The Wrap Up

As always, it has been too long since my last post! To pick up where I left off, after break I had a few days of classes before Jenna, Jane and I picked up for a four day camp in Jackson. With the Hills as our wonderful hosts, we were able to stay right on the trails and weren't they superb! The night we arrived there was a 6 inch snow fall and so the conditions for training were perfect. We ended up logging about 115k's and 3 good intensity sessions over about 11 hours of training. And, we went night skiing every night! I knew that the camp would be fun, but I am still impressed with how successful it was. Even though we were without a coach, we didn't just "make due" with the situation. We collaborated very smoothly on scheduling and ran high quality workouts, keeping the atmosphere focused yet really enjoyable. And we sure ate like we were working hard! (Breakfast, snack, post-workout snack, 1hr grazing period (lunch), post workout snack, dinner, 2nd dinner).

Cruising through the woods

 Handing the tag off to Jenna during a relay workout

Pizza night!

Psyched after another great night-ski!

We returned to school excited about our camp and got some great skiing in at Mt. Hor before I headed over to Bretton Woods for the Mt. Washington Cup race. It was  11k course and I had great cheer leaders, but unfortunately I missed the glide wax and suffered on the glide in the woods. Live and learn!

The next weekend I drove over to Mountain Top in Rutland to cheer on Jenna, Jane, my sister and a bunch of friends at Eastern High School Championships. It was very warm and the crew up there had some tough conditions for a ski race, but they pulled off a pretty good event. It was fun to cheer and see friends that I met racing in NH.

Enjoying the evening sunshine

The week after EHSCs we had that wicked warmspell and campus came alive again (before everybody headed out West for alpine spring series). One thing that is so great about Burke is that everybody loves to be outside, so during those nice days people literally spent all day outside; it was so much fun!

All lined up for the Men's 15k classic

L-R Women's A-Final: 2012 World Cup sprint champion Kikkan Randall (APU/USST), 2006 Olympic Gold Medalist Chandra Crawford (CAN), Jennie Bender (CXC), Ida Sargent (CGRP/USST), Jessie Diggins (CXC/USST), Liz Stephen (BMA/USST)

Before we new it, spring series and the end of the season were upon us. I did the prologue, classic sprint and hillclimb. The prologue was a fun race but very challenging, as we were unable to ski the course or ski at all before the start, and there were different types of snow around the course. I found myself feeling quite unstable on the skis, but it was a very good experience. My best race was the sprint. Though I didn’t qualify for heats, I felt strong and fast! The last race for me was the hillclimb up Jay Peak, and it was very difficult. The course was straight up from the start and just as you thought it couldn’t get any steeper, you hit another headwall. But the ski down was really fun! I’d like to do another one sometime, now that I know what they’re like.

Veteran World Cupper Liz Stephen (BMA '05) looking good in a Burke suit!

Working the hill climb

The whole week was a great experience because there truly was an international presence and first-class field. There were racers from as far as Japan and Brazil, and the North American world cup field was well represented with Chandra Crawford (Canada, 2006 Gold Medalist) and the full US team (Kris Freeman, Kikkan Randall, Liz Stephen (BMA!) etc.) It was really awesome to be able to cheer and race against some of the best in the world!

Burke gals meeting Chandra Crawford and Kikkan Randall! So cool!

Happy spectators.

After the races, I headed home for two weeks for some R&R, biking, and hanging out with friends and family. I never quite realize how tired I am until I go home and I sleep and sleep and sleep and sleep! It was fun to see everybody and eat home-cooked meals and cook for myself. Now campus is almost full again, and I am excited to start training again and to enjoy the spring and the beautiful weather that comes with it.

Cheers,

Emilie

Time Flies!

Time has really flown this winter, and though it feels like the first Eastern cup was yesterday, I find myself reporting on the last Eastern cups. Due to a lack of snow in central New Hampshire, the races were moved to Craftsbury where there was a solid amount of snow, and a challenging 5k loop. The Thursday before the races we welcomed 6 norwegian athletes that joined us for the next few days: one coach, three Nordics, and two alpiners.

Saturday was a 5k classic and it did not go particularly well, but the 10k skate race was AWESOME! It was a mass start and it was really fun. I really enjoy racing in packs and playing around with group tactics. I skied the whole race with a bunch of people that I have known for a while and ended up with my best result of the season, and that is always fun!!

Climbing out of the stadium in the classic

Staying relaxed before the start

Getting ready

And off we go!

Charging!

Happy faces

Some of our victorious Norwegian guests!

