With Glowing Hearts
One summer when I was a little girl, a bird flew down the chimney and into our wood burning stove. I remember the strange sounds coming from that cast iron pod in our basement and I remember truly feeling worried on behalf of that bird. When my dad had devised a plan – he turned […]
MY Great Perhaps
Our week in Königssee, Germany was a lot like the track: tricky and quick – but full of lessons. Joining up with 8 of my teammates and our head-coach was a pleasant change of pace and made for many nights of dinner laughs and even a couple team-adventures. Team Canada Skeleton might look different as a […]
Stop At Never
Hello my friends – the 2014/15 sliding season is officially underway! As per usual, my racing timeline started directly after Canadian Selections and as always, required quick packing and even speedier travel arrangements. With my season being 100 percent self-funded this year, getting things booked, timed and secured last minute was an even trickier situation. […]
Begin Again
Nothing gives easy; easy gives nothing. The fact is, life is hard. Sometimes, it’s really f*ing hard. We push, we pull, we grasp and we clutch. There are times that we fall and other times we stand triumphant. Through it all we acknowledge our rivals who knock off our edges and shape who we become. But no […]
Story Of A Girl
We tend to think it’s going to be just one moment that grows us up, that changes us; that guides us to becoming that ‘better’ version of ourselves. Instead, it ends up being more like a thousand of them – and when each one happens, there’s no going back. Since the fateful day I hit […]
Hold On. Let Go.
On a crisp Monday morning, that feels a lot more like September than mid-November, a SOCHI.RU emblazoned chartered bus arrives next to our hotel at 07:14. I board and exchange my best Russian attempt at, “Dobroye utro” for a smoker’s raspy, “Hello,” from the bus driver in return. No one else got on the bus with me […]
The Privilege of Pressure
Cracking open a fortune cookie last month in my hometown of Brandon, Manitoba I didn’t think much of it. Then I read: “Your friends will truly be helpful in your next month’s endeavour.” Those simple, and typically generic words screamed at me. My fingers instantaneously tucked it, face-up, into the back of the clear protective […]
Within The Shadows
Sometimes I think it would be all too easy to just tell everyone that we pack away our sleds for a few months and gracefully prance our way into our off-season training. We could really emphasize our nonchalant attitude by explaining that it’s no biggie that we can’t actually practice the sport of Skeleton in […]
Solid Yellow Lines
On our roads and highways we are given guidelines. A literal solid line is implemented along the pavement’s edges and centre upon which we travel bridges and sharp curves. This simple line is designed to help keep us on the right track; it defines our physical parameters. In order to navigate my current roads, on […]
Stay Tuned
As the sun begins to shine with a little more ‘oomph’, Skeleton/Bob tracks morph into their (literal) concrete summer identities – and sliders around the world return to a life that is the yin to their yang. Personally, I wrapped up my season with a few more runs in Calgary – at Canada Olympic Park […]