Hello from the Houston airport again!
It truly feels like two weeks ago I was here and flying down to Argentina for my first summer camp with the Team and now I am back (almost two months later) and headed to Chile for more skiing!
This time I am heading down to Portillo, Chile for five days of DH (my first time ever at this iconic resort - which I’m very excited about) and then onto Corralco, Chile (where I’ve been once before in 2018) for two more weeks of speed training with the US World Cup DH girls.
The Women’s WC Speed Team is split into two teams this year: The WC Downhill squad - Breezy Johnson, Bella Wright, Jackie Wiles, and Alice Merryweather and the EC SG/GS group - Me, Keely Cashman, Lauren Macuga, Alison Mollin and Alix Wilkinson (currently injured). These two groups will work closely together and overlap throughout the season as many of us will be focusing on WC speed, but our training plans this summer were different as the first group was focused primarily on speed training, while our group was focusing on getting quality GS training in the prep period as well.
For me personally, I think training a lot of GS is the best thing for my skiing from a technical perspective (and I still have plenty of technical aspects of my skiing to improve on), and Argentina was incredibly productive for that. I actually felt like I was skiing my most consistent and fastest GS skiing ever! But I still plan to focus on the WC speed circuit this season (as both my guaranteed WC spots are in speed events: Super G and DH), so I also need to work on my speed skills, which is why I asked to join the DH group in Chile for our second prep camp. Speed skills are just as critical for success and often just take more time on speed skis and getting as many reps in as possible. I don’t have as much experience as most of the other WC Speed athletes because of my background as a technical skier so I need all the time I can get! It’s a delicate balance for me between focusing on GS training and good, solid technique vs just getting as much time on speed skis as possible, but I’m hoping that the Argentina GS/SG block will provide a solid technical base and now I can make some progress on the speed skis for the more specialized speed skills: gliding, tucking, tactics etc.
I am very thankful that my coaches were supportive of me making the decision that I felt was best for my skiing (after consulting with them of course :). This confidence to take a step back and think critically about what I think is best for my skiing - and then figure out ways to make that work- is one (of many) things that I think the past seasons of racing independently taught me. Although I will admit that I’ve always been one to challenge the status quo, so maybe it has always come naturally. The real challenge for me is not second guessing my decisions, which is something I am also slowly getting better at: thinking critically, deciding intentionally, then committing to the plan. I feel very good about this decision, but I’ll keep you updated at the end of the camp :)
I’m so excited to be skiing again soon, and I feel as fit and strong as ever! (I think I wrote a similar comment in my blog about a year ago, but I looked at some of my workout stats and I think I may have edged myself out again this year :). I will admit that the past two weeks of training felt like more of a grind than usual which always happens this time of the year. I feel like I have reached my peak fitness level and the thought of maintaining that - or pushing my limits any further - is somewhat daunting, so I am very grateful it’s time to ski again - and my dryland/gym time focus will now turn more towards maintaining where I am at versus trying to get stronger and fitter. I think this a good example of how important seasons, or finish lines of some sort, are - it’s hard to grind perpetually on the same thing without changing your routine a bit.
I’ve had a wonderful last 4 and a half weeks at home with family and friends- a bonus month of summer that I don’t normally get (our training schedule was changed a bit this year). I’m including some photos below of some non-skiing related content to give you a snapshot of what life looks like off the hill :)
Thanks for reading! More updates from Chile soon :)