West Yellowstone!

Hi from West Yellowstone, Montana! Today was our first "official" day on snow here (last night some of us got out for a super fun, informal, shake-the-legs-out headlamp ski). We hit the ground running (well, actually skiing) with a little moderate intensity to spark the body and also got some fun, easy skiing in as a team. We're psyched about our new uniforms for the season, and coach Erik did a girls photo shoot today as we were heading back to the car.

Yep, we're loving being here (and celebrating teammate Sadie Bjornsen's 21st Birthday today, fourth from right in the above photo)!

Monday we're celebrating team Thanksgiving early, and Wednesday the races kick off with skate and classic sprint prelims. More to come from West soon! Thanks to Erik Flora for taking the photos.

Handcrafted, Full Bodied

On the road (and in the air) again...

The snow is falling in West Yellowstone, Montana, and we're on our way to the first races of the season. The West Yellowstone Ski Festival is the tradition start of the North American race season, with four competitions taking place over the Thanksgiving holidays. This year we will be racing a classic AND a skate sprint prelim (on the same day), a 10km skate, and a 5km classic. APU will be out in full force, sporting our new Swix blue uniforms (thanks, Swix!). This is the biggest APU team yet to attend the West Yellowstone SuperTour races, with almost 20 athletes in attendance!

Tonight we stay in Bozeman, MT after a long day of travel, and tomorrow we make a big Costco run for our week in West (including all our Thanksgiving food). After our opening weekend in West, we head to Silver Star, British Columbia- one of my personal favorite race (and training) venues. From there we'll compete in Rossland, BC before we have a short break for the Christmas holidays. During that downtime, I'll be flying back East to spend a week with my parents, brother, and grandmother in Vermont before US Nationals are contested in Rumford, ME at the beginning of January. The two month trip will finish off with more SuperTour races in Lake Placid, NY in the middle of January.

Since I'm going to be away for two months, the last few days has been hectic finishing up school, training, and preparing to leave. It's a challenge to pack for racing and Christmas, anticipating both cold and warm weather throughout my travels... but it's fun at the same time. Being on the road is exciting, as is the anticipation that goes along with the beginning of a new season! It's exciting, because I feel prepared to hit the snow.

I'm psyched to have a great team surrounding me, great coaching and wax support, top-notch and generous sponsors (in Swix Wax, Poles, and Accessories; Fischer Skis; Salomon Boots and Bindings; Rudy Project Eyewear; Nordic Ultratune Stone Grinding; and PowerBar). I'd also like to thank Carlile Transportation Systems- my main financial sponsor- for their unwavering support over many years. Also, big kudos to GCI- my telecommunications sponsor, hunting guide, Rob Holt- my Alaskan wild game provider, and my doctor, Ruth Higdon. Last, but not least, I am so appreciative of the love and support of my parents, extended family, and boyfriend. I couldn't be where I am without all the help and encouragement I receive!

To wrap up this post, make sure to check out the great video (posted above) that my teammate, Reese Hanneman, created recently (thanks, Reese, for letting me re-post your awesome video!). He's got some artistic talent. This definitely has my vote as the best APU ski film yet! Most of the footage comes from Hatcher Pass where we did much of our early winter preparations... Way cool!

SNOW!

Yep, winter has hit Anchorage! We skied at Hatcher Pass, north of Anchorage, last week, and I did intervals on the Spencer Loop on Wednesday. This afternoon I went for a distance ski on the Anchorage hillside. It was a beautiful evening for a ski...

Getting ready for winter...

Today I spent my day getting ready for winter in two ways... Just like every other Sunday, my day began with an over-distance (OD) workout. After breakfast, and as soon as it was light enough to see the trees outside my living room window (something that's happening later and later these days), I was out on the road rollerskiing. This morning I went right from my front door, completing one massive loop around the Anchorage Hillside, returning home just in time for lunch.

Just like every other day, the focus of my morning was training- getting my body in tip-top racing fitness- so that come winter and the start of racing season at the end of November, I'll be ready to ski fast. Today my OD was on classic rollerskis (no r-ski photos, unfortunately), but a few weekends ago I went on an awesome fall mountain run with my teammates. It just happened to be one incredibly photo-worthy workout that I just can't resist sharing (see below)...

Mountain run OD with the APU ladies (and Reese). Thanks Reese for the great photos!

