Solden and Fundraising

I am back to my usual blog format for the time being. 

This year, in between camps, I have been able to head home to Ontario and visit with family and friends. 

The day before I left for Solden I had the honour of being awarded Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal! 

"Created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the Throne as Queen of Canada, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal was a tangible way for Canada to honour Her Majesty for her service to this country. At the same time, this commemorative medal served to honour significant contributions and achievements by Canadians. During the year of celebrations, 60 000 deserving Canadians were recognized." - http://www.gg.ca

Next I headed to Piztal, Austria to begin my prep for Solden. I have made some significant changes to my GS this summer, and I went to Solden for a few reasons, to get a race under my belt before Levi, to get a few extra days of GS training under my belt and because this year I felt that I had a chance. 

We had a fun photoshoot with MP's new line for "I GOT SWAGG". 

MP and I always listen to Hugues, but Jenny isn't impressed by what is being said...

Thanks Audi for our sponsorship! 

Mitch the lizard.... 

Who reminds me of... the lizard in "How Animals Eat Their Food".

I love my teammates and physio! And the new line of... http://www.teamigotswagg.com

I was excited when we moved to Solden because the forest is always so beautiful. I brought my big camera on this short trip for the sole purpose of taking pictures of the trees. I slung my camera over my shoulder, bush wacked up the trail and got my camera ready. Only to realize that my battery was dead. I resorted back to my good old iPhone,

Silence

I woke up the next morning ready to race. 

I didn't ski the way that I wanted to in the race. Many of the changes that I made in GS are not yet good habits and fell apart under the difficulty of Solden and the pressure of the race. The outcome of the race was a bit of a nightmare, and I was disappointed. However, I got many of the things accomplished that I went to Solden for. I felt calm in the start, I trained in many difficult situations and my warm up went according to plan.

However, I still felt like this after the race.

I headed home to get myself ready for my preparation for Levi. This break at home was extremely busy, filled with fundraisers, inspirational days and working out.
The first thing on the schedule was a couple of interviews and then heading to a school in Toronto for a kids' inspirational lunch. It was amazing to see the kids open up to us, get comfortable and be inspired. I am so happy that Ontario decided to add this to their gala day.
After the kids lunch we headed to the Miele centre for our Ontario gala. It was amazing to meet new families from Ontario and see the support from our province.

Next on the schedule was the HBC launch for the Olympic clothing. It was exciting to see our Olympic gear for this coming season! I am excited to put on these clothes and become part of team Canada!

Our amazing hair stylists.

Jan and Brad helped us launch the clothing in style!

After the launch and a few interviews, I headed to the Gold Medal Plates dinner. This is a dinner where chefs from some of the best restaurants in Toronto come to have a cook off. Tom Cochran and Jim Cuddy performed during the event (and let us come up on stage and sing with them!). The proceeds of this events go to our Canadian Olympians and the chef that wins moves onto the culinary finals in Kelowna, BC.

The week at home was incredibly busy, but it was simply incredible too. I was able to meet many other Olympians, and I am excited to watch them all compete in Sochi. These events are busy, colourful and they inspire us to...