Erin Moening

Today was a huge rest day, our coaches let us sleep in and then gave us a bunch of time before we went skiing. It was nice and light, but I was still feeling a bit sick from yesterday so I cut it a bit short. We all dressed up for our ski and here are some photos from that! U16 girls 2nd year U16 girls Pretty much today was just a major rest day, and we are all pumped for tomorrow! Also here are some pictures and videos from yesterday's race! U16 races at 1 :40 U16 A Final Finish

*Sorry for the delay in update, it was a very busy afternoon and evening  Normally, I wouldn't consider myself a sprinter. But I've seen myself improve a lot in sprinting over the past year, so while normally I don't look forward to sprint races, I was excited that the 2015 Jr. Nationals were starting out with the sprints. Every year, the technique changes, so while last year was classic sprints (I placed 26th) this year was skate. U16 Girls prepping!  Sprint races always start out with a qualifying round. Each athlete goes out one at a time, 15 seconds apart. The top 30 fastest times qualify for the heats, and last year I barely qualified before getting knocked out of the quarter finals. Today's sprint was much harder, and for me, very painful. Truckee is pretty high up, around 8,000 feet, as during training skis, I've mostly been able to ignore the altitude difference. But today, when I went out hard in the beginning of the sprint qualifier, I quickly went i...

This morning after a beautiful morning run, we previewed the sprint course! I tested skis, tried out the downhill turns and made sure I drank a lot of water! Sun Rising Over Donner Lake The course is very short. We skied a bit later than yesterday, and it was a little warmer, but the track upheld well, despite the amount of people on it. The course was still very icy, but the race directors had put a bit of fresh snow on top of the glazed tracks. This easily was pushed away and off to the side, but added a bit of traction on some of the hills. The stadium is the same as the distance races and you go down the first big hill, but instead of turning left, you turn right. Then you do a 'S' turn which today, in training almost all the skiers snowplowed and because the U16 girls go very last tomorrow, I'm curious what kind of condition it will be in. Me and my roommate Olivia walking along the beach! After the sketchy downhill, there is a sharp left turn that turns away...

Contrary to my last post promising to put my state post up as soon as possible, I waited a little bit because I didn't really know what to make of my state races.  We got there the day before state because there were some of our teammates in the relay races. It was pretty chilly, and windy,  but sunny so it was tolerable. Besides cheering for our teammates, we skied the courses and then relaxed. We went back to our hotel and had a pretty laid back evening. Because of the cold, the races got pushed back, and we went out two at a time. Anna French and I started together! I let her lead the first kilometers but my skis were so fast that I got super good glide on the downhills and got ahead!  The group following me I raced pretty hard,  but with no one around me, I don't know how I would have done if I had been with someone. I wish I had placed higher, but my classic race made up for it. The past 2 years I had placed higher than expected for skate and then always gotten ...

Lots of racing this weekend, in fact, I had 4 races in 3 days. And I had my best race on the last day! Kind of funny, huh?! Best Overall JNQ results yet!!! Conference was a blast, and the temperatures definitely prepared me for this weekend. On Friday it was around 30-40 and Saturday was even higher than that! My teammates raced well, and we ended up winning the Championship!!!  It was our first year in our new conference and it was so much fun being able to start out with that! Our Photoshoot Conference Champions! Pep-talking The Team!! I raced well, and was happy how I did. Elm Creek is such a fast course, quick tempo (which is my favorite!) works really well on the course. I swear this was the only time I wasn't smiling! Saturday.... was a whole different ball game. I love mass starts. And I love classic skiing. The funny thing is, I have a hard time with both of them. My classic skiing has defiantly improved, especially with all the hard work I...

Winter Break has been super busy. We spent a lot of time skiing at Hyland Bloomington. Right after Christmas we went up to the Birkie trail and they got a lot of fresh snow. When we woke up there were 5 fresh inches on the ground, approximately 4.5 more inches we had at home. It was Ben, my dad and I and we ended up doing some old fashion skiing, trekking through the woods, making our own path. It was a nice change of pace, and we even got into the local newspaper! Front Page of the Hayward newspaper! After we came home, we suffered a cold break and kept up our skiing. Then the last weekend, I had one of my biggest races of the season...... Senior Nationals! It was pretty cold, and the sprint race got delayed, so I couldn't race in it, but I had a good skate 10k that was a lot of fun despite the cold, wind and blowing snow! In the wind, snow, and cold The course was an unique one. There was a  flat that lead into a downhill run right at the start. This was the only flat ...

We really got lucky with the snow early this year. We got to ski on the first day of practice for the first time ever in my high school career.  Now we are hitting December, we have no snow in the sky,  and it is warming up. Want to see Saint Paul's forecast for the weekend? This week I finally got to do my first high school race of the season, and I had so much fun. We went to Wirth, which only has a 1k loop, but we did a relay race, and I did it with my old friend, Mimi. Here is a picture of us from 4 years ago, when I was a 7th grader and she was a freshman. Me and Mimi! Not much going on besides this weekend, if the snow doesn't melt, my dad and I are competing in a race up at Elm Creek...... watch out for the Moening Mafia! Oh and next weekend is Maplelag! Some awesome team bounding on the way! Now lets just hope that they get snow! Not much snow for Maplelag..... ;( Cousin Party! Sarah and I Libby and I make the most out of the snow melting, tough ...