The Paralympic Games are at about the half-way point, and we're busier than ever. Yesterday was the 15 km free-style race. Only 8 girls started in my category, one of them didn't finish, and so I was 7th. The conditions were really tough: it was +6 and sunny, so the snow was very wet and mushy. All the uphills were really hard work, not that they usually aren't, but with the slush it was even worse. I don't usually ski in this type of conditions, so it took me the first two five-km loops to figure out how to ski in them. I fell a couple of times because I got stuck in the mush and then had an asthma attack from working so hard on one of the bigger hills. The last lap actually went pretty well, but it was too late to catch up to anyone by then. But I'm still happy with my seventh place because that's seventh at the Paralympic Games! It's not my fault that other peple were to chicken to even start! Some volunteers had my camera, but I guess they couldn't figure out how to work the zoom either, so Robert and I turned out pretty tiny, but here is an article from the Ottawa Citizen that's got a pretty good shot of us! 

Then, just after I finished, guess what? Doping control got me again! They must really like me over there! And if I said it was hard to pee before, it was extremely difficult after a 15 km race when I was all dehydrated from sweating so much! I didn't get out of there until almost 5 o'clock! It was brutal!

At 7 o'clock, we went over to the Medals Plaza in Whistler for the Victory Ceremonies. Canada got 2 gold and a bronze. How about that! The McKeever brothers and two alpine skiers did us proud. Go Canada go!

 Afterwards, we all went to the Whistler Canada Paralympic House for the family and friends reception. It was a great time! I got to hang out with my parents, teammates and some friends that are here volunteering. Jerry King and Melanie Ross, our fellow Para-Nordic skiers who didn't make this year's team are here as forerunners: they ski the race course just before competition begins in order to ski in the snow and "warm up" the trails for us. Jeff Whiting, the Para-Nordic Development Co-ordinator for Western Canada and one of my personal coaches, is here working for TV. There were also other old teammates and teammates' family members that I got to catch up with. It was great to see everyone and to share this amazing experience with them. Thanks for coming guys!

Top photo: My dad, Mikhail; my mom, Olga; Jason Dunkerley, our Athlete Services Officer; Courtney Knight, my teammate; Stewart McGregor, our other ASO; and me

Bottom photo: me and Jeff Whiting

This morning started off just as crazy as yesterday. I thought I would just take today easy and get a few things done, like my blog and laundry. So I got up at 9 and was getting my things together for the laundry, when I heard Courtney and Andrea running around in their room. I went to ask what all the commotion was about, and they said, "We're going up to Callaghan 'cause Rick Mercer will be there with the McKeevers and we want to say hi!" and then, "you should come with us!" At first, I said no, I hand't had breakfast yet and all that, but then they twisted my rubber arm by suggesting that I just get a coffee and muffin from McDonald's and come along. So of course I did. I ran to the Food Tent like mad, scaring Mary in the process, and was on the bus in no time.

It was pouring rain out there, but we got our gear and went looking for Rick. We found out that he was at a certain spot on the rec trails, so we scooted over there and sure enough, there they were. So we stood there, realizing belatedly that we hadn't really come up with a plan of how we were going to approach them. Then someone spotted us and said "Hey Canada!" which was all the promting we needed. We skied over to them, said hi and introduced ourselves. And that was about all we did, but then that was really all we wanted! We had fun paparazzi'ing it up!

When we got back to the Village, Rob (who also came along) and I had an interview with a reporter from the Vancouver Sun. It took us almost an hour: it was quite a bit more in-depth than I'd expected. It's so much fun being a celebrity for a week!

By the time we came back to our building, Rick Mercer was already here, and he actually came over to our athletes' lounge and interviewed a few of us (not me, I'm not interesting enough). He did a big interview with Collette, our silver medalist, which was awesome, and of course, we got to take pictures with him. So watch for an RMR with our team on it in the coming weeks!