Upon returning to campus, we welcomed more guests as we hosted a training camp on campus. The school was on break, so we nordics had the run of the place! It was a great training camp, and we had some great distance and technique workouts and the Norwegian coach, Bjorn, showed us a cool strength workout that World and Olympic champion Marit Bjoergen does 3 times a week! We ended the camp with a great sprint time trial. It was really fun to train with some new people and do some different workouts. At the end of the camp, I headed home to recharge, kick a head cold, and spend time with my family. I had a fun trip at home and got to catch up with my friends and ski at Waterville, Craftsbury and Trapps with my family. 

Gals skiing in a line

Group photo after a glorious workout at Mt. Hor. That's the other side of Willoughby Gap, Mt. Pisgah in the background

Marit Bjoergen's core workout

I’m back on campus now, and lucky for us, it snowed about 6 inches this weekend! There are some big races going on up on the hill, and competitors and parents are arriving from all over the country, and in some cases, the globe. Some of my  teammates are traveling and racing and I’m planning out the rest of my season; it is a very exciting time!!

Thanks again to the Hills and Pete for the photos!

A Midwinter Update!

These last few weeks have absolutely flown! After the Eastern Cups at Farmington, We spent a couple of weeks recovering and training. We managed to get over to Trapps for a great interval session with the GMVS crew and I even went home for a couple of days. After returning to campus, we took off to Stowe for a 3-day mini camp. It had just rained all over the place so we weren’t sure how things were going to look on the trails at Trapps, but we lucked out with 2 days of perfect skiing and training! We did some good intensity and volume and had a great time. It was great timing because the next weekend we were right back at Trapps for Eastern Cup #3 and the UVM Carnival.

This particular weekend is always great because the folks at Trapps always do a wonderful job with the trails and all of the little details that you have to think about to pull off a great race. It is also fun because it is the UVM Carnival, which means that all of the Eastern colleges bring their top skiers, so the field is always really deep. We arrived Friday to train and preview the course and got down to business on Saturday with a 5k classic race. I was a little disappointed with my race, but knew that I had to let it go in order to race better Sunday, which I did! I felt much better about my 10k state race and though I wasn’t psyched with my number, I was pleased with how I skied the course and paced myself. During my first lap, I was passed by a girl from Dartmouth who was on her second, and she was getting a split saying that she was leading the race by three seconds. I tried to keep her in my sights for as long as I could and tried to mimic her technique; it was a pretty cool experience! The courses at Trapps being as brutal as they are, we all returned home absolutely exhausted!

Charging out the gate in the 10k free

Jane hammerin'

Jenna cruising out of the stadium

Little sis Anne ripping in her first-ever 10k!

All smiles at the end of the 5k classic

This past week was especially fantastic because we were able to finally ski our home trails! Kingdom trails, a short 5 minute walk away have been fantastic all week. Bulletproof hardpack with a little granular and some freshies on top have made for some incredible skiing. We ran on the trails a lot this fall and they were great to run on so I’d always imagined that they’d be way more fun to ski, and they are! I’m still learning my way around, but I think that I’ve got the gist! 

These trails are awesome!

On Friday afternoon the PGs and Pete headed up to Orford, Quebec for some out-of-region points races up there. The course was really fun and featured some fun rolling climbs and fast descents. On the morning of the race it was snowing, which always makes for interesting waxing, but Pete provided a perfect pair of skis for the race. My grip and glide were fantastic and I had a great time out on the race course. As usual, my trip wouldn’t have been complete without a few Canadian adventures. Before the race I had to use the restroom and when I went into the building, promptly entered the men’s room, and didn’t realize my mistake until I was out. It was weird because I know enough French to determine what bathroom to go into, and understand the man/woman visual that they always put outside the room. Ha ha ha I guess! We finished off the trip with a yummy crepes, and an uneventful border crossing. When the guard asked us if we were bringing anything back to the states and we politely said no, he said, “just a few duffles full of dope, right?!”… I didn’t know you could joke about that!

We returned to campus Saturday afternoon and after relaxing all evening, I had a full day planned for Sunday. Due to poor snow conditions 3 weeks ago, the 2^nd day of the UNH Carnival had been postponed, so they were holding it up on the mountain. A few Burkies were invited to participate and one of them was my roommate! Though it was bitterly cold, I hiked a ways up on the course and watched them zoom by. It was really neat to watch some of my friends in action, they are so strong and talented! After a hearty brunch and some card games, I headed out for a fantastic ski on the Kingdom Trails network. It had just been groomed and the sun was out and it was beautiful!

Alpine ski mania

The course from the finish pen up. It was a giant slalom race, and took most racers 1 minute and a few seconds

A burke boy forerunning

A few of my teammates and Kate leave for some European racing today, some Norwegians are arriving a little later, and this weekend we’re at Craftsbury for the final Eastern Cups. After that is break, but I’m planning on staying up here for most of it to take part in a training camp. The days are packed!

