It’s the day after the Cardrona World Cup and I feel good. Although there was lots to celebrate; consistent runs, staying lose in a big contest, and top Canadian, I found myself back in the gym this morning building my strength again to get ready for these eighteen months of qualifying. Last night there was no excessive drinking and dancing to celebrate, just dinner with some good people and a movie at home to cap it off.
Still, as I recall yesterday, I feel very satisfied with my nineteenth place finish. The sunny day helped a lot with my riding, since I was visualizing a sunny day in my mind practice for the past four weeks. The pipe was in great condition, at least it was to me, and the competitive field was thick with seasoned athletes ready to show their stuff for the first qualifying World Cup for the 2014 Olympics. 
I spent the morning stretching and riding in my mind, keeping my body lose and staying focused for my task; that was to just land big clean runs.
My coach, Roberto, and I were hitching a ride up the access road so we arrived very early to give ourselves the best chances of getting a ride. A sheep farmer stopped and we hopped on the flatbed of his utility truck, it was a bit cold in the morning, but the view down the Cardrona valley was the best I have ever seen. Probably because there was no roof or walls to block any scenery, the most unique ride up I have ever been on.
The practice was great, two straight air runs, two contest runs then I just stopped to save energy. I am happy with how I kept calm at the top of the course, I had a lot to be confident in with all my training and good practices I had the days before the contest, and I knew I had to trust in those.
My runs were smooth, even adding my invert at the end of my second run to boost my score another ten points to push me into top Canadian position. I just missed my goal by a few spots, but there was a lot for me to be happy with. On the flipside I know what I need to work on to be in the top eight.
One of the best things that happened was when I came to the bottom and I heard girls commenting about a bumpy flat bottom throughout the pipe, and I thought to myself, ‘I didn’t feel a thing!’, that was a sign to me that I was really in the zone for my run. I have to thank my mental trainer Bob for that!
I really have to thank all my partners, Sony Canada, Scott Canada, Iyashi spa, Ifound, Make-A-Wish Canada, G&G, and the great people who are donating to my cause for helping me do well at this World Cup. Most of all my trainers Roberto Marfia, Crispin Lipscomb, Bob Palmer and Geoff Barnz for preparing me thus far.
So, with my goals set out for the upcoming training weeks I feel excited to start on them. I know that every day is an opportunity to improve in some way, so I can’t be missing time due to self-inflicted sick days, especially when I am here in New Zealand to get more winter to train. This is why I woke up early today, the day after the contest, made a good breakfast and found my way to the gym.
In so many ways I am much stronger then I was yesterday and this passion is taking me towards excellence, towards my greatest dream.
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