The last 2 weeks in photos (ok, some words too)

The last two weeks have absolutely blown by! I really did mean to update earlier, but I was in full-on Fast and Female planning mode, during a 22-hour training week full of intervals, strength, speeds and long slow distance training. But now things are slowing down again (as much as they ever do!) and I’ve been able to collect a ton of photos from the last two weeks. So, let’s work backwards from yesterday!

Here’s a video that Annie Pokorny edited from the event! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0WlbiJ1qZ4

The Fast and Female event in Stratton was awesome! We had 40 girls attend, with 9 ambassadors, 5 junior-ambassadors, and 5 volunteers running the event.

 

After check-in and some name-games within the smaller age groups, we introduced all the ambassadors to the girls and shared our favorite ski memories.

Then it was time to do yoga! Tracy Black from Wild Wings Yoga volunteered to lead the girls in a fun session that involved partner yoga, lots of giggling and stretching, and learning to relax and breathe at the same time.

We then headed out to the field for some team building games and activities. One station was a game of kickball with a slip n’ slide from 3rd to home base. Getting soaked on the water slide ended up being many of the girls favorite part of the day!

The other team station was a series of games that needed some teamwork and strategizing to complete. The girls needed to get everyone from one side of a giant spiderweb to the other, but each opening could only be used once, so girls were being passed through higher openings and army crawling through lower ones at the same time.

We also made a group pyramid, and played the human knot game where everyone puts their hands in the middle, grabs random hands and then the knotted-up group has to find a way to de-tangle and end up in a big circle.

Once the games were finished, we went inside for snacks generously donated by JJ Hapgood’s General Store (Peru, VT).

 

While the girls munched on some healthy treats, the ambassadors shared stories of how teamwork has changed the way they ski and made sports more fun for them.

Then the girls had the opportunity to ask questions, get their photos taken with the ambassadors and have their event posters signed! It was a fun morning and a cool way to give back to the community.

I was so proud of our junior ambassador girls! They did a great job setting up and then running the stations, and for some of them, getting their first experience public speaking for an event. Booya! They will be running events as regular ambassadors themselves really soon.

I also learned that unless I want to get stress-induced stomach ulcers, I should probably never get a job as an event planner. That said, it was totally worth organizing the event once I saw the girls out there having fun, meeting new friends, interacting with the ambassadors and finding new role models! It was a wonderful day.

The week before I got to Stratton, I spent a beautiful 6 days up in Thunder Bay, Ontario at my family’s camp. It was so great to see my Grandma, Aunt and Uncle and cousins, and spend some time on the edge of Lake Superior. Ok, ok, I spent a lot of time IN Lake Superior as well, but it was freezing cold!

One day we went to the Sibley Penninsula and did an epic hike (or in my case, run) around the “Sleeping Giant” rock formation. It took 3 hours but it was a beautiful fun single track with good rock scrambling and cool views since the trail hugged the shore all the way around.

Every evening was beautiful, with the sun staying up till 10:00pm! We had a lot of dinners on the beach, and every other night we had the steam bath running so we could sprint between the sauna and the lake.

And finally, a couple photos from the ski clinic I did in Winona, MN while I was home! It was great to meet these junior skiers and I was impressed with their roller ski skills!