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It has been a busy three weeks full of ups and downs! A few more days of GS training in Solden then home for Christmas. Yay! Starting off in Lake Louise I had one mediocre training run where I reverted back to all my old bad habits for some reason…maybe nerves. I don’t know why, but it was ugly. Second training run was going great but then I decided to get a little back and inside (danger zone!) got compressed and sent it into the A-net head first. Ouch. Luckily I was mostly uninjured, just have one rib that still likes to pop out of place whenever is feels like it as a result of that meeting with the A-net. I had to miss the final training run due to swelling and pain in my knee, so after one and a half training runs it was time to race! Finally! But then… the fog, the falling snow, the hour long course hold before me, the one forerunner who went after the hold before me, and then I ended up being five seconds out in the first Downhill race of the year. Uuughhh. Gross. While I was standing in the start for my run it continued to snow and with only one forerunner I really had no chance. The track was so sticky with the new snow. So I’m writing that race off. Second day of Downhill racing was redemption time for me, came down with the lead for a few racers before eventually being bumped back to 11th place. A solid result after such a frustrating day the day before. Still by no means what I am looking for this season but a good place to start. I finished off Lake Louise with some really great sections of skiing in the Super-G race and some sections that really cost me. So no result for me that day. Still, a step in the right direction after struggling so much with Super-G last season. On to Europe! St. Moritz! Time to get another try at that tricky event Super-G…then...start stop, 10 min course hold before me, then gale force winds decided to blow sideways while I was on course. I was blinded for a gate and half, I couldn’t see anything in front of me or even the ground. So I naturally threw in a couple stivots just to have something to do till I could see again; and blew all my speed. It was a strange day, barely windy most of the day but I got the one gust that decided to show up for the race. Annoying. Write that race off too. On to Val d’ Isere! One of my favorite places in Europe, such a fun place to ski. After the first Downhill training run Jules, Laurenne and I went out for a few runs and had fresh powder! It was so awesome. Nothing like a few powder turns on a bluebird day with friends. By the time race day for the Downhill came around Mother Nature decided to be annoying AGAIN. It was too windy on top so we started from the reserve start cutting off the first 30 seconds of gliding. I had a good race run with two mistakes, and ended up placing 8th. It was little bittersweet knowing that if I had been a little bit better that run I could have been on the podium. Just 0.37 from the podium. Hundies really do matter. Every. Single. One. Still a really good result that I am happy with and moving in the direction I want.   I need to of course mention Stacey and Leanne! We see Lindsey win all the time and that certainly is exciting and I am always psyched when she is up there on the top step but it is something you come to expect after awhile. Seeing two of my teammates get their first podium results was so incredible and exciting. I am still so happy for both of them. They both earned it with all the hard work they have put in. It also makes me smile to know that in a sport where people always obsess over the next prodigy child that someone who has been at it for awhile can make it happen… yea Stacey! That’s you! I am more motivated than ever to go faster and get better after seeing how possible it is to make it happen. Seeing some of your closest friends finally earn it makes it seem so much more possible. I have improved so much in the past year and I know I still have work to do but I know that anything is possible at this point. Onwards!   Happy Holidays Everyone!
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