Sponsors and Supporters Helping me to achieve my Dreams!

THANK YOU TO MY FOLLOWING SPONSORS:

Alberta World Cup Society for their scholarship to the Academy
Salomon Skis, boots, bindings and clothing
Silvertip Resort: Ross Jansen and Jim Little
Icebreaker Merino wool clothing
Swix Poles
Mitchell Cohen of Daniels Corp
El Natura Lista Shoes

Also a Special thank you the following People:
Steve Gosling
Janice Peters
Philip Gosling
Maxine and Frank Schmidt
Mike Cavaliere
Phil Villneuve
Chris Jeffries
Jan Derpak

HOW WE GOT TO SCANDINAVIA!!

Thank you to the Following People for their Generous Financial Donation to help Sara and me go to Scandinavia:

Carignan Mechanical: Rene Carignan
Jamie Coatsworth
Dieter Kromm
Angus Cockney
John Easton
Wes Hewitt
Janet and Ed Lightner from the Boundary Bay Brewery in Bellingham, Washington
Sian and Angus Leyshon-Doughty

Thank you to the following People, Companies and Stores who generously gave us items for our Silent Auction and Raffle Fundraiser:
The Bicycle Café, Canmore: Jay
Lush, Banff: Jenn Nicholls
Unlimited, Canmore: Dave Carlson
Icebreaker Merino Wool: Louis Julien-Roy
Salomon Sports: Phil Villneuve
Trail Sports, Canmore: John Gallagher
Vallhalla Pure, Canmore: Jamie
O’Canada Soap Company, Canmore
Canmore Eagles, Canmore: Marshall Kennedy
Monod Sports, Banff: Philip Monod
Lululemon, Banff: Michelle Oszust
Fast Trax, Edmonton: Jack Cook
Canmore Nordic Centre: Magi Scallion
Life Sport, Calgary: Norm Person
Alpine Helicopters Ltd, Canmore
Rocky Mountain Ski Lodge:
Chandra Crawford for all the sweet autographed swag
Ultimate Ski and Ride, Banff

Thank you the to the following People who have provided their time to helping us with our fundraising efforts to get to Scandinavia

Ken and Raylene Hewitt for helping us with organizing all of our events and making sure we executed them properly!
Pate Newman and Thompson D’Hont for helping us set up our Silent Auction
Greg Thompson from Canmore Nordic for helping us with our Silent Auction at the Western Canadian Championships
Mike Carleton of Rocky Mountain Racers for helping us with our Raffle

Silvertip Resort for their constant support of my racing and providing me employment to help fund my dreams!


As you can see there are a lot of people that made this trip happen. Words cannot express how amazing it was to receive such an overwhelming amount of support!

26km until the season is over...

Brooke, Erik and Sara Crust sking on our first day

Brooke in the Sprint Qualifier

As I mentioned in my last post, our final stop on our Scandinavia Tour (Sweden and Finland) was a place called Bruksvallarna. Situated in a mountain valley we lived in a nordic ski dream world. Perfect trails were 10 meters from our door step, the food was amazing, the company was enjoyable, the sun kept the temperatures around 5 degrees and the smile from my face never left. This definetly capped off a great year.

We raced a skate sprint and a 26km skate mass start on the friday and Saturday at the end of our stay. The sprint went well and I felt like my legs were recovering really well, which made it very easy to be excited to race the next day. I moved through my quarter final easily, but got knocked out in the semi-final in a three-way sprint finish. I do have to mention that this sprint race was made up of mostly distance athletes which I think made it more competitive for me. I felt like I put it all on the line for the first time in a while and that was such a great feeling, I entered the 'B' final knowing that all I could do was push as hard as I could from the gun. The course was really soupy by the end of the day and I used this to my advantage as I do tend to ski well in powder or adverse conditions, so I put the hammer down from the start and crossed the line winning the 'B' final. I was very happy with this result! Sara had some bad luck in her qualifier and got caught up in the slush, but faught hard in her quarterfinal which actually had the winner of the day in it.

