Marianne's Blog

Before Christmas I finished a block of world cups. One at Telluride in Colorado and two at Carezza in Italy.

The world cups in Italy were originally at the beginning of December but there was absolutely no snow. I debated not going because the change fee was pricey and I was taking the chance of having to change it again if it didn't snow, but it was important for me and what I wanted to accomplish to go. I booked my flight and crossed my fingers.

The World cup at Telluride was a flat course with a small pitch at the bottom. After the first run I was 12^th which felt ok but not great. The second run felt a lot better, more smooth and aggressive. I finished the day 19^th overall. My best world cup result so far.

I headed to Europe the next day and after 15 hours of flying and some much needed sleeping pills I felt pretty out of it. We waited an hour to figure out rentals and bags and were en route for the 4 hours to Carezza Italy . I tried hard to stay awake. I don't do well with jet lag, but I was out within a half hour. I surprisingly slept fine until the 3^rd night in Europe. Which was the night before the first world cup. Not easy to get up but my energy was good until the race was over and then I hit a wall. Definitely made it easy to sleep that night.

 

Michael and Matt after our flight. Just a little tired!!

Our first day of training, did not start off well for me. The top of the hill has a great pitch, a pitch you need to be aggressive on. I took an aggressive line but on the 4^th gate I got very twisted in my body caught an edge and went flying into the fence. That hurt, but I was lucky with just a massive bruise on my thigh and nothing more. I had to rest for 10 minutes and debated calling it quits for the day but I knew that would have played with my head, not training the race slope before the race. I took 4 more training runs and realized it hurt less being on the board then off.

There is so much room for girls to do well at the world cups. The difference in not making it in the finals versus making the finals is tenths and 2 out of the three world cups I was only a few tenths from taking that next step in my athletic goals.

So far this year has been my best by far. I've always been told I have potential and the coaches have stuck by me supporting me because they believed I could do well. I feel like I'm finally moving from potential to performance, and it feels good that they're support is not being wasted.

The first world cup in Italy was a parallel Giant slalom. The race didn't go as well as I hoped and I was actually a little confused by it all. My teammate Caro and both my coaches Mark Fawcett and Paul said I looked fast but when I came across the finish line I was 16^th in my course which is the last position to get a second run. The clock didn’t agree that I was fast. But I did get a second run so I decided to go all out. Nothing to lose at this point. Things felt good, and up until the 3^rd last gate I thought I could pull off a decent result. Not a result I would have hoped for at the beginning of the day but something I could be happy with, with not such a great first run. Then I got to the bottom of the course only a few gates to go and I crashed. I cant remember how it happened. It was all really fast and that was the end of the day for me. I finished in 32^nd with a disqualification. I was disappointed but I had to focus on the next day.

Congratulations to my teammate Caroline Calve who won that day. First win for Caro at a world cup and she rode so well. We were all super stoked for her.

 

I competed in the Parallel Slalom world cup the next day and the end result was better, but it was a rodeo in there. Athletes were getting chucked left, right and centre, and generally with slalom it gets worse by the finals, but the day started off that way. There was a bank formed very quickly and I needed to change my plan. Its all about being smart now. How can I stay on my feet and get the fastest turns in these conditions.

In the first run I couldn't get my rhythm until the 6^th gate or so. I was lucky to have even stayed on my feet with the way I was riding through those gates. I got my self together and made the turns I needed to make. Second run I felt was better but looking at video, I looked sloppy. But then again, so did most people. I finished in 20^th with an overall time of 115.94 and to get into finals was 115.48. I know I can make it happen this season, and once I lace 2 solid runs I'll get in those finals. From there its a whole new game.

 

Thanks to all the staff on that trip Mark Ballard, Rob, Mark Fawcett, Sylvain, Cliff, Paul, Chris, and Luca.

