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.