Typically underestimated,
recovery is equal if not more important than the training itself...right? The body
continually impresses me with its capabilities, but one thing is for sure:
without rest on a daily, weekly and annual basis a high performance athlete will
burn out. April is the skier’s annual rest period to fully recover and prepare
for another 11 months of focused training. Each athlete has individual hobby’s,
jobs, and vacations they fill there “down time” with and I was fortunate enough
this year to spend mine in true vacation style. I spent a week in the Caribbean
(for the first time!) soaking the sun and clearing my mind of anything that
might hold me back heading into full commitment in May. I also used this time
to revisit my races and training from the past year and consider what I can
learn from the past experiences. So here is how I spent my relaxing time...
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Private Holland America Island in Half Moon Cay, Bahamas
Typical tourist in San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan, Puerto Rico
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Myself and the gorgeous Cindy Clark~ formal night selfy
The year was certainly
packed with travel. racing, training and most importantly enjoying the
experiences and having fun. I realize with each year that one of the simplest
yet important factors to performing at your best is enjoying it all (aka having
FUN) It sometimes gets lost in the High performance world of results, training
hours, and shooting percentages but I truly believe it is a fundamental
component to success. With Olympics coming soon, My goal this year is to
simplify my thoughts and basically relax! It sounds silly I know, but I have
trained for 14 years and I know that the skiing speed and the shooting will
follow if I’m in the right frame of mind!
