Seeing as it’s International Day of the Girl (real holiday), I thought today would be a great day to post the details on my annual fundraiser dinner! Chilkoot Café in Stilwater, Minnesota is once again generously hosting the event, which will include an absolutely delicious dinner, fun social time with awesome people from the Midwest, and a slideshow about training, my preparation for Sochi and cool details about the upcoming Olympics and World Cup season.
This fundraiser has been so important to me the past few years, because it fills the gap in funding that pays for my training and travel expenses in-between USST camps and races. But the best part for me is that it’s a chance to get the local ski community and friends together, talk about all things Nordic, and get to see all the people who support me for just being a local girl who is going after a big dream, before I fly off to Europe for the next 5 months.
While I’m on the road, it can seem a little isolated at times since I’m on the other side of the world from my local community and family, but I feel the love from you guys. I really do. Every time I hear about someone getting up at 5am to watch us race, all the cards I’ve gotten, all the emails wishing me and my teammates good luck, they all stack up to an incredible amount of support. And honestly, the best kind of support I can ever receive is the emotional kind – the knowledge that back home, there’s people that believe in me, that really think I can do it, that are 100% behind my team and what we’re out to do. So I want to thank you all for the cheers that I’ve gotten all winter.
Now, where was I? Oh yes….details! The dinner will be at the Chilkoot Café and Cyclery, in Stillwater, MN at 6:00 on November 10th. Call for more information or to reserve your spot by calling the Chilkoot Café at 651-342-0429. I hope to see you there!
Meanwhile, in Park City, the training camp has been off to a great start. Here’s a couple pictures from agility practice, where we had a super fun and challenging obstacle course put together by our coaches. There were multiple 180’s, slalom courses, backwards skiing and crossing of one ski over the other while rolling. And though it’s hard to believe…..no blood!! I didn’t go down! This may be a first 🙂
Round and round we go…(Tom Kelly Photo)
Andy getting his “crazy legs” drill on (Tom Kelly Photo)
Getting our slalom on (Tom Kelly Photo)
We had a fun little girls night up on Guardsman Pass…Sophie brought us bowls of chili and cornbread, and we took some blankets up to watch the sun set!
Chili night! (photo from Kikkan)
I’ll close with this girls team photo – Matt once again came up with a totally inspiring kick off before we head to Europe, and I realized how extremely proud I am to be a part of this team. We’ve got some really big goals and tough races ahead of us, but we’re training as hard as we can day in and day out, as a team, together. I can’t wait to get on the road with this second family of mine, but first we get one last big training push before the season starts. We’re going to make it a good one!
Whitcomb and his “magnificent seven”
