Our Journey

Well we’ve had the week off and are now gearing up to be back on snow, but what a week we’ve had!!! Colorado has been about 65 degrees and sunny! Is it really November???  I had a great week off, despite free riding a couple of days.  Because we’ve been riding gates so much, and there isn’t a lot of room to free ride at Copper lately, I went up to A-Basin for a little “extra-credit” to work on my technique!  So some much needed runs as I am trying to get fully dialed in with my technique as the race season is about to get underway.

Being back at home in Steamboat for the last few days has been awesome!  Justin and I stained our deck, did some laundry, and paid bills! It seems like that’s all I do when I go home in the winter… Unpack, laundry, repack, pay bills… But needless to say, it is great to sleep in my own bed, cook a meal in my own kitchen, and spend some time with Justin.  Thankfully I’m all caught up and well rested, gearing up for a busy week!

We have our first Nor-Am (North American) races this week in Copper on Thursday and Friday.  By the sounds of it, there are quite a few teams who made the trek out here, so it looks like the field will be stacked with North Americans, Asians, and Europeans.  It should be a great race.  AST has had some great training days on the race hill and we are all feeling well prepared!  So with a little luck and all of our skills, we should come out with a few podiums!

In the meantime, we have a couple more days of training and I’ve got my Sports Psychology book to read, In Pursuit of Excellence by Terry Orlick! Gotta make my head fast too!

Well Rob is back to his usual of running our energy stores dry, just like training in Mt. Hood.  The only kicker here in Colorado, is that we’re at 12,000 feet from sea level as opposed to the 7,000 foot elevation in Hood.  But for me, it is great to be in Colorado, close to home.  You would think I would be used to the elevation, but I just spent 10 days in Holland (aka SEA LEVEL), then 4 days in New York City (aka SEA LEVEL), then 2 days in Florida (aka SEA LEVEL) visiting Justin’s mom.

While in New York, I had a couple of interviews which was cool.  One was with the fitness editor of SELF magazine and the other with Fitness magazine.  It was pretty neat to be able to talk about snowboarding, sharing my passion, discussing my workouts, and seeing other women’s interest in what I do.  My hope is that I can spread my passion for snowboarding further as I continue this journey to the Olympics.  What a story it will be, once I get there!  

I had a blast cruising around New York and pretending that I’m a city girl! Haha A country bumpkin from Vermont and Colorado… It doesn’t get much farther from being a city girl! Oh well I had fun!  On a total side note, I went wedding dress shopping with my Mom and friend, Sarah.  We found a dress and it was such a blast! (For those who didn’t know, Justin proposed to me in August… What an exciting year I have ahead of me!)

Anyway, back to Copper… It just started snowing and by the sounds of it, it’s not supposed to stop for a couple of days.  We’ve got FEET in the forecast! So we’ll see how training goes tomorrow, as we definitely prefer a nicely groomed hard surface.  Can’t complain about snow though, we need it! So think snow!

Today was our first official day back on “tour.”  Although, I’ve been in Holland for a few days now the boys just arrived yesterday as well as the rest of the teams.  It’s great to see everyone, but also interesting to get back on snow during “all train” (when all teams train on the race slope together).  It’s hectic, everyone has some nerves, but overall it’s a great feel.  Except for the fact that we aren’t looking over some beautiful mountain landscape from the top of the mountain.  We’re indoors, looking at a ceiling, a flat slope, and windows into the bar at the bottom!  So funny!!! For those who have never experienced indoor riding… It’s a trip!  I’ll try to take a photo and post it for everyone to see.  But regardless, it’s doing the trick!  We’ve got great snow, there’s no possibility for bad weather, and we’re back riding as a team again.  

I have been here free-riding for a couple of days, which was going super well.  I was feeling very strong and confident on my board.  Today in gates was a little more tricky to get the timing down, but by the end I found the rhythm.  So tomorrow just a short day (maybe 3 runs) to get some good feelings, a little recovery training, and I’ll be ready to rock on Friday! (Race Day, just in case you didn’t know:))

We also got our new speed suits.. VERY exciting!! They were sent to Josh’s house, so he brought them over and they look AWESOME!  Thank you to BCF for the great design (and hard work that went into the logistics). And thank you to Vist for manufacturing them.  They look sharp and fast!

Huge shout-out for the support of AST by my hometown paper Steamboat Pilot & Today! 

Thanks!

Well another day in paradise!  Oregon has been in the midst of a heat wave, but luckily we still have plenty of snow and, of course, motivation to continue our amazing training at Timberline!  Meanwhile, I got a message from my fiancé, Justin, today that Steamboat is getting snow… ohhh man I have a seasonal SHOCK coming my way, when I drive home this weekend!  Gotta love our vast country, where it can be 90 degrees in one state and snowing in another!
 
We’re still out there ripping on our Slalom boards, preparing for our first World Cup in a couple of weeks and rest assured… we WILL be prepared.  Rob still has us doing countless (we’re snowboarders, we can’t count that high… HAHA jk) runs a day.  I think last week we made about 75 runs in the course and about 100 total.  Clearly, we are getting lots of repetitions and engraining some FAST new habits into our technique. And mostly importantly, we’re still smiling!  So cheers to some more great turns tomorrow and in the days, weeks, months, and races to come!

The games are getting close, and people are starting to get excited.  Check us out on KOIN TV!

Well after two solid weeks on snow, we’ve have officially and successfully completed our first AST camp.  We are all super excited and very optimistic for the upcoming season.  I think I can speak for everyone when I say we’re all pretty whooped and excited for a week of rest, but regardless we are feeling great on our boards and we are definitely getting in “riding” shape!  

Personally, I had a bit of a challenging week, as I couldn’t really find my balance and control on my board.  My turns were feeling pretty horrible for the beginning of the week, but I’m working it out and Rob has been right along side me the entire way.  We had some great lift rides together, as we begin our new athlete/coach relationship and I think the best thing I learned all week from him is that his most important coaching tool is a cup of coffee.  Not only a man after my own heart on the coffee thing, but it gave me even more confidence in his coaching style, in that he wants to get to know me and talk things through together.  This is just how Thedo and I have always worked and I know that I relate well to it.  Yet another confirmation that I am in the best position physically with the team and mentally I am only going to get stronger.  I have a lot to learn this year and I am the first to admit it, but I am confident that I will prevail.

I’ve always said that snowboarding has taught me more about myself than anything else, any school, or any life lesson.  This year proves to be no different.  But what is reassuring is that I’m taking a new approach.  New approach = Different results.  There’s the famous quote, “the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?”  I thought it was from Albert Einstein, then I googled it and I found that Benjamin Franklin is also attributed to it, however WikiQuotes.com tells me that both are misattributed and it was perhaps originally Rita Mae Brown in Sudden Death (Bantam Books, New York, 1983), p. 68. Whoever said it… Regardless I’m not insane! haha

I hope everyone enjoys their labor day weekend and we’ll chat again soon!