The race I was most excited for was the 26km skate race up the mountain. This was hands down the hardest race I have ever done. I found that I was constantly having to keep my mind focused and fighting the whole way. Half way up the ski hill the pack started to break up and I remember telling myself that I had a choice to either try to go with the leaders and learn the speed or to remain where I was and settle for the same result in the middle of the pack I have become so accustomed to. So I decided to just try to close the gap and found that I could easily ski with the leaders. I had a moment of intimidation at the top of the climb when two of the girls went for the sprint preem and I just wasn't aware enough to cover there sprint- I think I was still in shock that I was with the leaders in an international race and feeling really good! Their gap gradually widened to one minute by the end of the race and I skiied the last 10km by myself which I don't particularly like doing, but I used it as a chance to force myself to keep fighting.

I crossed the line in 4th knowing that I couldn't have skiied any harder. This is exactly what I went to Sweden to do and it was such a nice way to end the season.

Podium in Bruks, I'm the one with the huge grin...I was pretty happy!

I am learning more and more that you have to be so gutsy if you want to win, but with that you also have to be pretty calculated and know where to push and where to recover.

Sara had one of her best races (despite what she may think) as I think she faught through the fatigue of a long season which is what you need to learn to do if you want to eventually win!

It was an amazing trip and a I am so thankful for the opportunity to have had the chance to travel and race in Sweden and Finland.

Brooke and Sara...with our helmuts ready for the skier cross, that I didn't do because I was too scared.

There is still snow in Canmore, but I think I might give it a few more days until I get back skiing...I am still actually anxious to train, but I know that I need to recover a bit before I head back into training full time.

For now its back to work and finding some sponsors for the final 9months of my skiing carrear!

ciao,

Brooke

Scandinavia Race Update

My apologies for taking so long to post an update.

The last few weeks have been an experience to say the least. I have raced in Europe before, but I have not stayed for longer then 10 days. In addition, I didn't know what to expect coming here after the racing season had concluded in Canada.

When I stepped off the plane in Stockholm I immediatly was excited to see the city so after an hour run on the ski trails by the airport/ across from my hotel I took the train into Stockholm. I immediately fell in love with this city, and definetly plan to go back either for school or work in the near future, there is something about the buildings, the proximity to sking, the nightlife and the confrences (there is currently an architecture confrence on in Stockholm). I loved the combination of cobble stone with the river with lots of shopping. There is nothing you can't do there!

The following day I had some intensity planned, but due to lack of snow I would have to run. I decided that it would be fine to run for an hour and a half. When your excited, any practical thought seems to fade. This is what happened in my case! The run was amazing! I ran in a t.shirt through the countryside that surrounded stockholm. Here there were some old churches and a bike path that continued along the road. I got back and my legs were pretty much screaming at me and I knew that it may have been a bit ambitious of me to run for so long and do 15min of tempo....

That all said, I went back to the airport and met the rest of the team. We drove to Gavle which is about 1.5hrs from Stockholm and waited for Sara. I may have took too many melatonin pills and advils to try to stop my legs from hurting and I was pretty loopy when Sara arrived. I also managed to sleep almost the entire 8 hr van ride to Pitea and then also fall asleep that night- so much for jet leg.

The races in Pitea were a learning experience. I don't think I had trained enough during the two weeks between Nationals and our trip as I just couldn't digest the pain. In the 3.3k prologue it seemed I had forgot how to race and fight through the course, this was confirmed when Charlotte Kalla went zooming by me, I had wanted so badly to go with her as she started 30sec behind me, but I couldn't wrap my head around what I was doing. The classic race was much better, but I just couldn't convince myself to fight- it was very odd!

We left Pitea and headed for Finland. We raced in Tornio, Pello and Yllas. All of which lie on the Tornio River just north of the Arctic Circle. VERY cool. Sara and I did much better here, it would seem that our jet leg was wearing off! The only downside was that it was so grey the entire time and our hopes for a spring skiing holiday didn't really come true! I managed to race to my best points races for the year in both the skate races. I was 5th in Tornio and 6th in Pello. Both races I found like I was pushing as hard as I could but I was making some technical errors on the corners and downhills that definetly cost me time. Yllas was one of those days that I just wasn't prepared for. I didn't really warm up or test skiis, I had no idea where the course was and my head was somewhere else. Sara on the other hand I think has figured out here classic skiing as this was one of her better races this year! The biggest thing I have learned here is that you have to bring your 'A' game to every race no matter what or you will lose places very quickly. Everyone here is fast and going for it. I find sometimes in Canada you can be lazy and still come away with a good placing, but here you have to fight for inches and seconds. This actually makes the course way more fun!

