May 1st is generally considered the “New Year” in
the ski training world. We have all had April to run wild, and come May we
start to refocus and buckle down a little more. Since I’m no Hoff when it comes
to blogging I thought I should at least start the year off right. This means I
have to rewind all the way back to the Olympics- here goes…
The Olympics were obviously an unreal experience with Russia
putting on the show of the century. That side of things was far better than I
had imagined. When we were in Sochi the year before for our test event I was
fairly certain at that time that nothing would be finished. But it was, and so
the show went on. For me, although the races didn’t go as well as I’d been
imagining for the last year, in the grand scheme of things it was ok given the
year I was having. Sometimes you just have to step back and put things in
perspective. In November it was looking like I might not even make it around
the sprint course once, so to qualify, and ski a heat with three ladies who I was
sure were going to be on the podium that day was a small success, and for Dasha
and I to be so close to the final in the teamsprint was hard to swallow given
what we had done the year before and what our goals were.
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| Five ladies on a beauty training day in Sochi! -photo thanks to Chandra:) |
Following Sochi I flew straight to Finland to continue on
with the rest of the world cup. Lahti weekend was agonizingly close for me, I
was just outside the top 30, which is always frustrating, but I channeled my
frustrations into the next sprint in Drammen, Norway. This is one race I’ve
never done well in, in the past I haven’t even been close to making it into the
heats. My usual routine is to ski the qualifier, then go to the bakery and warm
up and dry out while my teammates get ready to ski the rounds. This year though,
I was determined not to let that happen, and I didn’t. Although the end result wasn’t amazing, to
finish in the 20’s in Drammen was a great way to end my world cup season. The
following day I travelled home to Canmore a place I hadn’t been in over three
months.
Although I love being on the road, it’s always really nice
to come home, use my kitchen, do my own laundry, drive myself to go skiing, and
visit with friends. The last stop of the year was Cornerbrook, Newfoundland for
Nationals! The Blow Me Down Club hosted an awesome event, and it was great to
see a different part of the country, my first trip to Newfoundland was
incredible. I hope I make it back there again sometime soon.
Post Nationals I was in Canmore for one more week before
heading to Nicaragua with a group of friends and SchoolBOX to work on a school not
too far from Granada. This was a project we had in the works for the better
part of a year, so to actually get down there and get into it was awesome. It
was a total shift from ski-life, and just what I needed. The community we were
in was a truly incredible one. It seemed like everyone was lending a hand to
make this project happen. Either cooking meals for the construction crew, and
us, or coming out to help on the building site everyone was excited and doing
what they could to make a school in their community a reality. It really is
impossible to put into words the effect that SchoolBOX is having over in Nicaragua,
but one thing I can say is it doesn’t take much. Simple things like notebooks
and pencils make a huge difference in the lives of these kids, and open up
opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise be there by giving them the gift of
education. For five dollars you can give a child education for a year. And from
our experience they are thrilled to have an opportunity to learn.
What now? I’m back in Canmore and not done yet! I’m eager
and motivated to get back into training, but just want to make sure I’m 100%
healthy and recovered first. That’s the last three months in a nutshell!
I’m heading home to Almonte at the end of May, and can’t
wait to share my Sochi experiences with everyone, and say thank you to my incredible
community for all of the amazing support.
See you soon!
Peri
Peri
