tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21900212424550008692024-02-19T18:28:24.957-07:00Rosie BrennanAPU Elite TeamRosiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17666162716425938533noreply@blogger.comBlogger166125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190021242455000869.post-36297093803741758882017-02-21T05:25:00.000-07:002017-02-21T05:25:17.320-07:00Pre Worlds Prep and Inspiration from the Guppies
Here is a blog I wrote for the National Nordic Foundation about my time at home plus a little add on:
Over the last ten years, the U.S. Women’s Cross Country team
has undoubtedly found its stride. Many years ago, Kikkan Randall spearheaded an
ambitious goal to not only be the best herself, but to be part of a team that
is internationally competitive. She gave us belief, she shared all that Rosie Brennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18438357152615943948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190021242455000869.post-82934886538133097582017-01-19T06:54:00.001-07:002017-01-19T06:54:45.624-07:00Solo Camp
I am a full believer in teams. My college team, my club
team, and the U.S. Ski Team have all played invaluable roles in my life. I also
believe that the stronger and more individual each person on the team can be,
the stronger and more creative the team will be as a whole. The U.S. Ski Team
is unique because we spend close to every day together over the winter
competition season. This, in some Rosie Brennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18438357152615943948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190021242455000869.post-763909350382940692017-01-12T12:54:00.001-07:002017-01-12T12:54:20.496-07:00The Tour de SkiLast year was my first year ever doing a tour and I managed to drag myself through two of them. Something about racing day after day and pushing yourself truly to the limits is attractive to me, so I went for a third tour this year. It was an interesting experience doing the same tour a second time because even though we were at the same venues doing mostly the same races, my feelings and my Rosie Brennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18438357152615943948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190021242455000869.post-46824448059187258932016-12-28T09:31:00.002-07:002016-12-28T09:31:51.587-07:00I'm BackWelcome back to my blog!
I finished the 2015/16 season utterly exhausted having raced more and traveled more than ever before. As spring rolled around, I started to question how I could sustainably continue to race. I love racing and was not interested in quitting, but I did need to rethink how I approach training and racing and how I can make it as fulfilling as I want it to be. Many of my Rosie Brennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18438357152615943948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190021242455000869.post-58568174937011681072016-02-01T03:39:00.001-07:002016-02-01T03:39:19.420-07:00A Little Training and RestWhen racing a full World Cup schedule, one of the biggest challenges is finding the right balance of rest, racing, and training. Most weeks require me to make an evaluation of my fatigue level and then decide if that week I need rest to get ready for the next race or do some training to fine tune the body for the next race. This is not a strong point of mine as I like to push until I break. It Rosie Brennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18438357152615943948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190021242455000869.post-58936307896518436662016-01-16T13:20:00.000-07:002016-01-16T13:20:11.085-07:00First TourI just completed my first Tour de Ski! The tour is a bit different every year, but this year we did 8 races over the course of 10 days at 4 different venues in 3 different countries. When the tour first started, 10 years ago, the U.S. didn't send anyone to compete in it and even after a few U.S. skiers started to race in the tour, I thought they were crazy and I couldn't fathom how anyone could Rosie Brennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18438357152615943948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190021242455000869.post-50588958631499350422015-12-31T02:29:00.000-07:002015-12-31T02:29:00.143-07:00Happy HolidaysFor the first time in my life, I did not spend Christmas in Park City. I feel lucky to have been able to spend 26 Christmases in the town I love best, however this year has brought about a new adventure, one I am also fortunate to have. With only 10 days away from racing, it is difficult to travel home and travel back to Europe without completely messing yourself up so I elected to stay in EuropeRosie Brennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18438357152615943948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190021242455000869.post-86495454001374043662015-12-14T05:50:00.001-07:002015-12-14T05:51:19.926-07:00Mountain TimeI have now finished three weekends of World Cup racing. The excitement and nerves have settled down, everything feels quite routine, living out of a suitcase is getting as comfortable as possible, and hints of homesickness have started to creep in.
Luckily, week three brought us a little further south to the Swiss Alps where the mountains are big and the sun shines strong. I never realize how Rosie Brennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18438357152615943948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190021242455000869.post-89132884296157013952015-12-08T14:10:00.003-07:002015-12-08T14:10:43.048-07:00Norway, Birthdays, Podiums, O MY!
