Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Back on the ice today! Yay!

We spent a wonderful and relaxing day in Colorado Springs yesterday. We woke up and went for a run in shorts and singlets. The weather was so beautiful; it was great to get out and do some fitness. Everyone felt surprisingly well for the high altitude. After grocery shopping and eating some much needed lunch, we rested and waited around until Briar returned from the doctor. So just to update everyone: Last week in MN, Briar's knee was hurting her and eventually it swelled up and she couldn't walk on it without severe pain. Eventually she went to the doctor in TRF and had an x-ray but was told she would need an MRI. Yesterday she went to visit a doctor and got an MRI. Much to Briar and the team's relief, she was told that nothing was pulled or torn in her knee but because of the trauma to the knee, fluid built up around the knee cap which made it difficult and painful for her bend and walk. She will be receiving intense physical therapy everyday until the competition, and the doctors believe she will be just fine to compete. Fingers crossed for Briar to heal! After only 2 days off the ice, we are excited to get back on the ice tonight for training at the World Arena.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Arrival in Colorado Springs!

After a long long long long (12 hours) layover in Salt Lake City yesterday, we have been welcomed in Colorado Springs with beautiful weather! We took a tour in SLC and went to the site of the 2002 Olympics where they held Nordic ski jump and we saw the combination track used for bobsled, luge, and skeleton. Unfortunately we were a week too late to meet all the athletes and get to try the bobsled for ourselves. We are now getting prepared to go for a run (in shorts and singlets!!!) and see what this high altitude is all about!

Sunday, March 28, 2010

We will miss TRF!!!

Today was our final training session at The Ralph:( We are truly going to miss the wonderful hospitality of everyone in Thief River Falls. Fire On Ice would like to extend a warm and very much appreciated Thank you to everyone in TRF for all you did to make us feel at home, and a special thank you to TRF Figure Skating Club, Dale and The Ralph Engelstad Arena staff, home-stay families (Novaks, Bricksons, Hodgsons, Idlands, Holmers, Semankos, and Petersons), and the entire town of TRF for all the support! We came in as strangers and left as family and we will never forgot you.

After another road trip, we have made it to Fargo for the night and will be preparing for a very early flight to Colorado Springs.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

A final day of adventure!

We have been taking it slow these last couple days with training, but they have still been absolutely wonderful. Yesterday we finally got to sleep in and then went for a nice run outside on the back country roads outside of town. I never thought I'd see a team from the city running on gravel roads in the middle of no where. We are definitely enjoying the fresh air outside and not having to worry about rush hour on our way to the rink. Although we think we may have hit rush hour last night on our way to training, but that only meant about 10 cars lined up at the traffic light and only an extra 2 minutes to get to the rink;) We went to the fire station yesterday to take a picture with the fire trucks and crew. They were so wonderful and even let us turn on the sirens. We had training early this morning so that we could finish up before the hockey tournament started. Although it was an early early morning, we were rewarded with a free pancake and sausage breakfast that the farmers and radio station were hosting at the rink. Phoebe and Kristina were interviewed on the radio this morning at the breakfast. The remainder of today is a day of rest and activities. Some of the team is taking advantage of their last chance to experience all the small town adventures - the shooting range and 4-wheeling!

Friday, March 26, 2010

Fire On Ice in Thief River Falls newspaper

The team made the front page of the newspaper in Thief River Falls. We have had such a great time here, and it will be hard to leave this "home away from home."

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Team Australia autographing programs for our new fans.
Mini-Prowlers synchro team with Team Australia. We love our new little synchro friends!

Last night with our host families:(

Two training sessions today, a fitness session and off-ice. It was such a good day of training, but it was definitely a cold cold day to run outside! It is our last night with our host families, and we are definitely going to miss them. We will always remember all the things they let us experience - shooting guns, scuba diving in the river, driving their car on the "wrong" side of the road, eating cow that was butchered special for our dinner table, riding a yellow school bus, packing us a "sack lunch", cooking us Thanksgiving dinners, touring the town, trips to Walmart and Dairy Queen, and lots lots more! We will cherish these memories and will never forget our TRF families! Thank you all so much for such a wonderful and memorable experience!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

We had our second show on Sunday, and we improved even from the day prior. Things are going quite well, especially when Kristina gave us the night off last night. We visited the high school yesterday, toured the school and got to see the cafeteria and auditorium. Phoebe and Flea joined in on a basketball game, although the boys didn't share the ball with them. The skaters were so excited to see what a cafeteria looks like, and were really impressed with the way the high school reminded them of the movie Mean Girls. Lauren and Nakita were the lucky ones to take the yellow school bus home yesterday with their host family children. We had a good training session today and are spending the afternoon at Challenger primary school and then going to the waterpark tonight.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Thief River Falls Ice Show - Day 1

Last night we did our first show for the folk of Thief River Falls, and it went off like a bang! We have had an amazing reception, and received our first standing ovation for our long program. When our first lift went up, we heard "ooos and ahhhs". It was such a wonderful feeling for the team! Our second show is tonight, and we're hoping to give even more back to the town! Thanks for all your support thus far, and especially a HUGE THANK YOU to our host families!!!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Thief River Falls Ice Show this weekend!

It is great to finally be with our host families in TRF. We are all just trying to stay warm inside, but of course enjoying the snow (at least what is left of it) outside. We have a training session this morning and then the show this evening. And then we repeat it all again tomorrow! Thanks so much TRF families for having us!!!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Arrived in Fargo!

Well after 35+ hours in transit, we have finally arrived in Fargo. Some got to see a lot more of the surrounding area than they wished after getting lost from the airport to the hotel, while others made good friends at Denny's Restaurant. We are now off to bed to finally have a good night sleep! Thief River Falls bound tomorrow!!!!

Flight, Airport, Flight, Airport, Flight, Airport...

We are 2/3s of the way through our 35 hour transit day. Our flight from Sydney to LA was very slow, but thank goodness for the individual movie screens. We don't know how we would have survived without them. Some of us slept, but most of us struggled since it was the middle of the day in Sydney. We are now in Salt Lake City, Utah, admiring the snow capped mountains - that is, only those of us awake. Half of the team is sprawled on the airport floor catching a nana nap before our next flight. Oh, and I'm pretty sure that the next plane fits our team...and ONLY our team! It's a bit small for our comfort. Then we will spend the night in Fargo, hopefully catching some zzzzz's so the next morning we have lots of energy as we head to our training site, Thief River Falls, and meet our host families (something we have been waiting for for a long time)!

Monday, March 15, 2010

We're off in 2 days!

Well, the time has finally arrived for us to take another journey to World Championships. We have put every bit of energy, passion and dedication into training for the last 8 months to get to where we are today. Follow our travels from Sydney to America, Minnesota to Colorado. We will try to update this blog daily so you can feel like you are there with us the entire way! Thanks for all your support!