Hintertux September 28 – October 5

I had a great training camp in Hintertux, we have had some amazing conditions with lots of sun. 

It was a giant slalom (GS) camp; 2 days of GS free skiing and 4 days of training in the gates.

This was the first time I actually trained GS since I started skiing again. And I have to learn a LOT feeling isn’t there yet but I’m sure it will come back. With slalom I sometimes have a ‘glimpse’ of what it used to feel like and I have had a lot more slalom training since I started skiing again. That said I did made progress took some good steps still about a million to go but hey it’s all about the process, I love to ski and I like to learn.

 line for the gondola in the morning when the doors open these kids start to run, seriously

We skied in the morning until the snow got to soft, usually around noon. In the afternoon we went cycling or did some balance training and one afternoon we just enjoyed the sun.

In the valley it was summer so I got a tan and not just on the lower half of my face.

The last afternoon after skiing we climbed from Lanersbach to Hintertux by bike, the spring of my one legged cycling system broke just before I left for this camp, so my left leg did it all alone it was hard but I was happy that I made it, I knew I could, just had to do it. The downhill was a cool reward after hard work. The week flew by so fast, I had a great time! Now I’m back to business as usual for a month, life is great.

Last weekend I had a race in Snowworld it was a national race and I raced with abled body racers, I also did some of those races in the spring of 2010. The race was ok my first run was good the second run not so much but overall my time improved I'm getting a lot closer to the other racers and I beat people, getting to the middle of the field. 

Made a new friend :)

New Boots

I got my new boots and they are great, a lot better then my old and broken boots. And I noticed it in my skiing, I feel I can turn much better and faster now.

And the best part, because I got foam boots I don’t have pain in my ankle while wearing my boots anymore. With big thanks to Menno Koelewijn from MK skiservice who also was creative enough to adjust the boot so it would fit perfect with my skiing orthosis.

Last week was our third and last pre season training camp in Landgraaf. I’m very happy with the way I skied those last 2 days I made progress and it felt awesome. Which I needed after I was skiing pretty bad last time.

It was a fun 2 day camp and the regular national team was in Landgraaf too, nice to hang out with them and see how they ski. I also train with some of them in physical training in Amsterdam.

Yesterday I went to Frank Jol to get my skiing orthosis ready for the season, it needed a new strap and the gas spring was worn out so that needed to be replaced too. I trained hard over summer, I lost some weight and my leg is thinner as well so my ortheses where getting to wide especially around my thigh, they filled the extra space of both my ortheses and now they fit again. Just when I wanted to leave I heard a big snap and felt unstable on my leg, I broke my orthosis, speaking of timing it was fixed right away and I was on my way 30 minutes later, great service!

Last week the fall semester started so I’m back in school, nice to see all my study friends again. The first course is introduction to clinical medicine after 2 year of gaining lots of knowledge we learn how to apply it now. And today I learned how to measure blood pressure, to be honest it wasn’t my first time, finally we start to learn how to do a physical, actually becoming a doctor ;-)

Next week I leave for Austria (Hintertux) for our first camp, there is a lot of fresh snow, so stoked. Just need to prep all my ski’s….

About fear to break another leg

This week I had another 2 day training camp in snowworld Landgraaf. I know I wrote last time that the snow conditions wheren’t great but this time it was worse, the snow conditions were actually pretty bad. There was still the dirty old ice but now with huge amounts of loose snow over it which off course didn’t stick, so it went from a hard slope into a very soft slope halfway.  Last time I broke my ski boot and since my new boots wheren’t in yet it got repaired, I was skiing on a unpredictable slope with a messed up boot. Saying it was because of the conditions isn’t my thing but in this case..... it made me feel unsafe which made me hold back. Yes the first training session I was skiing pretty bad, I was scared holding back and too late for every single gate. I was afraid to fall and brake another leg and my ankle was hurting because the messed up boot put too much pressure on the plate in my ankle. So things wheren’t going like they were supposed to, but it made me realize that it is in conditions like these where you can learn the most. Without a bad training every now and then you can’t have good training sessions. And as the coach told me it made me feel what I need to work on even better, because I still made the same mistakes as I normally do only worse, extreme.

We had another slalom session that night and it got better by then, I wasn’t scared to fall anymore. By the next day I sort of got over it and started to ski again, I was actually quite happy with my last 2 runs they felt good and fast. The coach made another video of this camp, my bad runs are on it as well, but like I said they are the best learning material.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eETQRX7c8rs

September 14 and 15 we go back to Landgraaf and I start training with my ski club next Tuesday. Monday I get new ski boots! With big thanks to Menno Koelewijn from MK ski service I get foam boots which will fit me better with my ski-orthosis and probably get my skiing to the next level, so excited! I have my old boots since 2004, I know they are ancient.

The plate in my ankle was pretty irritated because of the boot, but the surgeon told me it would get better with new boots. I’m still gonna try to leave it in for the season and have the surgery in the beginning of april. I had my one year check up with the surgeon yesterday and except for the plate irritation things are looking good. And he told me he was impressed with all the thing I do and can do with my leg, most patients wouldn’t even try he said. Well that was nice to hear but I think; The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything but they make the most of everything.

Liege

Last weekend I went to Liege Belgium for an international para-cycling race.

We arrived Friday afternoon after a 2 hour drive, we had a good and clean hostel, for only 17,50 euro per night. Saturday was the time trial and I was pretty nervous, didn’t know what to expect, the time trial started 40 minutes late. My start was at 11.35 am, there was a 1 minute interval.

