I have become accustomed to having ski seasons filled with highs and lows. Typically these peaks and valleys last for a couple weeks. It happens to all top-level athletes. Many times the most successful athletes are able to extend the highs and shorten the time below their potential.
My trip to Europe is only 13 days young, yet it has already been a rollercoaster ride. Things started off rough with my crash, then in the races immediately following my skiing took a few steps backwards while I was trying to figure out how to ski through the pain - which after 11 days is still tough without the help of Advil.
Following my European Cup race, we had some time off and three straight GS races with tough fields of competitors. In all three races, there were World Cup skiers from Austria, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States. The first few races were really a struggle for me. I had a hard time focusing in the start because that is when my body hurt the most. At the time, I was unable to focus on what I need to do in my skiing for the first five seconds because of the pain.
After the second race, I realized that I needed to mentally push through it and block it out. For the third and final GS race of the series, I was able to make an adjustment. There I had two strong runs and finished 6th in a strong field. Despite finishing 6th, I was fourth for the Americans. I was still pleased because I proved to myself that I could push past this injury. Things immediately turned around.
Upon returning to our house, I came to find out that my roommates had come down with a stomach bug that left them nearly crippled. Needless to say, I woke up early the next morning with shooting stomach pains and was soon huddled over the toilet. The stomach bug came on like to tornado, but was gone the following day just in time to leave for my next series of races. Within two days of coming down with the bug, I felt like normal.
Our first race of this series was a slalom today at a place called Wagrain. Wagrain is about a half an hour south of Salzburg, Austria, tucked into a dramatic valley in the Austrian Alps. This series is the Austrian National Junior Championships. Although it is the junior championships, they allow non-junior athletes like myself to compete.
Until today, I had not skied slalom in almost three months and missed out on a day of training right before; however, it did not really throw my rhythm off very much. After skiing only GS for a long time, I was mentally ready for a break from it. The snow at Wagrain was near perfect for racing. The snow was icy, but not slick. The skis were able to grip, but no ruts or grooves developed in the course.
Today's race was not full of World Cup athletes like the previous ones, but it had Austria's top juniors and a few European cup racers so it was still a good field. My expectations have not been high in slalom this year because my training has focused on GS. However, I was able to go out today and execute my game plan for the race. I remained focused on what I needed to do in my skiing to be fast and was able to do it.
When I can do that, I have had great results and today was no different. I skied myself into third place after the first run despite a couple small bobbles before the finish. That gave me a lot of confidence for the second run. The win was within my grasp and I felt that the race was mine to win rather than the other racers' to lose. I had one of my best slalom runs of the year during the second run and came down in first. All I had left to do was watch the athletes that were in second and first come down after me. In the end I was just fast enough (by 0.14 seconds) to gain the win.
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| The winner is the guy in a Windham Mountain hat. |
It was a huge day for me mentally. I once again pushed through some pain, had some great slalom skiing with little training and most importantly executed what I had been focusing on. It felt great.
On one last note: we are staying at a really cool place for a ski racer and a fan of ski racing. Many families in Austria use part of their house as a gasthof. They have extra rooms for tourists to stay. Right now we are staying in one of those, but this one is kind of unique. The Reichelt family owns the house that we are staying in. Their son, Hannes Reichelt, is on the Austrian World Cup team. During the 2007-08 season, he won four World Cup races and the overall Super G title. When we arrived, he greeted us after just returning from Kitzbuhel, where he was 8th in the World Cup Super G.
It is beyond motivating to walk out the front door in the morning on the way to the mountain and see many World Cup medals, a couple red bibs (worn by the leader of that year's World Cup standing in the event being raced) and of course one of the top honors in skiing; a crystal globe for being the best athlete in a given event for the season.
I will be racing GS tomorrow followed by two Super G races over the following two days. I'm looking to keep the focus up and the momentum rolling.