Broken Radius

Sadly, this message is going to be a bit short as I struggle to type with a new addition to my arm - a cast.

Yesterday, my day of Super G training with the girls started out great. In my first run back in speed I won the first run, and in this crew that's something to be proud of any day. My next run I touched the ground with my inside hand on one turn, unfortunately it dug into the soft snow. Although I never fell nor did I lose my pole, I did wrench my wrist badly. I knew right away I'd hurt it. After Dr. Mark Heard took a quick look at my wrist and Andree taped it up as well as she could, I continued with my training session. I did 3 more runs of Super G, and amazingly had some good skiing in there (but slow times as it took me an extra second just to get to the first gate since I couldn't push out of the gate!). The rest of the day I kept it taped up but continued with my regular work of dryland, video, etc.

Today was a day off for everyone. After realizing my wrist still hurt this morning Andree and I decided to get an x-ray done in Invermere. (For this Farnham camp we're staying in Panorama and taking the helicopter in & out of the glacier every day....ya, we're spoiled!) The hospital visit was fast and painless with the aid of a great South African doctor. The x-ray showed a fracture on my Radius' styloid process. So, a cast went on.

I'll continue to train the rest of this camp with some modifications to my pole and taping my hand to it. After two weeks in this cast I hope I'll be able to move into different casts that are more fitting for skiing and weight training. I should be out of the casts in about 4 weeks.

Now the big news, I will be all better and set to race in Lake Louise!

So finally, don't worry about me. I'll be just fine, simply getting some of these injuries out of the way. I'll be ready and excited to race as soon as the season kicks off.

I just read a great article on CBC's website about Farnham with a bit about your's truly in there! Here is the link if you'd like to check it out.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/indepth/column-scottrussell.html

Take care!

Till next time,

Kelly

Farnham Glacier, Leg Solid

What an adventure this is, camping out at Green Camp on Farnham Glacier. The tents are surprisingly comfortable, mostly warm and dry, and the food is amazing with some girls chefing it up with healthy but tasty food.

I've skied four days now and I'm really happy with how my leg is doing. It didn't swell up after skiing and I've been really excited to see how solid in feels in the turns. Although it's not perfect, I'm back skiing so life is back as it should be! Since being here it's snowed about 45cm. This has meant that the training has been less than ideal but at least we've been getting on our skis and doing what we can. However, the last two days of skiing were impressively good after the cat driver's did a great job removing as much snow from the track as possible.

I'm sharing a tent with Meg Ryley, Anna Goodman, Emilie Desforges, and Gail Kelly. We're in close quarters but we all seem to be enjoying it. Although looking at this place with the knowledge I'll only be here for 4 days here is very different than if this was home for weeks...or even months.

There have been a few notable moments here so far. Our first day we had one young girl with Alberta pass out during the orientation meeting (she was fine, just a bit sick and hadn't eaten in a while); a near death experience driving up to the ski hill as our truck lost control going backwards (both luck and skilled driving by Steve pulled us out of this situation unharmed, although it was too close for anyone's comfort and spectators to the incident where pretty scared for our safety); and finally a spider crawling up my arm in the middle of the night which I squashed as soon as I felt it then had to pick it off me and my bed with the aid of my flashlight. Good times, good times.

Regardless, I have to admit I've really enjoyed being here and realizing that this whole set up is here to help us go faster. It's incredible to think about how many people have put in countless hours to get us here. I have to admit it's mind blowing. It makes me feel extremely supported and very excited for every opportunity I'll get to race for Canada in Canada.

No one can ever say skiing isn't inTents!

Cheers,

Kelly