December has started off well! Norway greeted us to an
abundance of salmon, brown cheese, waffles, and most importantly SUNSHINE! The
hotel buffet is no joke. Every meal has a full spread of everything you can
imagine and then some. Many different choices of meat and seafood, any carb you
can imagine, tasty vegetables, and an extensive dessert bar! While the snow was
a little sparse, we were Rosie Brennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18438357152615943948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190021242455000869.post-88375351838472865562015-11-30T13:34:00.002-07:002015-11-30T13:34:49.771-07:00Ruka Triple
The World Cup started with a bang with a 3 stage mini tour
in Kuusamo, Finland. Kuusamo is close to the Arctic Circle and with some
combination of where the village is in relation to the hill and the numerous
snow guns in action, there is almost always some moisture in the air and not a
whole lot of sun. But Kuusamo has it’s own beauty with long steep climbs and
rip roaring descents and Rosie Brennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18438357152615943948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190021242455000869.post-25149175579819710652015-11-23T12:34:00.003-07:002015-11-23T12:38:53.512-07:00Arctic StartAfter 30 or so hours of travel and 5 flights plus a 3 hr drive, I made it from Anchorage to Gallivare, Sweden. The travel day was long, but everything went well so I can't complain too much.
Gallivare is 100km above the arctic circle, however, I awoke to light shinning in my window the first morning. Knowing that I was so far above the arctic circle, I panicked, thinking I must have slept in Rosie Brennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18438357152615943948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190021242455000869.post-46386757958538199132015-11-16T06:26:00.003-07:002015-11-16T06:26:59.386-07:00Let the Season Commence
After an amazing month of training and adventuring in Utah, I flew back to AK to find a blanket of snow! We got on snow the next day and were able to ski everyday after that until my departure for Europe, now how is that for good planning! Nothing beats a month of sun and warmth straight to snow! And now for a photo stream to catch up on the last block of summer training.
Fast and Female Park Rosie Brennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18438357152615943948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190021242455000869.post-45411450561480164672015-11-02T14:53:00.001-07:002015-11-02T14:53:39.444-07:00Tis the Season of Giving
Happy November!
With just two weeks left in the U.S. before I embark on a 5 month World Cup tour, life seems to get a little busy with everything from packing and cleaning to hours on 1-800 numbers straightening out insurance, credit cards, and cell phones.
It's easy to get caught up in the excitement of this journey with 9 different countries and 40+ races, but planning ahead is Rosie Brennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18438357152615943948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190021242455000869.post-62491169315515696202015-10-03T20:43:00.000-06:002015-10-03T20:43:42.716-06:00Another Year!I ski race because I really love skiing. The downside of being a ski racer is that it is dependent on snow which only falls half the year, if we're lucky. The upside is that I get the opportunity to go to more extreme measures to get on snow whenever possible. This is one of the many reasons I moved to Alaska. With APU's glacier training facility and the relatively cold climate of Alaska, I have Rosie Brennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18438357152615943948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190021242455000869.post-57871691794286947082015-09-24T00:09:00.001-06:002015-09-24T00:09:56.050-06:00Fall TrainingAugust marks the transition from summer to fall in Alaska and generally I associate the transition with rain, rain, and more rain. August came and went and somehow there was no rain! I was able to get out of the city for one last good weekend of adventures, checking out Talkeetna and Denali State Park for the first time. They did not disappoint with fall colors exploding and some unpredicted Rosie Brennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18438357152615943948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190021242455000869.post-49246561783111294392015-08-31T18:19:00.002-06:002015-08-31T18:19:32.667-06:00End of Summer Recovery and RefocusAfter many months of focused training and glacier camps, it's impossible to not build up some cumulative fatigue even with a few recovery days built in. As a result, I like to mix things up, change some training, take some rest, and find a change of scenery at the end of the summer as a way to regroup for a strong fall period. I headed home for a dose of summer! I was able to do some of my Rosie Brennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18438357152615943948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190021242455000869.post-71436453783314296472015-08-13T14:23:00.001-06:002015-08-13T14:23:10.730-06:00The Sun CampWe have now completed our 3rd and final glacier camp of the summer. Our summer training is broken into 4 week blocks. Two weeks are spent dryland training in Anchorage, one week training on Eagle Glacier, and the last week spent on our own with some combination of recovery, adventuring, and training. Repeat this three times and that's a summer! It sure makes the summer fly by! I am having a hard Rosie Brennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18438357152615943948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190021242455000869.post-76661958025968364082015-07-23T18:48:00.002-06:002015-07-23T18:48:36.967-06:00Alaskan SummerWhen one week of every month is spent skiing on a glacier and the other three weeks are in Alaska, it's easy to get confused about what time of year it actually is. However, summer in Alaska brings about all sorts of adventures, rain or shine.
