Beitostolen, Norway

After a full day of traveling, I was greeted in Norway by some pesky little virus, which is to say, every Nordic skier's worst nightmare. So, I was put into isolation with little internet. As a result, I got bored very quickly. I would read until I could feel my eyes shutting, trying my best to adapt to the time change, I wasn't allowing myself to nap. Fortunately, I was still able to get out and ski a little bit. Unfortunately, I had to make the tough decision to sit out the races over the weekend. The good news is that those races weren't World Cups, but some tune up races to prepare for the World Cup. The bad news is that now my first race of the season will be a World Cup sprint, which is not a place to get your feet under you, it is a place to ski perfectly and really quickly. While this was really less than ideal, I learned a good lesson about traveling. You can't expect good things to happen when you are stressed to the max, not sleeping much and then travel for 24hrs and try to adapt to a 10 hour time change. Something had to give. I know now, I cannot handle this and will have to rethink my plans the next time I am trying to fly to Europe.

Out for a morning jog in the crisp, clear air. 

Enjoying a late sunrise. 

The town of Beitostolen is a small resort like town with lots of Nordic trails and a small alpine hill. It is filled with sports shops, hotel and lots of these little cabins. They all have sod roofs and are very cute! There is a big lake nearby so I imagine it is a popular place in the summer as well.  

Lighted ski trails everywhere!

Looking at the mountains off yonder

It was Sadie's 24th birthday and we got her 24 presents that she received throughout the day.

XC skiing is a BIG deal in Norway, the stars of the national team are National  Heros and are found in pictures everywhere. Promoting cereal, sports juice, gloves, you name it. At the check-out in the grocery store, next to the candy lies ski wax and supplies. Most people in the U.S. couldn't even tell you what Swix is, let alone what extra blue hard wax is. 

I did manage to get out and ski. Here Sadie and I pause on the big uphill with the lake in the background. 

Now, we are off to Ruka, Finland, another resort village very close to the Arctic circle. The sun rose about 10AM today and is setting as I write, 2PM. I don't know how the elves in the North Pole can work when its so dark all the time!

Meet Teddy

This is Teddy:

Teddy was given to me by a dear family friend, Kathy Sturgis, when I was born. Teddy must have exuded the passionate and loving characteristics of Kathy because I chose him out of all the stuffed animals and other baby gifts I (WE, I also had to fight over a few with Charlie) received to be my right hand man. Teddy traveled everywhere with me for the first half of my life and loosing Teddy at any given moment was beyond a crisis. As you can tell, he has seen better days and Mom spent a fair bit of time trying to patch him up from time to time. Teddy survived, barely, that traumatic childhood and was sent to the retirement shelf in my bedroom when I finally decided I was too old for a stuffed animal. 

Fast forward to 2013, I find myself reconnecting with Teddy. Last year, I was introduced to all the other girls' stuffed animals when I raced the period 4 World Cups in the spring. At first, I laughed, really a stuffed animal...and then I too got homesick and longed for a comfort reminding me of home, suddenly, I understood. So when I returned to Utah in October, I decided I would grab a stuffed friend to join me. However, all my stuffed animals were a little big and not that cuddly, and then I walked past that special shelf were Teddy has sat for years and knew, I must take Teddy. 

So, tomorrow, Teddy and I embark on a big adventure, flying from Anchorage all the way to Oslo where I will meet the rest of the U.S. Ski Team and we will start the season of racing! I will be traveling to Norway (2x), Finland, Switzerland, and lastly Italy before heading back to Utah for Christmas. I am very thankful for this perfect opportunity to advance myself and attempt to accomplish some big goals. This last week, I have become increasingly overwhelmed with the support I have received from family, friends, classmates, professors, teammates, coaches, and PTs. I am heading out with more people behind me than I ever realized and I can't thank people enough. So, here's to an amazing 2013/14 ski season! 

Whirlwind

I have just 4 short days left in the U.S.! I won't be returning to AK until the end of March for our last races of the year, fortunately I will be going to Utah for Christmas. However, since returning from Utah I have been training hard, studying a lot, teaching a lot, and trying to tie up loose ends in AK while preparing to hit the road. All those little (big) things like calling your credit card company, finding car storage, cleaning out your car, and figuring out phone service seem to just sneak up on me day after day causing a full string of panic attacks, one right after the next. Here is the last few weeks in pictures to let you know what I have been up to:

We did an Anchorage Fast and Female. Here I am teaching a cutie how to double pole on the ski erg.

