Dream Vacation

I was in desperate need of sun, warmth and relaxation after the ski season so I used some of my aeroplan points and escaped to Costa Rica for the 2nd half of April. The first week was with my high-school friend Sabrina, then my boyfriend Chris came down for the last half of the trip. It was exactly the vacation I had hoped for with the perfect mix of adventure, fun and relaxation. No matter what we decided to do each day, it was always the right decision and lots of fun.

Our first evening in Costa Rica at Playa Samara. We stayed at Hotel Fenix on the Beach and it was an amazing spot. It was just off the beach with a small pool, hammocks, beach chairs, a mango tree, a lemon tree, an outdoor shower to rinse the sand off and a kitchenette equipped with a blender for amazing tropical smoothies!

Our first Costa Rican meal! The fried plantains and fruit smoothies were my favorite local treats.

The beach was gorgeous and we had a fantastic week of boogie boarding, swimming, biking, hiking, yoga, attempted surfing, exploring, sunset watching and hammock naps:

Chris arrived, Sabrina left and it was time for part 2 of the trip. Our first stop was the Monteverde Cloud Forest. The Forest Reserve was awe-inspiring. It took us 6 hours to hike a 6km trail because we wanted to see everything, find every creature out there and document it all with our cameras. 

The hike started with a hit of adrenaline when I walked right by this eyelash viper 10 meters into the trail. Luckily it could tell we were just clueless humans and decided not to strike.








We spotted 2 quetzals during the walk. This is the famous bird of Monteverde and is hard to find so we were stoked to see 2.

Our day finished with a zipline canopy tour. It included a 1590m long zipline that we did in the superman position - attached to the line by our hips and ribs and facing the ground. We finished with a Tarzan Swing that was a combo of a bungee jump and a swing. Jumping off the platform was terrifying but I had a big grin on my face, though Chris was a little green.

We then headed back to the beach at the hippie town of Montezuma. We explored all the beaches, waterfalls and parks in the area, did some boogie boarding (and got stung by a jellyfish), and snorkeled. In the afternoons I napped while Chris entertained himself playing with hermit crabs and showing off his man-skills using rocks to open coconuts so that we could drink the water inside. 

Costa Rica has an incredible variety of plants and animals. We tried hard to get photos of everything, here are a few that turned out:

I booked my flights fairly late so I ended up spending a night in Houston on the way to Costa Rica and had a 7 hour layover there on the way back. Luckily my Aunt Judy lives there and rescued me from the tedium of the airport. I got a backroom tour of the art museum where she works and visited some interesting spots in Houston. It was fun to get to know her as I haven't seen her since I was 3!




A few people contributed to my vacation fund and I would like to officially thank my awesome vacation sponsors: Sabrina, Marcia and Jim, my brother Jamie and my parents for making me not feel too guilty about spending money on a holiday!

I went to so many beautiful spots during the trip, I'll finish off with a few more of my favorite photos:

Now that it's May, playtime is over and team training starts next week. I am once again on the National Development Team and will continue to train with the Alberta World Cup Academy. I am currently laying low as Chris and I were both hit by some sort of gastro bug or food poisoning on the way back from Costa Rica. I am getting antsy to get back to training but hopefully will be back to normal by next week.

Back on Track

My 2012-2013 season ended on an encouraging note at the National Championships in Whistler. We had a beautiful week with lots of sun and hot (at least for spring) days. I am instantly happier when the sun is out so I enjoyed soaking up the rays.

Exploring the rec trails on an easy day

I was finally feeling back to my normal self and energy. I raced to 3 Canadian bronze medals and was awarded the 2nd place aggregate. It was really nice to have the boost at the end of a tough season. As an added bonus I was also the overall NorAm Sprint Champion and got my name on a fancy trophy!

Happy to be on the podium with my buddies after the first race! Photo: Kathy Wylie

Exhausted and overheated after the 10km classic race: Kate came to my rescue and helped take my skis off!

NorAm sprint trophy

The rest of February and March were quieter than usual. I had some good NorAm sprint races but was still struggling to find my normal racing speed in the distance events. The rest of the time I was in Canmore and it was nice to actually spend a solid chunk of time there in the winter. I had lots of sunny skis and adventures with friends:

Canmore putting on a show

I made a random detour to Amanda's house after Westerns and had a day and a half of fun there:

Dressed up in furs to go quadding! 

Chris and I did a 3-day trip into the Naiset huts in Assiniboine. The weather wasn't as cooperative as I had hoped but it was a fun adventure!

Our cozy cabin

Happy to glimpse the sun!

I had a birthday, and have now reached a quarter century! Patty made me a delicious bowl cake and I had dinner with friends in Canmore, then was spoiled by my parents the next day on my way to Whistler.

After Nationals finished I celebrated my first few days off with a short trip into Vancouver. My mom, Chris and I stayed with my brother and we went to the aquarium, hung out with my friend Sabrina, checked out the Olympic torch and ate a lot of strange delicious food.

Jellyfish!

Sushi dinner on the beach

Japanese bar food

I would like to finish this off with a huge thank you to everyone who has supported me this year: long-term sponsors Buff Canada and Lakeside Insurance, my family, boyfriend, and teammates; also the Academy, CCC, CCBC, all the coaches that I have been working with, especially my personal coach Mike Cavaliere. Finally, my equipment sponsors Fischer, Leki, Salomon and Bliz. I couldn't do it without all of you!

