And so the season has officially begun! We arrived last week to Beitostollen, Norway, had a good week of training and time zone adjusting and on Friday we all strapped on our boards, slid into our onesies and hammered down in the first race of the season. All of us picked 2 of the 3 races to compete in this weekend, as 3 is a lot to bite off all in the first weekend of racing, especially as next weekend's World Cup Opener is a minitour (3 races: Sprint, 5k, 15k). I chose to do the two distance races, both 10k's on Friday and Saturday, one classic and one skate. The classic race on Friday was a good one to start the season off with, get my feet wet again so to speak. The 10k skate on Saturday, however, went much better, however, and I ended up with a porcelain cheese slicer for my 6th place finish! We are now on our way North, to Kuusamo, Finland where we will kick off this season of World Cup racing! Let the whirlwind begin!
We met the Norwegian's at their apartment for some post dinner Bulle, handmade by Astrid Jacobsen! We are so lucky!!! It's really fun to see all of the girls again and to have our two teams getting together outside of skiing, especially within 3 days of being over here!It's really amazing how much more open and friendly I feel that the World Cup circuit is now that our team is mingling with so many others.
Happy Birthday Sadie!!! Sadie turned 24 on Thursday and we all decided we would hide 24 gifts and notes throughout the day for her to find. Here she is with her morning's stash! Sadie's 25th year is off to a great start too, as the very next day she was 5th in the 10k Classic!! WOOHOO!!
Simi scaled the wall of our apartment in bare feet to wish Sadie a Happy Birthday bright and early!
These chairs made me feel especially small!
Here I am after Saturday's 10k Skate with my new porcelain cheese slicer! I am so excited to use this, as there are so many different varieties of brown cheese over here it is ridiculous! We have done an official taste test of 6 of them, as I got Sadie quite a few for her birthday!
Me and Kristin Stormer-Steira after Saturday's race. I can't say enough how fun it is to have friends on the circuit. It really changes the whole game and upgrades it. It's so fun.
Holly and I found a huge canister of Extra Blue!!
Holly took a bunch of these photos of me, so thanks a lot Holly. It's really cool how our team sticks around for one another to watch and cheer at awards, or out on the race course, or after a particularly hard day. It's something a real, true team does, and Holly does it well. She and I actually have a cool photo much like this one from last year after a race in Munio, Finland. Thanks for being you, Holly. And yeah, this is a shoutout:)
Holly in the leaders chair in Gallivare, Sweden last year at this time. Get stoked for one another! Help each other get to that leaders chair and then climb in with them. Someday it will be your turn.
So go build your own team, work to make it better and better. It is a constant effort and we are constantly trying to make sure we are doing all we can to ensure we are the best team we can possibly be. Push each other, learn from each other, help one another grow and become the best people you can all possibly be.
See you in Kuusamo.
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