About Me

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Boulder, CO, United States
From Minnesota to Maine to the sunny land of Boulder, CO, I have been competing as an athlete all my life and been working as massage therapist for six years now. Helping athletes with greater recovery, bounce back from injury faster, and helping one's body perform at it's best is what I aim to do. My love for sport, training and helping a body feel good and perform at it's best has driven me into a career in massage therapy. I strive for nothing less than the best...let me help you reach greater heights.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Bags packed


We are just about all packed here in Canmore and ready to head out in the morning. We have a long day of travel ahead but that is pretty standard of any travel day at this point.
Our last few days here in Canmore proved to be all that I expect of this place. The temperature warmed up and the skiing seemed to get better by the day. We were even able to sneak another time trial with the Canadians in.
Oh and I did mention we had a very nice Thanksgiving ham dinner together as well. It was great. Everyone made their own contribution to the meal. It was something to be thankful for, amongst many many other things.
Here are a few final shots from our stay here. The critter viewing highlight of the trip was catching this heard of elk gathered right in town. It was quite the surprised view while driving up to the venue one morning.
More to come from Maine shortly.
cheers, BethAnn


Thursday, November 25, 2010

Good Eatin'


Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I am spending yet another Turkey holiday Canada. While I am not with my family, I will be able to enjoy the day with my teammates. We plan on all pitching in to make a Thanksgiving feast we can all enjoy.
While traveling for training camps and races in North America, we generally do all the cooking ourselves. We split up the cooking duties with different pairs of people cooking and cleaning every night. And I must say, I think we do a darn good job. Good health, nutritious and delicious meals play an important role for athletes. We need to make sure we are recovering well after workouts and refueling to make sure we have the strength to get out there and work hard for our next workouts that lie ahead. There is always something to be preparing for.
One of my favorite meal contributions I have started to do regularly is to make bread for the team. I am very thankful this Thanksgiving holiday for this bread recipe that I received from my father-in-law. The recipe originally comes from his father, so that would make it David's grandfather, Geoff Chamberlain's original recipe for Oatmeal bread. It has been well received by everyone on the team so I would like to take this opportunity to share it all with you.
Mr. C’s Oatmeal Bread

Boiling water 2 cups
Molasses ½ cup
Salt 2 tsp
Butter 1 tbs
Yeast 1 pkg
Rolled oats 1 cup
White flour 5 cups

Add boiling water to rolled oats. Let stand 1 hour. Combine
Molasses, butter, yeast, and flour. Beat thoroughly. Let rise
land beat again. Turn into buttered bread pans
and let rise again. Then bake.

First rise almost 2 hours at temp. 75 – 80 F. Bake at 400 F.
for the first 15 min. then 350 F. for 25 min. or until the loaves
shrink from the sides of the pans. Makes two (2) loaves.
Don’t forget to proof the yeast. The rolled oats are the
old fashioned kind.

I am looking forward to sharing more heart healthy and delicious recipes with you all, so stay tuned for more.
Until then, happy baking and skiing to you all!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Waiting out the cold



This morning I rose out of bed and continued on with my normal morning routine of bundling up for a quick walk/jog outside before coming in and making breakfast. I knew with the burn of my first inhale, once I stepped outside it was going to be a challenging day. When I say challenging I mean the challenge of trying to figure out what we can do for training without frying our lungs in frigid Canadian air.
It is nearly 11:00 am while I writing this and the latest temperature check reads -20F. In reading this I am actually feeling better since it went up two degrees in the last forty minutes. I am not one who is afraid of cold weather but I have had enough experience to know that trying to ski when it is -20F out is just not a good idea.
So for the time being I will get caught up on all my other activities and keep brainstorming for what is the best plan for training today. Thankfully the forecast calls for temperatures in the 20s (above zero this time:) ) in the next couple days.
On a different note, I hope you all enjoy the photos below. Many thanks to my teammate Ben for standing out in the cold, cheering us on in our races and freezing his finger while taking many of these shots. I believe some of the photo credit also must go to my coach, Seth. Although I will be honest, I don't know who took what.
Hope to have a real ski report for you all shortly, having come off the ski trail and not a weather report explaining why I am not on the ski trails right now! Ah the joys of winter!
Happy skiing to you!
BethAnn



Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Working out the kinks



Yesterday was the official season opener! Cooler temperatures shocked everyone's systems a bit while we all unwillingly pealed our layers off as we each pulled up to the start line. It was a sprint race. U.S. biathlon put on the race, as it is a trials race for the December World Cup and IBU Cup teams. We were happy to add some international competition to the field however with some Canadians and even a New Zealand racer!
I had a mix of low points and high points during the race. I had a few more misses than I would have liked and don't feel I am quite at the top of my game yet skiing. I was able to stay relaxed skiing and had a pretty good mental game while I was out there. So while the results sheet doesn't show what I wanted, I feel confident that with a few corrections here and there it will in time.
Due to snow conditions our second trial race has shifted from today to Thursday. This gives the folks up at the Canmore Nordic Center an extra day to make snow and push it out on course. Hat's off to all of those workers who are getting this job done. They have done an amazing job! Many many thanks to all of them.

Here are a few more photos from the past few days.

It's wonderful to be able to travel, race and train with such amazing friends.
I haven't seen this name on skis in a wax room for quite some time. Congrats to Chad for becoming a father for the second time over this week!

This a shot of the view out our door yesterday morning. I was like a little kid in a candy store when I saw REAL snow on the ground when I woke up.

The trails up here at Canmore Nordic Center are being used by all! You have to appreciate places like this and people like this one here in this photo.

Friday, November 12, 2010

SKIING



Today was my first official day skiing on snow! They are experts at making snow here in Canmore. It is a good thing too since there is absolutely no natural snow on the ground or in the forecast.
The loop was just short of a kilometer and pretty full of skiers but hey it was skiing so I was happy.
More skiing on the docket tomorrow. Can't wait. Better get to bed so I am good and rested for more of it tomorrow.
Sending you all happy, snowy wishes,
BethAnn
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Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Day one in Canmore



We finally made it to Canmore and had our first offical day of training yesterday. It was an interesting scene at the venue with everyone on rollerskis and the snow blowers going full blast at the same time. Most of the rollerski loop was clear with a few exceptions going in and out of the range. All and all it is good to be here.
I jumped on a mountain bike yesterday afternoon for training with Lanny and Tracy Barnes. Great riding all around this area and we even spotted three big elk. That was the highlight of my ride. Although we also came across a pretty cool closed down mine as well.
I am off to training this morning. We are unsure of what things will look like this morning. I am bringing running shoes, rollerskis, skis and a mountain bike just to cover my bases!
Hope you enjoy the photos in the mean time.
cheers, BethAnn






Monday, November 8, 2010

Unexpected stay in Toronto

Traveling....never a dull moment. Since I am still in transit, I will make this update a quick one.
After departing on a VERY small 18 passenger plane out of Portland, ME yesterday I had hoped to arrive at my final destination, Canmore Alberta about six to eight hours later. Instead ended up in Toronto for the evening and am now, some 18 hours later am still working my way to West.
Katrina, Seth and I are the only three on this traveling adventure. Both Kat and Seth did make it through customs in time to get on the flight last night to Calgary. I was not so lucky.
I am only now hoping that our luck changes upon arrival in Canmore. I am looking for a big snow storm of good luck once we unpack at our hotel. That isn't too much to ask, is it?
Due to the lack of snow in Canmore right now, we had to pack along rollerskis for the trip. This was not something I enjoyed doing but snow or no snow, the training must go on.
Below is the only photo I took so far on our journey West. Hope you enjoy the view from inside our tiny little aircraft from Portland to Toronto. And did I mention it was a very bumpy two hour flight? Oh how thankful I am for my ability to sleep through just about anything!
Happy snow dances to you all!

-BethAnn