Rebecca Sorensen

Above is a photo from Lake Louise. So beautiful! I really enjoyed my trip to Canada last week. This week’s training was a little hit and miss. On Sunday, the day I traveled home, I met a friend and went for a drive. We ended up finding a great hiking trail and... ending up hiking to the top of this huge mountain. So much for a day off. That meant that my next two days would be a bit off schedule. I had planned the sprinting portion of my Federation’s summer testing criteria to be this week. When the week started, I wasn’t sure if I would be at my best with last week being so hard and the way I was currently feeling. So- I just told myself, one day at a time. On Thursday, a non-regular training partner wanted to join my session and wanted to use the timing eyes for some practice testing. I decided it might be a good idea to run a 15m and see where I was. I ended up being fairly fast and decided to just do my test right there and then. 5 of 8 marks I achieved higher than my goal and the other 3 were withing hundredths, inches and pounds of what I wanted. Looking back, I’m sort-of glad for the interruption in my schedule, you can’t always plan perfect days/weeks, so being able to adapt to different situations and still perform is key. A great confidence boost and lesson learned about how you can still perform when least expected, trust your training and listen to your body and things will usually work out!!!

Chris Cook

Northside Update 6
After a recovery week from the Whistler camp, training has gone into a full blown blitz of intensity. Also with the all the campers for motocross camps and ski camps back in school, I’ve decided it would be a good idea to stack brick… This decision has resulted in a couple of the hardest training weeks of the year to make it to the end. The job has been building a display for a concrete products business, meaning, building a small castle around two sides of the main office building. Pillars, stone walls, raised platforms, cobble floors; this thing has everything except a draw bridge and a moat. It has been a great job, but you add training to the equation and I could barely make it to my bed at night. Here is a snapshot of last week’s training:
Mon: Work 7-5
Tue: AM Intensity, Work 12-5, PM Distance
Wed: Work 7-3, PM Distance
Thu: AM Intensity, Work 12-6, PM Strength
Fri: AM Distance, Work 12-7, PM Off
Sat: AM Intensity, Work 12-5
Sun: AM Distance, PM Off
I have been charging ahead with this type of schedule now for one and a half weeks and I probably have just about another full week of work before this display is finally finished. The only other activity I have managed to sneak in has been some great fall barefooting runs. The weather here in the WI has been the best it’s been all summer, which is real odd but I will take it. Have to get a lot done before I head out to a gnarly intensity camp out in Lake Placid, NY on Oct. 1.
Pin it.

Rebecca Sorenses

Moving out and moving on...This week I will pack my bags and go home for a few days in preparation to go to Lake Placid.A great summer behind, a great goal ahead and just a great time in life.

Training volume is lighter now but still remains at a fairly high intensity. I would like to thank my coach Jon Carlock and all he has done for me this summer. Thanks Jon! He is truly a great trainer, super smart and caring. An athlete can not ask for more than that. Feeling ready and excited makes me think about the future and what it might bring. I find myself getting more lost in those thoughts more often. I have to remind myself to stay in the moment.

Over the last weekend I climbed the pikes peak incline and ran down the 4 mile trail beside it. That was great. I have wanted to climb it since last year. Views were amazing. Then, as if it could get any better, a new friend took me mountain flying. It was great to get up in the air again. I miss flying. We did 3 mountain passes and flew over the sand dunes of southern Colorado.It was a nice escape and a 2 new challenges didn’t hurt either.

Bye for now!!!

Becca

Chris Cook-

Northside Update…
So, I just got back from the soggy pacific northwest, Whistler BC to be exact. I spent the last 12 days there mostly training at the Whistler Olympic Park which will host the Nordic Events for the upcoming Olympics. The camp was fast and furious. No rest days, chucked with intensity, and two a days aplenty. I handled the load quite well and chalked up a 21.5 hour workweek for the books. We got in a classic sprint time trial on the actual sprint course and a 10k uphill skate roller ski time trial, which we ran on the access road up to the venue. I also knocked out some quality speed sessions, a decent mountain bike ride on the comfortably numb trail, and got huge in the gym. Pretty much your standard fall camp schedule. The weather wasn’t all bad either; we got a great stretch of sun for the entire first half of the camp and only had to battle the elements for the last couple of days.
Now it’s back home for a much needed recovery week. In the upcoming weeks the intensity training is really ramping up and will carry right into my next camp scheduled for Oct. 1 over in Lake Placid, NY.

Nicole De Yong-

Whistler Update

Today is the conclusion of our 10-day dry land training camp in Whistler! It has been a tough and intense camp, as expected. We’ve completed two intensity sessions, two time trials, two speed workouts, seven distance workouts and three strength sessions. The first few days we roller skied on the trails at the Olympic Venue, but the venue closed September 1, until the start of the Olympics.

We begin our long drive back to Sun Valley, bright and early tomorrow morning!

Jennifer Rodriguez-

So this has been a very nice and exciting week for me. My man Phil came to visit me the day after I got back from Milwaukee. It was very nice to have him around. I was on an easy week, so we were able to putz around a little and enjoy ourselves. We had some really nice dinners, one at the Sundance resort which was super beautiful. We did the alpine slide, saw Inglourious Basterds, went on some bike rides, checked out Spazmatics and he installed a car stereo for me among other things! I even got him to try out long track speedskating...interesting. :) He’s leaving tomorrow, so I’m kind of bummed. :(

I finally feel like my legs recovered a bit from the hard training and team pursuit camp. I’m now back in the cycle of intense training. We have a couple more weeks until we start our practice races. I’m actually looking forward to it. It will be interesting to see how I compare to last year at this time.

