Team t2

I am really excited to say that I have been accepted as a member of the t2 Team.  Here is some information about the t2 Foundation:

Our Mission: 

The T2 Foundation supports athletes competing in Olympic snow sports, including alpine, Nordic and freestyle skiing.  

Our mission is twofold: to help America’s elite skiers reach their dreams, and to fuel the grassroots growth of the sport through organized events and programs, which give back to the youth community.  

Athletes are our sports’ ambassadors, and by engaging youth and providing positive role modeling, we seek to grow the sport and fuel dreams. 

About Us: 
The T2 Foundation is a non-profit organization that supports America's elite skiers, and the growth of grassroots skiing. 

Founded in 2006, the T2 Foundation has provided financial support to over 40 different athletes, helping them achieve their dreams. Those athletes have given back to the ski and youth communities as positive role models, sparking inspiration in kids.  

The T2 Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit organization. 

Check out their website to learn more: www.t2foundation.com

One of the perks of of being part of t2 is that I can receive donations through t2, allowing all my supporters to get a tax deduction from donating to a 501c3. 
If you are interested in doing so, you can send a check to the t2 Foundation with a note indicating that it is to support Rosie Brennan and it will go directly into my fund.

T2 Foundation
63 Pattrell Rd.
Norwich, VT 05055

Checking out the view. Denali was shining brightly but my iphone camera isn't good enough to capture it.

Snow!

In the mean time, my feet behaved well enough for me to go on a mountain run, the first of the season for me. 

When it starts freezing here, the soil turns into this and it is like a boobie trap. It crumbles beneath you and you fall into a little ankle twisting hole.  

I made it to snowline and foolishly climbed the top of the mountain in road shoes on the icy snowcovered rocks, but fortunately made it safely.

18 Days of Rain

It rained 18 days in a row here, tying the record for the most number of days in a row. 18 days also happens to be the number of days I have been here since returning to Utah...What do you do when it rains all the time?

1. Make sure you have a team and team training sessions. Misery loves company

                                    My teammates cruising up the mountains. (Courtesy of Rob Whitney)                                     

2. Go into the mountains. The mountains are still awesome even when its rainy. 

Looking down on the shiny sea

3. Bake a lot. Nothing is better than yummy baked goods after a wet and cold training session

Don't mind my dorky pose, but check out that cake!

4. Act fast and be spontaneous for those rare afternoons it's not raining

Even mountain bike up the pass.

Sadzarue and I at the top. I made it with only 4 functional gears too!

5. Catch up on your favorite TV shows...while training. 

Sometimes it's just too miserable to go outside AGAIN. 

6. Stop and take pictures of what we rollerski through, it will make you feel tougher come winter time.

My boots have been wet for weeks and they smell so bad. I am counting the days til I get new ones so I can incinerate them. 

7. Watch a bulldozer destroy your front lawn (or lack their of) and feel better because you aren't the only one who has to be in the rain. 

There were some electrical issues on campus so they had to do immediate construction. I now have 2 closed roads just to get out of the school. 

8. Find your inner chef

We auctioned off a dinner made by the APU Women in the spring and fullfilled our commitment this week. We spent the week finding menus, trying out recipes, and gathering local ingredients. 

9. LAUGH LAUGH LAUGH

We did some tandem biking along the beach.

Looking smooth

Enjoying the beach

Trying to ride in front...

Watching the barge leave and a plane arrive, just as the skies let loose. 

We got fully drenched on the way home, but had a blast anyhow.

10. When the sun does finally return, enjoy every second of it you can. 

Watching the fog give way to the sun on our 4+ hour bike adventure around all of Anchorage, in the SUN!
Thanks Sadie for 90% of my pictures and keeping me company in the rain!

Student

When I first arrived at APU it seemed like a piece of cake, all I have to do is train and rest and watch all the TV shows I missed out on the last 4 years of my life. While training, especially with APU, was in all reality not that easy, my days were far less full than most of my days at Dartmouth. I had to find activities to keep me busy and not let my brain rot.

Alas, I chose more school. However, this time around, it's not quite a big of a commitment, I only take class during fall semester, I only have two of them, and they only meet once a week. The challenge lies in the fact that I have not taken a class since last fall and each fall I become more removed from my Dartmouth days and life as a "real" student. I haven't had to sit still for three hours and actually listen, I haven't had to write anything in the least bit academic, and I haven't had to read anything academic either. In fact, I probably haven't even had that many academic discussions aside from my father and brother talking politics and making fun of my ignorance.

Regardless of the amount of work, school comes around and I panic and feel stressed. How can I possibly study, read, write, get all my training in, and maintain all my body care (and write my totally awesome blog)? I wonder how I ever did all this at Dartmouth and still had time for fun (or least I only remember the fun parts). I long for the productivity I had at Dartmouth. I always managed to get most of my homework done, train, and maintain my 10PM sharp bedtime. As I work through the stress and find that schedule in which I can get it all done, I realize how incredibly awesome my life is. I mean, really, if that is the only stress in my life, I have it pretty good. I'm lucky.

