Sun Valley Part 1

Hey guys! It's been a little while hasn't it? Well, I'd be wrong if I said a lot hasn't happened over this small amount of time . . . how about I start with the Sun Valley race that my team is at this weekend. I've decided to write this in a two-part series where you hear the training portion now and the race portion in the second part. Basically, as I'm writing this I'm on the bus and it's been about an hour since we left Park City.

So this trip has started pretty bad for me. After our last race, the Wes Barron Super-G, a speed race, in Jackson Hole, my skiing had been really amazing. 

this is an image of a speed race, the wider and straight set turns are a characteristic of these events
image courtesy of Vail Valley Foundation

Now, speed is kind of my thing and last season I noticed that after we started speed my skiing in all disciplines improved tremendously, especially in slalom. For awhile training was great. Everything just seemed to fall into place. I didn't have any issues with confidence in training, but soon after we started training GS, a tech discipline, on CB's. I tore my ACL on CB's last year and as you can imagine I was not the most confident starting a course at the same exact place as the one from last year. Actually, I was terrified. For me fear = terrible, back seat skiing, and terrible, back seat skiing = bad training. So overall my technique leading into the Sun Valley qualifier was in bad shape.

Now, two days before our departure for the race we trained GS on Shamus, another run at Park City. At the start of training my runs were pretty awful, but as the session went on my skiing improved significantly. I started to look and feel like myself again. I felt like maybe I could do somewhat decent at this race, you know? Knowing I was pretty freaked out about how bad my prep for the race had been that week, one of my coaches gave me a pretty great pep talk. He told me how NCAA studs would go to NorAms, a series of races in North America, and be completely unprepared mentally to face these other skiers. They all have talent and the skill set to do well, but they get destroyed by the other competitors. My coach said that it takes some of them a few days to get over their "slump" and it takes others a few months. He told me to try and get a good day of training in tomorrow and see where it leads me. He said not worry if these results aren't what I want them to be because speed is where I perform. It felt pretty good to know my coaches were behind while I was in my own slump.

Finally, it was time to leave Park City for Sun Valley. We loaded up the bus and said goodbye to our families. My parents decided to come up to Sun Valley on their own for Friday's race so I knew I would see them soon. 

Alright guys, stay tuned as the race continues and I'll give you an update after the race is over! See you soon!

Dear . . .

Dear Bode Miller,

I can not explain how much I aspire to be as good at alpine skiing as you. You literally have no fear hurling down a course like Birds of Prey. It is honestly incredible.

Watching you ski is probably one of the most motivating things you can do. It helps me to get aggressive during training and the night before a race. I especially like to watch the run from 2003 when you finish a downhill race on one ski. It reminds me to never give up in a course no matter how big the mistake I've made is.

image courtesy of www.skinet.com

This run also reminds me that no one is perfect. One of the main reasons you're my favorite world cup racer is because you make mistakes and still make it on the podium. If I were to watch Mikaela Shiffrin ski slalom as my motivation it wouldn't work because I know I can't ski slalom that cleanly yet. It just puts me down. However, when I watch you ski I feel like we have a similar style of skiing and the mistakes I make somewhat resemble yours (your mistakes of course being on much more difficult course and hill).

I also admire how you stood up to the US Ski Team. Haha I have to be careful here because I eventually want to be part of that team but I thought it was pretty cool. As I get older I realize just how political ski racing is and I think it was a bold move for you to train on your own.

You also have some pretty gnarly crashes and surprisingly got out of most of them alright. For example, that race when you cut a gash into your calf. I mean, that's pretty f****** awesome. Like I don't know how you managed to cut yourself with your ski and recover so quickly but it was pretty bad a**. Like, I've been injured once before and it's so hard to motivate yourself after that. I think it's pretty awesome how you kept going through all your years of ski racing.

I'm sad to see you retiring from the sport though. I mean, I can understand why. It's hard to constantly be getting beat up by ruts and steep pitches. Falling only gets harder on your body. But, although not possible I wish you would never retire. That way I'll have endless motivational video for me to watch :)

I hope my blog reminds you of a younger you. Although I'm a girl I hope that this blog takes you back to your U16 (J4/J3 back then) years. I hope you'll come back to read my blog and see as I progress through the world of ski racing as you did.

Thanks for reading my blog,
Max

Snowbasin

Hey guys! The Park City U16 Alpine Ski Team went to Snowbasin for our first qualifier of the 2015-16 season. It was pretty exciting.

the Snowbasin trail map
image courtesy of liftopia

I'm super excited to tell you that I it was my first race since acl reconstructive surgery. I tore my acl last season in February and it was the worst experience of my short life. If you don't know what goes down in acl reconstructive surgery they basically take a "new ligament" and replace the old one with screws and plates and stuff. It never feels normal again and that's why is was so great getting back to races.

So anyway, we usually travel as a team to races but this time we traveled with our parents since Snowbasin is only about an hour away. We got to the mountain and went into the lodge with the sign marked "event parking only" and it already felt like it was going to be a good day. It's also pretty great remembering that you're out doing what you love and other kids are in school haha. I was a little late on the first day because we had to stop for windshield wiper fluid along the way. I quickly got ready in the lodge, grabbed my bib and my pass and head out for course inspection.

