Chandra's Latest Update

October 12, 2008

Camp Chanikkan 2008

A much talked about and anticipated event is happening right now in Canmore, Alberta. American World Cup winner Kikkan Randall and I are cranking out down 7 days of amazing training together. While on the World Cup circuit we have often been the only two female sprint specialists on our respective teams and have joined forces on numerous occasions to push each other to new levels in intensity workouts and generally enjoy the friendship of a kindred spirit while far from home.

An Anchorage, Alaska native, 'Kikkanimal' made history in Russia in December of 2007 when she became the first American woman to win a World Cup EVER. She did it in style with powerful skiing and a big grin. Together we captured the gold in 3 of the 4 skate sprints last season and are hoping to expand our territory to include some classic sprint A-finals this coming season as we prepare for the Olympic classic sprint in 2010.

A 25-year old skier extraordinaire, Kikkan is very active in the ski community, a role model to kids everywhere and stoked on Fast and Female. She was a key-note speaker at the 08 event in Whistler and delivered an inspiring tale of her rise to the top spot on the international podium and her passion for skiing. This year she's taking it a step further - countering my refrain of 'Fast and Female needs some money to keep going' with two fund raising programs that will donate money to the organization. One is through her signature coffee bag produced by www.silverbeancoffee.com and the other will involve ski ties she and her Canadian skier husband Jeff Ellis produce.

This week she came from her home at sea level and adapted very fast to the altitude of 1400m in Canmore where we are doing at least double my regular amount of hard intensity training (this is normal for a unique species of Kikkanimals) and otherwise enjoying the mountain town athlete lifestyle. That means dining at our local sushi places and Crazyweed Kitchen, going to yoga, watching movies and the grand finale will be a 3 hour mountain run and Canadian Thanksgiving dinner. Check out Kikkans' blog on fasterskier.com and read up on her at www.kikkan.com!

Enjoy the pics and thanks for your support!