Hi All,
What a weekend! This weekend, the Adaptive Sports Foundation hosted a Level 1 Race through Disabled Sports USA inspired by Diana Golden (the three time Olympic Gold Medalist who only had one leg). It was an amazing event as skiers and snowboarders with both, physical and cognitive, disabilities came together to race. Part of an entire race circuit, the Adaptive Sports Foundation hosts this race each year.
Every year, they bring in a guest clinician who gives a clinic on the Saturday preceding Sunday's race. The past two years Mau Thompson of Adaptive Adventures has given the clinic. While we did not have a race course to work with for the clinic, Mau made the best of it by having us perform different drills as we skied down beginner terrain with the hope of bettering our skiing.
I was able to work on my outrigger usage on Saturday, primarily keeping my elbow "fused" to the side of my body and extending the outrigger with the sole use of my forearm. This enabled me to become a more efficient skier by using better outrigger placement and allowing me to edge more effectively. I see improvement in my skiing already!
On Sunday, we raced on a course that NASTAR set up on skier's right of Wonderama. It was a very well designed course for the adaptive category as it was a giant slalom course that started out with wide gates that gradually got narrower towards the end of the course. This allowed the skier to keep their momentum and have a fast finish!
I had the best two runs in a true racing scenario that I have ever had, but I still have a lot of room for improvement. I need to start turning earlier so I can carry more momentum down the race course. Nevertheless, both of my factored times were just over 40 seconds.
I won the silver medal, something I am very proud of because this was my third Diana Golden race. The first time I raced I won the bronze and the second time I did not medal. In winning the silver medal, I am able to pat myself on the back because I realize that I am always improving!
Everybody did a great job this weekend and I cannot wait for next year's race!
On another note, Penn State's basketball team knocked off #9 Michigan State which significantly beefed up our resume for March Madness and the NCAA tournament! I hope/ cannot wait to see how crazy Happy Valley becomes!
- Tracker
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"Faster and faster until your love of speed overcomes your fear of death". - Anonymous
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