Chapter twelve: Question

This one’s been a long time coming because it’s not like I’ve had nothing to write about, I just haven’t written anything down is all. All the things about this trip that were noteworthy are still up in my head, but they get a little scrambled as the time goes by and have ended up being a jumbled mess that is increasingly hard to write down. Luckily for me I actually have pictures this time around so I think they will do just fine for most of the details. Moving on, I have been a little stuck the last few days on the last races of my trip. Not because they were awesome and I can’t stop thinking about how amazing I am, but because I’m not happy with them, with them and with myself. Now before I get into this whole thing I’ve been looking back and a lot of my blogs are about keeping my head up, or toughing it out and doing what I can to move forward. And this is okay because I’m writing about things I believe in doing, but I don’t want anyone to get the misconception that I just battle every day to no avail and that’s it. I go out and enjoy it and make it down a lot of times feeling great about the skiing, but it’s the times I struggle that I write about because putting it down on paper is just as much for me as it is for anyone reading it. It is a way I can debrief and organize my thoughts so the next day I am better. I don’t think there is any reason to over complicate things when they are coming easy to me so instead I try to find ways to take apart and reassemble the aspects I am having trouble with. So back to the start, I mulled the last two starts over in my head and came out with a question. How badly do I have to get beat before I end up beating myself? I don’t just mean beat by the competition, but by weather or illness or any factor outside of my control. What I came up with was that the moment I allow any of those things to influence how I go about the day and the plan I have in my head then I have already taken away the chance I had to perform my very best. For example if I look at a day with terrible weather and tell myself how bad it is instead of finding a way to adapt I will never be able to overcome it, it will continue to be an obstacle slowing me down. That brings me back to the last few days of racing. I had a lot of things in my head, an assortment of crap that I should have pushed out; instead it stayed there and left no room for the focus and determination I wanted to approach the races with. In short I didn’t do myself any favours those days and slimmed down my chances for a result. There was an upside though, these races ended up being the tough, terrible, painful days that make me want to get back to work and push harder than ever so they don’t happen again. It showed a little of what I need to do in order to really be good at this, and for that reason I will always accept those days as a part of my season.    

My plane to Europe... don't even ask how I took a photo of the plane I was on

#Thatsatree

Silhouettes of the boys, can you guess who is who?

Getting in on my first water party

Sometimes we get an alright view... 

When there is powder a little planning never hurts.

Welcome to Val D'isare 

Sometimes the van feels like space travel

My red sleds #sponsorshot 

My first time using a night club as a gym/tuning room

Cheering hard for the teams slalom aces 

...and then sometimes it snows

Sun shots always seem like good ones to end on

I hope you enjoyed this one. The next stop for me is Colorado and speed week in Aspen. Looking to park some arcs and put all the things i've learned into practice. Next chapter should be coming to you from south of the border, Thanks for stopping by.

Morgan