stuff, stuff, more stuff, and Bonnie.......

Hey all,

I'm going to try and be brief. It's been a long day and we're getting up early tomorrow to get to the village - and to go train. Today consisted of driving, flying, credentialling, (is that a word?) getting THREE duffles of schwag, having a briefing on our press conference for tomorrow, and ending with an introductory meeting co-hosted by Bonnie Blair!  Enjoy the photos........

It's my turn for the Ralph Lauren shot:

Also... Freeman is going to be on the Today show tomorrow morning. (He has to wake up at 4am!)  Check it out. 

My roommate for the next two and a half weeks, Caitlin Compton, at the "check out" line - the one where you don't have to pay :) 

Bonnie then.... 

Bonnie now.... 

?

Liz and her favorite new piece of Olympic wear

Erik Flora previewing the closing ceremonies attire in the "instant alterations" room

Nordic boys ready to head to the Cape... 

Getting my credential literally a few steps off the plane 

A couple of other random thoughts from the day. 

*One thing we learned in our intro today is that there are going to be TWICE as many media people here as athletes.  That number was a bit mind-blowing to me. 

*USSA has brought in a media representative to help us with press conference, manage requests, etc.

*Both Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancusco were in our dinner meeting (there were only 25 or so athletes.)  I didn't recognize them at first because they looked like - guess what - REAL people. I suppose when the last time you've seen someone is on the front of a magazine with tons of make-up and airbrushing they may tend to look different. (That said, they still, of course looked great.) 

*As it turns out McDonalds is the SOLE distributor of coffee in the athlete village during the games. This means NO coffee at breakfast and long lines just to get our am fix. I was overjoyed to learn that my roomie is a coffee drinker too so we're devising a plan as we speak. (Kaladi, if you want to send us a coffee carepackage that wouldn't be turned down!) 

Okay, I need to get to bed. I am very excited to ski the courses tomorrow for the first time - I think I may be the only one on the team that hasn't trained there in both the summer and the winter. No worries - that just adds to the excitment. More tomorrow!  

Thanks SO MUCH for all the wonderful support. 

Sweet Dreams, 

Holly :)   

Do we have to leave Canmore?

It has been an awesome few days of training here - full sunshine, good food, famous World Cup skiers zipping by on the trail.  I'm excited for the next step but to get there, it entails leaving the little slice of heaven that we've created here in Cammore.

(You can't really tell in this picture but I AM off the ground here - this is my lame attempt at a daffy.... thanks to Kikkan who took this shot 4 or 5 times!) 

I'm excited to go to Vancouver - we leave tomorrow at 8am!!!! Here is a snapshot of what I have in store for my future: 

(re-blogged twice from USA biathlete, Lowell Bailey)

I wonder what the girls will be wearing?  I heard via the grapevine that the girls have similar boots. They might go straight from the opening ceremonies to chopping wood - how USEFUL! 

In other news, one of my master skiers, John Wood sent me this Olympic song sent to him by some of his associates that work out of Vancouver. I had to laugh.... check it out: 

Hear the cheers, hear the hype,

Good Vancouverites don’t gripe,

The Olympics are coming to town!

Closed-down streets, protest meets,

Higher costs for drinks and eats,

The Olympics are coming to town!

So it’s Rah! Rah! Rah!

As we cheer for Canada!

Too bad our slopes are wet and brown.

We will truck in snow

Where skiers have to go,

The Olympics are coming to town!

Damn the noise, damn the cost,

Damn the peace that we have lost,

The Olympics are coming to town!

Trains are late, folk irate,

But we still must celebrate,

The Olympics are coming to town!

So it’s Cheer! Cheer! Cheer!

The games are coming here!

There’s so much rain we just might drown.

We will grit our teeth

And our brollies cringe beneath,

The Olympics are coming to town!

The Olympics are coming to town!

(How I wish I could get out of town!)