2.5 hours cruising through some beautiful Alaskan terrain. I can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday morning! (Reese Hanneman photo)

Today was not one of the glorious, sunny autumn days of which we've had many. All the same, it was a perfect day for good, long workout! The fall colors that have greeted me on my last few Sunday runs are now gone. And on this particular Sunday- for the first time this fall- the forecast was for snow. Although it turned out to be not quite cold enough for that type of precipitation, it sure felt like winter isn't far off.

With the changing seasons on my mind, a different kind of "getting-ready-for-winter" activity followed my OD. My mom, boyfriend and I smoked and canned wild Alaskan salmon for the winter! Um...um!

My mom came down from Talkeetna for the weekend, and just as we normally do, we created ourselves a project! A while back we decided that this weekend was going to be salmon canning weekend. With 40+ new 2010 red salmon in the freezer from this summer's dipnetting trip and still a ton of salmon from '09 hanging around, we decided that it was time to get out the smokers and canners and get to work.

Last night we sliced all the fillets into strips, made a huge vat of brine, soaked, rinsed, and then air dried the fish to be ready for today's work. This morning we began the smoking process. While I rollerskied around the Anchorage Hillside, my mom took care of the fish smoking, and by the time I returned home we were ready to put the smoked salmon in jars, seal them up, and pressure cook them for 2+ hours.

Three pressure cookers-loads and 41 jars of canned smoked salmon later, we'd made another step towards winter-preparedness. OD down, salmon processing down... Today was a productive day!

Thanks to my super Mom and fabulous boyfriend for embarking on this great project with me! I'm pumped to eat canned salmon all winter long. It's, without a doubt, the fuel of champions!

The 3rd Annual Talkeetna Fun Run & Walk for Kids and Families

5 year-old Bethany Kehoe (above) participates in the 2010 Fun Run/Walk

On Sunday, October 3- with some much appreciated help from family and friends- I continued what's becoming a fall tradition, the Talkeetna Fun Run and Walk for Kids and Families. Three years ago I organized the first event- a fun, un-timed recreational run/walk- as a way to give back to the community that raised, nurtured and supported me throughout my formative years. Each subsequent year the event has grown, with sixty people taking part in the 2010 run/walk.

It was a gorgeous autumn afternoon in the Upper Susitna Valley, complete with yellow leaves, blue sky and sunshine. Participants, ranging in age from infant to adult, ran/walked either a 3 miles course or an out-and-back one mile through the Talkeetna Lakes Park.

The event was preceded by a group stretch at the trail head of the Talkeetna Lakes Park

One of the youngest participants takes a look at the prize table.

Great prizes and refreshments greeted runners and walkers at the end of the event thanks to generous donations from PowerBar, Great Harvest Bread Company, and Skinny Raven Sports. Participants enjoyed cookies, energy bars, and sports drink. Every kid was able to take home a prize, two families took home loaves of Great Harvest bread for their participation, and one family won the Great Harvest gift basket in the post-run/walk drawing.

Despite the short duration of my stay in Talkeetna, it was a wonderful trip and a great opportunity to reconnect with friends and family. Every time I visit I'm overwhelmed by the tremendous outpouring of support for me. I am so grateful for the interest in my athletic pursuits and the unfailing encouragement from the Talkeetna community.

In addition, it's exciting to see the new construction of trails throughout the area and community members making such great use of them. I feel so fortunate to call such a wonderful, active, inspired community my home!

A huge thanks to everyone who participated in the 2010 Talkeetna Fun Run and Walk for Kids and Families. An additional thanks to PowerBar and to Great Harvest Bread Company and Skinny Raven Sports in Anchorage for donating prizes and refreshments. Last, but not least, thanks to my mom, Karen, for helping to organize and set-up for this event every year. I look forward to another great event next fall. Until then, see you out on the trails!

Check this out...

I'm organizing this fun run/walk for kids event in my hometown with the help of my mom, the P.E. teacher and cross-country running coach at Talkeetna Elementary. It's a great way to have fun with the kids of the Upper Susitna Valley and to give something back to the community that has supported me so much over the years. It gets the community out on a beautiful fall day for a run/walk, some snacks, and great prizes!

Thanks to everyone who is making this event possible, and a special thanks to my parent's for helping organize and my personal sponsors: Carlile Transportation, GCI, and PowerBar, to name a few...

Please come join the fun. Mark your calendars!