Today is pursuit day!

This is going to be a quick one because we have a race today.... the start is at 1pm.  I've heard different rumors about the weather but it's supposed to be anywhere from 6 to 9 above, (Celsius)  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.

Here are a couple of pictures from yesterday. Sorry for the late post:

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.  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.  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.  I'm going to take an extra two seconds this afternoon to make sure I don't make any dumb mistakes! 

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!

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. 

Here is a pretty sweet picture of the athlete lodge

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!!!!  Brad was offered the "position" just a couple of days before the Olympics started! 

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!  Go Team USA! 

Thanks for reading and thanks so much for the continued kind words, 

Holly :)