"This Too Shall Pass"

When things aren't going well I tend to disappear from the blogging world, but it is time to share what I've been up to in the last couple months. I have been disappointed with my races so far this season. I was given multiple World Cup starts before Christmas and it was so frustrating to be unable to take advantage of those opportunities. However, every World Cup race I enter is a learning experience and I am glad that I got those chances even though it didn't go how I had hoped.

I still haven't pinpointed exactly what went wrong. The pre-Christmas World Cups were likely a combination of travel, the worst jetlag of my life, unhappy lungs and sickness. That pushed me into a hole and I was unable to dig myself out without a good break and some recovery time. I spent Christmas with my family in Salmon Arm and it was the rest that I needed with easy workouts, good food, and fun with my family and friends. I  returned to the NorAm circuit at the beginning of January in Thunder Bay. I felt almost back to normal in the sprint race and finished 2nd but my distance races were nowhere near my normal performance. Since then I have slowly been getting back to my normal energy levels and while I still don't feel amazing in hard sessions I think the increase in energy and happiness in normal life should be a good indication that my body is getting back to normal.

After I last posted in Gallivare I headed to Riga for my final World Cup stop in Europe. I had a decent sprint, finishing 38th and improving my position from the year before. We took advantage of our small kitchenettes and made a couple delicious breakfasts:

Dasha and I met Santa and Mrs Claus being pulled by reindeer so we had our picture taken by a lovely Russian photographer. 

The requisite racing picture (from Gallivare) Credit Nordic Focus

 After Riga the entire World Cup show moved to Canada. Despite less than ideal races, it was so much fun to race World Cups on Canadian soil. The loud exuberant crowds in Quebec City made me feel like I was winning the race! My mom and Aunt came to Quebec City, both my parents were in Canmore and it was so nice to see my boyfriend, family and friends again after a tough month in Europe.

Racing in the team sprint on the roller coaster course

Looking down on the sprint course from my hotel room at the Hilton

Coffee with my mom

I am currently staying in Wasaga Beach for this weekend's NorAms at Highlands Nordic. It is strange to be staying at such a summery destination in the winter. All the ice cream shops and burger joints are dark and deserted and there are snow drifts instead of a beautiful beach. We have a sprint and distance race here then head to Ottawa for the Eastern Canadian Championships.

Brrr, not exactly suntanning weather!

Ontario coach Pavlina put up an appropriate blog post recently: how to deal with failure like a winner. I have had a few sessions of #1 (go have a cry in the woods) over the last few months and am working hard on #2 and #6 (recognize setbacks happen, make new goals and move forward). I have also been listening to my "This too shall pass" playlist. The music video is fun too :)

In the end, this will only make me stronger and more determined. I am optimistic that I will bounce back, and I have many more races left this season.

Arctic Circle racing

The World Cup season started last weekend in Gallivare, a little Swedish town 100km north of the Arctic Circle. Saturday was a 10km skate race. I was finally healthy but the race didn't go as I had hoped. I am trying to keep it in perspective as it was my first distance race and I was coming back from being sick but it is still awful to see my name at the bottom of the results. Sunday was a 4x5km relay. The fact that we actually did the relay was exciting since it has been years since the last women's World Cup relay team. I skied the last leg and had a fun sprint to the finish with 2 other countries. There were lots of cheering spectators all around the course and it was a great atmosphere. It was really exciting to see our American friends killing it both days and also Ivan with the best Canadian result in 14th.

The girls now have a new name: the Canadian Honey Badgers! The name was thrown around in summer training and Eric made it official with these great t-shirts:

This youtube video is the original inspiration:

Gallivare was very dark and wintry but it was really nice to ski on real fresh snow again! Here is the view from our hotel and this was the brightest it ever got there.

Dasha and I explored downtown Gallivare one afternoon. We discovered that locals bring their sleds to town then lock them up while they shop

You could also buy reindeer antlers for about $17!

This friendly stuffed bear lived in the lobby of our hotel.

Monday we drove 6 hours through Northern Scandinavia, dodging reindeer, to Kuusamo, Finland. The first morning here was great as we skied a fun loop on some of the rec trails and actually saw the sun! I took this photo from our condo at around noon for proof but it was much nicer out during the ski

Another highlight is our new team sponsor, Honey Stinger! I love their products, I mean who wouldn't love eating gummy chews, waffles and chocolate protein bars during a ski! 

Next up is the Kuusamo mini-tour: classic sprint Friday, 5km skate Saturday and 10km classic Sunday. I am excited to do my first sprint race!

And finally, if you need some inspiration check out this TED talk:

Patience

Something as seemingly minor as a cold can wreak havoc on even the best plans... A head cold hit me Tuesday morning and I am currently abandoned in Ostersund while the rest of the team is in Bruksvallarna for 3 days of racing. I have been healthy the entire training season so it is very frustrating to get sick 4 days before my first real race! The combination of travel and jetlag did me in. I have been drinking litres of tea, pounding cold fx and resting, optimistically hoping to recover in time to race the sprint on Sunday. I keep reminding myself that it is early in the season and I just have to be patient and let myself recover. I know it would be stupid to race too soon and risk a prolonged cold but that doesn't make missing the races any easier! I have been watching movies, crocheting, resting, and trying to keep everything in perspective.

I arrived in Ostersund last Wednesday. We are staying right on the ski trails which have expanded from 1.5 km when we arrived to almost 4 km now. It has been sunnier than last year which we have been enjoying since our next stops will be the very dark northern towns of Gallivare and Kuusamo.

The view of the ski trails from my deck

Delicious afternoon cappos at Pause

Some of my teammates are doing their first race tomorrow- 5/10km classic! I'm hoping to catch the race on TV. Go go go!!!