It only took a couple of workouts to realize that Dana's dry sense of humor was going to be a major asset to our winter training group. It's physically impossible to get through fifty-something 3-hour workouts in the dead of winter without being able to look forward to having some fun. On numerous occasions, Dana provided this form of entertainment for us. Not in a loud, front-and-center way. More in like a make-fun-of- Walter's-outbursts-with-one-hilarious-comment-in-the-back-of-the-line way.

That being said, Dana definitely hit her prime during body fat testing day. So Dana is a freak of nature, in a way that makes everyone really jealous. She's sub 15% body fat while carrying such an impressive amount of muscle mass. However, Walter was also pressing us to basically eat as much healthy food as physically possible, all day, every day, to increase our energy levels.

Walter followed Dana around the entire day, barraging her with questions about every crumb she's put into her mouth the last month and shaking his head in disgust at how "little" it was. (It was a ton of food.) Finally Dana turns around and yells, "YOU DON'T KNOW MY FAMILY- WE'RE ALL LIKE THIS." In all reality, I definitely think Dana lives off of Lucky Charms, Mac and Cheese, and Jersey Shore reruns. I'm not gonna judge her or accuse her of that though, because if I'm wrong, I don't want the 10% body fat average Trivigno army knocking on my door in Chicago asking me why I'm writing lies about their daughter/cousin/sister on the most popular women's blog in the universe.

As much as we liked to poke fun at Walter's antics and complain about how exhausted we were after the workouts, IPF was a godsend this winter. We all noticed such improvements in our overall athletic performance, partly due to the shoveling of spinach, eggs, and all forms of protein into our gullets and partly due to the high-level training we received. Dana had some good things to say about IPF as well.

"I’ve trained at many different gyms and no other place incorporates competition into the training [like IPF]. By competing against our fellow athletes, it allows us to really push ourselves to our potential. It brings out the best in us."

Dana also had a lot to say about the growth of women's sports, especially hockey.

"I think it is our responsibility to pave the way for other female athletes. Female sports, especially soccer and ice hockey, have come such a long way in the recent years. We are a part of this growth and it is our job to ensure it continues to grow. I think the key to growing the women’s game is by marketing it the right way. We have a great product, it’s a fun, fast, exciting game, but if no one knows about it, no one will come. I think if, as athletes, we continue to grow the game and our games are advertised in the right way, our sport has unlimited potential."

We completely agree, Dana. Now keep eating, keep skating, and we can't wait to watching you at the Olympics next winter.

Follow Dana on Instagram here.

If you missed our features on Dana's teammates, Meghan Duggan and Amanda Pelkey, what are you doing? Read them.