A Fantastic Two Weeks

The past two weeks have been fantastic and very busy! Brian and I finished the weekend of our 5K with the kids tired but very satisfied. Once Tuesday rolled around again it was back to business with seriously hard training again. I started the week with bounding intervals and power strength, followed that with two big distance workout on Wednesday and on Thursday it was another interval session, this time on rollerskis. After my morning session on Thursday I was off for Lake Placid New York!!!

Lake Placid was going to be a short but packed trip for me. I arrived to my cabin for the weekend late on Thursday night and by Friday morning I was up early and at the Olympic Training Center for our first workout! Below are a number of photos ranging from My trip back East to our Sale Event at Hoigaards Ski Shop! We have been getting a lot done and as the season approaches it feels good start focusing on just training, racing and recovering.

I know I have said this a million times but...training, traveling and sharing the experience of trying to make an Olympic Team with your husband has been the best time of my life! Although we can be tired, dirty, hungry, busy, stressed, etc... all at the same time, we wouldn't trade this life for anything different! Even if we were millionaires we would live in our same home, on our same block, work with kids in the neighborhood and get them out exercising and of course XC Ski everyday we could!

The Large Group of USST and other Club Athletes after our Classic OD!

Sophie Caldwell, myself, Ida Sargent and Erika Flowers after the Climb to the Castle.

Getting a quick photo with Liz (the Hill Climb Champ!) while she is being interviewed for Fasterskier!

I had a great result this year at Climb to the Castle. I was second to Liz Stephens and was happy that I could stay with here for two miles! My energy was good despite my long travel and busy schedule before I left! I look forward to more Climbing events in the future.

Two coaches who have had a Major impact on my career as a skier and my life as a person.
Brian Fish and Jason Cork. Thanks you two!

My Sweet ITA T-shirt signed by many of the kids at the Boys and Girls Club with my 2nd place medal.

Staying an extra day is totally worth it when you get to summit a mountain! On top of Mt. Marcy :)

Ready for the Trail Loppet 1/2 Marathon or Arm Wrestling???

Brian and I with a future star Isaac Nightengale!

Another Podium! This one for running (very far!!!) I am also psyched to be sharing it with two amazing women!
Josie Nelson and Nicole Cueno!!!

Brian and I participated in the local City of Lakes Nordic Ski Foundation's Trail Loppet 1/2 Marathon! We both ran really well and slept VERY hard that night. It's great to have such an active and supportive ski and outdoor community to be a part of year round. The best part about the event was that I could run home after the race (1/2 Mile) and take a shower before the awards!!! Yes!

Our "gift" to Hoigaard's Ski Shop! An Autographed Madshus poster of Brian and I!
 We had a very successful Tent Sale Weekend :)

The weekend was also filled with time at the Hoigaard's Big Tent Sale. Hoigaard's is a local Ski Shop that is sponsoring Brian and myself this year! We were busy helping people get fit for Skis, boots and poles when we weren't out training. We love this kind of work and you could tell the staff had fun with us there!

Heart of the City 5km Race

Glacier Time! My first trip to the Eagle Glacier

Brian and I had a fantastic time training and testing our new Madshus Skis, boots, poles and bindings on the Eagle Glacier. It was my first time there and I could not believe how incredible the entire trip was. We trained hard, we skied for hours and we learned great info about our new equipment. I am very grateful for the opportunity to travel all the way to Alaska and ski on snow in the summer!

Brian and I have been back in Minnesota for a little over two weeks now. We filled our time with tasks around the house as we recovered from our large volume of training the previous month. Our work at the club also resumed and we hit the ground running, literally, as we gained momentum leading up to the Heart of the City 5K. I had the opportunity to go on live TV and do a feature on our work at the Jerry Gamble Boys and Girls Club and our training with the kids and our own training for the 2014 Olympics.

A little tv time on the Sunday morning news about Brian and my In The Arena project and our summer Run Club goal event the Heart of the City 5km race.

Getting ready for the RACE!
Leading up to the race we tried to gain excitement by decorating our "ITA Team Shirts." We wrote inspirational messages and had everyone at the club sign them for good luck!

One of the last practices before the race!
Despite some hot weather here in Minneapolis interest is still high for Run Club. With the new school year started there are even more new faces at the club! New kids mean new members of Run Club and more miles run! We are now at over 100 kids and over 500 miles!!!

Heart of the City 5K participants!
Saturday morning was one of the busiest mornings I have had before a competition ever! Usually when racing I have the luxury of focusing on my own needs and preparing how I need to. Bring 6 kids into that equation and all your time is spent making sure they are registered, shoe laces tied, porta-potties visited and at the start on-time. Brian and I warmed up by walking to the start with the kids! That was a first for both of us and made us forever impressed with competitors who have kids with them!

Isaiah after the race! Tired and Happy!

All the kids finished the 5K with a smile and enjoyed every moment of the day. After the race we all headed to Grand Slam and played for another 3 hours with bumper cars, lazer tag and mini-golf. The most important part of the trip was the concept of accomplishment, finishing the goal race, and enjoying the reward afterwards, a trip to Grand Slam. Every single kid said they wanted to run the next year and we hope they are back at practice to share their experiences with the other kids!