So, the song is a bit sarcastic but I'm optimistic that it's going to be a great "Games."  The US team looks to be strong, healthy, and fired up to compete and turn in some good results. Here is a quick, informal team shot taken before training the other day: 

Last but certainly NOT least, I would like to say hi and congratulations to the APU devo and junior skiers that raced in Fairbanks this weekend. APU will have a bunch of athletes representing us at both Junior Olympics and Arctic Winter Games.  Congrats you guys!  

(This is a bunch of us at a training camp in Girdwood this past summer)

Also, the Alaskan "Ski for Women" was on Super Bowl Sunday. One of my master's groups dressed up at Mosquitoes and my women's group (I'm both embarrassed and flattered to say) dressed up as the "Hollyettes."

Huh?

Alright, its time to climb into bed so that I can pack in the morning. Let the craziness begin - can't wait to share the fun with you all! 

Good night! 

Sincerely, 

Holly :) 

Sandwiched between defending silver and gold!

Good morning everyone - sorry for the delayed post.... first of all, GOOD LUCK to all the APUers at Besh Cup 6 today in Fairbanks and have SO MUCH FUN to those participating in the Ski for Women at Kincaid!  Take lots of pictures!

(Classic prelim - photo courtesy of Fasterskier) 

Yesterday was my second World Cup and my first World Cup sprint.  Both races here in Canmore this weekend, (10k individual skate and classic sprint) are the first two races at the Olympics so it's great to get a tune up and test the field. 

(Sun coming up over the Canadian Rockies as we waited for the shuttle that never came) 

Before I started the race, one of the coaches, Travis, said to me, "Holly, you may be the only skier out there that has scored World Cup points in every World Cup start!"  After my prelim, I walked back to the waxing table and told him that I continued my trend! Of my 2 World Cup starts, I've collected WC points in both! 

The course suited me very well - it was long and had lots of striding uphills - plus we're at altitude and I usually preform well racing up in the mountains.  My prelim time was ranked 21st, overall.  I was ecstatic!  When I looked at the results I also realized that I was "sandwiched" between the defending sprint champion from World Champs in Liberec, Arianna Follis, and my teammate, defending Silver medalist in the sprint, Kikkan Randall.  I was among good company which made me even happy with the preliminary result! 

For those that are interested, FIS just released a new website for the Olympics.  It's awesome - you can look up skiers and check out full bios of all the World Cup regulars. (It's almost better than google stalking but not quite as complete as facebook stalking!) Check out Follis' bio here or check this link for the "team" page.

It will tell you if skiers like meat or veggies, ferrari or porche, etc, etc.  Kind of fun! 

(Arianna Follis - Italy/defending sprint World Champion)

(Shot of the finish line)

Katie, Kikkan, and Holly 

My quarterfinal didn't go so well but I am satisfied with the overall day.  It was a good day for North Americans in general - Kikkan finished 10th, Torin Koos finished 11th after qualifying 2nd... seven Americans all together qualified for the heats, 2 women and five men. Hometown favorite, Sara Renner ended up 3rd place with a bronze medal. And - it was an awesome day. Skiing doesn't get much better than a full-shine day in Canmore watching and competing with the best skiers in the world! 

Speaking of the best skiers, Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk continued her domination by literally destroying the field. It was impressive to watch.  She had tons of screaming Polish fans at the race too.  They got a picture with her afterwards... I snuck in too:  

Here is the female podium for the day: 

Also, here are a bunch of youtube links from the weekend if you're interested.

Here I am skiing in the 10k - this hill was BIG and we had to do it twice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_B0vxFFPpI

Check out this promo for the Canmore Nordic Center. It gives you a really good idea of what the area look like. It also shows their snow-making and paved roller ski trails:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRCR0Mgemv4

Here is a Eurosport video of the women's A final:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVgXveNc5wA

Phil Bowen, professional photography (philsgood.com), has a gallery of shots from the classic sprint here:
http://www.photoshelter.com/c/philsgood/gallery/Canmore-Nordic-World-Cup-2010-Classic-Sprint/G00005o2Aw990.zk/

Enjoy!