Thanks to Mr. Hill for the race photos!

Think SNOW!

Emilie

Eat-Sleep-Train-Wax-Pack-Repeat! Life on the road, or so it seems

After a few days of stellar training at Trapps, and some New Year’s Eve festivities on campus, we loaded up the vans and trucked off to Rumford, Maine for US Nationals.

When we arrived, the only skiing open was the sprint loop and teams from all over the nation  (and Canada!) were out in full force previewing and testing glide wax. If you were going to be poetic about it, you could say that the trails were ablaze with multi-colored spandex. We drove to Bethel to the Mill Hill Inn, our accommodations for the week. Many thanks to innkeeper Woody Hughes for helping to make it the most comfortable place that I have ever stayed in my travels for ski racing. The boys and girls each had master lofts, which were simple, but spacious and very convenient. Downstairs, Woody cooked us delicious meals and we used the dartboard and pool table for a significant amount of our downtime. If you're ever in Bethel, you seriously need to check this place out!  

http://www.millhillinn.com/MillHillInn.html 

On the eve of the first race, I awoke to the sound of rain on the roof- never a good sign- but hoped that maybe the venue was getting snow or that the manmade would hold up. As the girls were eating breakfast at 6:30 that morning, we heard the news that the race was cancelled and later postponed to the next day. It was kind of weird to have to put away the jitters, only to know that you were going to have to deal with them again a short 24 hours later. We went on a fun team jog on the paths through the Bethel Country Club and then the girls team went to lunch a short 5 minute walk away in downtown Bethel. It was pretty cool because when we sat down, we realized that on either side of us sat some pretty well respected (Legendary?) faces in the ski industry: Alaska Pacific University head coach Erik Flora (coach of World Cup skiers Kikkan Randall and Holly Brooks) and journalist Peter Graves (has announced many Olympics and other sporting events). Just as we were finishing, the Dartmouth women’s coach arrived and was followed a few minutes later by three-time Olympian Torin Koos. No biggie, I guess.

From that unexpected off day on, it was pretty much business time. I competed in three events, the freestyle sprint, 10k freestyle and 5k classic. None of them were incredible performances, but I learned a lot and gained valuable experience. It was pretty cool to be surrounded by the best skiers in the nation on the course, warming up on the road or just warming up in the lodge between races. Many thanks to Pete and Kate for fast skis, guidance and a great experience, and to my family, who made the long drive up to cheer me on.

Cheering

The organizers did a great job setting up the courses in VERY adverse conditions

Men's freestyle sprint

On the eve of the last race, NENSA and Gould Academy held a fabulous Fast and Female event. Fast and Female is an organization that promotes female empowerment through sport. Over 90 girls and 30 ambassadors came out for cheering, zumba and inspirational speeches; it was a great day!

Jenna and I getting 'glittered' by Caitlin Compton Gregg, 2010 Olympian, Fast & Female's resident glitter boss. Photo courtesy of Nensa.

Just as I arrived home Sunday night, my roommates were beginning to pack for their races (for which they would leave the next day) so we caught up as much as we could! It is crazy how much people come and go for races, but I’ve learned to capitalize on situations both when it is quiet and when all of my friends are around. We spent the week recovering and waking our bodies back up on some fantastic trails about 20 minutes away from campus, and on Friday we drove up to Farmington, Maine for that weekend’s Eastern Cups. We previewed the course, hit the grocery store, checked into our motel and tucked into some delicious Italian food before getting a good nights sleep.

The first race was a classic sprint and the course had little elevation and was very fast. I went after it and ended up with my best EC sprint result yet, but was a mere 2 seconds out of qualifying for the junior heats. I was a little frustrating to have gotten so close, but I am very pleased with the improvements I’m making. The next day was an even better one in the 10k skate. The course was 6 laps of a 1.5k course that briefly wound through the woods before climbing and descending a portion of an alpine trail. It was great fun, and with about 115 competitors starting every 30 seconds, there were many people on course to ski with. All of my teammates had great races and spirits were very high! Many thanks to Mr. Hill for ferrying us around and providing moral support!

After returning Sunday evening, I used yesterday for a recovery workout and caught my first ever alpine race (in person) up on the hill. All of the Burke racers RULED! I also took one of my ‘piner friends out for a birthday night ski on the soccer field, I was really impressed at how fast she was cruising around!

We are heading over to Stowe tomorrow to do some intensity with the GMVS crew and are taking off for Lake Placid and some out-of-region points races on Thursday. Busy busy!

