Training in Stratton

In tradition with Vermont's deep skiing roots, there are now two elite Nordic club teams in Vermont with our own Craftsbury Green Racing Project in the north and the SMS team in southern VT.  Three hours of driving separates our teams making it not possible to coordinate daily workouts together but the opportunity for shorter training camps is a huge asset.  In July Annie Hart and Annie Pokorny along with former GRP skier and now SMS coach Patty O, came to Craftsbury and trained with us for a few days.  Last week, Liz Guiney, Caitlin Patterson, and I returned the favor and trained in Stratton for a few days.  Creating this larger VT team has been a highlight of my summer.  It was a blast to ski and run on different roads and trails and having a big group of fast women working together created an incredible training environment.  We took turns leading and following, sharing each other's different strengths. And not only fast skiers these girls are great friends so it was very fun to have time to catch up on summer stories and share our passion for our sport and lifestyle.  Thanks for the SMS team for being wonderful hosts!

VT ladies training group!  We did a speed workout with short 10 second sprints and this huge group of girls allowed us to practice skiing fast in a pack

A morning run over Stratton Mountain on the Appalachian Trail

An afternoon classic rollerski with great views.  There are so many more paved roads in that area than in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont so we were feeling very spoiled with all perfect roads for rollerskiing. 

Ooops... this one was a big fail and ended with me on my face in the grass.  Time for more rollerski agility training

Some more lovely VT rollerskiing

On the last day of our trip we took a break from our own training to be Fast and Female ambassadors.  It was a very fun morning of yoga, motivational talks, kick ball (with a slip 'n slide to home!), team building activities and more with about 40 young girls. In line with the rest of our week, this event's theme was teamwork which is easy to convey in such a great group.

Partner yoga

Thanks everyone for making it a blast and leaving me inspired by everyone's energy

Human pyramid

Lots of downward dogs

Holding hands in shavasana

Kick ball and slip n slide! YES!