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Not the best post publisher… My apologies!

I have to get back into this…

So here it is!

I am in Ontario right now at my family cottage, with my mom, dad, uncle and aunt. My whole family was here for the first days of the trip which was extremely fun. And loud. My three older brothers are not, and I repeat, not quiet. They ARE fun though : ) I love spending time with them. Especially now that we are all grown up… I think?  We do not see each other that often any more, so time with them is always enjoyable. It is a but more “zen” around here these days though, thanks to my mother who is a yoga teacher in the summer, but more so due to the lack of testosterone. And… I can’t say I’m hating it.

My daily routine involves lots of tennis, working out, yoga with my mom, and reading books. Oh ps. I just got a dragon tatoo on my back… ?? : ) I also have to mention the amount, and quality of the meals we enjoy up here. We have no power at the cottage. The term “roughing it” is said multiple times a day here. When friends come to visit us here we tell them it’s next to camping, to keep their expectations extremely low. Having said that, our main cottage should be at least “THREE TIMES BIGGER THAN THIS!” (Zoolander anyone?) The meals that come out of the tiny kitchen Boyd slaves in, is truly amazing.

This is the view from our cottage. And I swear, this picture is not even that good compared to some of the sights we see out here.

I am back in Vancouver in a week or so, and preparing myself now to hit the gym hard upon my arrival, in preparation for my Chile trip mid September!

55% is Better than Nothin’!

So we got 3 and a half days on snow… the half day was more of a psychological training day then anything I think. I wrote in my last post about my new enthusiastic coach who I like… Well I’m not so sure anymore. Haha We DID have to hike 5 runs of a 30 gate SL course in the torrential downpour one day though. Yes, you guessed it, in our spandex! It was actually not as bad as it sounds considering we were all soaked to the skin through our downhill suits! It brought me back to my K days as a youngster at Grouse; skiing (and loving it!) in every weather condition possible, besides actual snow of course….

But this was the one sunny day!!!

You would have thought we had been training in the heart of Vancouver with all the downpour we experienced in Hood… We did get one sunny day though! And took full advantage of it! Now, at this time of the season, all we are looking for is miles miles miles on our skis! Obviously doing this while perfecting quality and positive muscle movements so our brains instill these movements. We actually got a few runs in on our SG skis which is not a typical thing to see at Hood, but it sure felt good to get on those long boards after a few days of being on toothpicks! (does Slalom need to even exist?)

I am now back in Van, ready to hit the gym hard for the next few weeks! I will be coaching dryland for the youngsters of my home club, Grouse Mnt, this month also which I’m pumped about. Who doesn’t like playing soccer with kids (its amazing how your self esteem just skyrockets after a game with them…) and doing tuck jumps?! I will also be taking a university English course via online. Oh yes, right, and looking for sponsors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back at It!

Well it’s about time I checked back in eh?

After a relaxing month or so off, chilling, being active outside, seeing friends, I am back at it! Back at it in the rain! I am in Mount Hood Oregon with two BC girls who were on the development team last year with me, and the BC Men’s Ski Team. I have been dropped from the National Team for the summer and will reconvene with them in the fall. Due to the post Olympic financial downfall that occurs with every country after the Games, not meeting criteria for the full World Cup team, and also having (besides Britt who is at a different point in her career than me) no speed girls to train with this summer, I will be skiing with the BC Team men. I have taken a pretty positive approach to this summer I think, and am very excited.

Firstly, I will actually get a lot of time on snow this summer, compared to zero days last summer. I will be working with my new coach Brandon Dyksterhouse. He is a young, enthusiastic, positive, and a wicked skier himself! I will be skiing with guys who are very good skiers. This is good for me because guys typically are better technically at skiing then girls, so it will be a good visual to have with me all summer. And lastly, I am switching ski companies to Head!

We’ve had two days on snow so far here at Mount Hood. The weather is not ideal, but for what we are doing, it’s quite alright. At this time of the year we get back to the basics of skiing and work on the fundamentals. We are doing a lot of runs, (as many as we can with the rain… But I’m from Vancouver, it’s second nature to me! ) and drills, on our SL skis. This is exactly what I need, improve my technical ability in this sport, in order for me to achieve my goals at the highest level of skiing, which is the World Cup.

Day 3 tomorrow! Let’s hope that rain decides to stop!

Jets are running out of fuel!

Well, we’re all back at (unfortunately) home away from home, Nakiska, for the Nationals.

We have a few more days of racing until this season is over, and I can say honestly my body is thankful. It is a struggle mentally and physically attempting to give it my all for each race. I have not performed to my potential ability, which is not helping my finish strong. BUT! There is still two more days of racing for me, and I WILL give it my all, whatever that may be, and hopefully be happy with myself at the end of both races. That’s all I can do. Having my father and brother here is super nice and definitely helping, and the sunny days are aiding to good attitudes as well.

I have no idea of my spring/summer schedule as the National team each year goes through a very in depth process of analyzing the previous year before going ahead and starting the next year. And I don’t think this year’s analysis will be any different than last year with having the Olympics in our own country. The ACA staff will be definitely be putting their thinking caps on together, for more than a few days.

But that is out of my control, and I am only going to focus on the next few days and finish the season smiling (let’s be honest, I’m always smiling)!

Last trip of the season!

I have been reunited with the rest of the Development for the past 4 days. It’s fun hanging out with more then 2 teammates, let alone girls my own age! : )

We had 3 days of early morning, solid training in Quebec at Mount Orford and now are in Burke, Vermont. We are racing Super G in two days here which kicks off the NorAm final race series. We’ll race the Super G and the Super Combined here then head to Waterville, Newhapshire for the GS and SL races.