opening ceremonies, the venue, drug testing, and last but not least, my wonderful husband!

Hey Everyone,

Here is the "mondo-post" that I've been wanting to write for a while. I have my new camera...... and finally have a couple of extra minutes. I've delayed training this am because theoretically I wanted to sleep in. (I say "theoretically" because I was woken up this morning by random drug testing) We returned from opening ceremonies last night at 1am. Getting down and back to and from Vancouver took forever. That said, I don't regret my decision to go to the opening ceremonies at all. (Some folks opted to stay behind and watch on tv) This being my first Olympics, I was really looking forward to marching!

Although there were tons of long waits the energy was incredible... on probably 50 different occasions our whole group burst out in "USA, USA, USA" chants.  I won't say that I'm usually the most patriotic person on the block but I think I can speak for everyone that this was a time when we were all really proud to be Americans! 

 

Here is our flag-bearer.... he is a 5-time Olympian and two-time medalist.  Speaking of lugers (sp?) the hardest part of last night's ceremony was the announcement that the Georgian Luger, Nodar, had actually passed away from his accident. I feel horrible for his family, his teammates, and of course him. All 40,000 or 60,000 (?) of us last night had one minute of silence to honor him and his Olympic dream. 

But, onto happier things.... Here is the view just before entering the stadium: 

Everyone always talks about "the moment" that you first enter the stadium... it was pretty incredible.  I think that I had about 10 seperate episodes of full-body goose bumps!  I think it's finally sinking in that I am at the Olympic games! 

Here is a picture of Compton with Shawn White and Bode Miller. I wanted to get a picture too but I could tell that Bode, especially, wasn't too psyched about fan-fare amongst his own teammates and decided against it. Good for Caitlin though to just dive right in! 

Caitlin and I were in line right next to the figure skaters so it was interested to talk with them. One of the ice dancers had a HUGE scar on her hand from a fall where her partner's skate cut her hand to the bone: 

It might be hard to see in this picture but it was an awesome scar. I also thought it was interesting that she was only 19 yet had been skating with her ice-dancing partner for 10 YEARS!  That means they've been working together since they were 9 years old!  

Here are a couple more pictures of us staging in Whistler before getting on the buses: 

Most of the cross country squad... 

And my Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center teammates, Kikkan, James, and myself rocking the Ralph Lauren... 

Back to the skiing! Training yesterday was awesome. Erik and I tested skis after getting a sweet pic in the waxing cabin:

It's HARDLY freezing at night.  The first 2k of my ski was semi-frozen water-logged snow. By the second lap, everything was breaking up and the fast downhill corners literally had 6-10 inches of HEAVY SLOP.  Try that at high speeds with tiny skis. I think it would even be a challenge for the super G skiers! We're wondering if they will ever salt parts of the course in an effort to get it more firm? 

I have NO IDEA why Sarah Palin is on the door of our waxing cabin....? I've already had a couple of questions from other countries when they find out I'm from Alaska. 

Here is the stadium

This is a train-track for a camera that can film the finishing stretch. They also have cameras that travel via telephone wires suspended in mid-air plus tons of cameras operated by people on the course. Should make for great coverage! 

Here I am in the Olympic stadium with my training bib on. You can't go anywhere without the thing

Last but CERTAINLY not least, I want to thank my husband Rob who has been working double time on my behalf: 

Not only is he still working fulltime as a firefighter but he has been busting his butt trying to help me out with the blog, trip logistics, helping me get the gear I need, the whole "GO HOLLY" campaign, and trying to help line up a couple of sponsorships for me.  In addition, he's doing everthing at home - cleaning, paying bills, setting up our house sitter (Erin you rock!) taking care of the cat.  The poor guy hasn't gotten to work out in 3 days!  (If you know Rob, that is a giant sacrifice!)  Without him this whole Olympic pursuit certainly wouldn't be possible. I owe all of this time him - he was in fact, the person who told me I could make the team when I didn't believe it myself....... I am very excited that he will be joining me down here tomorrow. I only hope that he has a chance to relax and enjoy the great aspects of the Games. Thanks so much for everything Rob - I love you!  

Ok, off to late training.... I'll end on one of the latest hair-dying pictures: 

Thanks APU boys! 

Have a wonderful day, 

Love, 

Holly :) 

SECURITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Folks...this is Rob(holly's husband).  She asked me to put up a quick blog....I just talked to her, she was in the motorcade traveling from Whistler to Vancouver for the opening ceremonies. Get this.....the motorcade of buses full of US athletes had armed vehicles ahead of them, armed vehicles behind them, and even a helicopter above them...all the way to Vancouver!!  How's that for security!?

Here is a great link (in Dutch, nonetheless) to watch live streaming of the opening ceremonies (thanks for Frank in Boulder for locating this):


http://www.livescorehunter.com/live-streaming-video-other-sports/


Just click on the link you're interested in (tonight: "Ceremonies: Opening Ceremony") and then start clicking on all the links until one of them works for your computer.  

Opening Ceremonies Today & Super-Dooper fans!!