After two weeks of training hard in Anchorage, we headed south for the 4th of July holiday weekend. Seward hosts the Mt. Marathon race, a grueling 3 mile Rosie Brennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18438357152615943948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190021242455000869.post-5823500149663372172015-06-23T17:32:00.004-06:002015-06-23T17:32:35.121-06:00Time Flies When...you train a lot (and have fun, of course!)
My summer is already flying by! After a few weeks of getting back into training in Anchorage, I flew to Park City for my first U.S. Ski Team camp of the summer. It was an unbelievably busy camp, meeting with the various extended staff helping us out, testing, training, and getting into a groove with my new teammates. I did 2 treadmill tests, one classicRosie Brennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18438357152615943948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190021242455000869.post-34687413071026941732015-05-10T18:16:00.000-06:002015-05-10T18:16:03.884-06:00Back At ItThe first day of training is much like the first day of school. Excitement to see all your friends who have been on various adventures, excitement to start moving towards all the goals you just spent all spring planning, and chaos in scrambling to get all your equipment together. We started off with a bang, rollerskiing and treadmill testing on day 1 and continued to progress into a more regular Rosie Brennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18438357152615943948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190021242455000869.post-23354762728753720052015-04-29T13:46:00.001-06:002015-04-29T13:47:02.068-06:00Spring EpicTowards the end of the race season all I can think about it sitting around in the sunshine without obligations. However, in all reality, it seems that spring is often more busy than the rest of the year. I still have not been in one place for more than a week. While the mental break of not thinking about training and racing has been good, I am feeling the fatigue from bouncing around all month. Rosie Brennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18438357152615943948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190021242455000869.post-5794754635484287072015-04-08T12:00:00.001-06:002015-04-08T12:00:05.179-06:00Season Done!I am a Western girl at heart. I love the sun, the dry air, the altitude, all of it. Anytime I get a chance to race in the West, I am a happy camper. As I hit the open road to Sun Valley, I was ecstatic to meet up with my APU teammates who I hadn't seen since the beginning of January, my coach, and other friends. I also had some high expectations as I hoped to win the Overall SuperTour in Rosie Brennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18438357152615943948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190021242455000869.post-46626758820941476982015-03-20T08:25:00.000-06:002015-03-20T08:52:18.992-06:00World Cup End
We had less than a week from the time we finished the 30km at World Championships until the World Cup Tour resumed in Lahti, Finland. I had done well enough at U.S. Nationals back in January that I maintained my lead in the SuperTour granting me starts rights for the last two weeks of World Cups so my travels through Europe continued. After feeling great doing race prep the day before the sprintRosie Brennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18438357152615943948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190021242455000869.post-74460878776127910732015-03-04T00:51:00.001-07:002015-03-04T10:01:37.872-07:00World Champs Wrap
It’s always difficult to sum up a big event like World
Championships. There were 6 different events and 4 racers in each event for
both men and women, totaling 2 weeks of highs, lows, excitement, let downs,
fun, boredom and everything in between. I highly suggest reading other team members’
blogs to get a variety of perspectives from the Championships. I can assure you
that everyone had Rosie Brennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18438357152615943948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190021242455000869.post-72799135142389677632015-02-18T05:06:00.002-07:002015-02-18T05:06:38.842-07:00World ChampionshipsWorld Championships starts tomorrow!!! The entire town of Falun has transformed for the Championships. There are big tents set up all over town, roads closed, open air markets and vendors all over the place. The courses are all walled off, grandstands set up, tents set up all over the course and parking lots. I am very excited to get things started! Here is some information to be a part of the Rosie Brennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18438357152615943948noreply@blogger.com