We are now in Bruksvallarna in Sweden. It is like a dream world here. I didn't know you could crust ski in the mountains, and I didn't know that so many people ski here. There are cabins all over the trails where you can go get some waffles or a beer. It is so tempting to ski for the whole day and have a beer on the patio at our hotel...but we have races on Saturday and there will be plenty of time for socializing then!

The course for Saturday is INTENSE! it will most likely be warm and slushy, and it climbs up the alpine hill for 3km...I'm actuall okay with that. The part I am a little apprehensive about is the descending!

All in all its been such a great experience!

ciao

brooke

When Secret Training is the only option!

Canmore is spectacular at the moment. Today it was about 5 degrees with freshly groomed trail. Now I should have enjoyed this ski EXCEPT, I had my head down hammering trying to keep up with my coach...my heart rate was about 180 most of the time and sentences were spurtetd out in one breath. Today I got "coached".

Now I have to go do some secret training because my ego is bruised...I will NEVER let this happen again!!

hahahaha, have a great day!

Brooke

Quick Nationals Post

This will be a quick post. I am at work and have a stack of paperwork, emails and messages to return. It seems that when I'm here I am more efficient then I think- when I'm not it is a big pile of administration, my heartrate always is super high the day back after a few days off of work- the red light flashing on my phone indicating messages is a big awful jolt of reality. I prefer my bubble on the ski trails!

That all said, I'm still at work, rambling and jittery from coffee- not a great state to be in if efficiency is the name of the game.

So I will write more later, but the good news is that I finally found out what it feels like to win. I always new it was supposed to be amazing, but very few things compare to skiing into first on your home course in front of your mom, the coaches who taught you to ski, coaches who just want you to perform to your potential that they always saw, teammates who pushed you so hard in the summer that limits are no longer part of your volcabulary and then at last being the one to throw your hands in the air at the finish line.

I won the National Championships aggregate this week after two golds, a silver and a 7th place.

Some may say they were tired from travel, or that they were sick or didn't have the best preparation for Nationals or that its a joke. I definetly let those comments take away from my wins. However nothing can really compare to getting high fives from friends, tearful hugs from your mom, a hug from your coach, bombarded by congrats from the coaches who taught you ski (along with the cookies that were so coveted on the bus to and from training in highschool), wax techs who worked so hard and dealt with my aloofness (to say the least) but were so happy to see good results, younger athletes who look up to you, hugs from far away friends via friends at the site, emails and cheers from people you didn't know, but now are a part of your network of support, grandparents who just are so happy to hear a giddy voice on the other end of the phone, the hugs from those who have seen you so crushed from "not making it" to witnessing the polar opposite and most of all, for once I didn't have a doubt that I was the fastest on that day!

I still don't know what I did differently. I think I was just happy to race and figured out how to manage my nerves- I'm not saying I wasn't nervous because I almost puked before every start, but I realized that the nerves meant I was ready. I didn't give energy away to others and above all I demanded more of myself, I was just so done with being dissapointed!

So yeah, pretty amazing week.

I should get back to work...

next up: Sharkfest and the Scandinavian Tour...still training, but today I think I will just go hang out in a hot tub with a stella!

ciao!

xob

Western Canadian Championships

Wow, we had amazing weather for the weekend!

After the World Cup and Rossland races I was pretty confused and upset and this added to the water I was throwing on my fire for racing! Not good at all!

So after a week of sleeping and basically walking around like a zombie I snapped back into reality and gave myself a quick kick in the ass! Life is too short to be bummed about something that I can't change!

So after some deliberation I decided that the best thing to do was to stay in Canmore and get fitter and work on my weaknesses. I wasn' t in the head space or physically prepared to go to Europe, so along with some of the other girls on the team we decided to "get faster".

