Enjoying the last days of the Olympics.

(enjoying an nice mellow sesh with my friend Sarah Daitch at the Lulu pad.)

Yoga is on the podium for best medicine. It was edged out by laughter and, well... medicine.

Juuuuuust kidding. Although I do really find the yoga makes me feel really good physically and mentally as it balances out all the striving with some chilling.

Chilling is not exactly what I'm up to... I rest a lot more when prepping for a race and today I did my last race of these games and now plan to get out and enjoy the scene a bit more. It was tough because even though I had great skis, a good start position and tremendous desire to push and fight, my race shape is several levels below what I need to perform my best. The kind and dedicated wax staff that I appreciate so much told me to consider today the first training day for Oslo World Champs skate sprint which will be this time next year. It was hard to get to these games, I did it, and now it's time to cheer on my teammates in their 30 and 50 kilometer races and enjoy Whistler and Vancouver.

Looking ahead I'll be at the Canadian Championships in Whitehorse March 14-20 and will then be working with Devon on getting our plan together to rock Russia 2014.

Thanks again to everyone for all the encouragement!

Chandra

Best EVER men's Olympic result today! Alex and Devon!

In this photo Devon gives a shrug for the bitter-sweetness of 4th place at the Olympics but I am stoked! My boyfriend, Devon Kershaw, was spectacular today - playing it cool through the semifinal and final of the race and launching an attack at the perfect time on the last lap of the sprint relay today on another beautiful sunny Whistler Olympic Park Day.

Devon and his super-tight buddy Alex Harvey pulled off an incredible 4th place finish for Canada's Best Ever Men's Olympic Result. They skied super well. Gutsy but also calculated. It made me think that the hundreds of hours of blah blah blah about skiing and Oakley sunglasses that I have endured just being around these two peas in a pod has all been worth it and I know there's lots more where these performances came from.

They are incredible friends on and off the trails - with Devon even sharing his best race skis with Alex only to sometimes be beaten by his own boards on the feet of his younger teammate. They can easily talk 8-10 hours straight in a day about topics ranging from direct English-French translations of their favorite expressions to how long it might take one of them to shoot a million pennies at the others' face. The latter involved some questionable calculations but passed the time on another wait for a Euro-tunnel to open.

Devon and Alex are impressive athletes and crazy great guys and I'm extremely pumped for their race today and Wednesday's 4 x 10km relay in which they will be joined by George Grey and Ivan Babikov in Canada's first time as a serious medal threat in the relay. Bring it on, boys!

Family, Mountains, Yoga

First of all... how about that Canadian Men's X-Country Team? Hot stuff with all 4 of them in the top 16 today in the 30km pursuit and the potential looking really good for my boyfriend Devon and his buds in the upcoming relay events. Be sure to watch them on Monday and Wednesday this week.

As for me, with no races on deck for me until Thursday February 25th's 4 x 5km relay I took the opportunity to re-charge my batteries with some of my most loved people and activities.



I'm so fortunate to have the world's best family on my side and many of my aunts, uncles, cousins and my mom's friends have been cheering loudly for Rosanna and I this past week. Thank you to everyone from the Crawford and Manning sides of the family who came out! The above photo is my cousin Tyler and my sister Rosanna.



My parents passed on to me a serious need to get high. In elevation that is. Way above treeline at 2300 meters I am truly at home. My friend and local mountain man Kevin Titus took biathlon Olympian Sandra Keith and I for a little tour off of Blackcomb mountain where we got a little closer to the spectacular sun the has been shining generously on Whistler as of late.



Lululemon has taken amazingly good care of their elite athlete ambassadors for many years but especially heading into these games. With the mansion stocked with snacks, the hot tub bubblin', and yoga nymphette Laura Thompson on hand 24/7 for yoga it's great to be connected with these great people. A little yoga goes a long way to balance out all my striving and pushing with some acceptance and gratitude.