Left to right: Andrea, Mary, Rick, Courtney, Margarita

And that's all the news from here for now. It's a crazy life we lead for another week or so, and I just can't get enough of the excitement! Tomorrow is the long biathlon race, but I'm not racing it. I'm trying to rest up (as much as can be done in the circumstances) for the 5 km classic, which should be my best event, or at least the one I'm looking forward to the most! I'm going to go see my poor parents now, I've been so busy today, I haven't been able to go visit them. Some family time is definitely in order. Good night from Whister!

Go Team Canada!

Today was a really exciting day! We had our official Village Welcome ceremony this afternoon. It was great! They had representatives from the four host nations welcome us and sing to us, about a hundred super pumped volunteers cheer for us and take tons of pictures as well as insprational videos including one from Rick Mercer. Laura Vandervoort was tere (somehow I seem to be the only one who knows who she is!). She did a great speech welcoming us and wishing us all the best. There was, of course, all the official stuff, such as the flag-raising ceremonies and some officials talking, but the mood was really festive and everyone was really excited. At the end, the Host Nations led everyone in a dance, and then we took lots of photos. Here's a sampling.

I did get a picture with Laura, but unfortunately it's on Robert's camera. I will get it from him tomorrow and post it espcially for Cliff! :) Everyone went for supper right after the team picture, but Robert, Jamie, Alexei and I stayed behind and took all of these pictures as well as a whole bunch with different volunteers. My doping control officer from yesterday happened on the scene around that time and was swiftly recruited as our photographer. When we walked back to the Dining Hall for supper, some of the volunteers asked us if we wanted to go for beers! We asked if we could take a rain check untill the last night of the Games: we are after all in training!

This was by far the most exciting part of my day, but the rest of the day was pretty good also. I was pretty busy all day. We went skiing at 9 o'clock this morning again. The trails have softened up quite a bit since yesterday as it appears Callaghan got a good dumping of snow last night. The conditions were a lot slower, which was fine with me, but not with most other people. The corners have become a lot more challenging to navigate becauce of all the loose snow. It's easy to catch a clump and go down. Robert and I worked on some of the more difficult turns today and are happy to report that we were able to find a way to negociate all of them safely (after a few falls and some advice from coaches and teammates). Tomorrow we will go do some classic so that we can report back to our wax techs about what wax works for us and what doesn't.

Oh, and I think I'm feeling a bit better today. I still had trouble breathing and my muslces felt weak, but I think I am regaining my health. Well, I need to go to bed as sleep is one of the best things for you when recovering from an illness. Good night from the Athletes Lounge!

Settling in and fighting off colds

We went for our first ski up at Callaghan Valley today. Well, not actually our first ski, but our first of the Games. The conditions were lightning-fast up there. We flew around the 2.5 km course, even though I was still not feeling great. I found all the uphills super difficult today even though I was trying to go up them really slowly. This cold just keeps on hanging around. I can't shake it! I talked to the team doctor today, and he said it's nothing more serious than a cold (thank God!), but he thinks it's this virus that's been going around that produces a really long-lasting cold with a cough and congestion. Sounds about right, and I've had this cold for about two weeks. So here's hoping that it's almost gone. All I can do right now is just get lots of rest and ski as well as I can. So that's the plan! And I know I really have to get some new pictures for the blog, but it's been pretty hectic and I've been pretty tired. I will definitely try to get some sightseeing around the village in tomorrow!

In other news, I got picked for doping control...again! But thanks to having done it just last week, I found this one to be a breeze. My first pee attempt was successful and the team doctor and I were out of there in no time. So hopefully this means that I'm done with testing for the Games, but you never know, it is after all random.

We also got our HBC clothing back that we wanted exchanged. Amazingly, they were able to get me all the sizes I asked for, and now all of my clothes fit! I'm so happy! The uniforms we got are so nice. I would definitely wear most of the stuff after the Games.

We had a little CPC orientation meeting tonight as well. They introduced all of the mission staff and described their roles to us. So now we know everyone and are all set for the Games to begin. We just have to get over our colds (we have a new casualty in Mary). Pray for us and send positive vibes our way everybody!

Good night from Whistler.