Beijing Bound

Beijing Bound

My 2-week Olympic prep camp with the Canadian Olympic Cross Country Ski squad is coming to an end here at Sovereign Lake and Silver Star. On January 26^th we board our charter in Vancouver and I will be on my way to my second Olympics. This time to China. The Cross-Country Skiing events will be hosted in one of the mountain villages near Zhangjiakou. It is about 180km away from Beijing in a mountainous plateau region, elevation ~1600m. This last fact is why we have spent the last two weeks doing our final preparations for the games in beautiful Silver Star, BC, elevation also ~1600m. With over 100km of trails between the two ski networks and world Cup level racecourses it has been the perfect location to adjust to the altitude of the Olympic race venue, do some long seasons and fine tune race preparations with a few test races. Not to mention Silver Star is one of the most beautiful places! In a time of high stress, being able to be in an environment that makes you smile each morning definitely helps keep us all a little bit calmer before we dive into the storm.  

There have been so many unknowns and extra steps this time around that I am so grateful I have one thing well under control. Fueling myself for the Games. When you are on the road the food dynamic is always changing as we travel, that’s why I make sure never to leave home without my staple Rancho Vignola products. Dried fruit, trail mix and something with some chocolate. Right now, my go to training favourite is a dried pear and chocolate covered almond combo. I also always travel with cashews as they are a great addition to almost any meal in my option and a tasty and filling snack on their own.  

My first Olympics were an amazing and overwhelming experience all at once, and this year there are even more hoops and hurdles to navigate such as Covid testing and cyber security. I didn’t realize just how much stuff was on my phone until I started removing it all. That’s why, I am trying to keep things simple this time around. Enjoy the spirit of the Olympics and have fun racing in hopes of improving on my results from last time. I have downloaded a lot of books onto my eReader and have my art supplies packed. These games are in many ways going to be very different than my first experience, but I am excited to be a bit less connected to technology and hopefully a little more connected to myself.  

The ski racing part will be the same as always. Six ski races over a few weeks, just like I do all winter. I can’t wait to get out there with my Canadian teammates and try to put down the best performances possible! My race schedule will be as follows and you can find all the information you need at Olympic.ca, FIS or on the Team Canada app!  

  Women’s Cross Country Race Schedule  

I hope many of you can follow along during the next few weeks, I will try to share experiences and updates from my Olympic journey on my social media channels when possible.  

Happy Trails! 

Dahria