Wow I had a big week. It was sweet, I got to forerun my first race on tuesday. It went well. It was a europa cup and Hailey and were pushing it. My first run was wild I was so excited to get in the gate and feel that race feeling. I went out the first run but since I was only forerunning I got to go for the second run and I was 7th so that made me feel pretty good. Its nice to see where you stand especially after all the training and when you are working hard to come back in a short period of time. Hailey and I trained on wednesday that was sweet, injected snow in kirchberg, pretty difficult. Then off to Garmisch. The men and women are racing this weekend and so it was so nice to see everyone. A bit hectic too. All the families and mens and womens team in one hotel is crazy. Super fun to see everyone and lots of things for us to do. We got to go visit the Army base here and meet some of the kids that live and visit. Some of the little kids were so cute and excited to see some serious skiers. he he… The women had a slalom yesterday and many people were expecting me to race, but its a very difficult hill to start on and I decided to just free ski the hill on thursday and forerun the second run. Which ended up being a better idea because I was all over the place. The hill was in great condition but its steep and the course set was more intense then I have practices. So it was good to get that out of the way. It was cool to be at a world cup again and see all the girls and feel the vibe and be in the gate and rip through the finish. I was a rodeo queen all the way down so I have a few more things to work on.
Next on the agenda are some fis races to forerun and some more training. Getting ready for France. Hopefully Ill be ready. You know me and how much I love those world champs! Gotta do it! Right… he he
I had a great weekend training, getting some longer courses in and different terrain and snow. I need it. I need to step it up. Im pushing it up to the next level this week. A little fore running and working my way to racing. I feel super strong and have been taking slow and steady steps. I have had amazing training with my team mates and my coaches and I have a great plan so I am happy and feel confident. This is going to be fun!!!!!!!!!!! I love Skiing!!!!!! Thanks to all of you who have supported my journey and who always believed in me! You guys are the best lets go take on the world!
I was writing my blog yesterday to say that we need to all send healing vibes to Daniel Albrecht for his big crash. Unfortunately we got hit hard again today. So I am sending lots of healing and love and the best of wishes to TJ and Leanne Smith along with Daniel and all the families. I got to hang out with TJ today and his spirits are high and he is already planning his strong comeback! His teammates were bummin to have him out again. On a better note skiing was great today, sunny and fun to be training with Hailey and some of the mens slalom team. Also for the first timers on the Hahenkamm Erik, Andrew and Donkey did awesome!
OMG Italy was awesome! We went up into Pozza Di Fassa and trained for the week. It ended up raining most of the time but it was so fun. It always feels so good to have a solid training block especially when you need it. I had Sarah and Megan there to train with and there spirits are always good. Also Sarah had the fam in tow so we pretty much spent the whole time watching Lasse grow in front of us. He was into dancing…. So cute. I gained about 10 kgs eating, the food was soooooo good and I kept getting my hands on gelato. Oh man but it was good. Anyways back to Austria, training with Hailey and Seth and maybe get to watch some of the mens races! Yippy… also the women are in Cortina so go USA, big weekend!
So this week has been pretty uneventful. I got to hang out with some of the other girls on the team which was exciting. Its always nice to get to know the rest of your team and have some good meals and laughs together. They are all headed off to race. Sad…. but its ok. I had amazing training. I got to ski some GS and that was sweet. I felt super balanced and confident. Then I went back to slalom and started to up the intensity. I skied more gates, sections but more of them. The snow here in Kirchberg is pretty rock hard so its a bit hard on the body, also putting on a race suit for the fist time in a year was awkward. So tight and heavy. Anyways it was fun today, great weather and getting more skiing under me which is always nice. Oh yeah and I took my first digger. Felt pretty good, Trevor was proud of me to get the first crash back out of the way. It was a cart wheel and very minor. Tomorrow is my last day of training in Kirchberg for a bit. I am excited for a new ski area. Somewhere in Italy we are headed! Cant wait!
I finally got a day off. Much needed… it started off with lots of tea and coffee and a big breakfast. Needed it so I could cheer on my team mates. I watched ski racing and ski jumping all day. Ripping GS skiers out there, pretty cool to watch and the ski flying is always amazing. Keely and I need to get out and get some fresh air so we went coss country skiing and it was pretty entertaining. We also got to go visit Annas bunnies which were so cute and soft! Pretty good day off!
Since I have been training so hard I decided to go on a little adventure. A ski adventure in Kitzbule. From Kirchberg you can take a gondola that meets up with the Kitzbule resort (for us it would be the size of 5 resorts) and ski half way across tirol, till you are up on a mountain and can almost see italy. I could ski to Lienz almost. he he. It was a beautiful day and I went out with some of my friends who showed me all the secret spots. Some of the most amazing sights were not always the skiing but the trams and gondolas that get you across massive valleys and up rocky cliffs so you can dine in a little Austrian hut. After eating myself sick I had to ski all the way back. All I wanted to do was curl up and sleep until I got out there again and realized the best part was yet to come…. Pink powder is what they call it… Its when the sun sets and the snow dust off your skis is pink, beautiful, I skied till 5 and found my way back to Kirchberg. My treat for skiing all day was a little mountain water and then it was off to bed ready for a new day of skiing!
So for the last 5 years I got to rip around Europe in a brand new Audi. Lots of horse power and any color I wanted. Not this year…. here is my little baby. She is hilarious, can barely get all my stuff in it. Its a mix between a panda and a smart car. Getting up to 140 is sketchy so I try to stay away from the autobahn. Gets me to where I need to be and keeps the speeding tickets to a minimum. Cant wait to take this thing off roading!
Today was finally sunny! Super cold, just keeps dropping everyday but I dont mind as long as the sun is out! I got a full crew for me today which was awesome. Trevor and Jim my coaches and my kick ass Tech Marco worked really hard to put up a sweet slalom course for me. I got to do gates, lots of them! yippy. One step closer….. they felt really heavy. It was great, learning so much all over again, Trevor has some new styles he is trying to get me to work on and it feels funky but the girls are ripping so I trust him! Good to have Jim back over here and nice to have the support!
I finally made it back to Lienz! Its been over a year since the last time I was here and it was not a pretty sight for me when I left. I was on lots of drugs with lots of broken bones. Coming back was pretty emotional, scary, happy, excited visions of my crash and memories of the last time I was here. I spent the day cleaning up the house and unpacking, getting settled in for the season. It was dark when I finally made it out of the house, I decided to go take a walk. Super cold here and lots of snow which is not normal, but always christmasy and beautiful!
Oh and the suit…. thats the one I crashed in and they had to cut me out of…. anyone want to buy it? he he
