National Team Selections

So I've taken some time off, this post wasn't something I was ready to relive right away but I feel better about it now after distancing myself from it a bit and here we are (buckle up this one's a bit of a bumpy ride).

We travelled to Richmond for the National Team Selections early and had three training days on ice before racing started.  The first two practice days went well and all we had to do on the third day was some practice relays.  In the third relay I fell on my own and crashed awkwardly into the boards.  I injured some muscles in my back and was in quite a lot of pain (still am a little bit).  On the first day of racing my back hurt so much that I honestly didn't know if I was going to be able to race but luckily I was able to see a physio and make it through the day.

The second race day I fell again and hit my head hard enough to break my helmet.  I didn't finish that first race and was still getting checked out by the doctor minutes before my final and didn't end up skating that race either.  The rest of the competition kind of went downhill from there with some bad luck and bad races and I ended up finishing about ten spots lower than my original ranking.  I spent more of the competition than usual in tears and it was honestly probably the worst competition I've ever skated.

It was a rough way to end the season and suddenly instead of being happy that the season was over I was wishing I had more time, a chance to try again.  On the plus side this whole experience has allowed me to re-focus and I am now motivated to start summer training and working towards next season.

time to move on and keep looking forward
(Source)

Now that we're officially into the off season I will have time for more posts and less "skates" and more "and stuff" I'm thinking of doing some nutrition and health posts but if you have any other suggestions or interests let me know!

The Last Competition

The last competition of this season starts on Thursday so I don't have a lot to report today.  We travelled last night to Vancouver since the meet is happening at the Richmond Olympic Oval.  We have practice ice and weights sessions between now and the start of racing to get used to the ice and the altitude and the time change and then four days of racing and then it's all over.  This is the last competition of what feels like the longest season ever and I'm so excited to be done but first and foremost I'm excited to race; racing is the fun part of skating and I haven't done it in a while since I was sick during the most recent competition.  Right now I'm just trying to keep positive and motivated so that I can have the best competition possible and know that I have done everything I can to succeed.

(source)

sidenote: obviously I will not be posting anything next weekend as I will be racing

Spring (?)

We're finally getting a break from winter it's sunny and 10°C today which has me a little hopeful that it might be spring? Fingers crossed (although knowing Calgary it will probably be -20 again by next week).  I've been stressing out a little because of skating and school stuff so today I went on a nice long walk in the sunshine to kind of de-stress; there's no way I could just sit inside and translate old english all day, the blue skies were calling me! I really wish I had brought my camera with me but I wasn't thinking so I took some pictures on my iPhone but they're just not the same.

Casual windy no makeup selfie

I guess Calgary's kind of pretty

There's really nothing like a walk and some fresh air to make everything ok (a great 8tracks playlist doesn't hurt either) but I guess I shouldn't put off homework forever so if you need me I'll be studying and simultaneously praying that this sun doesn't go away.

The Final Push

I know I told you that new post day would be Saturday and to be fair I did start writing this post on Saturday.  The original post was going to be about the run up to last trials, the 'final push' as it were, it was an upbeat, light post with little substance.  On Saturday that was honestly how I felt; light and upbeat and even excited about competing again since it has been so long since the first trials before Christmas.  I'm still excited about going to Vancouver because I'll get to see my parents and even a little bit about racing because that is the fun part of skating but I'm also feeling very stressed, worried, and overwhelmed.

If you keep up with this blog you might be aware that I had the flu a few weeks ago and I missed over a week of training and a weekend of racing.  I'm back training full time now but I feel like I'm still recovering and I feel tired most of the time and slow.  Even as I write this I haven't done anything all day (it's our day off) and I still feel like I'm only half awake.  I worry that I might be getting sick again and I'm struggling with doing both school and skating this year so I worry about my marks.  For me at this moment skating takes precedent; I don't want to go into National Team Trials feeling underprepared or feeling like I didn't do everything possible to succeed but I think I would feel a lot better if one thing was going well instead of struggling with both.

I know deep down that this one competition isn't the most important thing in the world and that once skating ends this month I'll probably have time to turn my school marks around but it doesn't mean I don't worry.

I need a job so I can afford a vacation.

(picture found on Pinterest)