D minus one!

The races start tomorrow, but that doesn't mean today wasn't busy!

Members of the team was up early, mostly in an attempt to be ready for tomorrow's early events despite lingering jet lag. There was coffee, relaxing, and map study. A few people went running to loosen up.

Alex stretching after her morning run.

This site of Cristina's post-run swim. Not bad, right?

Tomorrow is probably the busiest day on the WOC schedule. We have six starters (matched only by the forest relay next Saturday) and it's the only day with two races. 

Morning map study in one of the cabins.

After the early morning events everyone running a sprint event headed into the embargoed area for a look about. Yes, you read that right! The city has been completely off-limits since November but was open for walking this morning between nine and noon. The preparation for sprint races at the top is getting fairly sophisticated, with teams making sprint maps at home with the help of online maps and street photographs. It seems strange to be able to visit the terrain the day before the race, but really most of the athletes have been studying the streets of Strömstad for months. 

After the city walk it was time for the sprint model and technical model, giving the athletes a chance to see what the maps/terrain, controls sites, and start procedures would be like. 

The day wrapped up with a team meeting, as usual, covering logistics for the day ahead, tidbits people learned from today's exploration, and sharing goals and positive thoughts for the upcoming race. There's a nervous excitement in the Team USA cabins now, but the overall attitude is that we are ready for action!