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 and a final few more in Whistler – at their Sliding Centre. In doing so, I came to discover my individualized feeling of “being done”. My heart wanted nothing more than to keep throwing myself onto Phrixus, but my body and mind begged me to stop. Thanks to some self-awareness and the guiding voice of coaching reassurance, I wisely chose the latter.
Hundreds of runs and countless proverbial ups and downs all paint a beautiful picture of my rookie World Cup season. Even now, thinking about it all, my entire body tingles with the memories of an incredible Tour.
They say it takes a village to raise a child, well, I can tell you that it takes just as large of a team to raise an Olympic hopeful. Alongside Rider, Mel, E, Monty, John, Duff, Forbes et al. – an epic crew of truly amazing individuals – my future is undoubtedly on the road to success.
“Everything happened so fast!”
I’ve both thought and heard this statement more than I can remember since I was named to the World Cup team this past October. Speed limits are for bike paths, the wake-free zone on the lake and highways; my life didn’t come with governmental signage. When I found myself waking up every morning thinking about Skeleton, I realized I was finally pursuing my dream ….
…….
[to read more … please stay tuned for a guest post that will be featured on the Whistler Sliding Centre Blog]
I know, what a tease! 🙂