I think I found my productivity today. I went to Physical Therapy, went for an unbelievably muddy bike ride full of moose encounters, did my strength workout, finished my homework, went to class, baked cookies, finished all my homework for the next class, did my laundry, found time to write this blog (albeit a few days late from my promised Sunday blogday), and will be in bed by 10PM sharp. Life as a student is really fabulous and getting my brain ticking again is great. I am very thankful to be able to be a student and skier and live this o so stressful life.

On a totally separate note, it has rained A LOT in Alaska. I still am amazed that it is possible for the sky to drop that much water continuously and will forever believe the West is Best. I am not a huge fan of rain. It's really another reason I am thankful to have school. Motivation is hard when it rains all the time and you haven't seen the sun since you left Park City, but having school to think about at least keeps me from holing up in my room for days on end watching sappy shows on my computer.

This picture doesn't really do it justice. I am really muddy, so muddy I had to hose myself off as well as the bike. And it's still pouring...


Hope everyone's fall is less wet than mine! Happy Fall!

Home Sweet Home

I spent the past two weeks training in Park City. APU chose to head to PC for our August camp rather than do a third glacier camp. We chose this in order to spend more time at higher altitude due to the fact that many important events (including the Olympics) are at altitude. I was beyond ecstatic because the glacier in August is generally terrible due to the weather and I got to go home. What is better than training camp with your mom there to cook for you and your own bed to sleep in.

We did lots of trips up the Canyons. There are a handful of us with injured feet so we took advantage of having the gondola to ride down. I also got to enjoy some great mountain biking due to my uncooperative feet. I have to say, I can't really complain about having to mountain bike in Park City AND my feet are doing much better and I have started running little bits everyday.

Showing Sadie the trails

Post-ride smiles

Taking the gondola down!

Solo ride on the best loop around. Thanks for the awesome Park City jersey Charlie!

It was hot, dry, and very dusty!

 The first week brought all kinds of hot, dry weather with afternoon thunderstorms. That led to a wildfire only 10 miles away. It was quite scary because it happened right in a neighborhood and was moving towards other neighborhoods in the area. We were really lucky because the smoke stayed clear of Park City so we didn't have to change training at all. They were able to get the fire out pretty quickly and only a few homes burned. There were helicopters and giant planes flying overhead all day long carrying water and fire retardant to the fire.

Smoke coming over the mountains. eeek

I also managed to get myself really tired. I haven't been able to train as much as I would have liked most of the summer so I haven't had too many days of pure exhaustion, but I was able to find that place at camp. We were training about the same number of hours as usual, but added in lots of intensity and had the added stress of altitude, something that is hard to quantify in our training. It felt good to be tired as I felt I had done my job, trained hard, but I am not always the best at managing my tiredness. I pushed through only to have a total breakdown during our sprint time trial. So now, I am working on recharging and also confronting all my doubts and fears about my training this summer. The fall is a great time to work on some specific skills so I will be thinking about where I want to head as I transition back to Anchorage. I also start school this week...

It's always hard to leave home. Park City is really dear to my heart and somewhere I hope to return to soon more permanently. For now, I have to get my study on and focus on some specific training. 

Thanks for following. 

EAST COAST LOVE

It had actually been a full year since I had last been in New England which was the longest I have been away since I started college 7 years ago now....(feeling old). Needless to say, I was really excited to not only get a break from AK and training up there, but to see lots of my friends and family. If only I had more time...I have so many friends and family in New England, that I would need at least a month to see everyone.

First Stop: CAPE COD! I had a recovery week and nothing says recovery quite like Cape Living does. I gorged on steamers and lobsters, flipped Patrick and I in the sailboat in the middle of the cut, ate Four Seas ice cream for lunch and dinner, and spent some time with Charlie and my cousin Jen. We also got an opportunity to visit the Ocearch. Ocearch is a giant (former crab) boat that goes around the world catching Great White Sharks for research purposes. It started with a show on Discovery and History that you may have seen, but now is solely working for research purposes. The boat is ironically from Park City and my Dad worked on financing it through US Bank. He is also obsessed with it so if you know him, you have probably heard more about it than you want to know, but if not, here is the website you can check out. Betsy is the most recent Great White caught off of Cape Cod and you can track her on the website to see if it's a good day to go swimming or not...  http://ocearch.org/

This is the small boat they use to actually catch the Shark and tire them out

Then, this lift is lowered on the side of the boat where they then drag the shark on to the lift in order to get samples from the shark and put a GPS on it. 

Here is Dad, super pumped pretending to drive the thing

YEAH PC!

A school of porpoises came by.

I swear they are there.

Loving Four Seas!

