Howdy! That's the way we greet out in Colorado Springs... Tombstone it is not, but there are times during our off-ice performance evaluation camp, nestled against the backdrop of Pike's Peak, you feel at one with the harsh beauty of the wild west, and then there's the treadmill test... If there is anything powerful enough to break the natural mystique of the frontier, it is most certainly our semi-annual lactate threshold test. Basically, lactate is a waste product of physical exertion. The body has natural means of clearing lactate from the blood stream, which, if gone unchecked, can theoretically "poison" your muscles until physical exertion is no longer possible. I think you can see where this is going... The treadmill test at the Olympic Training Center mimics this process. We get on the treadmill at 6.5 mph for two minutes, at the end of two minutes, a blood sample is taken and the speed is bumped up to 7.0 mph. This process continues, every two minutes a blood sample is taken and the speed is bumped 0.5mph. The test ends when you can't run any more! This may occur through fatigue, fainting, or plausibly cardiac arrest. The latter has not yet occurred, but don't think it doesn't cross my mind every time I roll up to the OTC sports lab... Overall, the test really is a fan favorite. Somehow we manage to get through it every year, even if there is just a little bit of whining and misery. We turn the sports lab into a disco, blaring music and cheering each other on. Everyone on the complex can tell when the Women's Hockey Team is in town.

                       

In addition to testing, we divide up into small teams and have competitions throughout camp. They can be anything from competing in challenges in the weight room to climbing the incline. I was the captain of team "Pretty in Pink," for obvious reasons. My cracker-jack team included: Hilary Knight (Hanover, N.H.), Jinelle Zaugg Siergiej (Eagle River, Wis.), Rachael Drazan (Orono, Minn.) and Erica McKenzie (Hastings, Minn.). We may not have won the incline or the treadmill, but we sure won the tug-o-war, which, I think we can all agree, is the most important bragging-rights event. I also would like to extend a small shout out to Jinelle, who had gotten married about a week before camp! Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Mike Siergiej! After the final workout on Saturday, she could finally let her hair down and plan packing for her honeymoon!

As for the incline, contrary to my worst fears, no one fell off into the abyss. As a matter of fact, our team absolutely killed that test of wills. For my money, we all improved our times, some quite substantially, and the team average time took a serious nosedive. We also managed to escape without any seriously turned ankles from the run down, which is more of an achievement than anything else in my book. What now incline?! Consider yourself trounced!

My favorite part of camp was NBC's coverage of the entire thing. We had a camera crew with us 24/7, and, more impressively, our good friend Clare Duffy, who was on camera covering each event, simultaneously participated. She did the treadmill test, fended the bike work out, hit the weights and dominated the incline. Clare is a weekend warrior puckster herself, and plays at Chelsea Piers in NYC. The whole NBC crew was fantastic throughout, but special props to Clare for going for it, and being a member of Team USA during one of the toughest weeks out of our entire year.

Now, those of Team USA go our separate ways for the summer. We will meet back in Blaine, Minn., in August for our annual festival. This year there is even more riding on the line than usual, as the 23-woman Qwest Tour roster will be named at the camp's completion. This team will stay together through the Olympics, eventually whittling down to 21 names. It is the most grueling few months you can ever have, emotionally, as well as physically. We will all be doing our utmost to prepare this summer, so that we may have no regrets about whatever may come to pass. Wish us luck!