Sophie Caldwell: Headed West!

After our camp in Canmore, I spent 10 very relaxing days at home. It was nice to see my parents, eat home cooked meals, and absorb the training we had just done in Park City and Canmore. I jumped in a lot of workouts with the SMS team which was a lot of fun and they're all looking very fast so watch out! I also did some workouts with the PGs and SMS T2 people who were back in Vermont. As much as I like our boys, by the end of the 10 days I was definitely missing Erika, Annie, and Jessie. Everyone went home for the time between camps so they were in Montana and Minnesota, leaving Doph and the Dudes! While I was home, some of the more exciting workouts I did were a sprint simulation with the SMS team, some hard bounding intervals with Gus and Skyler, and a beautiful hike up Stratton where they are currently making snow! Here are some photos from my time at home.

My little cat, Dudley Rose

I voted!

Snow on top of Stratton!

happy day

Dusting of snow at home

catching a ride with Tyler

Classic intervals in Weston with the PG and T2 boys

getting some tips from Coach Gus

My fat cat, Mr. Red

Andy, Skyler and I also visited my elementary school, Flood Brook Union School, to talk to the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders about cross country skiing and staying active. Andy definitely ran the show but Skyler and I chimed in every once in awhile and the kids were a wonderful audience, asking a lot of great questions.

Thanks to our local sponsors, Stratton foundation, SMS, and r.k. Miles!

I somehow got roped into signing Andy's athlete "baseball cards"

Last Friday we flew to Bozeman where we stayed at Erika's house for a few days. Thank you to Erika's dad, Pat, and his fiancee, Melissa, for sharing their home and being so accommodating! We heard the skiing was better in Bozeman than it was in West Yellowstone so we tried to get in as much skiing as possible before heading to West. We skied at Bohart a couple times which was fun because last time we were there was for NCAAs when Annie, Erika, Eric, and I were skiing for Dartmouth! We also did skate threshold intervals in town one day and I learned my lesson: recovering at altitude is a little harder than it is at sea level so proper pacing is important! I've loved being back with my training buds, Erika and Annie (miss you Jessie!) We also went to see the new James Bond in Bozeman and overall the group gave it very good reviews! Yesterday we drove to West Yellowstone and it was snowing a little when we got here, it was snowing a little when I woke up this morning, and the ground is white so hopefully we can find some decent skiing. Today is our off day so we woke up and made my family's secret stackers recipe.

Annie and Paddy

Evening jog

sunset from Erika's house

Satch!

Stackers

We will be in Yellowstone through the first Supertours and my dad and Skyler will be joining us soon. The most exciting news for me is that my sister, who has been on the Earth Science program out west all fall, is coming TOMORROW! I've missed her so much and can't wait to see her and hug the life out of her. Time for some exploring, check back soon for some ski reports! And good luck to our T2 teammates, Jessie and Andy, who will be doing their first races this weekend! Here are some photos from the last couple of days in Canmore. We had a team photo shoot with our new uniforms because it was probably the only time we'll all be in the same place for awhile.