End of Season Letter

To all my Supporters, Friends and Family:

It’s been a tough month for me, wrapping up the remainder of the ski season while trying to figure out what I will be doing in the coming year.

 Lets start off by saying that this past year has been great! My body has overcome any fatigue and overtraining from the previous race season. My energy is back and I know that I did everything that I could in order to make the most of this past season. I had some great races and fun times. For all those who have supported me over the last few years, I can’t thank you enough. CXC took me in as part of their team giving me support, coaching, and an amazing group of people that put a smile on my face and made the sport fun again. Neil Fox with Lifeworks Gym, who helped fix my many weaknesses in strength, flexibility and balance. I highly recommend his program if you are looking to be more efficient in your sport and get the most out of your body.

 Training and racing has been my life for the past 10 years, and I have been fortunate enough to live it exactly how I wanted to. This past month however, the urge to complete yet another year of training as a professional athlete has been a bit daunting. Its a feeling that I have been fighting with, which I think is a pretty good sign that it is time for a break. I’m not saying that my love for the sport and is gone; I just think that physically and more important, mentally, a break will be good for me.

 Its tough, because I know I still love the sport and the lifestyle, and I REALLY don’t want to say that my dream to be my best, and maybe one day make it to the Olympics is gone… Because its not! I just need a bit of a breather. I need a chance to live a little as a non-athlete, and enjoy some other things in life. I plan on doing some different things this summer, staying active of course, but not completely focusing on training as I normally do. I would like to try and “keep a foot in the door” so to speak, to racing and the ski world. I know that after 10 years of training and racing my body is NOT going to forget how to compete as a cross-country skier. Come fall, if that drive to race and compete comes back, I know that one summer of non-focused training will not put much of a dent into my overall development as a skier.

 I think this is the right decision and whatever happens down the road, I’m hoping that good things will come out of this and lead me to where I want to go. Thanks again to everyone in my life who has helped me get this far.

 Sincerely,
 Sara Hewitt

-This is a poem written by a former Alpine Racer, Shona Rubens who has recently taken a different direction in life, away from racing. I think it has a good message and helps describe, somewhat to what I am feeling right now:

 New Chapters

 There are some moments in your life

 When the story's getting old.

 It's not that it is boring, 

But just a little over told. 

 Sometimes the moments creep up slowly 

'Til you can't wait for a change. 

You have lots of time to think 

On exactly how to rearrange. 

 Sometimes they show up blindly

 Like a big slap in the face. 

You crave to shift things quickly 

Without losing too much grace. 

 Either way it's good to listen 

To your heart in these tough times. 

To go on living unfulfilled 

Is one of lifes biggest crimes. 

 So go ahead and make the leap, 

Dive into it head first. 

Think of the good things change will bring, 

Dont dwell upon the worst. 

 The story of this life you live 

is not carved out in stone. 

The lucky author of this book 

is you, and you alone. 

 So dont be scared and turn the page! 

Be courageous and be bold! 

The great next chapter of your life

 Is waiting to unfold. 

 -Shona Rubens

Canadian Nationals and Spring Series

Here is a quick photo recap of my last races at Canadian Nationals and Spring Series in Vermont.

The races went okay, but I had a great time and enjoyed the warm weather!

Racing while it was plus 20 degrees!

Me doing a face plant in my first sprint heat... no excuses just tripped myself :)

30km mass start

This was the 1.8km hill climb in Vermont. It had an average of 15% grade.  First hill climb I've ever done. It was interesting to say the least.  

American Birkebeiner

Well that was an interesting first Birkie experience...

First off, I have to say that I had a great time over the whole weekend in general. This event is HUGE! (well at least for any cross-country ski race standard) There are close to 10,000 skiers competing in all the different events over the weekend, bringing in a total of 40,000 people to the Hayward, WI every year! I've never seen so much excitement over one race before, with constant discusion on tactics, snow conditions, race wax and overall "Birkie Fever".