I’m also excited to announce I’m signing with Nike and partnering up with the Lance Armstrong foundation!!! That means a lot to me with the passing of my mom less than 3 months ago. It will be a great opportunity to support cancer survivors and their families. My family has been through so much, I want to do this for my mother’s memory.

The most exciting news of the week is that I became a Aunt yesterday!!!! My brother and his wife gave birth to a healthy little boy, Ethan Emilio Rodriguez! I have never been so happy in my entire life. Since it’s going to be a long while until I can have a kid, this little guy is it for me!!!! I’m going back to Miami for a long weekend to see the little whippersnapper! I can’t wait!!!

This week I’m also going to Chicago for the USOC Media Summit. The Media Summit is held to give all journalists the opportunity to interview and photograph Olympic hopefuls over the period of 2 days. Its good to try and get this stuff out of the way now rather than right before the Games.

Lastly, the short track skaters have their Olympic Trials this week. It should be a very tight and exciting competition. I’m nervous for those guys! They’ve been working so hard all summer and now this is it! I’m keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best. We’ll basically know the team by the end of the week!

Anyway, that’s about it! Until next time...

Signing off...

Rebecca Sorensen-

Another week gone- I can hardly believe it... Time flies when you are having fun! So what is it about these adages, why are they all true, and why does it take 1/4 of your life to figure that out? Just try and disprove one- it’s impossible, I swear. Okay, back to the training blog. I finished my lifting portion of my test and got higher than expected numbers. So I’m pleased to have that done and out of the way for now. I will finish my sprint test once I return from Calgary next week. In the mean time- I have enjoyed watching the US Open, have been disputing a few little items on my credit report and thinking a lot about the future. After receiving a bone scan last week, I learned that my T score is 0.0. Totally normal, but it should be higher. I will have a small blood test to see where my Vit D levels are. The movie Blood Diamond is coming on now and time for some randr, so blog ya in a week! Wishing you a happy and safe Labor Day weekend!!!

*Keep asking yourself who, what, where, why and how....don’t be a thoughtless follower...

Nicole De Yong

Since my last blog update, I traveled to Alaska and back and now I am headed to Whistler for a 10 day camp.

I was in Alaska for two weeks, visiting my family and enjoying some fun Alaskan adventures! Twelve hours after stepping off the plane, I found myself in one of the most beautiful landscapes ever!...on Kesugi Ridge. This ridge is located North of Anchorage in Denali State Park and offers amazing views of Mt. McKinley! While the weather was nice, it wasn't quite clear enough to see the entire mountain.

I spent the rest of the week putting in some good training. I did a majority of my training by myself, but it was good to focus on doing the "right" workouts for me. I did a lot of classic rollerskiing and double-poling, giving my legs a little break to relieve some soreness and fatigue that built up in previous weeks. Hopefully with the right training and the right amount of rest, they will be back to normal soon!

My last few days in Alaska brought me South, to Homer and across Katchemak Bay to Halibut Cove. With a recovery week scheduled, I was able to enjoy some kayaking and hiking.

If you ever find yourself in Alaska, I strongly recommend checking out both of these places! They are beautiful!

I am headed to Whistler tomorrow for a 10 day dry-land camp and looking forward to it! It will be a good opportunity to train with new and different people!

All for now!

Rebecca Sorensen

I have been training very well this last week, and getting even more excited to push and slide- if that is even possible. The summer has gone by super fast but it has been the best summer of my life it seems. I had great training, learned more about myself and life and have had some amazing opportunities present themselves!!! T A few things that are notable from last week are my Grandmother’s 87 Birthday, a plan to have party to celebrate the summer and a new season to come, horseback riding in the Garden of the Gods and a USOC sponsor interview in Denver. I continue to work on equipment and the list is down to just a few items to do. Yeah! Big things are coming in the next few weeks including a push camp in Calgary and running and lifting test...

Jennifer Rodriguez

I am officially pooped!!! Our team pursuit camp in Milwaukee has come to an end and it was not an easy one, especially when I was so tired going into it. So much so I had to take some training’s off to make sure I would be able to get through the camp.

Nevertheless, the camp went very well and I think we were able to learn some good things. This time we worked more on strategies vs. skating with different skaters. So we’ll see what the coaches come up with. They’re supposed to narrow down the group a bit to get closer to to picking the skaters who will be going to the Games in the team pursuit.

So like I’ve already said...I’m worn out! Right now I’m sitting at Elli’s house on the lake watching “Pride and Prejudice.” Its a gloomy, rainy day out. The perfect, lazy movie kind of day. We were hoping to take the pontoon for a spin but it doesn’t look promising. Today I’m heading back home to SLC where I will start my rest week. I’m so looking forward to it! I need it big time. This is a crucial time in our training and this time of the year is always the make or break you time. I’d much rather be on the “make” side then the “break” side, so I need to make sure I’m getting recovered.

Also, my boyfriend is coming to town tomorrow for about 10 days, so that will be very good times! We haven’t seen each other for 6 weeks. Long distance relationships are tough, but we’re making it work.

Tomorrow I’m also shooting a spot for Adecco, so I have to be at the rink rather early. I think it will be used primarily for the web. I’ll know more when I get there.

Anyway, that’s about it.

Hasta luego!