Davos to Asiago

Our ten sunny days in Davos flew by and we're now in Asiago, Italy preparing for a weekend of classic sprinting. I ended up catching a little cold last weekend, so I've mainly been focusing on getting healthy this week and therefore, not doing very much training. Last weekend's races consisted of a distance skate race and a skate sprint. On Saturday we had four girls and Noah all score points (top 30) in the distance race! Ida, Sadie, Andy, Simi, Mikey, and I all sat out the distance race and focused on the sprint on Sunday. We had four girls and two boys qualify in the top 30 on Sunday. I won my quarter final and raced my first semi final ever! Jessie and Kikkan also won their quarter finals and Sadie had some bad luck with a fall on the last corner, but she probably would have too ;). Jessie and I were in the same semifinal and we chose lanes starting right next to each other. I was pretty nervous, but having one of my best buds and teammate who I train with all summer toeing the line next to me helped me relax. We didn't ski great in our semifinal, but we were just happy to be there and I ended up 9th on the day and Jessie ended up 12th. It was my first top 10 on the World Cup, so I was pretty excited. Simi and Andy also skied great, barely missing moving on to the semi finals, so we had all four SMS T2 skier in the top 20 for the day! I wrote an NNF post about the day and the power of team that you can read HERE. We have a classic sprint tomorrow and a classic team sprint on Sunday. My family arrived yesterday and I'm so excited to have them here for some races and for Christmas!

Evening walk in Davos

Enjoying the sun with Sadie

Jason's napkin animal creation

Our awesome massage therapist, Fred, working on Jessie between heats

Kikkan taking her nap between prelims and heats

Liz, Ida, Andy, and I did a photo shoot for a VT bow tie company, but we couldn't find anyone who knows how to tie a bow tie! This nice man attempted to show us how.

I slipped on the ice in Davos and bruised my hand, but Fred fixed me up and Salomon sent me these spike shoes, so it won't happen again!

Jessie, Sophie, and Sadie

In our matching sunglasses!

One of the pretty views on our drive from Davos to Asiago

Christmas has come to our room in Asiago

Standing at the start/finish of the Davos sprint course with Sadie

Noah and I went to his friend Markus' house and had cheese fondue for dinner! I had never had it before and it was delicious. Thanks Markus!

Fondue

Davos decks are great for stocking up on Vitamin D

Our team did a Secret Santa where we had to write a poem and give a gift. Here we all are posing with our gifts

Race Prep in Asiago

And the best Christmas present is having my family here with me!

Lillehammer to Davos

Our week in Lillehammer was a lot of fun and it was highlighted by the fact that we got to start two women's relay teams on Sunday! Each relay team is four people, and since we have eight women in Europe right now, we were able to start two teams for the first time ever. In addition to starting two relay teams, Sadie had another amazing race in the 10k classic where she got 7th and our first relay team consisting of Kikkan, Sadie, Liz, and Jessie got 3rd place, tying their best ever relay result. It was so awesome to see the US standing on the podium next to Norway and Finland. I was on the second relay team and we also had a great time and placed 12th. I felt really good for my leg and was able to come in right around the lead pack, so I was pretty excited about that! All races are posted HERE about a day after they happen and HERE is a little video highlighting the US women's relay teams on Sunday.

All eight women at the finish with our relay socks!

Podium shot!

Sadzarue in the leader's chair!

Proud of you, little rodent!

I was only racing once last weekend and had a pretty big week of training in Lillehammer. Liz had a similar schedule, so I had a lot of fun training with her and exploring the surrounding ski areas. The Lillehammer stadium is the end of the Birkebeiner and we were able to check out other segments of the Birke at Sjusjoen and Nordseter.