 Second Stop: Putney, VT. Patrick is from Putney so we went to his house for a few nights to visit his parents. It was full on blueberry season so we went picking and I had to make a pie!

Third Stop: Stratton, VT. Many of my former Dartmouth teammates now train with Stratton Mountain School T2 Team. Patrick and I headed over there to check things out. It was great to train with my Dartmouth teammates. I miss them a great deal! They are the best training partners I have ever had and was very happy to spend time with them. I also accomplished a 70 minute swim in a pond where I couldn't touch the bottom most of the time. I am a very slow swimmer, but that was quite a feat. I wish I had a picture of it. Pat and I both looked like drowned rats afterward.

Me leading Erika in intervals

Cruising on a distance ski 

Sophie and I hammering out some more intervals

Patrick and Eric heading up

Stop 4: Dartmouth. We stopped by Dartmouth on our way north to visit with our old coaches. It was great to see them and great to reminisce about the good ol days. Hanover is a wonderful town and I am so thankful for the time I got to spend there.

Stop 5: Craftsbury, VT. We finally made it to the Kingdom. I learned how to drive a dump truck so we could do some trail work and pick up some trees. We also had an exciting afternoon of water recreation. We tried out stand up paddle boarding for the first time. I have to say, it wasn't as great as everyone makes it out to be. It's a bit slow for my taste. But I also got to FINALLY jump on a water trampoline which I have been wanting to do since our neighbors at the cape got one many years ago. It also was not as great as I had imagined, but I had fun anyhow. We tested out all the water toys at the kids camp and being the land lovers we are neither Pat nor I were very good at any of them. Nils came to visit which was a huge highlight. Nils has moved on from competitive skiing so I don't get to see him as much. We also went to the community corn roast put on by a local dairy farm. It was quite the seen with live music 100 different types of pasta salad and baked beans, and lots of local color. I found it really neat to see the operation of the dairy farm. Pat's uncle has a small dairy operation on his farm so Pat is quite knowledgable and taught me all kinds of things. There was even a cow that had just been born that day! I failed to take any pics of the farm : (  Lastly, Hannah was racing in some biathlon rollerski races that are quite important as they help her to qualify for the World Cup. We went to volunteer at the races and cheer her on. She WON the first day!!!! and came in 2nd (top american) the 2nd day! So that was spectacular to see. She looked really good out there!

Nailing some targets

Skiing hard

As per usual, I was having too much fun to bother taking pictures, so sorry for the small sampling. It was a busy and fun trip and I am sad it's over!

BUT, next stop is Park City, my actual favorite place!

And I almost forgot... Fasterskier did a feature on me and my hopes of going to the Olympics this winter. Read it here: http://fasterskier.com/article/eyes-on-sochi-brennan-aims-for-olympics-while-training-smart/

Glacier Girls

The second week of Girls Camp or NAWTA (north american training alliance) is done on Eagle glacier. I have blogged so many times about the glacier so I'm sure everyone gets the idea now. We ski a lot and try to learn a lot. As also said many times before, the benefit of having new girls to ski with on the glacier is to learn new technique tricks and push ourselves a little harder. It was truly amazing to have guest star, Norwegian national team member, Astrid Jacobsen on the glacier. Her classic technique is flawless and she was incredibly open telling us many stories of her team and their training which is always fun and fascinating.

This glacier was a little different...we had full time physical therapy support. Zuzana Rogers, who is a local PT with Advanced Physical Therapy (a new team sponsor) that has been working with our team donated her time to follow us on the glacier and work on us 24/7. It was AMAZING! Being injured really sucks and not being able to get help when you need it sucks even more. My injuries were not the slightest issue at this camp and that is all thanks to the work Zuzana did on me everyday. It is incredible the difference it makes to have a qualified person guide you and work on you everyday rather than once a week.

We also had media day. There were about 10 different people from different media outlets that showed up to check it all out. Here are the links of the material I have seen so far:

KTUU (NBC) News: http://www.ktuu.com/videogallery/76815494/Sports/APU-Skiers-Train-on-Eagle-Glacier

Anchorage Daily News: http://www.adn.com/2013/07/26/2993490/elite-cross-country-skiers-train.html


NPR News: http://www.npr.org/2013/08/01/207894104/glacier-helps-u-s-ski-team-drift-ahead-of-competition?sc=tw&cc=share

Thanks to Matt Whitcomb for the high quality photos and all my other teammates and friends who are way better at taking pics than me. Here's a look at the glacier:

Winners of the annual speed realy! 

PT with a view!

The Whole Group

Go Rossignol!

Getting creative with injury care: contrast foot baths

The whole gang

Catching BIG air....

GO APU

The APU ladies

Trying to stay with Astrid during some hard Level 4 Classic intervals

And trying to stay with Liz!

Glacier Clouds

Brunch, a post-interval fave

Astrid

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Astrid made us Norwegian Waffles with brown cheese upon our return to town!!!