So how was the race itself? Well this was my first Birkie, and my first 50km race. The longest race I had done previous to this was a 30km, so a little bit longer this time. Needless to say the first 25km went great. I started in the Elite woman's wave, which started 3min behind the Elite Mens wave of close to 200 skiers. I stuck with a lead pack of about 10 women as we started to catch some of the men at around 10km. Things were going well, I felt in control, keeping a good pace. You really had to be alert and on your toes incase any of the woman tried to break away and make a move, but at that point I was still in the game and hanging onto the group.
Shortly after the half-way feed station I "bonked". If you are not familiar with the term, it basically means that your body has hit a wall and has run out of energy stores. It is kind of a surreal experience; your body slows way down and it is almost as if you are not in the present moment but looking down on yourself, trying to move one muscle at a time. Everything around you kind of zones out and all you can do is go forward... slowly. I had energy drink and gels on me, but once you have bonked, it is very difficult to recover from. I'm not quite sure how I made it to the finish line from that point, but I remember the last 10km felt like years had gone by. I was very out of it, and it took me a good 1/2 hour to and hour after the finish to finally come around and be able to function normally.

I'm not exactly sure why that happened to me. It could be that I just did not have enough energy stores and food in me, or perhaps my body was just not prepared or familiar with how to ski a 50km race. But bonking is something that happens to every endurance athlete at some point in their career, and it was definitely a good learning experience for me.





I do know that I will be back in the future to race this race again. It was a great experience and I still had such a great time. I've heard that a Canadian Women has never won the American Birkie and I'm thinking I may try to change that. :)

Madison Winter Festival

I competed in the Madison Winter Festival Super Tour Sprints this past weekend. These races were held on the streets of down-town Madison, WI where they trucked in tons of snow to make a sprint course that circled around the capital building,

It was an exciting event with lots spectators and events going on. The festival is put on every year by CXC. I have to say that I was extremely impressed at the amount of hard work put in by all the volunteers. CXC has an incredible community of people that all give sooo much to this organization and it was great to be able to race here in Wisconsin's Capital.






There were two sprint races; a classic and a skate. I placed 8th in the classic and then medalled the second day with a 3rd place finish!





Thank to Renee Callaway for all the great photos!

I am now in Hayward getting ready for the American Birkebeiner happening Saturday the 25th. There are lots of events to attend this whole week as everyone is getting ready for the big day, "Birkie Fever" they call it. Can't wait!

Eastern Canadian Championships

After completing the Mini Tour in Minneapolis I decided that I was keen to keep racing, so I made some last minute plans and hopped on a plane to Ottawa, Canada to race at the Eastern Canadian Championships.

It was another 3-day mini tour, where they combine the results from a skate sprint, and skate 10km to give you a handicap start for a 15km classic stage on the last day. This gives you an overall winner for the entire weekend.

This being my 4th weekend of racing in a row, I was feeling a little tired and not quite sure how things were going to play out. Some days it was all I could do to get myself out of bed and to the race site. I did fairly well in the skate sprint, skiing a strong semi and BARELY missing out on the A-final with a lunge to the line. Finished 9th for the day. I finished 4th in the 10km skate, putting me in 5th place for the pursuit start of the 15km classic the next day. This race was a fight for 3rd place as the top two skiers had a large head start over the rest of the field. I skied a strong race and stayed with the chasing group until the finish, where I was out sprinted, crossing the line in 5th. Not too bad! I was happy with my races and excited that I was able to push through the fatigue and fight till the end.


Kate Brennan starting the 15km pursuit, with me chasing her 2sec behind
Overall Minni-Tour Podium. (1st and 4th had to leave to catch a flight)

A big thanks to Chris Manhard and CVTC for waxing my skis this past weekend! My skis were great!

Now, I am finally back at home for a little RnR before I head back to the Midwest, US in just over a week to compete at the Madison Winter Festival followed by the American Birkebeiner.

This year keeps getting better and better for me. My body is finally overcoming any fatigue or set backs from the last couple years. I feel like I am really able to enjoy racing again and push my body to its limits.

Tour Final

I finished the Tour in 6th place overall!



