Season Recap

After being home for a week and half or so, I can say its nice to take a deep breath after a demanding season. You may have been able to tell how busy the season has been through my consistency in blogging. There are many discussion points to be tackled such as the championship season result, spring series, goals, and the summer plan.

The championship season was yet again, another test of my mental and physical strength. What I discovered was I lacked in both of these areas at this time. States was brutal for me as an athlete. I DNFed in both the GS and SL but I managed to pull a result in the SG. 6th was good enough to get the envelope and move on to Eastern Champs, but this was just the beginning. Eastern's was to say the least, a learning experience. I watched teammates surpass me by seconds, failed strength wise, quickly my frustration level rose. These three factors I could control but I wasn't doing a very good job at it. I finished 42nd in the SG (Day 2 was cancelled), 35th in the GS, and double DNFed in the Slalom. Oh, and I gained a little insight on what and the hell that thing hard work is called. I am thankful to have had the time to learn. 

I chased some points in a few spring series races to top the season off. As I was aware of the work I needed to throw during the summer and throughout to make any changes in my skiing, I had no intention of becoming a champion in these few. The outcome with this attitude? Better than expected. Result wise, I won one, placed second in another, had a solid second run at the UNH fundraiser, and broke the top 10 the next day at a slalom. I was especially thrilled to get a visit in with my parents after a long stretch. It was a fun 2 weeks to score a couple numbers for the books. 

Towards the end, I was able to sit down with a couple coaches various times to discuss "the plan". This being just about everything from what I am supposed to be doing in the next week, summer camps, dryland, next seasons goals, etc. I was also able to plan out an incredibly intense strength and conditioning plan between my coaches and my trainer. I was super psyched to execute this in less than a week's time. The outcome: next season started as soon as that conversation did and I was going to work so much harder than I had been. I have more drive and motivation than ever. 

My Summer Program is kind of unique and exciting to me because it is nothing like I have done before. This is in the sense that I have not combined conditioning with on snow time and this summer I will be able to do that. When I get home from Northwood for the summer, I will have a time to create a base for my strength before heading off to France. I leave for a training camp with the team towards the end of June and I am there on snow for a couple weeks. I will use this time to really work on fundamentals so I can change something when gate training comes along. The summer season is such a valuable resource for this. I hope to test some skis out there as well. When I come back from the Alps its back to work. The heavy block of strength conditioning before heading off to another chapter at Northwood. I feel more motivated and driven than ever. This season is going to be another step.

Concussed, Break, and States Ahead

After a fall in last week's Empire State Games Slalom, I have been diagnosed with a less than mild concussion. The decision: pull from this weekend's Giant Slalom and Super G. The excitement of this decision: understandable but frustrating. However, the decision was very logical. I have been recovering all week and I already completed the first post concussion test. Despite the result, I should be fully healed by the end of the weekend. I am super excited to jump in to some intense dry land tomorrow and to be back on snow Thursday.

That being said...I am home on an extended break. I was originally supposed to be home Sunday but I made it back yesterday. I intend on making it back on skis Thursday afternoon after flying back to Lake Placid. I am excited to be taking a couple days off but guiding them with some focus. I will be doing lots of dry land and catching up on work...

When I return, I will spend the weekend training. We leave the next Tuesday for State Championships. Can't wait to get out there and race, I feel no pressure for the upcoming series.

Christmas Camp Recap

After another 2 weeks of successful training I can say once again it was time well spent. I skied many days and managed to catch my breath during the days off filled with holiday. Whiteface's conditions were different than I had expected. The rain definitely killed some of our snow. I had two race weekends out of the three I was on break for. All in all, It was great to see family and be on snow at the same time.

The first race which was a GS at Whiteface did not go so well. I couldn't manage to get my head in the game and skied out both runs. I was thankful for that race to get all of that crap out of my system. It gave me an opportunity to really rethink my mental preparation for then and upcoming races. Since it was a weekend, there was another race. However, this race was cancelled due to lack of snow. I jumped back in to training for the remaining time before the next races.

As for the second race weekend, it resembled the first because it was full of experience. In the GS on Saturday at Whiteface I took 13th overall and 2nd for the U16 ladies. It was definitely a fun race and was even better due to the low pressure. I felt pretty laid back and focused the entire weekend. As for Sunday's race I straddled and did not qualify for a second run. I wasn't too upset with this as I started to think about the next set of priorities in training and upcoming races.

Now it is just one week of midterm review and training at home!! Off to Gore and McCauley this weekend...

MSM

Home At Last

After long travel days, I have finally made it home. Well sort of. Upon my arrival from Colorado I managed to be back on campus for a 6 hour total. That would be a non-sleeping period of time as well. The next morning I hopped on a flight home for a 24 hour total. Flying in to Boston is always fun and thrilling. The small ten passenger plane is exciting to fly in. In my day at home I spent time with my family and got some serious work done. I haven't slept in a few days.

There is a big weekend ahead...

A Trip Well Done

15 days well spent. 2 weeks of hard work and tough skiing. Tomorrow is a long day full of travels and thankful for a time to catch up on work. 

I think overall we had several highlights from the camp. I have definitely gained tons of memories from being out here with my ski team and coaches. However, I have to say there was one day that really stood out to me. Arapahoe Basin happens to be my favorite place on earth to ski (so far). We spent an entire Monday here free skiing and ripping it up. It was incredible. My experiences at A-Basin always seem so magical. I will miss it out here and especially A-Basin. 

Round 2: Mountain Day?

Today for dryland we drifted our way through the woods on a majestical hike. I wouldn't call it mountain day 46er material but I would say it is definitely tougher up here at elevation. I'm not sure how long our hike was but we did gain lots of snow in our boots and tons of photographs. The scene was unbelievable and the reward of making it to the top was even better. You could find us laughing and reminiscing and was walked through the path. We didn't really make it to the top of the actual mountain (it's a giant rocky mountain), in fact it would have been quite impossible. However, we did reach our goal. We were greeted by many passing cross country skiers on our way. I had a ton of fun and I'm sure the team did too!

The Last Few Days

As we wrap up the training camp, I am sad. Still super excited to be here and I am definitely not ready to jump in to the season so quickly. Colorado has been very sunny and the snow has been incredible. So happy we made the trip when we did.

Today we were back on slalom skis. In the morning we did our warm up routine and then had a lane to train gates. From 9 to 11 we trained slalom gates at copper. We stopped in between to refuel we water and a snack. The afternoon was full with lunch, drills, and dry land. Another great day!

As we wrap up our time here in Colorado many of us are grabbing some last memories with our friends, focusing on our time on snow, and working extra hard in and outside of study hall!