USST Nomination and Trip to Asheville

A couple weeks ago I found out I've been nominated to the US Ski Team! I'm really excited to be joining such a strong group and have been beginning to plan out my training year. I guess the training season officially started yesterday - time flies! I just returned from a trip to Asheville, North Carolina to visit my cousin Alexa. She works at Asheville School and it was fun to see her in her element and experience a bit of the South. Asheville is pretty unique in the sense that it doesn't really have the stereotypical southern feel. From what I experienced, it's a little liberal pocket that is a mix of Colorado and Vermont with a southern twist. I liked it! We went on some beautiful hikes and runs and had some tastes of what Asheville is known for - food and beer. It was a blast, but following my cousin Alexa around feels like a full time job so I was pretty tired when I got home. I also made the not-so-smart mistake of going for a long paved road run with my sister and Annie, who are training for a marathon, the other week when I hadn't run much so I've been nursing a little foot injury. I plan on avoiding running for the next week or so and hopping on my road bike instead. The T2 group is going to start coming back in the next couple weeks and we will gradually resume training.

hiking in Asheville

with cousin Alexa

we took a tour of the Biltmore on our rainy day

It was alumni weekend so we got all dressed up for a dinner and dance

I learned some Southern dances and decided swing dancing is much more fun than "grinding", or whatever they teach kids in New England

It was fun to meet Alexa's Asheville friends

I went to SMS practice yesterday where they were doing agility practice

We also did relay races that involved carrying huge logs and dragging tires. My team lost each time (sorry guys!) and I'm very sore today

The boys had to pull a very heavy tire

I've also been volunteering with Girls on the Run at my elementary school, Flood Brook Union School. Yesterday we had a bigger Girls on the Run practice with many of the surrounding towns. I got to meet a ton of girls and everyone completed a two mile run/walk at the end of practice. My little buddy wasn't quite ready to run two miles so we power walked most of it instead. I was okay with that because I'm not supposed to be running anyway and speed walking is kind of my specialty. One of the little girls, Laura, was so proud to tell me that last year she couldn't run a mile, but now she can run two without a problem! I give my neighbor, Mehanna, rides back from practice and yesterday she told me that at the Bill Koch festival this year, all the West River girls wore patterned knee socks like the USST girls and braided their hair just like Jessie Diggins. "Oh, for cute!!" as Jessie would say (click HERE for meaning).

Girls on the Run cheer!

Girls on the Run stretching circle