A lot has happened in the past month that has really shown me the possibilities for my career as an athlete. I feel as though I've taken not just a step but a leap in some aspects of my snowboarding. Not only can I focus for ten runs in training, and for the most part not make any momentum robbing mistakes, I had one of the best days in my career when it comes to focus at the recent Noram at Steamboat Springs in Colorado. You can say the right things and tell yourself what you need to hear a million times over. But does it really sink in? Up until recently I'm not sure it did. I have always wanted to focus on my process, my run, my path. Yet couldn't help but see what the girl next to me was doing, or over think what my teammates were accomplishing. I'm not sure how it happened, but I am now only worrying about myself and what I can control.

Recently a new coach has been brought in, not new to the world of snowboarding but new to team Canada. Rob Roy is a Canadian but lives in the U.S and worked with one of the American athletes Chris Klug that went to the 2010 Olympics. Rob is very passionate and very knowledgeable. He's been working with myself and my teammate Ekaterina Zavialova and we've both made some great improvements in our riding. The key things I've been working on with Rob, have been level shoulders, moving my hips and legs horizontally while staying low on the board and 50/50 even distribution throughout the board, not being front or back footed. These exercises are becoming good habits in my riding, instead of having to constantly think about them.

 

 

Last week we had our yearly night race at Steamboat Springs. It's always fun to change it up and compete at night under the lights. The race started at 2 and we did our first two qualification runs to see where we would be seated in the finals. A few world cup riders were at this race including the 2010 Olympic Gold Medallist, Nicolien Sauerbreij from the Netherlands and the 2011 World Champion Hilde-Katrine Engeli from Norway. The points at this race were higher than expected. I did my first run and felt really good. I was focused on my breathing and on what I could control in my riding. Keeping my head up, level shoulders and good movement. When it was time for my second run I was surprised at how calm I felt. I always have a difficult time with the second run. I see the result instead of the process and I rush it. I had second run syndrome. I became that girl, but my mood was different. I was focused on what I needed to do and I crossed that finish line feeling great.

The vibe in snowboard racing is great. We all want to win first and foremost but we're friends and we want to see each other do well. When I finished two runs and finished them well my friends on the tour were cheering for me because they knew this meant a lot to me.

I qualified third and was ready for the night finals. In my first heat I raced against Belle Brockhoff from Australia and continued to stay focused on my race. I moved on to face a friend from the American team Madeline Wiencke. We had two close heats and I squeezed my way to the next round where I faced Nicolien. This was the first time that day, I started to focus on the wrong things. I was thinking about racing her instead of sticking with my plan and focusing on myself. Both runs we were neck and neck, but on the first run I made a big mistake and she got max penalty. Second run I either had to have the best run of my life or Nicolien had to make some mistakes. I did have a great run, I even started to pass her and as soon as that happened I remember my thoughts exactly, “'it's too close for me to win by max and move on but how cool would it be to win a run against the girl who won Gold in Vancouver”. As soon as that thought crossed my mind I lost my focus, I was not looking ahead, I cut off my line and crashed. Nicolien moved on to face Caroline Calve from Canada and I moved on to the semi finals to face Aleksandra Krol from Poland. I was disappointed but also excited about how I rode and what I can accomplish if I buckle down and learn how to never worry about anyone but myself.

I won the bronze for the day. I was super stoked with the accomplishments I made in my riding, but mainly the accomplishments I made with the mental side of racing. I really believe its 70% mental and I think I got a lot closer to that 70%

 

 

 

I arrived at Telluride in Colorado a few nights ago for my first world cup of the season tomorrow. I want to do well of course, but this year I want to stay away from putting so much pressure on myself. If I stick to what I did at Steamboat I think this could be a positive year.

Back on the board, and loving it. My season has officially started and my first competition is next week.

I've been in Vail Colorado training the past week and feel like I've taken a step forward in my riding. I'm more consistent, not crashing and able to stay focused throughout the entire training session. I'm really excited to see what I can do this season.

