Jennifer Rodriguez-

The last World Cup before the Olympics is finally complete. It was here in SLC, so no travel home outside of the hour drive back to my house. That’s so nice!
The World Cup went really well for me and the team. I got 3rd in the 1500m and broke a personal record by half a second and set a new American record! I haven’t even been close to my personal since I’ve been back skating. It was a good race and I was really happy. My 1000m went well also except I had a really bad slip in one of the corners which cost me some time, but the overall skating was what I was looking for. Our women’s team pursuit was also able to qualify a spot for the Games! So, I have now officially qualified in 4 distances for Vancouver...500m, 1000m, 1500m and Team Pursuit!
Now I’m on a well deserved rest week. I’ve been so tired the past couple of days. I think I could quite possibly have been the laziest person alive. I just haven’t had the energy. So while I’ve been lazy, I’ve had the chance to write my Christmas cards and send out the last of my Christmas gifts.
Next week (Dec 26th), begins the trails for those who have not qualified for the Games already. This will be their last shot. Luckily for me, I’ve already earned my spots. I will still have to race, but I will be able to use those races as training.
I’ve also recently signed with Shaklee! I’m very excited. I’ve been using their products for about a month now and have really noticed a difference in my recovery and lack of stiffness after hard workouts. It’s nice to go into workouts and not be sore!
So that’s about it for here. My main focus for this week is to get recovered and get ready for next week. That’s when the last big phase of training comes before the Games.
Ciao!

Jennifer Rodriguez-

got back from the World Cup in Calgary a couple of nights ago. I was actually quite happy with how things went there. It seems as though the hard training I did when I got back from Europe paid off!
I skated my fastest times since I’ve come out of retirement and finally have my personal bests in sight! I was able to get 2 top 10 finishes and things are looking like they’re headed in the right direction. YAY!!!
This weekend is the last World Cup before the Games and its here in SLC. Racing begins on Friday with the 500m, Sat. with the 1500m and Sunday will be the 1k and team pursuit. Even though I skated good last weekend, I still need to race fast this weekend to try and secure my spot on the team.
On another note, we had a monster snow storm the other day and when we got home from Calgary it was awesome to find out our pipes had frozen. I think it’s 5 degrees here or something. That’s really cold for PC!!!! It’s not fun coming home after a travel day to frozen pipes and not be able to take a shower. Yuck! Luckily we were able to crank the heat up and thaw things out for the morning.
Also, I’m happy to say I’m done with Christmas shopping. I’m pretty lazy about it though and do all my shopping online. I stress out with big crowds and try to avoid them at all costs. Online in my pjs is a lot more appealing. I do have the Christmas mess in my living room though with all the boxes, wrapping paper and shipping stuff. I love the holidays!
Be safe!!!

Rebecca Sorensen-

From Torino (where I was 20th) to Winterberg, Germany now. Torino was a huge disappointment. I don’t understand how a formula is working one moment and not working the next. I started this season so strong and now I am just left with questions to answers I thought I already had. I hate to whine in this blog, I guess I’m just thinking it out on paper. Maybe every athlete goes thru this...? I feel like I have it all in perspective, and am still trying to have a good time despite my ranking. Although this sport doesn’t define me, it sure makes me feel and face all of my current fears. Maybe that’s why I am continuing to do it....

Jennifer Rodriguez-

Now that I've back home for a couple of weeks, it's time to head to Calgary for another World Cup this weekend. We are actually leaving tonight and have races Friday, Saturday and Sunday.It's been great being back home for a couple of weeks. I've been able to get some good training in. Actually I'm still a bit tired from it, but I have a good feeling that I will bounce back well once I recover. Thanksgiving was nice. Most of the sprint team (the team I train with) spent the holiday together. Everyone brought something to eat and I think I'm still recovering from all the food. Everything was so good. If you can't spend the holiday with your family, the next best thing is with your close friends. I also had the chance to see New Moon!!! I know everyone is on the vampire kick now a days, but I don't care. I thought it was real good! Even Philip (my boyfriend) liked it. He may have been saying that just to make me feel good, but at least he didn't fall asleep during it.We also went to a new restaurant here in Park City called High West Distillery. They've been a distillery for years and have now opened a restaurant. I'm not a big drinker, but the food was delicious!!!! That's one thing I do love...food! They have the place decorated in an old western style. It was cool!That's about it for now. Like I said before, I'm leaving for Calgary today for a World Cup and then we are back to SLC/PC for the last World Cup before the Games. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!!Take care!

Rebecca Sorensen

Getting to Europe was quite the adventure... We drove to Montreal (almost missed the flight because we were late leaving, stopped for gas and Subway and were stopped at the border for group passport check, a delayed 5 person 16 bag check in, got my luggage searched, customs and...). Flew back to the USA-Washington, DC. And again, had Subway, and a sleepless, overnight, coach seat next to an air marshal flight to Munich. After arriving and getting the rental cars, we packed up, paired up and drove to Igls, Austria to have Thanksgiving dinner with our Luge team and tried to get some much needed rest. The next morning I got in a quick run around the village and a short lift before getting in the car for the 7 hour drive to Sestriere, Italy. I took the first day off from sliding to watch and to try to get my mind and body- one- again. I slid the next day and all seemed to be well. The weather has taken a turn from 50 and sunny to 20 and snowing- overnight.Race is on Friday- check in after that!!!

Nicole De Yong-

Whoa, it is nice to finally be on the road! The past week has been a whirlwind in preparation for leaving Sun Valley for the next 2 months! Despite the business of getting all the odds and ends finished before leaving, I was able to put in some final, quality workouts. My third ski of the season was a 13k skate time trial. The lack of snow and the compact trail made it a little difficult to get stability, but I tried to focus on staying smooth and relaxed. Now that I have been on snow a hand-full of times, I am beginning to feel more comfortable with the longer skis and adjusting to the balance.In addition to getting some quality workouts in last week, I enjoyed spending my last couple days with the kid's at the YMCA. It is hard to believe that I won't see them for 2 months! We had fun playing in the bouncy castle and the second grade girls surprised me by hiding the lockers!

I am currently in West Yellowstone with all the other cross-country skiers in the country! We are enjoying the new snow fall and the great skiing. The energy is high and people are anticipating the first races of the season! With the Olympics just 2.5 months away, you can tell people are more fit than ever.Our race schedule looks like this:Wednesday, November 25- Sprint QualifierFriday, November 27- 10k SkateSaturday, November 28- 5k ClassicStayed tuned for updates!

Rebecca Sorensen-

World Cup number 2 is done. Again, had some really great practice runs and ended up 13th for the race. So the good news is that I moved up 5 spots from last week. I know I can do better. It is just a matter of finding my race mo-jo. Another fun part of the weekend included meeting with hundreds of local school children who came to support the racers. We also filmed Stephen Colbert from the Colbert Report. He tried both bobsled and skeleton. I had to ask him which one he liked better and he said skeleton!!! I had no doubt!!! We leave for Europe and races 3-5 the next week. I’m looking forward to the trip and will be trying to move up the ranks a bit. I’m still fighting for qualifying 3 girls for the USA- for the Games. I’ll keep ya posted!