Back in America

I arrived back in America on Monday from my 1.5 month World Cup trip over to Europe. I had a great time and an invaluable experience. I met some pretty remarkable people and learned some things that I will take into consideration for next year's training plan.

Currently I am in Vermont racing our final races of the year and am hoping to grab another spot on the World Cup Tour this coming fall. If I race well enough I should be able to hold onto this spot.

Below are some pictures from the trip. One of the coolest things while I was there is one of my teammates, Kikkan Randall, won the first women's World Cup Sprint Globe. Huge deal! Huge!

The Big Show. Real Big.

Hey y'all-

Quite a time I've had since our training camp in Davos. I was hoping to get some good training in for the time we were there, but sometimes the body has its way and you have to do everything you can to get it ready for the next race without over doing it. Part of the game.

We headed to Lahti, Finland for a classic sprint and 30k pursuit race. The 30k race wasn't exactly what I wanted it to be, but I wasn't too surprised considering my week leading into it wasn't filled with solid healthy training. Davos is one place to get healthy though. Whoa! I actually felt really good in the classic sprint, not that it is a specialty of mine, but it felt really good to get a good, hard go in. I was 5 seconds out of qualifying, which is about the time margin I have been out in every sprint prelim this year. I am trying to narrow that as a goal.

Some pictures from Lahti:

* And yes, Lahti's ski stadium is a giant soccer stadium as well

We are now in Oslo, Norway awaiting one of the biggest races of the year. The 50km Holmenkollen. I am getting a little bit ahead of myself though. Yesterday was really amazing! There was a city sprint in Drammen, Norway and it was quite the spectacle. I was lucky enough to have my brother come and watch the race. After ceasing to qualify, we both watched as North America dominated the race and recent friend, Kikkan Randall, won the Overall Sprint World Cup.

It is truly awesome being apart of the scene over here. Meeting a ton of people that I used to have posters up on my wall of. Olympic Gold medalists, World Cup winners, and young people achieving PR's all over the place.

A shot Kjell took of me warming up for the sprint in Drammen:

This weekend we are racing at the venue where World Championships were last year in Oslo, Norway! The 50km Holmenkollen is a race I have always heard about but never thought I would have a chance to race and on Saturday I will be competing in it. Pretty happy to say the least.

I'll put up some pictures after Saturday's race. Hopefully there will be some good ones!

Lastly I had a good chance to catch up with my 4th grade class in Vail at Red Sandstone. Good to see them and see how things were going.

Davos. Not Exactly Roughing It.

We arrived in Davos, Switzerland just the other day after our Poland World Cup races. Poland was a great racing experience for me because my body felt like it was back into the groove of things. My results wouldn't tell you that but thats because there is more to a race than just the way your body feels. I'd probably win a lot if that was the case. You have to work with what you have: skis, fitness, and ability to adapt. Unfortunately, I never had all them in sync, but I am excited to get them all going here in the next couple of weeks.

Below are some shots from Poland:

Szlarska Poreba, Poland

Phil Widmer, Simi Hamilton, and I on our quest to find coffee

Our wax cabins

The longshot

We found waffles and coffee instead

Some interesting food translations in Poland

This is Chuck. He's here to protect your money.

Our GPS telling me that we weren't actually on a road. Clearly we were.

So now we are in Davos and it is as beautiful as everyone has said it is. I want to ski everything everywhere, nordic and alpine. It looks so awesome! Unfortunately, I have been in my bed mostly after getting sick the day we left Poland. Hoping to get better so I can get some training in and get some better results in the World Cups to come. Thanks to ITA for all of the support they have shown me this year. Without them this dream honestly could not have been possible! Thank you! 

Some more pics of Davos!

View from brekky

Afternoon porch time

Newell catching some rays

Davos

My get healthy fast routine

Sun heals as well!

Eastern Block World Cups Begin!

After having a great time in Russia. I good, cold, time...we headed back to Ramsau, Austria for some training. I had to rehab my legs and my toes a little bit after the cold weather in Russia. I went to a physiotherapist who worked on my legs for awhile, which was an immense help. I had to keep my toes constantly moving to help them stay warm. I have had trouble keeping my toes warm in any weather since I frost nipped them in middle school alpine racing.

