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Training hard, and movie stars

November 16, 2009 01:35 PM | Posted by   Kelly VanderBeek  

The time is coming. The nets are up, the snow is falling, and the days are passing quickly. Yes, race season will start before we know it.

As the season gets closer I'm feeling more excited, confident, and passionate. But before I get ahead of myself, I'll give you a quick update on what I've been up to.

Since returning from training camp in Austria, the days have been filled with activity. After one rest day devoted to laundry and unpacking it was back to business in a hurry.

Training during this period was filled with a lot of power, jumping, and lactic intervals. I made a three-day trip to Trail, B.C., with my title sponsor, Teck. This was for an employee recognition event, but I was also given the honour of touring the smelting facility where the gold and silver for the Vancouver Olympic medals is being produced.

I had many interviews and events to attend during this short block at home as well. One of these was the Peak to Peak Gala in Vancouver, which included special guest John Furlong, the CEO of the Vancouver Olympic committee.

I first met John about nine years ago and we have stayed in touch since then. Seeing him made me realize how long and challenging the roads we have traveled to get to the Olympics have been. When John speaks I hear the passion in his voice, and it reminds me that I feel exactly the same way. When everything is stripped away, it's our passion that keeps us going.

A Leo sighting

I then flew to Calgary and jumped right into fitness testing, followed by a press conference and interviews, then back to the University of Calgary to complete our fitness testing. It went well, and I'm excited to put all that work behind me and get back onto my skis.

Right after testing we hit the road for Nakiska Resort, where I'm staying now and will be for the next two weeks of training.

On a side and rather fun note, they're filming a movie here and Leonardo DiCaprio is staying at our hotel. At dinner, he was eating 10 metres away from us, putting the women's team into giggling fits. Pretty funny.

I have now had three days on my skis here in Nakiska. With cold weather and a new high-speed quad, the training is as good as it gets. We focused on the giant slalom for a couple days, then moved into speed training. I'm feeling great on my skis and moving towards race mode.

I love this time of year — the anticipation is exciting and the bulk of training is done.

Now, I just need to go fast. The fun part.

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