Thursday, December 27, 2007

Merry Christmas!!!!

Well, that was certainly the best Christmas present I could have possibly given myself; my support crew; and all of those who cheer me on. I finally hit the podium on the World Cup Downhill circuit!!!! (Let me begin by apologizing for the number of exclamation points that will appear in this e-mail - I am admittedly excited!)

After a shaky pre-season, and challenging performances (save for a 6th in Aspen) I was feeling extremely low after St. Moritz. I wasn't myself and I was trying so hard to make it work. I wanted it badly and analyzed everything I did, I was my worst critic. I felt lost and tired knowing that the road I was on wasn't going to take me where I wanted to go and where I knew I was capable of being.


I knew things had to change and I had to figure out the root of this uneasiness. I knew I was still skiing well, in St Moritz I was actually training and freeskiing better than I had in a long time. So this meant there was a disconnect when I raced. It didn't take me long from there to figure out that my inner dialogue was completely negative while I raced (and during most of my training as well). I was never connected to the moment, to the doing. I thought if I tried hard enough, wanted it enough, I could force the results to come. I wanted to prove my inner critic wrong. Obviously this wasn't working. I had to kick the inner critic to the curb first, the results would come second.



I then spent a lot of time writing in my journal, I connected with my sport psychologist Roger Friesen, read from Terry Orlick's book, my coaches set up a meeting with me because they too felt the wall I was putting a wall up around me. Simply put, I got back to just skiing.

From there the results just kept flowing in. I was the most consistent racer in training with a 6th, 5th, and 6th. Luckily, I saved my best result for race day! My run wasn't perfect, but nobodies was. This course is the most technical downhill I've ever run, I was happy to show I could perform this well on a track that had no gliding sections. This course has been likened to the women's version of the Kitzbuhel. I must be a true crazy Canuck then, because I loved it!

Once in the finish area I put on my Santa hat since it was my last race before Christmas (and it's my favourite time of year). Once the awards finished, interviews, press conferences, peeing in a cup (yes, that was a big highlight of my day!), I then made my way the towns infamous Krazy Kangaroo Bar. Although I wasn't there long I did have a lot of fun! In the old tradition, I was behind the bar serving the drinks!

I'm now home in Chilliwack with David and will be spending Christmas with his family in Victoria. I had a quick stop over in Toronto on my way here and had a Christmas in the airport! My sister, brothers, parents, aunt and cousin were there. We ordered pizza and wings right into the terminal and had a great time catching up, smiling, and laughing. It was a wonderful time!

After Christmas, I have some skiing planned in Whistler and quiet time at home.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With More Smiles than I know what to do with,

Kelly

Saturday, December 22, 2007

2nd in St Anton!!!!!

They are calling this course, the Kitzbuhl of the women's circuit. Well, I must be crazy then because I loved it! I will write more later but I wanted to get some images up of this amazing day!

I finished 2nd in a North American sweep of the podium...in Austria no less. This was my first World Cup Downhill podium and my second World Cup podium.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!!












Monday, December 10, 2007

Aspen, Britt Wins, Kelly 6th

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend and looking forward to the Holiday Season as it quickly approaches.

I'm just about to leave Aspen but I wanted to send a quite note because today was a pretty special day. With extremely challenging conditions they were able to get the Downhill race off. They lowered to start (only cutting out the gliding section at the top which was a bit sad for me) and the snow was soft with bumps and piles all over the place after nearly a metre fell yesterday. Still snowing today, we were extremely lucky we got to race, especially with the final results...

Britt Janyk Won! And I finished only .20 off the podium which put me into 6th position. I was in second after the final interval but lost a lot of time to the finish. This was the section that caught me in my last training run and shook me up a bit, unfortunately I was simply too round and tentative. Otherwise, the whole run was a great success.

Take care and Thank you all for the amazing support!

We're now off to St. Moritz...(Val D'Isere got cancelled due to lack of snow).

Big Smiles,
K

Friday, December 07, 2007

Epic Powder, Hot Tubs, Pranks, n Shopping



I've said it before and I'll say it again. I LOVE Aspen!



Although today's race was cancelled it was the best possible situation to have it cancelled. That is because it snowed so much that it was cancelled first thing in the morning. We (the girls) promptly went and rented powder skis! We spent our morning ripping it up in waist deep powder with a few hosts who knew the mountain.

From the hill we went into the outdoor hot tubs at the Sky Hotel! Ahhhhh, rough life. While enjoying our time in the pools, Brett (one of our coaches) came to say hello. He was fresh off the hill and excited about the morning of powder. Without notice or planning, Britt, Sherry, and I got a hold of him and threw him in the pool! Luckily Emily was still in the pool to pull him out in case he sunk to the bottom. He was an amazing sport about it all....although I'm sure we'll have to watch our backs for a while!!!!

After the hot tubs, we went out for a nice lunch then hit the shops. Yes, this was a perfect day (next to a great race day that is)!

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Lake Louise, Right to Play, New Sponsor

Well, the first weekend of racing is now over. Our team saw great success with Britt Janyk's performances and I put in a solid weekend of racing finishing 21st and 16th. Although I'm not happy with those results, I came away with more confidence in my skiing and with the knowledge that not much will have to change to get in the top ten and on the podium. I certainly want it badly enough and have loads of passion itching to get out. I'm currently in Aspen getting set for the Downhill and Super G races that will be held this Friday and Saturday.

There is also some big news about the amazing organization Right to Play. In short, the women's ski team are now ambassadors for Right to Play. Plus, Emily Brydon, Britt Janyk, and myself have become personal Right to Play Ambassadors. On Sunday, the day of the Super G race in Lake Louise, Emily, Britt and I committed our prize money earnings from this race to support Right to Play. Although we didn't end up with the results we'd hoped for this initiative will continue to move forward!

I look forward to announcing our next fundraising initiative with Right to Play!

Here is a link to read more about our Right to Play initiatives,

http://www.righttoplay.com/site/TR?px=1217022&fr_id=1040&pg=personal

On another note, I'm extremely pleased to announce that I have a new headgear sponsor! I will now be working with Teck Cominco. They are a diversified mining and metals company who's headquarters are located in Vancouver. This company is also a VANOC 2010 sponsor and all the metal used to create the medals for the 2010 Olympics will come from Teck Cominco's mines! (I've already asked them to set aside a medal, or two, for me!) This company strives for sustainability and holds true to the many values I feel are important in life and in business. I look forward to working with Teck Cominco.

Here is a link to learn more about Teck Cominco

http://www.teckcominco.com/

Take care and I'll keep you updated as the season unfolds!
Big Smiles,

Kelly