We had some UAA athletes come and they were great additions. The gymnast were busting out flips and the basketball players were pretty good and making baskets. Here they are doing the Macarena 

We had a fabulous team lunch at Sarah Cresap's house. She has an amazing garden so we ate lots of fresh veggies. 

It was Halloween! and we hosted a Halloween 5k fundraiser for the National Nordic Foundation.

Sadie is the frog and her boyfriend Jo is a Russian Priest and yes, he ran an entire 5k in that fur coat...

Lex ran the whole 5k with this chicken and yes it is alive!
If you are still interested in donating to the National Nordic Foundation, here is the link: https://www.grouprev.com/rosieb
The fundraiser ends the same day I leave, Friday!

Sadie and I, frog and pig. I was actually a pig once before and I am sad to say I don't have the costume making skills my mother does, but fortunately every piece of our uniform is pink this year so that was not a problem. 

The days have been real short up here and a little on the grey side with no snow in town so I have been doing my studying in front of Sunny, our happy light. 

This is high noon! I have been teaching the 2nd grade about soils so I went on a soil sample collecting mission. It was a beautiful day, but the ground was a little frozen making it a little interesting getting some of the samples. But I am excited to say my lesson went so well!

Collecting my clay sample

There is snow at Hatcher's Pass and the local ski club has been grooming it to perfection everyday! I am very thankful for that!

It's about a 1.5 hr drive to get there so it takes up a good chunk of the day, but skiing is so fun!

Being a weirdo, loving the snow

Yesterday when we returned from skiing at Hatcher's, it was 27 degrees and raining, which I didn't even think was possible. It was dismal and the roads were horrific. It continued to rain all night and then magically, it turned to snow while I was sitting at the table doing my homework in front of Sunny. We now have close to a foot in our yard and I will get to ski in town today! Yippppppeeeee Winter is here and I'm on my way to go racing!

National Nordic Foundation

I leave for Europe in just a short two weeks! Paying for the World Cup is no easy task and the National Nordic Foundation helps support Juniors, U23s, and other athletes not supported by the U.S. Ski Team. Their annual fundraiser, Drive for 25, has just two weeks left. They are asking all cross country supporters to give a $25.00 donation because every little bit helps us out! Please consider a donation. Here is the link to my personal Fundraising Page:

https://www.grouprev.com/rosieb

Thanks for all your Support!

P.S. I went skiing today and it was great! More on that later...

Home Again

After catching some deadly disease from the 2nd graders I work with, I was more than ready to come home, both sick and homesick. Needless to say, I spent most of the past week trying to recover so life wasn't very exciting. Fortunately, I more or less recovered by the time camp started here in Park City. There are skiers from all over the nation here for this camp. It makes the logistics challenging for everyone, but we are making do and enjoying the plethora of training partners on any given day.

Awesome Ambassadors

All the girls! I think it was close to 150 in the end!

It was great to have that exhausting afternoon happen before the camp officially started. We got to be full of energy, get some inspiration for the other amazing ambassadors, and hopefully inspire a few girls to stay involved in sport. Then we got right to training.

The mass of skiers starting in SLC on our ski all the way to the top of the canyon. 

Sadie leading the train of girls (I'm third)

Switching to running shoes at the top of the canyon. I have been increasing my running and its been going well! 

 Our Physical Therapist, Zuzana Rogers, came down to help us out this week, on her own time! It is an incredible asset to our training to have her. She allows me to train more than I could ever dream of and also allows me to just live with so much less pain.

We have our magic Physical Therapist Zuzana Rogers here to help us! 

And...because she is so amazing I did my first classic ski in some time and my first time going fast on classic skis all summer this week and I'm still alive so it all went well. 

Here she is being amazing during our hill bounding workout. Thanks Zuzana!

We have seen sun, snow, rain and everything in between, but it's hard to beat those awesome sunny clear fall days!

 It was also Dartmouth Homecoming this weekend and of course I wasn't in Hanover, but it turns out that Dartmouth produces some pretty fast skiers so there are over 15 of us here training right now so we had our own little homecoming get together today!

Go Big Green!

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!