and raining. On the 5k course there were about 7 road crossings and none of them were covered. They had some patches of snow in the middle so your skis did not scrape across the pavement, but many times it was so dirty that I almost considered taking off my skis during the race before crossing. It was sure a race of a different kind./divdiv style=”text-align: left;”br //diva onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S4zqvYHQ1xI/AAAAAAAAARg/sDMZXG8eZgA/s1600-h/road+crossing.jpg”img src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S4zqvYHQ1xI/AAAAAAAAARg/sDMZXG8eZgA/s320/road+crossing.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443984149231752978″ style=”display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; ” //adiv style=”text-align: center;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-weight: bold;”One of the seven road crossings. They all looked about like this. Sam crossing during a race./span/divdivbr //divdivDirty courses and not much snow mixed with a rain storm made this a unique race. The races still went very well though. Along with Sam, Erik and I, three other US athletes joined us for the weekend: Marshall Greene, Noah Hoffman and Katie Ronsse. It was fun to have a larger group over the weekend. Noah won the distance race and Marshall and Sam were not far behind. Erik finished 5th in the Junior category. I skied the entire race in a pack with two other Swiss skiers who ended up taking me in the last .5km, putting me in 3rd place for the day. Katie, the other American girl followed in fourth. It was fun to be able to ski the entire race in a pack, working on tactics and switching leads./divdivbr //divdivScott left back to the US today so we are now working as a larger team with some new coaches. It will be fun to meet up with some new faces and feel like a part of a big team again. A lot of these skiers were with us at World Juniors in Germany so it will be great to meet up with them as well. Word is there is plenty of snow at our race venue in France and it is really sunny. Should be a nice way to end the trip. The weekend will entail a team sprint on Friday night and a mass start distance skate race on Sunday. /div/div/div/divdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2910103639238326543-1424302972553050559?l=methowolympicdevelopment.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