I'll try for more pictures next time!

Think Snow!

Em

EC #1 and Holiday Break

Hello!

After a week back at school, and a week at home, I'm back up north in Jackson hanging out with a friend and getting in some skiing.. fingers crossed for tomorrow.. it's pouring right now!

The week at school was great and was highlighted by some pranking, gingerbread house making, hanging out with alpine friends and some skiing on campus at the beginning of the week. We spent the week getting our bearings with our schoolwork and preparing for the season opening Eastern cup races by waxing, and doing some tune-up intervals and good stretching. One of the nice things about being a PG is that I have lots of time to be waxing my skis so I don't have to manage the juggling of ski-prep and homework that always made pre-race week so stressful in high school. 

Lisa and I TPing Sophie's bed. Prime Prankage

Maggy and Julia getting down to business on the gingerbread houses

I also spent part of the week working on this video for the Development Office:

On Friday evening, we welcomed some "campers" who joined us from Massachusetts for the weekend, had a team meeting and tucked into bed early. We arose the next morning to cold temps and clear skies- perfect for great classic tracks. Upon arriving to the race venue, Craftsbury, we grabbed our bibs and double-checked start times and got ready to race. The first race was a sprint- one lap around the man-made loop- and it went alright. It definitely felt like a first race! We had a couple of hours until the prologue-two times around the man-made loop- and it went really well. I improved on my morning's result by 13 places and felt fast. After running a good cool down, we hopped back into the vans and returned to find 40 5th-7th graders scrambling around campus for the Alpine Christmas Camp. Lucky for us, they abided by their 9pm bedtime!

We packed up Sunday morning and headed back to Craftsbury for a skate race, 4.5k (3 laps) for women and 9k (6 laps) for men. It was even colder and even clearer than the day before, and the track was hard and fast. For me the race was ok, I made a couple of mistakes in pacing and got a little too caught up in everything. A little bit frustrating for sure, but I definitely walked away with specific things to think about and focus on in the future. 

Many thanks to all of the people at Craftsbury who worked many long, cold, and sometimes dark hours to hold a world class event in adverse conditions. Those guys rock.

With my #1 Fans and Sponsors- Mom and Dad. Thanks guys!

Here's a video that I made with race footage that my Dad took. Thanks Dad!

I went home with my Dad after the race on Sunday for some holiday vacation. It is always nice to be home and after a full weekend of races I was ready for some downtime. But sadly, there wasn't any snow to be found, so I did some running and a little rollerski practice with my old high school team. I was able to go skiing at Waterville with my Mom on Saturday and then had a great holiday with my family. 

Our tree

I'm returning to school tomorrow night and then heading off to Rumford, Maine for US Nationals next weekend. Should be an eventful couple of weeks, so I'll be sure to be more on top of the blogging than I have been recently!

Think Snow!

Emilie

Pre-season camp parts 2 and 3 and more!

2 Sundays ago at the Foret, it started raining and didn’t really stop. The outer trails were pretty much wiped out but we stayed until Wednesday and got some really good work in on the 1k manmade loop. While it was a little bit frustrating, we all knew that returning to Burke to do dryland in an area that we are all familiar with would provide the most productive training.

Campus was pretty quiet as it was only the J3s (14 and 15 year old ‘pineys) and us and since we were still on camp time, we didn’t have any classes, just dryland and recovery.  Due to the low snow situation that is facing the entire Northeast, the Burke schedule was altered to allow all of us to go find it! The older alpiners, or FIS athletes stayed in BC for an extra 6 days while the J3s flew back out to Colorado for a 5 day training camp. We were poised to go back to Canada, but Pete called the people up there and they said that it wasn’t quite worth the trip, so Pete sent us home for a few days. It was a bummer to not be going anywhere to ski, but it was nice to be with my family for a while, and go for runs on my home turf. I also enjoyed training with my old high school team and was happy to see that they were keeping it fun as always.

When we returned to campus on Saturday, it had snowed and we drove over to Craftsbury for a ski! It was great, but what was even better was that our campus loops were open and wonderful. We skied out the door yesterday and had a great technique session before skiing to brunch. Right before dinner, most of the FIS kids arrived, including my 2 roommates! I am so happy to have them back, and it is great to have campus full and busy again.

Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks.

T-Minus 5 days until the first race of the season!

Emilie

Rainbow on the way home from Canada!

Drylandia

We spent a great evening drinking hot cider, and roasting marshmallows at the cabin of former BMA nordic coach and current USST coach Matt Whitcomb- Thanks Matt!

Scene on Mountain road upon the return to campus

Skiing!!

Spiffy team

The best!

Thanks to Pete and Kate for some of the photos!