Stay Positive Part 1

Hey guys! Knee surgery was successful and I now have another cadaver graft holding my knee together. Unfortunately it sucks, like really bad, but now that I've gone through this process twice in less than a year I'm more prepared for future injuries and I know how to take care of myself. So, I decided to give you guys some tips on staying positive, motivated, reaching your goals and mentally dealing with injury to help you guys out! I will be doing this in two parts so stay tuned!

My first tip, and one of the most important ones, is to stay positive and motivated! It's hard when you're in a slump or injured to stay positive but it is essential to getting yourself back on track. One thing you can do to stay positive is think about all the fun times you've had in your activity, this specifically works well for sports, and think of all the fun times to come when you get back! 

a photo of us doing our flexion and extension exercises at Silver Mountain Sports Club
from left to right: Maddison, Heidi, Ella, Natalie (the one behind Tasia), Tasia, and me

Another great thing to do is to work with a group. There were three other girls on my team, as well as two from other ski sports, with the same exact injury as me. I decided that getting all of us together in the gym would be a great idea since I started doing upper body exercises two weeks after surgery. I can not express how much more motivated I was this surgery than my last because I had my friends there. For me I saw being able to use the most weight as a competition and have thrived from the workout group we've formed. If you'd like to read more about staying positive and how it relates to your health and competition click here. This also kind of ties into my next tip.

My next tip is to reach your goals. Try not to make goals too hard because otherwise you will end up discouraged when you don't accomplish them right away. One of my goals at the gym was to try to increase my weight by every two weeks. This is easier to accomplish for me because when you are starting out in the gym after having a strong muscle memory you make gains in your progress quickly. Of course as you continue you will need to update your goals as you are always changing. Also, don't be discouraged when you fail or aren't able to do everything you would like. With ACL reconstruction, ESPECIALLY a revision, it's a slow process. You can't run immediately after surgery. You need to relearn to walk, strength your surrounding muscles and make sure you have given the graft enough time to heal and become part of your body before you can start to pound your body again. This can take three or more months. It's a slow process that you need to get through.

Alright guys, hopefully this has helped you out a little bit. I know it can be hard to come back from an injury or having a bad week but don't let it get you down. Next time I'll show you an effective way to keep track of progress and be sure you don't make some of the mistakes I made when I had surgery last year. See you soon!

Bogus Basin

Hey guys! So last time I left you I was in a pretty bad spot. Let me tell you, it has not improved in the slightest. Like really, not at all. If you haven't read my Sun Valley posts I recommend you read those before reading this one.

Unfortunately my prediction was true and I did retear my ACL. It turns out I need another reconstructive surgery. So that was just AWESOME. AGAIN. I LOVE MY LIFE. But it happens and the best mentality to have is that you'll come back again. Having a hard time with that but, maybe I will come back. The truth is I've been pretty undecided the past couple weeks. I guess we'll see.

Now, I decided it would be best for me to go watch my friends race in Bogus Basin, Idaho because why not. I have surgery scheduled for February 29th so I might as well do something to distract myself from the fact that they'll be cutting my leg open, yet again. 

It felt odd getting ready and packing for this trip for a lot of reasons. I didn't tune my skis for one part, usually the first thing I do. No poles to strap together. No ski clothing packed in my bag at all. Seriously, none whatsoever. It feels weird to be packing for a ski trip without anything related to skiing besides a jacket. It felt like I was leaving a part of me at home. 

When I got to the bus it felt even weirder. I handed my small duffle bag to one of my coaches and she threw it in the cargo van. Then I loaded the bus and was bombarded with questions, mostly from the guys on my team. "Wait, Maxine are you racing?" they asked. "Oh so you're just coming for the trip? Why? Did you tear your ACL again?" they asked. I can not explain how irritating that ten minutes of questions was. It was like I was being interviewed. Why do I need to explain that yes I'm here for the trip, no I can't race and yes I tore my ACL. Seriously aggravating. It only lasted a little while though and after that I was only asked maybe once or twice.

When we got to the hotel another one of my coaches announced that I was in charge of the wax room. I mean, it's not like I had anything else to do and I didn't have to do any heavy lifting because of my knee but you would be surprised how hard it is to get some of the kids on the team to cooperate. 

After that was over we just hung out. My teammates had to tune their skis but other than that we just lounged around the hotel. We also played with face swap on Snapchat which was pretty great.

as you can see we are very talented in the art of Snapchat's face swap filter

I have to say that this was probably one of the more fun ski trips I've been on, you know besides the whole not racing part. Although I couldn't actually see the race it was still pretty fun. The races got cancelled on Saturday so we all went to the movies as a team and that was fun. We played chess in the lobby and played Call of Duty in my room. One of my roommates couldn't find her way around the hotel and that was pretty hilarious. She had to call us almost every time she left the room so we could help her find her way back. A few of us went to the lake near by and swam in it completely disregarding that we probably could've gotten hypothermia or something. I'm not kidding my feet went numb as soon as I stepped in the water.

This was a great trip. It's just hitting me now that tomorrow I'll be having knee surgery and I'll be missing more memories like these. I hope next year we continue to make these memories. I love my team and I wouldn't trade them for anyone else in the world. I'll guess I'll have had knee surgery next post so wish me luck! See you soon!

p.s. sorry this was posted a couple days after I wrote it but for some reason it wouldn't post on the bus and then I forgot haha :)