After 1,5 km I felt my leg, it was already full of lactate but I could also see the German girl that had started before me, it was a pretty long climb but I kept pedaling and I found a rhythm. After the long climb came a descent and some sharp turns, I couldn’t see the German girl anymore and before I knew it I was at 5 km.

The total distance was 7,8 km when I reached the finish my body felt empty I knew I had given all I had. Pretty soon I heard the unofficial result that I got a second place in  my class (C2) and a small gap with the winner. That was pretty exciting because I had never expect to do that well in this race. It was a beautiful sunny day with nice and warm weather and I liked it a lot. After the race we got back to our hostel tried to get some rest but ended up laughing ourselves to death making pictures like this.

The next day was Sunday, day of the road race. The coach came to me smiling saying Annika have you seen the results, you got a second place with a 15 second gap with the winner you can still win (results where combined). The first start was the C category meaning cycling on a regular bike. All the men and women of the 5 different classes started together.

Immediately I got the wheel of the German girl, she was fast but we stayed together most of the race, for about 36 minutes I was fine but after that it got harder and harder to keep up with her, during the climbs I lost her, but during the descent I got her wheel again, I was way better downhill and with the turns, no surprise with the skiing back ground.

One round before the last I had to let her go unfortunately, but I managed to keep my speed up. With a the last strength I had in me I made one last sprint for the finish. 

One of the trainers helped me off my bike and my leg was just too weak so I fell on the ground, I really gave it all. Everybody said I did great for a first race and I was happy to because I knew I was as fast as I could be at this point. The sun came out and the next group the tandems had their road race, those tandems are fast it looks so cool. A tandem has a pilot and a visually impaired racer on the back.

Last group where the handbikes and the tricycles it was warm and sunny again and I got a tan while watching everybody.

It was a great weekend good to get some races in after a ski season in which I had started just one race and got a DNF. I liked the races a lot and was happily surprised with my results. I had a talk with the coach and he said I did very good in the races and was pretty fast for a C2 with an average speed of 25,44 km/h in a hilly road race. I got a second place with a 90 second gap with the winner in the road race, the German girl who won is ranked 7th on the world ranking.

After the price giving ceremony, in which only the winners got a price,  we drove 2 hours home, tired but happy and an experience richer.

at our hostel

Back on snow

Last week I went to Snowworld Landgraaf for a 2 day training, the first on snow training of the 2011-2012 season. We went back to the basics with a lot of different drills mainly focused on technique. I think I’m skiing good for this stage in training and I notice the results of my physical training in my skiing as well. Snow conditions weren’t great, the  slope was icy and not in the good way, old snow and ice with lots of dirt in it, luckily I had already trained in this conditions with my ski club.

It was busy in Landgraaf with a lot other (national) ski teams, we even saw the Swiss WC team. Pretty cool to see them train, because of the snow conditions they switched ski’s every 20 minutes or so. It was a good 2 day training camp and I had fun with the rest of the team.

The coach made a video of some of the runs.

http://youtu.be/LkYSEXuP-E4

Today I had a good cycling training climbing really is getting easier. Which is good because the race in Liege is this weekend, I feel prepared as much as I can be since cycling isn’t my sport. And I walked the dog which sometimes feels more like this…

But he is old and so sweet, so I don’t mind. The cat on other hand is pure evil from time to time.

The good life

New video; Summer training 2011, has footage of me doing some jumping exercises, cycling and some older skiing footage.

I haven’t blogged in a while, sorry guys.

Everything is great, I finally have vacation so no more study stress for a while. Still training hard and getting lots of results, very happy with that. I’m moving boundaries and with every victory new goals appear. Two years ago I wished I could get my walking up to the level where I could walk the dog or go shopping without a wheelchair, now those goals are far behind me. It’s good to look back and cherish what I have accomplished already. Now I’m starting to do something you might call running, I know it looks totally weird, but I’m getting faster and way more agile.

Cycling is going good as well, I’m climbing some bigger hills now. I get lots of nice comments when I’m climbing our local big hill the Posbank. People think it’s hard core pedaling with one leg and say things like “you are awesome” and “that’s hard work”. I have to admit though it is as hard as it looks, I’m not at the level yet where climbing is anything near easy, but it’s getting easier and I’m getting faster.

 Today at the top of the Posbank

 last week

 top of the Posbank last week

Cycling at the Posbank last week

On snow training starts Tuesday at the indoor ski slope, snowworld Landgraaf, so stoked.

And I’m participating in an international para cycling race in Liège Belgium (August 20-21). I wasn’t planning on it but some people sort of persuade me. So we will see how that goes another fun adventure, a spontaneous plan, love it. 

My silly cat likes to join me when I walk the dog

Finally: end of the semester

Today was my last day of lectures. We had our final presentations and are done for the summer……….or not, still 4 exams to go till July 26. My last course was about orthopaedic implants, hip and knee. Learned a lot and that orthopaedic surgery isn’t my thing, haha, well it’s good to know!

Training is going really well and I’m pleased with the results so far!

Jumping <3 J

I’m cycling a lot and my speed and technique is improving, still falling off my bike every now and then though J  

 the picture on the right was taken at an artificial outdoor ski slope, where children were tube gliding, looked like a lot of fun, actually I wanted to join...

Since last Tuesday I’m done with ski training, for a month, I start August 9 again, can’t wait J.

Last Saturday one of the boys in a sit ski hit the wall and this is what was left of ski.

I caved; planking J

The twitter one and the way my trainers want me to plank, haha.

Hope you all have a good summer!