Me and Liz in the Lillehammer stadium

Sadie, Rosie, and me

Posing with the fastest man in the world

Our adventure from Nordseter to Sjusjoen (I'm not sure what this snow falling business is in my photos)

Dark, but pretty Norwegian sky

I experienced my first big snow storm of the year while I was in Lillehammer and happened to have two skis scheduled for that day. The first workout was an interval session and by the end I felt a little like a snowplow. For my second ski, Matt and I went for a night ski with headlamps on the race course. I hadn't been night skiing for a long time and forgot how much fun it is. For some reason you always feel like you're going a lot faster than you really are when it's dark out!

Post intervals in the snow storm (Will, Liz, Kris, Sophie)

The town of Lillehammer is beautiful and with the new snow and lights it really put you in the Holiday spirit. Holly and I also made an attempt to make our room In Lillehammer cozy and Christmasy with some decorations and the occasional Christmas music.

Lillehammer

On Monday, we flew to Davos, Switzerland. I've only been to Davos once, but it already feels like a home away from home. We stay in Hotel Kulm, the same hotel my uncle stayed in when he was on the US Ski Team! Everyone here is so welcoming and friendly and the sunshine doesn't hurt either ;). This weekend there is a distance skate race on Saturday and a skate sprint on Sunday. I will only be racing on Sunday. We are also doing a Secret Santa tonight, so I need to go do my final preparations. Here are some photos from Davos! Also, HERE is an interview I did for Fischer about the upcoming season and other random things!

Sunny ski our first day in Davos

Jessie happy to be in Davos

Sadie and I rode in the back of the plane, but had a Sodie row to ourselves. We were also successfully the last two people off the plane, which we thought was pretty cool.

The chocolate of Switzerland!

Soaking up some sun on the deck

Andy enjoying the sun

The tiny gym in Davos that all the athletes try to use at once!

Jessie and I made a little stop to get Christmas earrings and some other decorations for our room

Sleepy bunny, Walter, and our elves guarding our beds in Davos

Kuusamo

After a very successful week in Kuusamo, we packed up and returned to Norway on Monday. We had three races in Kuusamo that were a mini tour format, so we raced three days in a row and the final race was a pursuit start based on your results from the previous two days, so the first person to cross the line won the overall tour. Some of the highlights from the weekend were Kikkan's 2nd in the classic sprint, Sadie's 3rd in the qualification, Sadie's 7th in the classic, and Noah's 9th overall in the tour and fastest time of the day. I was happy with my sprint and my classic race and even though I didn't feel very good in the skate race, I learned a lot by trying to ski with some of my speedy skater teammates as they passed me. Kuusamo was an awesome little resort town, but I was ready to see some sun by the end of the week. Lillehammer still doesn't have a huge amount of daylight, but we have seen the sun each day and it's crazy how happy the smallest amount of sunshine can make you!

View of the ski jump and stadium in Kuusamo

One day we ventured out from the race courses to ski some of the tourist trails. The trails were a little easier terrain and a lot of fun! Sadie and I practiced taking selfies on the downhills without falling.

Signing the autograph board before my race (FIS photo)

Sadie and me

Our Thanksgiving dinner...salmon and potatoes!

Andy celebrated his 30th bday

And Rosie celebrated her 25th bday

We had a team bowling night

I think Liz was the MVP, unfortunately she wasn't on my team

Noah put together a Hanukkah celebration for the team complete with dreidle and latkes

Fastest man in the world!

The races in Lillehammer this weekend are a 10k classic and a relay. I will not be racing in the 10k classic, but we're able to enter two women's relay teams because we have eight women! I was able to ski on the Birkebeiner trail this morning and yesterday I skied on the race courses. There isn't very much snow here, but the race course winds up and down a hillside and has some fun downhills and bridges. I raced Noah down the biggest hill yesterday and beat him. I'm not sure exactly what that means, but since he was the fastest man in the world on Sunday, I'm feeling pretty good about myself!

Holly and I have acquired some new friends in our hotel room. Now that it's December, Kikkan has started playing Christmas music, advent calendars have been opened, and Holly broke out her Christmas cloves and oranges, so we're getting in the holiday spirit!