On Thursday Ill be heading to Copper Mountain with my team and will be competing Monday, Tuesday.

Picture below : This past week training giant slalom at Vail.

Thanks to Mark Ballard, Mark Fawcett, and Sylvain Jean for a great camp thus far.

 

 

                

Check out this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jal4OkZtz8g&feature=related

 

Its really inspiring and I could watch this everyday. A lot of things in this video really spoke to me. This more so than anything. "When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you'll be successful. I dunno how many of you have ahsma here today but if you ever had an ahsma attack, your short of breath SOB shortness of breath, the only thing your trying to do is get some air. You dont care about a basketball game, you dont care about whats on tv, you dont care about anyone calling you or a party, the only thing you care about when your trying to breathe is get some fresh air. Thats it. And when you get to a point where all you want to do is be successful as bad as you want to breathe then you'll be successful"

 

That's truly motivating to me, and I wanted to share that. Thanks for passing that along to me Mark.

 

I've been doing numerous testing in the gym this week getting ready for the season. I had Anthro testing done, getting my fat vs muscle determined, I've had a physio assesment done, and I had physical testing done in the past 2 days. Unfortunatly I cant do all of the testing. And alot of testing has to do with jumping and running which right now I'm avoiding. There is nothing I can do to speed up the recovery of a bone bruise but I'm trying to be creative and think of alternate activites and my physio has given me a few exercises to get stronger.

 

A week ago I got back from probably the best summer camp I've been on in my career. Not only was the riding great but it was still summer in Oregon. I was training at Mount Hood for three weeks.

 

The snow was very soft by 10 so we would start training by 8 and go until 12. On really warm days it was soft at 8 in the morning. We salted the snow everyday so it would harden and we could get some good riding in. I figured out alot of things on this camp which has got me looking forward to the upcoming season. I feel strong physically and mentally and I'm stoked to see where that can take me this season.

 

When we wern't training we were swimming, playing ultimate frisbee, surfing or mountain biking. That's the great thing about summer camps is there are so many activities to do on your downtime.

 

For some reason I've been freaked out with mountain biking for a couple years. Might have something to do with going on black runs when your a beginner :/ But after a week of being left behind while everyone biked I wanted to try it again. And to be honest I dont know why I was scared to begin with. I found myself doing things I didn't think I could and being able to keep up with everyone. I walked out with some bruises but I would love to do it again and if I could I woiuldn't hesitate to buy a good bike.

 

We had a couple days off here and there and on one of those blocks I went down to the coast to try out surfing. I've surfed before but could never get up and this time I did. Its an incredible feeling letting the wave take you. Once I was up it wasn't hard at all. It's trying to get up that was causing me to drink alot of salt water.

 

Im back in Calgary now until November. Working at the tennis club and in the gym at c.o.p until Im back on snow. I've decided to pass on the upcoming world cup in Landgraff to save some money for the season and to let my ankle continue to get better. Im back in physio and feel as though it's progressing quickly. 

 

This is a picture of Mount Hood:

 

 

 

This summer has been yet another quick one. I've been working back at the Calgary tennis club 6 days a week, trying to get whatever funds I can to pay all my bills this summer, put some money away towards snowboarding and to have a little bit on the side to enjoy the summer.

We lost our trainer Scott. He got a great job opportunity in Halifax and moved there. Our new trainer is named Steve and he's also great. Only my teamate Ekaterina and I are in Calgary this summer, so the three of us meet up every morning and get in a good two hour painful but awesome workout. Steve really pushes us and I can see the results.

My ankle is still slightly injured. I had an MRI and a bone scan done this summer. My ligaments were still slightly torn and I have a bruise on the bone which can take a while to heal. Im seeing doctors and my physio Susan this summer to get back to 100% as soon as I can.

