East Montpelier, VT – It’s autumn, the bright colored leaves are falling and apples are ready to be picked in East Montpelier. While at home, U.S. Cross Country Ski Team member and Olympian Liz Stephen is enjoying what New England has to offer before heading to Europe for the opening World Cup in mid November.nQ: Liz, what have you been up to?
Stephen: I just came from our Lake Placid, New York camp, which was our last dry land camp of the season. Morgan Arritola (Fairfield, Idaho) is actually spending five days here, so we are just doing some easy training and kind of relaxing at home. I have a Golden Retriever so we take her running and play some ball with her.
It’s apple season. We have tons of apple trees so we have been picking apples! Right now we are making a carrot cake with carrots from our garden. I’m living the Vermont lifestyle again, which I don’t always get to when I’m training hard core in the summer in Park City, Utah. It’s really nice to be home and that tends to be kind of stuff I do when I’m home.
Q: Have you been making anything with the apples?
Stephen: My mom made some apple pie yesterday, but apple sauce is usually what I help out with. I’m not really a cooked apple person unless it’s in a sauce version.
Q: Are you the baker?
Stephen: I am definitely not the baker. I definitely don’t like to cook very much and I don’t like to bake. But when I’m home my mom will tell me what to do and I will put the stuff in the bowls and she’ll do the rest. I’m just an extra set of hands. I’m more of a pick it out of the garden and eat it kind of person.
Q: Any big plans while you are home?
Stephen: I’m going to lead some clinics for some local clubs and hopefully visit my elementary school, I tend to stay in touch with those kids during the season. I’ll definitely be training with Burke a little bit. I will be catching up with some local organizations and people that I want to make sure see me before I leave for the winter. But mostly just training and hanging out with my family before the season really gets going.
Q: Have you been catching up on any shows or books?
Stephen: The Team is pretty into a show called “Dexter”, so I’ve been saving season four. It was my turn to buy the DVD. That’s what we will be watching in Finland. I’ve been doing some reading the past few days. I’m reading the “City of Thieves” now.
Q: When do you hit the road?
Stephen: I’m home until Nov. 7 when we leave for Muonio, Finland, which is where our first races of the season will be. Then we stay in northern Scandinavia for a little bit. I think its three weeks then we travel to Switzerland, Germany and France for the last three weeks before Christmas.