We're in Canmore for another day before making our way to Vancouver Tuesday morning....

World Cup POINTS! .... in my first World Cup!

I have to say, I am pretty psyched about my first World Cup experience.  

Last night I wrote this in my journal, "There are 66 girls starting the race tomorrow, many of whom are seasoned veterans. It's hard to make numerical goals but it would be cool to be top 40, amazing, the be top 35, and virtually unheard of to score World Cup points and finish in the top 30."  Well, I did it - in my World Cup debut, I finished with a strong 24th place, only 46 seconds out of 10th place! 

(Thanks to Ronsse for this racing pic - it's the only one I have so far but I will post more when and if I get them!) 

After any racing experience I ask the kids that I coach to analyze their race - what are three things that went well, and three things that could be improved upon next time?  Well, I suppose that I should practice what I preach and do the same thing!  Here it is: 

Things that went well: 

1. My mental game was strong.  I didn't let myself become too intimidated..... somehow I wasn't that nervous at all which is somewhat surprising.  It's just another "race" right? 

2. I've been working on my V1 technique and I think I was able to execute it more than I have in other races.... it helps when there are tons of big climbs and opportunities to work on it! 

3. All of the racing "logistics" were smooth.  Breakfast, 

Things that could be improved upon next time: 

1.  I went out too hard.  I thought it was "fast" but I didn't realize that at 2.7k my split was 12th for the entire World Cup field.  At 6.9k, my split was 14th for the entire World Cup field.  Pacing is always really difficult, especially at venues were you haven't raced, and fields that you have no experience in. 

2.  I could have been more conservative on the steep hills and picked up more time in transitions. Those that I coach have heard me talk about the rule of "threes" before. I definitely died on some of the crests of hills. 

3. I still haven't gotten pictures with the Italians! Today would have been the day to do it since they went 1 and 2! 

Even the Red Bull girls showed up to the World Cup in Canmore! 

Here is a picture of the big screen that they used for the event. On one of the downhills a video camera on a 25-foot boom swung out and I thought I was going to crash into it!  Also, the announcer told the crowd that the race was being shown (live in most places) to 100 MILLION viewers all throughout the world. That's not 100, not one million but 100 MILLION!  It makes you wonder, "Do I have anything in my teeth?" 

If you are curious about other pictures, Phil Bowen is here taking pictures of the US Skiers - his shots are phenomenal. Check out the link here.  I'm number 23 with white Salomon boots and skis..... Thanks Phil for being out on course! 

And, Erik Mundahl found this CBC Sports link of the women's race.  It's a full ONE HOUR long!  the link is:

http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Sports/CBC_Sports_Weekend/Full_Shows/ID=1405701991

I'm racing the classic sprint tomorrow.  I'm crossing my fingers that I can qualify top 30 and make it to the heats!  We'll see! 

Thanks for reading - Sincerely, Holly

Heaven (in Canada!)

Today was race prep... everyone was out testing their skis. The scene was awesome.  I think some of the pictures below will speak for themselves!  I'm excited to go 10k tomorrow. I felt great skiing today. Somehow the steep hills seem to be getting smaller each day. Check out some of these shots!

Another perfect day in Canmore. It's great to feel the sunshine on your face... the girl in pink is Petra Madjic, arguably the best female classic sprinter in the world right now. Maybe one of these days I'll get the courage up to ask for a true photo rather than having to stalk her in the parking lot :)

Here I am with the first US Ski Team hat I've ever owned standing in front of the biggest hill on the course. It's steeper and longer than it looks in this picture. I'm glad we did Wall Street intervals on the first half of Spencer a couple of times before we left Alaska! 

APU head coach and program director Erik Flora

One of my APU teammates, Beeca Rorabaugh loving Canmore - she just found out that she gets to race the distance race in addition to the sprint.  She's only 20 years old! 