The first race was giant slalom and the run looked really nice. As my first race I was pretty excited, yeah I know it seems like I get excited easily, when the course was set nice and straight. For those of you that are not ski racers a straight course basically means that the turns are not as across the hill. Makes sense right?

The next thing that helped me feel pretty confident was the fact that the race hill wasn't all that steep. Being from Pennsylvania I find it hard to get used to the pitches of the Intermountain Division.

The one thing that definitely didn't boost my confidence was my start number. I ran eighty second on my first run and that was awful. Because my start number was so far back the ruts, chunks and lines in the course, were really bad. I suffered a pretty bad mistake at the top of the course and it cost me. I came in thirty seventh. Honestly, it wasn't too bad for my first run back but I wanted to do better.

On my second run I ran thirty seventh since that was where I finished. To my pleasant surprise I came in twenty sixth that run and finished in the same position. Overall Friday was a pretty good day.

Unfortunately Saturday and Sunday weren't as great but there's still a long season ahead of us. I hope you enjoyed my little post on my first race back. I'm confident this'll be a good season. See you soon!

New Year's Resolutions

Hey guys! This time I've decide to rant on some New Year's resolutions. I hate them. I don't know what it is about them but I can not stand them. I feel like you should try new things and make good choices all throughout the year, not just after the new year starts. I'm going to go through a couple of common resolutions that I think are just plain dumb. So lets get started.

image courtesy of The Odyssey

1. Lose Weight/Exercise/Diet/Be Healthier

This is the big one that I don't understand. You shouldn't need to wait until the new year to be healthy. You should try to eat healthy as much as you can. I feel like this is a big way that people start their new year off wrong. Chances are you're going to go all out and try the paleo diet when you're not ready for it. Then people get upset when they don't stick to their new and healthy lifestyle and some even gain more weight from binge eating. If you really want to lose weight, exercise and diet you should gradually ease into it and the sooner you do it the sooner the results will come. If you think about your resolution to be healthier at the beginning of December you should start then. That way when January 1 of the new year comes around you'll already be seeing results.

2. Learn Something New

Do I really need to explain this one? There are chances to learn something new everyday. You can literally go on this thing called the internet now and find ANY information you want. Just go to a news publisher, for example The Wall Street Journal, and choose an article to read. THAT'S LEARNING PEOPLE. You obtain new information when you read. I think that wanting to learn is great but it shouldn't be a resolution.

3. Help Others

UGH. Why do people need the new year to start helping others. Even if you volunteer once a month you're still helping someone. You don't even have to volunteer to help others. Hold a door open for someone and that's helping them. Yeah, it may not be a great act to humanity but you're still helping somebody. Also, just smiling at people may help them. I've heard a story about a boy who didn't think he should live because no one was kind to him. He decided to walk to a bridge near by and made a plan. If just one person smiled at him on his walk to the bridge he wouldn't jump. If no one did, he would. He committed suicide. Being kind helps others and it shouldn't be a New Year's resolution.

Sorry to end that on a sad note but that's one of the reasons I don't believe in New Year's resolutions. They basically give your lazy butt an excuse from doing something. If you want to accomplish something just do it. It's unfortunate that we live in a world were we need motivation to do things that should be human nature. I hope you guys take these words to heart. Thanks for listening to my long rant on New Year's resolutions. See you soon!

p.s. I know that started as a light hearted rant on New Year's resolution but really think about what I said.

The Struggles of Blowing Bubbles

Hey guys! I've decided not continue onto my second part of the Jackson Hole Trip series because it happened a little while ago and I felt that post wasn't really going anywhere. So that leaves me at this one. It's a little short story about a drive with my dad. I hope you enjoy it!

So, as some of you know I live in Park City, UT which is about a forty-five minute drive to Salt Lake City. My mom works is Salt Lake and because we only have one car right now, a silver Mini Cooper with a black convertible top, we drive to there to pick up my mom just about everyday. These car rides hold various conversations like the one in my Dad Jokes post.

Now as my dad and I were rambling through a unrelated conversation I blew a bubble with my gum. For some of you not very exciting, but for that small percentage of people who through their whole childhood could not blow bubbles, you people are not alone. I am with you.

Since I was about five I have been trying

image courtesy of confertionarynews.com

soooooo hard to blow bubbles. Like, it got a little ridiculous. I tried to get my nannies through the years to teach me and they've all failed. Literally all of them. All of them had different ways of trying to go about it. For example, one way they tried to teach me was to make the gum into a flat oval type shape. Then you get it on the tip of your tongue and hold the edges of the oval with your teeth. Finally you just blow air out. You're probably thinking one of four things: I have no idea what that means, that sounds so easy, yeah that's how I do it or YEAH I'VE HAD PEOPLE TRY TO TEACH ME IT THAT WAY AND IT DOESN'T WORK. Well, I agreed with later until this card ride. There are a couple others tips that you can check them out here.

