Puppy pictures, being home, and getting into Alaska

After Bend camp I went straight home and actually got to fully unpack my suitcase since I was home for a full 2 weeks! It was amazing! Seeing my family and getting to reconnect with my friends back from college was really nice. And we GOT A PUPPY! Finally, Quenton Cassidy has arrived (but we call him Cass for short). If you’ve ever read the book “Once A Runner”, you’ll understand why this name is so cool. It’s safe to say that Cass is the cutest thing ever and I’m pretty much obsessed with him, and he’s fit right into the family.

I figured out his life philosophy: “if you can’t eat it or play with it, pee on it and run away”. This has made life pretty entertaining recently. Here’s some pictures of Cass from puppy pile to 9 weeks:

 One of the best parts is that he’s got tons of extra skin he hasn’t grown into yet, and so he kind of flops around and trips over his paws, which are also too big for him.

 Cass is still in teething mode, however, so I have a few bite marks on my legs from when he couldn’t find his favorite chew toy and had to use his second favorite – me! He’s lucky he’s so cute.

I’ve been studying more the last few weeks because I signed up for an online Psychology class at the University of Utah through the USST’s program. While I was home, I took the first of three exams that need to be proctored at a University, so I got to spend an afternoon in Minneapolis. As a rule I generally don’t hang out in the city much because it’s crowded, noisy and just overwhelming in general to someone who’s hometown has less than 3,000 residents. But the people watching was phenomenal, especially in the street market.

My little sister, Mackenzie, finished up school for the year and it was quite impressive to witness the last few days of studying and work for the final exams. It really puts things into perspective; sometimes it stinks to do an interval workout in the freezing rain or 90 degree heat, but it’s easier than going to work at a “real life job” or school! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to downplay the work that goes into training and managing an athletic career, but I HAVE realized that if one complaint about it ever comes out of my mouth, anyone in school or with an office job has the permission to give me a kick in the pants!

This is an older picture from this spring, but I haven’t put it up yet! It’s from a family hike at Willow River park in Wisconsin, just across the border from Minnesota. We always like to hike up to the waterfalls because you can crawl across a ledge behind the falls and see them from the other side!

So after some quality time at home with my family, I packed up all my summer – and winter! – gear, and flew up to Anchorage, Alaska. I’m staying at Kikkan and Jeff’s house, and they are amazing hosts with great training right out the door, good food in the house and fun stories to share. Aino-Kaisa Saarinen came in today, and we’re excited to have her as our European guest for the camp. With multiple Olympic medals and World Championship victories to her name, I’m sure she’ll push us in the training sessions to come! On the 17th of June, the USST/Canadian camps starts and the rest of the crew comes in for a week of dryland training before jumping onboard a helicopter and flying up to Eagle Glacier for a week of eat…ski…sleep…watch gossip girl…repeat.