In a couple weeks I'll be heading to Mount Hood Oregon for 3 weeks to get back on snow. It's sweet there in the summer because we can snowboard in the morning on the glacier and come down to the base and be back to summer weather. There are some fields and lakes near by so should be an awesome camp.

The off season, felt a bit strange at first, maybe because I started almost 2 months later than everyone else with my injury. But it didn't take long to get into the swing of things.

Tyler decided to take me to Mexico :) This was the first time I went away on a hot trip and I had an amazing time. We met alot of people, went sky riding and swimming with the dolphins. It was relaxing and alot of fun.

This past week I've started work back at the Calgary tennis club and it's been going well. I want to work as much as possible this summer.

Yesterday we started in the gym with our new trainer Steve. He pushed Ekat and I really hard which was painful but good. He already picked up on my problems and has given me strategies to improve this summer.

This past week I was at Lake Louise mountain in Alberta competing in nationals. We had a fis slalom event earlier in the week where we did a traditional 2 run slalom course. That's when you set a very long course and do one run then re set the course and do another. The race was about 55 gates which is alot compared to our usual 30 or so. That day I came in 3rd place.

Yesterday was our nationals where I competed in a parellel giant slalom. I qualified 1st feeling really good about my runs. Went into the first heat with my soon to be teamate Kita from Nova Scotia. I moved on to top 8 going into the next heat with Lynn Ott from the american team. Had another 2 good runs and moved onto the top 4. Which meant I had another 4 runs to go. I ended up competing against another canadian Caroline Calve who's had an amazing year on the world cup circuit finishing her season with 2 fourth places. First run I won by max penalty and was in a good position at this point. I just needed to stick with her or even be slightly behind to go through. The snow was alot more soft then in the morning and the ruts were forming. I wasn't riding as well as I was in the morning and started cutting off my turns instead of riding with the rut. I hit a few ruts and everytime that would slow me down a little bit more, enough for her to make up the max penalty of 1.5. Caroline went through to the finals to compete for the win which she ended up winning. I went onto the round to decide bronze and 4th.

I talked with my coaches and they said I needed to ride with the rut and not try to go over them so I did that and won the first round by a little bit against my friend Lindsay Lloyd from the American team. Second run I needed to do the same if I wanted to walk away with the bronze but unfortunatly I crashed near the top of the run and finished in 4th that day.

I was definitly bummed to start the day off in first and finish 4th but alot of positive things came out of yesterday and I'm looking forward to taking that into the 2012  season. It's beeen an emotional roller coaster of a year but I feel as though I ended my season strong.

I came back to Calgary after 3 weeks on the road, and it was nice to see Tyler and my friends again. I was looking forward to getting back into training before heading to Europe. We did a few days up at our home hill Norquay, right near Banff. Then my team went to Panorama BC for the weekend to change it up. They left Friday night but I already has plans for Tylers birthday Friday so I drove up the next morning at 6 by myself. I thought it was going to be a difficult drive not getting a good 8 hrs of sleep but I suprinsingly didnt start crashing until lunch time. Luckily we did some free riding on our soft boots in the afternoon and just played around in the park and the trees.
I got back to the cabin we were staying at and didn't leave the couch. The boys were shocked I slept through the entire night, but that's what happens when you get 5 hours of sleep before a 3 hour drive and a full day of training.

The next day we trained duel. Which I love. It's great training since we're always racing duel.  It's good to learn how to race and only focus on yourself. However on a couple runs I did get caught not just thinking about myself. My teammate Steve said he'd race against me. I knew I couldn't beat Steve but it's nice to see how far you are from the boys. Unfortunately I cut off my line and went into Steve course and we hit. I took a chunk out of my edge and a chunk out of his plate on the board. I had to work on that the next day but luckily I didn't hurt Steve or myself. He actually rode out of it very gracefully. Thanks Steve :)

I'm just getting to Europe today for the last 2 world cups of the season and a couple European Cups. I'm really hoping for some good results and going into this summer feeling positive about the season I just had.