Whistler Summer Training

Summer Training

They say time flies when you are having fun, and it is true! This summer has flown by and its crazy to think the end of July is upon us. 

My summer has been the best of my life. Ive always loved Whistler and have wanted to live here as long as I can remember. Training has been tough, super long hours in the gym 4 times a week, gymnastic 3 times a week, and a ridiculous amount of time on bikes. Some of the bigger days, we managed 3 rides on top of a full morning workout. Weekends are dedicated to riding. Days off are a thing of the past!

This summer has been a big change for me and its allowed me to reinvent myself. A second chance at fixing my weaknesses and using my past mistakes and experiences as ways to better myself as an athlete and person. Looking back on my Alpine career, I believe I settled at being mediocre at some things I just accepted that I wasnt the best at. I never could jump high, everyone on my old team knew this, I couldn’t olympic lift very heavy, I didn’t have good technique. I consoled myself with the fact that aerobically I was always the fittest. I could skateboard, ride anything on my bike, I was a good skier and wasnt afraid of anything. I stuck to my strengths and I was alright. When adversity struck, I relied on my strengths to over compensate my weaknesses, with out really addressing them full on. 

Kelsey Serwa, Olympic silver medalist, Xgames gold medalist etc.. Had a huge impact on how I viewed training and what my capabilities were. I have been so lucky to have Kelsey as a training partner. If Kels doesnt get something right away, she finds a progression, chips away at it until she nails it. She also has the most ripped arms which is inspiring all alone!

Its been so cool to address training with a new perspective, and realize the limitations Ive put on myself are self inflicted and mean nothing. You can do anything you want to do. Don’t settle, be the person you want to be, and do the things you want to do.

We also had the opportunity of getting up on Blackcomb Glacier for some on snow training. We had amazing GS training, high volume and great snow. Thanks Sead and Rod for setting up the Ski Cross start gate. It was so fun to pull some starts in a real gate as this is one of the main things I have to work on. Skiing a GS course with someone is the best way to ski GS. I had the dumbest grin on my face the whole course!

Last weekend, I raced the first Canadian RedBull 400. This is the steepest uphill race in the world, you are basically spider walk bounding up a wall. This race went surprisingly super well for me. My goal was to qualify top 20 and make it to the finals. I ended up 5th overall which was awesome. I did this race with my team mates Kevin Drury and his girlfriend MK, and Matt Brady. We all pushed ourselves as hard as we could and made it through the pain together. Cant wait for next year, we are thinking of maybe training once or twice prior to the race :p.

Summer training is still full force but I am heading back to La Belle Province next week for my best friend Cath Blanchards Bachelorette. Cant wait to spend some time in Tremblant and see my family. 

On to the next

On to the next

2 months post torn calf, I got back on my skis in Whistler. I can't thank my physio Jenny Delich enough for all her hard work in getting me healthy. I spent a ton a time with Jenny this year especially, and with out her help and hard work, I would probably be in a wheelchair or something.

It was so great to be back on skis, and whistler is always a great time. Thanks Mom and Pops for letting us stay at your place and live the high life for a couple weeks. 

After whistler, I came back home to Canmore, and to real life. After a season of injuries and bad luck, the Canadian Alpine ski Team informed me that having failed to meet the set criteria, I was not to be nominated to the team for the upcoming season.  I respect the difficult financial situation of the Team, and I understand that there hands were tied. Past success does not ensure a spot on the roster, and the unfortunate injuries I sustained this season put me in a real difficult place. 

After many sleepless nights, tough days, and a ton of discussing the future with those close to me, I finally came to a decision of what I wanted to do. I want to keep racing, doing what I love, just with some added airtime and traffic.

After the news of not being invited back on the National Alpine team, I was beyond blessed to be offered a spot with the Ski Cross National team. It is an amazing opportunity for me, and one I want to take. Canada has the best team in the world, and I am beyond honored to have the opportunity to learn from the greatest ski cross racers in the world. 

I am halfway through my first on snow camp with SX, and I know already this is where I am meant to be. The first day, I was told by the coaches to go do some turns and hit the jumps in the park. Sold! 