I could never get that sequence quite correct and was the most frustrating experience for a kindergartner ever. If you can't blow bubbles with your gum you understand. Keep trying, it eventually does work.

So anyway, my dad and I are in the care when BOOM I blow a bubble. I freaked out. I was just like, "OH MY GOD DAD NO WAY I JUST BLEW A BUBBLE." He just about looked at me like I had six heads. A little puzzled he asked me to explain and when I did he responded with a chuckle. I know it's not that great of an accomplishment but I did it. 

I finally blew a bubble. I must have Snapchatted like ten people telling them how stoked I was and the majority of them responded as my dad did. Now this is when the bubble, haha get it like the bubble I blew with my gum, bursts. I was so excited and decided to explain to my dad how its so much harder to blow a bubble with more gum. He looked at me, again, as if I had six heads.

"Max, you know it's easier to blow a bubble the more gum you have," said my dad.

My heart sank. I mean his explanation was logical and I did have about five pieces of gum in my mouth. Such a let down. At least I did it though, after fourteen years of life I was finally able to blow a bubble with gum.

Just because I think you guys will this funny, I was on FaceTime with a friend while writing this post and just hit myself in the face with my phone. So just to wrap up that sentence, I am a pathetic nerd who can't blow bubbles with gum and hits myself in the face with my phone. So, yeah you know that's my life right there. I hope you guys enjoyed my anecdote (ooooooo vital vocab points right there). See you soon!

Jackson Hole Trip Part 1

Hey Guys! As some of you may or may not know I am on the Park City Ski Team and we had a training camp this past week (ish) at Snow King in Jackson, WY. Let me tell you, it was a pretty fun camp.

a picture of Snow King during ski season
image courtesy of jacksonholetraveler.com

In February of this year I tore my anterior cruciate ligament (acl) and if you don't know it takes about seven months, after surgery, before you can go back to playing sports. It's been just about seven and a half months since I tore my acl and this ski camp was my first opportunity to train since my surgery. 

Loading up the van in Park City was one of the scariest things I've ever done. I had a couple issues with my knee recently and had been worried about skiing on it, but my doctor cleared me for Jackson and I decided to go. We packed all of our stuff into our U-Haul: two pairs of skis, two pairs of poles, my boot bag, my tuning box and my duffle bag. As if that wasn't enough, I also had a bag in the van with me which consisted of all my school stuff. 

My in-car bag broke and while I ran to Cole Sport to get a new one everyone took their seats leaving me in the very back corner next to all the guys. There were only THREE girls in our red van. Already this trip sounds interesting huh?

Well I dealt with my seat and it wasn't all that bad. We had fun playing gangster rap and playfully making fun of each other for the whole five hour trip. Although, there were a few arguments about what music we should be listening to.

ANYWAY, we finally made it to Jackson where I found out River was my roommate! This was pretty exciting because River and I get along pretty well.

Then it was time to go to bed on the first and I was really nervous. Like, REALLY nervous. It was pretty scary to think I was going to be skiing again because that's how I injured my knee.

I woke up the following morning, got ready and made my way out to the big red van to leave for Snow King. And then . . . 

Stay tuned for Part 2! I'll tell you guys about believing in my knee again and of course all the fun stuff that happened in our free time! See you soon!

Dad Jokes

Hey guys! So the other day I was in the car with my dad when I realized just how stupid some dad jokes in the world are and I thought hey I should blog about this.

Somehow dads seem to think that it's funny to embarrass and make fun of you. In a nice way of course. I remember this one time in like kindergarten when my dad kept using that snot joke. You know, the one where they pretend to hear "snot" instead of "it's not". That was when all these dad jokes really started for me.

Now, I know they're not all THAT bad, but it's really annoying when your dad is laughing at you for having a monstrous pimple like I did in the car the other day. But it gets pretty annoying when that is all you hear about the entire car ride to Salt Lake City (about twenty-five to thirty minutes from where I live). 

Then there are those dumb dad jokes like the one in the photo over

image courtesy of 98five.com

there. Those are the jokes that really get me annoyed. Something about them just bothers me. I mean, I guess they are a little funny. It's almost like the thing that bothers me the most is that the answer is always SO obvious that it leaves you feeling stupid afterwards.
For example: "Why can't you hear a pterodactyl use the bathroom? Because the pee is silent!" Like why couldn't I think of that?

I always feel so awkward when I'm with my friends and their dad makes a joke that isn't good but you have to laugh. You know, trying to be polite to your friend's dad. We all know secretly that every dad does that. And when they know it's corny but they say it anyway.Yeah, we all know that most dads do that too.

Overall dad jokes leave me pretty annoyed which is why I was almost in tears when my dad started using them again. We were in the car and he said, "Do you like seafood?" and opened his mouth showing me the sushi we were eating in the car. I pretty much face palmed. My dad has never really been THAT corny but rather decides to act that way and embarrass me in front of my friends. I guess it's just typical dad stuff that happens right? 

I hope you enjoyed my rant about dad jokes. I guess they're a little addicting because when I was writing this I couldn't stop looking at this page. Let me know in the comments if your dad makes terrible, corny dad jokes and we can cringe over it together haha. See you soon!