Only one week left until World Champs starts!!! And guess what? The Superbowl’s over, but that doesn’t mean your fantasy team life has to end. Hoffman created a World Championships 2015 fantasy league, where you can pick your team and there are prizes (and pride points) given out. Check it out! Tons of people have already entered their teams, and the contest closes for entries at 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Wednesday, February 18th. The link below takes you the information and sign-up page. I think that it’s super fun that Noah made this league, so hopefully you’ll have fun watching your team perform at Worlds!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/14EdrrOjDzeUP3cwQYGak5th0j1hvLM53QxNkFH6i_v8/viewform?c=0&w=1 

Andy, Me, Sophie and Simi pretty psyched for our SMS teammates at World Juniors/U23s

Andy, Me, Sophie and Simi pretty psyched for our SMS teammates at World Juniors/U23s

Today is the classic sprint here in Östersund, and it’s going to be unlike any other classic sprint. The course goes right up through the stands, so lucky fans on the sides of the course will see the racers fly by right next to them! The hills are wicked steep to prevent people from double poling the entire thing, and I suspect there will be a lot of herringbone going on which will make spectating quite exciting since the course is only wide enough to fit two people across on the trail. I’m excited to cheer on my teammates! While I’d love to be sprinting, since classic sprinting isn’t really my wheelhouse we decided I’d put all my energy into the 10km skate race tomorrow and prepare for that since that’s one of the races I’m focusing on for Worlds.

Our snowy drive out of Davos, to Munich, where we took a flight to Östersund

Our snowy drive out of Davos, to Munich, where we took a flight to Östersund

When we first got to Östersund, it had just poured rain and everything was super icy and a little sketchy, but the course organizers have done a great job getting more snow on the trails, preserving the race course and making it safe to get around the stadium. 

Ida taking careful steps over the ice into the stadium!

Ida taking careful steps over the ice into the stadium!

Our first day here we didn’t have our cargo van yet (the techs were driving it all the way from Davos!) so we did the good ‘ol parking lot scrape. It’s good to keep it low key sometimes!

The crew doing a little trailside scraping and waxing on our first day.

The crew doing a little trailside scraping and waxing on our first day.

Erik and Rosie showing off their "bench-less scraping skills"

Erik and Rosie showing off their “bench-less scraping skills”

After being at altitude, it feels so good to be back down to sea level! We had a good few days of training here before the rest of the World Cup showed up, and it was fun to ski some totally new trails. The course has a lot of twists and turns, with a lot of ups and downs instead of one or two sustained climbs, which I really like because it keeps it fun and exciting every second of the race!

I think the way the course goes up through the stands is SO COOL!

I think the way the course goes up through the stands is SO COOL!

Oh my gosh! I get to go skiing! (photo from Sadie)

Oh my gosh! I get to go skiing! (photo from Sadie)

And the view isn’t bad, either….the stadium is right on the edge of town and overlooks the water.

Not a bad view from the wax cabins overlooking town!

Not a bad view from the wax cabins overlooking town!

We have such a big team here now, and we get even more people once we get to Falun! This week we got Kyle Bratrud, Dakota Blackhorse Von-Jess, Matt Gelso and Noah Hoffman! Noah has made an amazing recovery after his broken leg in Kussamo, and I am so proud of him for working so hard to get right back onto the World Cup and never giving up.

Sadie, Hoff and me excited to be all together again! (photo from Sadie)

Sadie, Hoff and me excited to be all together again! (photo from Sadie)

Of course, you’re probably wondering about the title of this post. We are still chipping away at that music video, and I was thrilled to be the “official dance choreographer” which also makes me the dance teacher for the week. It was so fun seeing everyone learn it and get pumped about filming! The hallway dance practices before training were a great start to the day as well.

Me, taking a photo of Hoff taking a photo of me for his blog.

Me, taking a photo of Hoff taking a photo of me for his blog.

It was also great to have a chance to see the town and walk around it a bit!

Rosie and Sadie on our sunset jog before strength!

Rosie and Sadie on our sunset jog before strength!

We are close enough to run or walk to the venue, although Sophie and I quickly learned that we should never enter in an Orienteering competition. We got a little bit lost but eventually found our way back to the hotel!

Sophie practicing her orienteering skills

Sophie practicing her orienteering skills

 

Leave a Reply