Namaste,

Chandra

Following my event I was able to get out and see the world a bit in the last two days. I've enjoyed so much hanging with my sister, Rosanna. I watched her exciting race on Wednesday and hung with her in the village. Our team is staying a 30 minute drive South down the road from Whistler so to see the Olympic village was a real treat. Great work to the people who made that good-looking place and all the nice volunteers who make it so welcoming.



At the nordic venue I've been proud to see some of our best results coming from these two great friends of mine - Ivan Babikov and Sara Renner. Top tens from both of them already and more great races still to come. I love my team!

Wow. A great day for racing. My best qualifier (usually in the first round against the clock I'm 16 seconds behind the best girls and today I was 9). Incredible great energy from the crowds. I gave it my all in the quarterfinal - wanted so badly to make it through... alas I missed a lot of training and classic is still not my forte. Feels great to be a part of it - to have made it and be out there fighting is a reward in itself for all the hard work.
Thank you to everyone!
Chandra

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

Sara Renner and I share a belly bump after her incredible bronze medal in the Canmore World Cup February 6th.

And now it's time for the big show. I'm really stoked to be going to the opening ceremonies. I'm looking forward to my reunion with Callaghan Valley, the location of Whistler Olympic Park, where I've spent some great training hours the past 4 years. I can't wait to watch my sister race biathlon in the "stadium next door." I can't wait to hang and enjoy the good eats whipped up by our chefs in the ski team's hors-village accommodation.

But most of all...

... I'm going to have a great time racing with the rings on my chest and the home crowd cheers ringing in my ears.

A THOUSAND THANK YOUS TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED ME GET TO THIS POINT: READY FOR THE 2010 OLYMPICS!

I'm going to take a time out from blogging for some great focusing. Thank you for coming with me on the journey and I'll update when I'm done focusing on and enjoying the moments.

Wish me luck on Feb 17th in the classic sprint, Feb 25th in the 4x5km relay, and possibly (awaiting coaches/teammates decisions on Feb 22nd in the team sprint and Feb 27th in the 30km classic.

As for the last games I'm packing a big smile and my air guitar...

Fast and Female Urban Style Downtown Canmore Feb 6, 2010

It's been an amazing and busy week in Canmore. With tons of press conferences, interviews and team meetings followed by tremendous racing action and Sara Renner's fabulous bronze medal in the classic sprint here at the best stop on the world cup circuit: Canmore. The town celebration included putting snow on two blocks of main street for the whole weekend and so so many good times were had on that snow by many people and it looked really magical.

Fast and Female jumped at the chance to ski in town and we had 100 girls out for a very unique and fun event. Our sponsor COLD-FX sponsored the live performance by international group "Drum Cafe" was really cool and we boogied hard with our local Zumba instructor, Maria, leading the way. A great warm up! Check out our zany instructors in the photos below.

Brooke Gosling, Sara Renner, Rhonda Jewett, Sarah Daitch, Madeleine Williams, Mallory Deyne, Sekwan Trottier, and Sarah Murphy were rock star BBFF's (Best Buy Fast Females) and our great friends Kikkan Randall and Liz Stephen, American Olympians who are spreading the F&F love across North America brought their amazing energy. The BBFF's are what make the events so memorable and the girls get to meet some incredible role models.

Special thanks to the BBFF's, volunteers, Best Buy, COLD-FX, The Lambert Bros, The Jocabecca Foundation, Lululemon, Buff, The Canmore Rotary Club and everyone who made this event possible. Dan Roycroft's time and images are much appreciated - check them out below.

I haven't had that much fun since... the last Fast and Female event!

Friday I'm off to the Opening Ceremonies and my first race will be Wednesday, February 17th in the classic sprint.

Spread the Love, Dominate the World!

A message for the Best Buy team

This video was done for a quarterly Best Buy Head Office employees' meeting. It was a quick summary of everything I've been working on... Enjoy!

Cool articles!

Check out some cool articles about Fast and Female in The Vancouver Sun and The National Post!

Also, there's a neat video on The Vancouver Sun's site as well!