This will be short, cause I'm running out the door to the opening ceremonies!  (an all day process....we leave the village at 1 PM and get back super late tonight)

Check out this photo sent to me from Mrs Gray's 3rd grade class at St. John Fisher School in Portland, Oregon!   These students took the time to make these great signs and send a picture!  So, why not post it on my blog as thank you?!?!   I'm fortunate to have ya'll cheering.  Thank you, you rock!   FYI, Mrs Gray is married to Rob's college friend, Alex.... thus the connection!  Apparently, Mrs. Gray's 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students have a surprise package that Rob will deliver once he arrives here in Whistler on Monday!

Hugs to everyone!    Let the Games begin!

-Holly

Snoqualmie snow and catch up!

Oh boy.... so much has happened in the last two days. Its gone by fast but 48 hours ago also seems like an eternity.  One reason I've been delayed is because my CAMERA BROKE!  So, instead of blogging earlier, I had to take the entire afternoon to go on a camera hunt into the Whistler village. BINGO. I got one.  (Can you really think of a more inopportune time to have your camera break - the DAY before the opening ceremonies of the Olympics?!)

This is our room. We had six HUGE duffle bags to unpack. It's a huge mess - and absolutely no storage space.  In many ways, I really feel like moving into the athlete village is like going back to college. You have a roommate (actually, she's "hidden" in this picture - can you see her? It's not Where's Waldo - it's Where's Caitlin?!) 

The skiing here has been fun. It makes me wish that I had some Whistler-specific training camps back at Snoqualmie Pass where I grew up skiing! Both days during training it's been 34 degrees and snowing hard. I actually talked to Rob about brining my extra tuff rubber boots from home. The snow flakes are dime-size huge and if you want to have a huge snowball fight, you would be in heaven. There are tons of "course volunteers" out on the trails and one was "marshalling" next to a gigantic snowman today. (I would have gotten a pic for you guys if my camera had been working!) 

(My teammate, Liz in front of a Vancouver sign pre-press conference yesterday) 

Today for training I skied on my "zero" skis. For those that aren't familiar, think of it as a new-age waxless racing ski.  They are particularly good in conditions like we are experiencing here - 32 degrees and snowing. I had heard a rumor that Kris Freeman owns 27 pairs of this partiular kind of ski. I tried to confirm it on the bus ride back from the venue today but he, "didn't really know...."  It's takes a lot of skis to be a competitive ski racer!  Also, as a side note - Kris was on the Today show the other day. If you haven't checked it out, here is the link: 

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/35329776#35329776

It's always great to see our sport bust into the mainstream media! 

(Here is our team walking into the athlete village. It's been grey and pretty rainy but lucky the atmosphere is so good that it doesn't really seem to matter. Lots of the buildings are temporary white tents - the kind you would see at a wedding but only a LOT bigger. 

McDonalds is an official sponsor of the Games and there is a full-fledged restaurant inside each athlete village dining facility. Ronald McDonald sits on this bench 24 hours a day, everyday. Apparently, McDonalds took their top 300 employees from all over the country and brought them here to work as part of an incentive program. So far, I've been really impressed by the food. They have a huge variety

and it's pretty good. No complaints.  

I was also really fired up to see one of Sean McCabe's painting in the athlete lodge at the venue. For those that don't know, Sean was a nordic skier/teacher/mountains enthusist from Winthrop WA that recently passed away from cancer. He has some amazing paintings, many of which are skiers. Check out his website here: 

http://www.seanmccabestudio.com/index4.html

The other thing that's worth mentioning today is that our entire team went to drug testing. This time we had our blood drawn to check our hemoglobin levels. (Hemoglobin is the protein molecule in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to the body's tissues and returns carbon dioxide from the tissues to the lungs.)  Sometimes high numbers indicate evidence of doping but sometimes levels are high because of dehydration, lots of time at altitude, etc, etc. The coaches had our whole team POUNDING the water and gaterade to avoid any suspentions. If your numbers are found to be high you get an automatic 5 day suspention and are subject to further tests. We can also be testing at ANY time during the day for both urine and/or blood. We turn in extensive "whereabouts" filings that basically tell anti-doping folks where they can find us at all times so they can do surprise tests. Testing is great and helps us protect the integrity of the sport.  

Okay, more good pictures to come tomorrow. It will be a busy day between training and attending the opening ceremonies. The ceremonies are a 10-12 hour commitment for those staying up here in Whistler. Lots of driving and lots of standing around. But, I'm REALLY looking forward to it. 

Talk soon/thanks for reading! 

~Holly :) 

ps. Thanks so much to Kaladi... apparently an AK coffee care package is on the way. Thank you to Gina Romero (wife of a co-worker or Rob's) who read our coffee worries and put a plan into action!  THANKS!  BIGTIME!!

More Tomorrow.....

A HUGE blog post to come tomorrow. It's been a SUPER busy day... while I would love to stay up and write but training, health and rest must take precedence.  Thanks so much for reading - thanks for the continued support and "talk" to you all tomorrow! 

And, this is a cool website if you want to watch events.  I haven't checked it out, but sources tell me it's awesome:

http://p2p4u.net/sports/winter-olympics.html

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 :)