Ski Cross was always on my mind, and something I wanted to do. I love skiing and It's what I'll be doing my whole life. I'll miss slalom and Alpine Racing  more then I can say, it already feels like I've lost a part of my soul.

Change is hard, and new things are scary. I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I've ended up where I needed to be.


Britt

Keep on Keeping on

This ski season has been one for the record books, not in a good way. I went into the season skiing through pain and with less then ideal training volume. Every race was a struggle, and I slowly eventually got kicked out of the top 30 on the World Cup start list. 

The Europe trip was great, I love training and I love being in Europe. My parents, brother Mike, and his girlfriend Bianca came over for a few weeks and got to watch a couple races. Its great having my bro around because he's so honest about what my racing looked like to him, often he's spot on with what isn't working. He always skied similar to me, we both are probably the worlds fastest hikers in slalom, and have some pretty good recovery tricks. 

My boyfriend Matt also came to Europe for a week to watch Zagreb World Cup. Although my result was disappointing, it was so nice to have him there and get to experience our world. Thanks for making a tough race into a great day. Boy you make me happy!

January was in general going well, I was feeling good and I was skiing fast, something I had not been doing prior to the new year. Unfortunately I couldnt put it together in Flachau, Austria, the last world cup before World Championships, hence not being named to the Team set to compete in Vail/ Beaver Creek. This was disappointing and hard to deal with, but I saw it coming with my lack of results, and it did not come as a huge surprise. 

After returning from Europe, I was set on making this disappointment into a positive. I started straight back into training in Calgary and Nakiska with the Devo Team. The training has been unreal, and so fun. Slalom was going great, and my Giant Slalom was slowly getting better every day. I also got to train some Super-G which was awesome, took me awhile to get comfortable with being patient in the turns but everyday was getting better. 

Huge thanks to PL Dumoulin and Peter Rybarik for the great coaching and training. These past 2 weeks have been so fun and amazing on snow training. Also big thanks to my first ever ski technician with the Natinoal Team, Aaron Speeden aka Speedy, for prepping my slalom skis to perfection for the ICE box known as Calgary Olympic Park. Everyone was saying how icy it was but I didn't really know what they were talking about :p

Unfortunately, last thursday, my season came to a halt. I was training on the race hill at COP, when second run in the course, I kicked out of the start, heard a pop, and felt a searing pain in my left calf. I stopped immediately and knew that the upcoming NorAms and probably the rest of the season were not going to happen. It felt like a bad dream, I stood there for a couple seconds trying to process what had just happened. I made my way down slowly and eventually got my boots off and went straight to the Canadian Sports institute medical centre. Thank you to Peter for driving me around, and Jocelyn Mccarthy for taking care of my skis and getting my stuff for me.

After a day of seeing our Physio and Doctor, and getting an Ultrasound on my leg, it was confirmed that it was a indeed torn in 2 places, one being quite bad, worse then originally assessed. Time frame of when I can ski is still unknown, its sounding like the end of the season for me, but hopefully things progress faster then estimated. 

 Going from the ultimate high of my life last year at the Olympics, to the worst season of my life, ending with an injury is a tough one to swallow. Sport is hard, and even when everything is going well, sometimes things just don't work out. All things in perspective, its not a big deal. I am thankful for everyone in my life who has supported me in my career and my life as a person. I wish I could have made this year exciting and inspiring with my skiing. 

Racing is what I do, and skiing is who I am. My love and passion for skiing has never wavered, and this is just a rutt in the course.

Britt

Big congrats to my team down in Vail/Beaver Creek. Dustin Cook silver in the Super-G and then another career best in the GS, 12th. Phil, Trevor, Erin, and Candace SLAYED the team event claiming another silver. Mikaela Tommy (Killer/Kaylers) got her first top 30 result of many more to come. Trevor sent it to personal bests in both SL and GS. Erin and Mitch both gave'r in the slalom and ended up 6th and 10th. Homegirl Val Grenier  first World Champs with a top 20! SICK