Hayward Camp!

Here is some write ups from my first camp this year! I loved it and want to thank all of the coaches and parents that made it possible!

Endurance Untied/Sisu Juniors

June 27, 2014

Today we got to Hayward around 3:00 and went skiing a little after that. There is a big difference between last year's camp and this year because almost all the girls graduated. In fact including me there are only 3 returning girls. The nice thing about this year is the girls are closer to my age and we really have fun together! 

3/6 of my roommates!

So to get back on track, we skate skied and did a little technique for about an hour and 45 minutes until it started to rain. We headed back a little earlier, but we were able to watch our technique videos before the wonderful dinner our host, a mom of one of our skiers, prepares for us. The younger girls then went back to my teammate Val's cabin. We then did some strength when the older girls arrived, and relaxed in the beautiful wooden cabin on the lake. 

June 29, 2014

While we didn't get to put in the miles and intensity we did last year, I really enjoyed this years Hayward camp. Yesterday (Saturday), we got up and went classic skiing on the trails next to Val's cabin. I was fine double poling and could do okay with double pole kicking but striding was tough because I had a sore spot from a blister on the back of the heel. I actually skied back with two of the girls my age, Naomi and Val. 

Playing cards!

That's one of the awesome parts of this camp. The past couple years I've been skiing with kids a couple years older than me, but it just makes it so much fun when my teammates are closer to my age! Yesterday afternoon was very hot. In fact one of my coaches said there was a heat index of 114°. Thank goodness there was a breeze. We were just out doing an easy skate ski but most of the 7 girls got overheated so we had to turn back a little early and jump in the lake. The humidity didn't help us cool off last night, as we had a whole team pasta dinner. Once the guys left, we made cookies, ate 7-layered bars, made chocolate dipped strawberries, and told funny stories and ghost stories.

Baking cookies!

It got even scarier as it got dark out and it started pouring and there was huge flashes of lightning! We also accidentally left some windows open and a bunch of mosquitoes got in. We had to kill a bunch of them, before we could go to bed later than we wanted, and between the lightning, ghost stories, and curtain-less windows, it was pretty hard to fall asleep. 

This morning was beautiful with the sun rising over the lake. We packed up and cleaned up the place. As I was getting my classic skis ready for skiing at OO (I was super excited because we were going to ski up OO which is this huge hill. We were then going to ski around the area which is very pretty.) As I was walking down the wet patio stairs in my ski boots, I slipped and fell all the way down the wet wood stairs. My whole forearm on my left arm was scraped up and I had done something to the upper part of my back/shoulder. Hoping that it would warm and loosen up, I took some Advil and skied up to OO with my teammates. They let me lead, thankfully because I ended up skiing up it with one arm. It hurt to put any weight on it, but my blister had almost healed so I didn't have to worry about that. 

Sisu Junior Racing Team relaxing after dinner

I ended up switching to skate skis and no poling, and by the end of the ski I was able to swing it a little with it just being sore. I really hope it's a quick heal so I can keep my training on top notch until my next camp, the U16 National camp at the end of July!