Hello all,

The Olympics are a scant 8 months away and I’m excited to be sharing my training and preparations progress with you as I make every workout count on the journey to Sochi. When compared to my last-minute Vancouver 2010 qualification, being already qualified for Sochi allows me to shift the focus entirely to performing on the Olympic race day and not worry about the qualification races along the way. It makes my purpose feel so simple and that’s just the way I like it.

I’ve been back to regular training since about a month (after spending first ½ of April sleeping and recovering from the winter season and the second ½ enjoying a bit of beach time and catching up with my family and friends in Banff).

The first month of the training year is never the hardest, but rest assured, the motivation to keep every workout session top quality is always there. I’ve been reintroducing regular yoga back into my training, to complement the daily stretching and activation routine that I have adopted last winter. I find it very effective for keeping my body mobile, and it has been a fun adventure discovering new kinds of yoga styles and new yoga studios, as there seems to be so many of them everywhere.

I love drinking fresh juice!

Another habit of mine that has been going strong for a couple of years is juicing. Those who get to witness my morning routine, know how crazy I am about my morning juice! Usually it’s a mix of carrots, ginger, beets, lemons and apples, but sometimes I change it up and experiment with celery, kiwis, pears, cucumbers, and whatever vegetable and fruit I might find lying around. Last winter I purchased a Euro-voltage juicer that travelled with me all over the World Cup circuit (yes, I’ve been known to juice in hotel bathrooms and bedrooms from Kuusamo to Val di Fiemme). In summer it lives in our wax technician Yves’ garage in France, so that way I never have to drag that thing with me on transatlantic flights.

The funny thing is, many Olympic athletes I know are also getting into juicing, and just yesterday I was convincing my friends Hugues and Etienne from the National Kayak Team to pick up my Euro juicer in France and use it during their competition trips while in Europe, since they won’t be able to bring their Canadian juicer along on the trip.

Finally you, my dear reader, might wonder where I am these days, so I’ll share with you what the anti-doping whereabouts folks already know. In the next couple of months I may be spotted rollerskiing around Mont-Ste-Anne countryside or taking it to the secret singe-track trails and mud on the Mont-Royal “mountain” in the heart of Montreal. Once again I train with the Quebec Training Centre and the B2ten in the belle province this summer and fall, however I come back home to Banff and the Rocky Mountain trails whenever I get a week of recovery from heavy training.

Running on the muddy trails is always so much fun!

Thank you for reading and I wish you enjoy the outdoors as much as you can!

Love you all,

Dasha