Congrats to my teammates Jennie Bender who was 1st and Caitlin Gregg finishing 2nd

Today was a fun race. With a bit of a disapointing 5km classic yesterday, I started todays race 1 minute and 17 sec behind the leader in 14th spot. I just went as hard as I could and managed to pass 8 people crossing the line in 6th spot, with the 5th fastest time of the day. It was an exciting couple days with lots of spectators, and action going on during the races.

Here is a video clip from the start of the Mens 10km mass start on Saturday:

Tour de Twin Cities

Hello form the Midwest United States!

I am nearing the end of the Tour de Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul) , a total of five races over 10 days that are all combined in the end to give you an overall winner.

3 down, 2 to go! The first 3 races were held at Wirth Park right in the City of Minneapolis; a 6km classic, 9km skate, and a skate sprint. It was not quite the usual mountain climbing, race course that I am used to skiing like back home in the Rockies. But rather more rolling hills and small gradual climbs, basically skiing in a park... Needless to say it took a me a couple a races to figure out the pacing. You have to go out hard and ski hard the entire time. The low altitude and small climbs allow your body to easily recover and never really fade or "hit the wall", which often happens in places like Canmore.





I am currently sitting in 7th spot overall. The 2 remaining races will be held at Green Acres just outside of Minneapolis. Tomorrow is a 5km mass start with an intermediate sprint halfway through the race... I'll explain this. First off, 5km is a very short, fast, race. A mass start will be very chaotic. Secondly, there is a intermediate sprint, which means that at 2.5km there is a marking on the course where the first person to reach this spot gets $250, plus bonus points contributing to their overall placing in the Tour. So basically tomorrow is going to be a very fast, intense race. Should be interesting...

Sunday finishes off the tour with a 15km pursuit start skate race. You can check race results here

So far I've been having a great time, laughing a lot and happy to be spending time with my entire team. :)

And the rest

Glad to say that the next two races went quite well.

The sprints were held on Saturday in a snowy blizzard. I qualified 6th! I think it may have been my best qualifier ever! The heats were tough with the fresh snow everywhere. If you did not manage to get out front right away on the packed track, you had to work REALLY hard get around people moving through the fresh snow. Unfortunately thats what I ended up doing for most of my heats, and had a bit of a tumble in the B-final putting me in 12th spot.





The next day was sunny and beautiful conditions for the 10km classic. I skied a nice and controlled race and ended up in 8th spot. Top 5 is just within my reach and I know a podium is just around the corner.


I head down to Minneapolis tomorrow to join up with CXC and compete in some Super Tours for the next couple weekends. I am feeling strong and excited to compete. My racing feels better and better as the year goes on, and I have a feeling that things will only improve from here.

CXC girls looking tough and ready to race!


Thanks for reading!

Whats Going On?

Eek! Sorry for the prolonged silence. During this time of year the weeks just seem to fly by.

Okay quick recap on the races following Silver Star. I travelled to Rossland BC to compete in 2 more races before the Holidays. Skate Sprint and Skate 10km. I was pleased with both races. I was strong in the sprint race and almost made it to the A-final, but just missed out putting me in the B-Final, at which point I had very little steam left after giving it all on the my semi-final heat. So I ended up 12th for the day. The 10km race the next day was a slow start for me, but as the race went on I felt stronger and stronger as I started to move forward in position. I finished in 7th, but another couple hills or laps and I think I could have moved into the top 5.

Next up, Christmas Holidays! I had a wonderful couple of weeks, spending time with friends and family. I even managed to make it out to Nelson over New Years to do a little bit of ski touring. It was AMAZING!

I am now out west again in Whistler BC, competing back on the NorAm circuit. Yesterday was the first of 3 races this week, a 15km pursuit race. I have to say it was NOT one of my better races this year. My body just didn't have much in it for some reason. I finished the race quite far back, but decided to put it behind me and do everything I could to recover and focus on the the next 2 races.

And thats were I stand at the moment. Tomorrow is a skate sprint followed by a 10km individual start on Sunday. The weather has been beautiful and there is lots of snow. I intend to give the next couple days everything I have and hope to see some improvements in my results.

Competing on the the trails of the 2010 Olympics. Yes, that is me with my pony tail flying straight up in the air.