Its been a good month, I feel like I am learning something everyday in technique and what works for me and my body is absorbing the training. Its also been awesome to bomb around with my teammates and just know that everyday I am improving. It definetly isn't world cup, world champs or OPA tour, but this is what I had to do. Its kind of like working your way up the corporate ladder- you have to pay your dues with a smile and enthusiasm, even if it means bringing the boss their venti, 1/2 foam, vanilla, non-fat cappachino with a sprinkle of chocloate and a pinch of cinnamon steamed at 104 degrees double cupped with a cup sleeve and stir stick. Meaning its tedious and frustrating, but you know that the hard work will pay off at some point. This is pretty easy to achieve under a blue bird ski, -1 temperature not skiing on a trail more then once in 3hrs- Note to readers...the Nordic Centre is AMAZING right now!

Westerns was a lot of fun! However the ankle biters on the Academy are getting fit FAST! So this wasn't going to be a walk in the park, and knowing you "should" win seems to provide enough pressure that I didn't need to add to it, so for the weekend I went with a purse to carry around the race trail instead of matching luggage. Wow, it was way lighter!

The sprints were not so fun. I really don't know what happens in classic sprinting. I have speed, I have strength, but something happens during the course of a classic sprint that inevitably makes me resember a "recreational" skiier (words from the coach!). So yeah, we will chalk that up to experience...BUT props to the girls from my team, man they are on fire right now...watch out Nationals!

The 10k classic was fun, I didn't have the same snap and energy that I had at the Bow Corridor the week before, but I did ski technically really well and I LOVED hearing a split in a classic race that I was first, I almost started giggling on the side of the course! I don't think that this has ever happened...pretty cool! That all said I need to be about two more minutes faster if I want to win a Noram.

The 15k skate. Oh man, this course was not a good one for someone who relies on climbing. the first 2.5 k of every loop was down hill and then there was some rolly sections, but no long steep climbs that are characteristic of Canmore. Let alone the downhill sections were technical and I am a bit of a sketch ball decsending. I'm never in control and the phrase "I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm okay I'm okay, sweet, sweet I made it, okay now go" seems to be on repeat when I go downhill. I decided that I wanted to win and win by a lot, so this kind of made me go a little too fast at the start and although I held it for about 11k I started to get to the point where I no longer could wipe the spit off my face and the downhill turned into a swearword-a-thon...all bad! I glanced behind me and saw a red arm...and then I just started skiing for survival. It was actually a lot of fun to know I could change gears, I haven't had that in a while. Huge props to Sara, she threw down and gave me a run for money...it bruised my ego a bit as I tend to think I am a skate specialist, but the 15k has always been a tough one for me!

All in all a great weekend!

We are racing at the Kananaskis ski Marathon/ Cookie race on Saturday...I'm so excited to get out there. K-contry where the venue is got over 50cm of new snow so the course I'm sure will be pristine and amazing!!!

have a great day!

xob

NEW SPONSOR: El Natura Lista Shoes

I am VERY excited to announce that El Natura Lists Shoes has come on board as a casual shoe sponsor. This company is emerging into one of the top shoe retailers around the world, please read below for what makes this company so special...I'm sure they're values will make you run out and buy a pair right away!

El Naturalista Frog Eco Policy:
El Naturalista is an international shoe brand that makes comfortable yet fashionable footwear inspired by nature and people. Adherence to our environmental policy is a prerequisite for doing business at El Naturalista. All suppliers, factories, agents and sales personnel must be strongly committed to our earth friendly practices.

We are continually working to find even better and more eco-friendly ways to produce our shoes. Our customers are aware of our environmental policies and our increasing sales demonstrate that consumers approve and support- our efforts.
We use natural materials and dyes
We avoid using polluting substances and toxic products
We seek to protect the environment
We maximize the use of biodegradable and recyclable/recycled materials
We pay fair compensation to providers and employees
We promoted traditional forms of production
We support the use of appropriate new technologies
We operate with corporate transparency
Shoes and material
El Naturalista uses the least harmful materials in the production of our shoes. We use natural dyes. We use recycled materials as much as possible: for example, the recycled polyurethane inner liner and the recycled rubber in soles (N 096 Iggdrasil). When dyeing leather, El Naturalista uses the least harmful chrome combination for the environment. Additionally, El Naturalista has developed the "pergamino leather", which is treated without the use of chrome.

Please visit their website at:http://www.elnaturalista.com/index.php/en

They even have a sweet music player.

For those in Canmore, they sell their shoes at Indigo Bay on Main Street

ciao,

Brooke