Thursday, July 7, 2011

SummerQuest et al.

I am ecstatic about becoming and In-The-Arena athlete. The Nordic community in the US is so small and I would even go as far as saying we are a big family with the same amount of time fighting, but also having a fun, loving relationship. It was some of these members from my Nordic family that talked so highly of In-The-Arena and how their experience with this unique program has influenced their lives profoundly. I still know former In-The-Arena athletes that are still very much apart of the community projects they started years ago.

I am very excited to be apart of my community project called SummerQuest. This is a program that started 16 years ago at my high school alma mater, Vail Mountain School in Colorado. I was never able to be apart of the program growing up because of my busy summer schedules of ski camps, work, and summer adventure. While my summer schedule hasn’t really gotten any less busy, my ability to time manage has gotten better. My program is one that is unique to our valley because it gives rising 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students the opportunity for educational success and is designed for students whose home, language and socio-economic circumstances may have diminished their affinity for schoolwork. It will be a great experience to be able to see students who want to get ahead in their studies over the summer come to SummerQuest and study, have fun, and study.

In terms of Nordic skiing, my summer of training has been great so far. We just got back from training on snow in Bend, Oregon for 10 days. Being able to ski this time of the year is a great way to kick off the training year and get motivated for the 700+ hours I will be training this year. I will compete in running and biking races all summer to keep my competitive spirit alive and will have plenty of training partners to push the pace all summer long. I hope to keep all my followers engaged though the next months and years. I can’t wait to see what happens!