We left for the Czech Republic on Thursday and got to check out the race venue today. It had to be the best venue I have been to yet. A great amount of space for waxing and for athletes to keep their stuff, warm up and change. Right across from the our room is a huge area where there is food anytime the athletes want. Super sweet!

We race tomorrow and then on Sunday. Actually not sure if I race on Sunday yet. It will depend on how I ski tomorrow. The race on Sunday will be a 4 x 10km relay for the US men. pretty excited to be out there no matter whether I am watching or participating. Anyway below are some shots from the trip so far. It has been amazing.

Austria: Using a air warming ventilator to keep air going through the lungs nice, warm, and healthy...

Me, Newell, and Whitcomb heading back from the venue today in Nove Mesto

The first time being on the "WC Start List" in Moscow

Ramsau, Austria: SO BEAUTIFUL!

Running this AM with Newell, Tad Elliott, and Simi Hamiton (not entirely sure what Simi is doing)

Our shuttle service to and from the race venue in Nove Mesto, Czech

Kids race today outside our hotel. One kid packed it so hard and lied there with his face down in snow for about 1 minute before he got up

Swedish Team travel vehicles. They have their own "wax trailer" that happens to be the size of a double-wide

Norwegians "wax trailer"

Ramsau, Austria and onto Moscow

I just arrived in Ramsau, Austria with my SSCV Team HomeGrown teammate Tad Elliott. Besides skiing on some amazing trails I have been trying to acclimate and get rid of some jetlag. Not too bad this time around to Europe though! Starting to sleep much better.

Tomorrow I am leaving to my first World Cup race which is in Moscow, Russia. It is a city sprint that will be held in Luzhniki Stadium. It was built for the 1980 Olympic games and the arena we are racing in holds 76,000 people. It most recently hosted the UEFA Champions League Final in 2008.

There are some pictures below of the prep for the race:

Pretty amazing to me that the first one will be in such a cool place. Excited to share pictures from the event here soon after.

Hope you all are doing great! I am!

S

First World Cups

Just got back to beautiful Colorado after a 2 week stint out in the North East Kingdom at US Nationals in Rumford, Maine. Rumford is my old home course when I went to Bates College so it was nice being able to go back and ski the courses there. Plus I got to see all of my coaches and former teammates since most of them are still involved in the ski world.

Here are Bates Skiing graduating classes of '07 - '09:

So US Nationals for me was my most successful Nationals ever. While I did get sick the second half of the races, I still had enough "race" in me to qualify for my first WORLD CUPS! I am super excited to head to the big show. Below are some shots from the races. In all the shots I am wearing the Overall SuperTour leader bib and a neon yellow hat. Makes for easy picking out!

Photo credit to flyingpointroad.com

Me and National Champ (teammate) Tad Elliott

Photo credit to flyingpointroad.com

Tad and I on the podium in the 25k freestyle

Photo credit to flyingpointroad.com

So I am heading to the Midwest now for awhile next week and then heading straight to Austria to train, Moscow to race, Rybinsk to race, Austria to train, Czech to race, and finishing off in Poland.

Can't tell you how excited I am. Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/sylvanellefson for immediate updates.

Thats all for now!

S

US Nationals

Currently I am sitting in the Portland JetPort ready to go to Burlington to then go to Craftsbury, VT to get some snow skiing in before I head to US Nationals this Friday. It is amazing how short of snow our country is right now.

I am very excited to get some more skiing in after spending the holidays in Jackson Hole, WY. Surprisingly, the snow there was equally as dismal as Colorado's snow as well. However, it was very nice to see my family and get some skiing in, now my 8th venue this winter so far.

US Natonals will be held in Rumford, ME this year, my old stomping grounds when I went to Bates College. it will be nice to see some people I haven't in a while and reconnect with friends.

We start up racing tomorrow. Here is our schedule:

Jan. 2: Skate Sprint
Jan. 4: 15km Skate
Jan. 5: 30km Classic (Mass start)
Jan. 6: Classic Sprint

I'll be giving updates all week on:
www.twitter.com/sylvanellefson

Here are some pictures from my past two weeks.

Me and my brother Kjell.

Kjell Nordic Skiing for his 3rd time ever...