The 411 on Shayla and Rhonda

Welcome to the first entry in our blog chronicling the day-to-day training and racing tales of Sauce founders Shayla and Rhonda. In our inaugural entry, I figure that it is important to give our readers a bit of background about not only who we are, but what we do and why we do it. Shayla and I are full time athletes in the sport of cross-country skiing. Training and racing is our ‘day job' and we consider ourselves professional athletes, just like an NHL hockey player is considered a professional; the only difference being the size of our pay cheques (which are none rather than lots!) As athletes, we train to race as fast as possible in international competition. Our ‘training' includes not only the physical elements that most people associate with athletes, but also the recovery processes, mental training, equipment preparation and nutrition.

Shayla and I have skied and raced together from pretty much the time we could count to ten backwards. We started skiing in the Jackrabbit Ski League together, and quickly progressed through the ranks of our local club, Foothills Nordic, in Calgary. While skiing and racing has always been in our vocabulary, I would have to say that we have both been full time athletes from the time we competed in our first Canadian Championships at the age of 12 and 13. Since this time we have traveled around the world training and competing, accumulating dozens of medals, titles and experiences along the way.

There have been many successes and hurdles in the process of trying to become one of the top cross-country ski racers in the world, but there is no doubt that the successes have outweighed the hurdles, as we are still at it! I love the challenges that training and racing present. I love the feeling of pushing my body beyond it's known physical limits and reaching pure exhaustion after crossing the finish line. I love that my job involves being outside, breathing fresh air and seeing places that very few people get to see. I love the community, friends and culture that surrounds our sport, which is why I have been at it for as long as I have.

With 15 years of racing under each of our belts, this will be both Shayla's and my last year as professional ski racers. What better way to culminate an athletic career than racing at the Winter Olympic Games, on our home soil in Whistler B.C? This is our final skiing goal and we hope to provide you with some insight into our preparations of qualifying and racing at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Shayla (2nd from left) and Rhonda (center) show off  one of the first of many ski racing medals.	Rhonda and Shayla race to a 1st and 2nd place finish at the 1999 Canadian Junior Championships.