What Do I Do Now?

I am one of those people who thinks that everything happens for a reason—the good, the bad, and everything in between. I believe that the Big Man upstairs needs us to go through these ups and downs so that we can grow and learn and come out the other end even stronger.

Since my last update I raced my last two races at World Under 23 trials in Canmore. My pursuit race was horrible. It was probably the worst race that I have had in years. I was battling the one year anniversary of my former coach’s death and I really wanted to have a good race to make him proud. But with all that on my mind I went out way too hard and suffered for the last half of the race.
I had to refocus for the sprints the next day, but in my semi final I just got nudged out of making the final and kissed my ticket to U23s away.

So for the last week I have been trying to scrape all of the pieces back together and decide what to do next. It has been a bit of a daunting task. With setbacks like these they always make you stop and take a hard look at what you’re doing. Where did I go wrong? What can I change? Should I even keep trying? All of these questions and millions more have filtered through my brain this week. What do I do now?

To be honest I took a day to file through all my options. By the end of that day I had come to terms with the fact that I would be spending the rest of my season in Canada, but I had also come to terms with the fact that it was okay. It is an opportunity in disguise. I have a chance to pursue other types of goals. I can pick up a little more school. I can do all of the races that I have been missing out on the last few years that I have gone to Europe. I can get some solid training in here at home and work on all the things that are holding me back so that they don’t hold me back when it really counts. I have an opportunity to take this so called disaster and make the most of a miserable situation. I can choose to sit back and except defeat or rise to the challenge.

In a sport like skiing, it sometimes feels like if you miss a step or an opportunity along the way that it is virtually impossible to make it to the next one.


It feels like there is no way that you could possibly make it past this point on the stairway to the top because now there is a gapping hole in the staircase.


But if you take the time to learn from your mistakes and become stronger you can build up that stairway again.


And when the next opportunity comes along you will be ready to make it to the top.


My next opportunity is in the form of a world cup race in Whistler this Friday. I have been chosen to race as part of the national group just like last year. I am pretty proud and excited to race against the rest of the world at the 2010 Olympic venue. It should be fun to rip around that course knowing that the very best in the world will be lining up there next year.

Hope you enjoyed my drawings!

Trials- 10km Skate

Well, all in all it wasn't my finest day at the office, but I was happy with how I skied. Skating is something that I have been working on and I think that this race shows that it has come along a bit this year which is encouraging. I was the 5th Canadian U23 skier (11th overall) today so that doesn't set me up well to be chosen for U23 championships but there are still 2 more races.

It was exciting to see some of my training buddies and teammates step up and excel today. Sara Hewitt and Marlis Kromm both had exceptional races finishing as the 2nd U23 and 1st junior racers respectively. It was pretty cool to get to celebrate with them a bit today.

Now, after a cool down, a cold bath for my legs, and a big lunch I am well on my way to being recovered for tomorrows 15km pursuit. Hopefully tomorrow is a little more promising.

Too Cold!

Well, my first World U23 trials race was supposed to be yesterday but due to cold weather I spent the day sleeping in, playing cards, and doing a little ski just to get some training in. The 15km pursuit has now been moved to Monday meaning that I will race the next 3 days back to back to try and qualify to represent Canada in France.

It wasn't much warmer today, but when the sun came out the temperature started to climb from the frigid -31 Celsiuses that we woke up to. Today's race at the Canmore Nordic Centre was a skate sprint that was used as a qualifier for World Senior Championships. It would have been fun to race it, but with my main focus being World U23s I decided that resting would be a better choice.

Tomorrow I race a 10km individual start skate race on a pretty tough course. I am excited to race and pretty nervous. You can find results full results at www.zone4.ca .