Me and my skis which have been awesome all year.... (doesn't it look like I'm holding an Alaskan Salmon?)  OIA!!! But this time in Canmore :) 

We got our new US Ski Team Bjorn Daehlie suits so of course we had to try them on in our hotel room once we got back from training. One of our jobs this afternoon is to sew APU patches above the US Ski Team Logo! 

Also, all of you Alaskans might be happy to know that we've put up a gigantic Alaskan flag in the hotel dining hall.  The Italians are the only other World Cup team staying at this hotel with us. Apparently they asked the wait staff, "what's that flag?!"  My goal is to get a picture with some of the famous Italians IN FRONT on the Alaskan flags! 

Thanks so much for all of the encouraging emails - you guys are the best! 

Holly 

HAIR!!!!

The following youtube video was sent to me this fall while on the Supertour.  If you watch it, you will understand the following pictures :)



The APU juniors are totally AWESOME!

So I picked red, white, and blue..... the boys came through on the deal! 

And then the girls decided to follow suit!

Kyle during.... (I think it actually looks kind of cool like this!) 

High school boy sacrifice! Forrest, Ray, and Kyle

"What did we do!"

Rob stopped by the salon to check on the progress

?

Forrest even got his unibrow WAXED for the occasion... I feel so special  (I think Ray might have too!)

Turning a brown afro red is no easy chore

Big Mac pre-blue

Mac and Erica representing with their side ponies!

Thank you guys! I feel so honored :)  Miss you all.... 

Random thoughts on a recovery day...

My first world cup race is two days away so today I have a "day off" from training.  But, that doesn't mean that I don't have a lot to do! Before the rave and the rant here is a picture to start the post off with...

This is Kikkan and myself at the venue with the Canadian Rockies in the background......

A couple random thoughts for the day:

*Since it's my recovery day I slept in a bit later than usual and was the last one at breakfast. That means that I missed the Italian team that flew in last night.  (DARN!)  They do randomly roam around the hotel though. I do have to admit that they seem to have some of the best looking guys on the world cup. (Of course not as good looking as my husband Rob though!)

*Yesterday I was wishing that I could understand Polish because I sat behind Justyna Kowalczyk, the current World Cup leader.  Maybe one of these days I will get up the courage to ask for a photo!

*On Fasterskier.com they have a cool "Olympic countdown" timer.  This morning I looked at it while drinking coffe and it gave me goosebumps!  It read: 8 day, 18 hours, 4 minutes, and 55 seconds until the start of the Olympics!  Speaking of which, I was on a training ski in Silver Star last December and randomly found the Vancouver Olympic symbol that someone had built as a rock sculpture. Check it out!

*Also, many of you have been asking about event tickets latety.  It seems like there are lots of rumors and confusion over when more tickets will be released, how much one should have to pay for them, and the best way to get them.  I WISH that I had a ton of free tickets to give away but unfortunately I do not. Apparently I get two free tickets for each event that I am racing and that is it. However, there is a forum on Fasterskier and someone threw out these sites for good scalper ticket sites:

eSeats.com

ticketliquidator.com
stubhub.com

I also have this feeling that they will be readily available AT the games once they start.  It does seem like the organizing committee has been hoarding them - for corporations, for Canadians, at this point. It's frustrating but I hope that everything will work out! I am so excited that many of you are coming down to cheer! I wish I could be of more help! (Sorry!) 

Here I am standing in the Canmore stadium... the nordic venue was the site for the 1988 Calgary Olympic Games... 

Well, it's time to get on with my day. I underpacked for this trip (in anticipation of getting lots of new clothes/uniforms) but they haven't come yet.  I've been wearing my same APU spandex every day, twice a day for a week now and I NEED to do laundry.  The hard part is that it entails hiking across the highway with a huge packpack, sitting at the laudry mat, and then hiking back.  The hotel informed me that they only have drycleaning :( 

I'll end on this fun picture for the day: 

Thanks to Rob and the APU juniors for making this sign.  (It was on the hill at US Nationals in Anchorage this past January) 

Should be a fun post tomorrow :) You'll have to check back and see why!