Olympic Race Schedule + More Canmore....

Sorry for the late post - it's been a busy day today! Let's start this post right - here is a picture of team "APU Olympics!"  We took some shots yesterday but the Canmore blue bird sky didn't cooperate with us...

Also, people have been asking for a while, "do you know what events you will race in the Olympics!?" At this point, I have general idea... and other races depend on this weekend's preformance while others depend on preformance at the Olympics themselves.

I'm fairly certain about my participation in three events including:

1) Classic Sprint - Feb 17th

I still have a hard time considering myself a "sprinter" ... it's hard for me to wrap my head around a race that takes anywhere from 2-5 minutes. Personally, I like to have more time to settle into a pace without having so much pressure riding on every stride.  Nonetheless, I'm excited to race it!

2) 15k Pursuit - Feb 19th

For those that don't know much about a pursuit, it's a mass start, the first half classic, and the second half skate.  Your "transition time" which is the time it takes to switch equipment is included in your overall time. I am a balanced skier when it comes to the two techniques and it's 15k, I'm excited for this race.

3) 30k Mass Start Classic - Feb 27th

This is the second to last day of the Games... a long wait.  The long classic race was also my best event at US Nationals (Silver Medal) so I've been anticipating this race.  I learned about a new twist yesterday about this race - you can SWITCH SKIS mid - race, or every 7 kilometers.  This adds a whole new twist to long distance racing - lots of tactics, more work for the wax techs, plus the fact that you have to have a  lot of skis for something like this.  There is also an option to NOT switch your skis, ski through the transition, and hope that everyone else doesn't catch you with new, improved, better wax.  I have to admit, I'm slightly nervous for this aspect of the race but it could be a lot of fun!

APU wax tech Casey and head coach/program director, Erik Flora waxing skis! 

There is a chance that I will race in two more races.... so it could be as few as three or as many as five. Each country is allowed to start 4 people in each race and the US has five girls. That means at least one girl will have to sit out each race. That's fine considering that no one wants to race 6 races... plus we all have our strengths and weaknesses.  There is a small chance that I could start in the 10k skate race Feb 15th. I have a big feeling that that will depend on my preformance here in Canmore this weekend. Also, the 4x5k relay is on the 25th... I really hope to get to race that as well. Relays tend to be one of the highlights of the games. 

If you want to see the full XC schedule, check out this link on the official Vancouver website: 

http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-cross-country-skiing-schedule-results/

I have a ton more I would like to write about but it's past my bed time...more tomorrow.  In the meantime, I will end with this shot of Chandra Crawford's (Canadian Olympic Sprint Gold Medalist from Torino) SWEET Fast-and-Female-mobile.. 

Good night! 

Thanks for reading, 

Holly :)