Another off-season is upon us!
And alas, I fell into the trap of neglecting my blog. To be honest, the part I struggle with is knowing where to start when things get tough: how do you coherently articulate the myriad of thoughts that run through your brain when challenges arise?
Well, you start typing.
So here is my promise to you — in writing on the Interwebs (so it MUST be true, right?) — to update more frequently over the course of this summer and upcoming season, even when get things feel hard. And I know they will be: navigating the final off-season before the 2018 Winter Olympic Games is a massive, all-consuming task. Every action I make needs to serve the betterment of my physical training and my mental preparation. If it doesn’t serve either of those purposes, I simply don’t have time for it this summer.
And I promise I’ll try to share all of those thoughts with you here.
In an effort to keep these next few posts a bit shorter, I’ll bring you through the end of the season and my downtime in April!
The Graybill Crew in Lake Placid!
I wrapped up my season via U.S. National Championships in Lake Placid, bringing home a bronze. It certainly wasn’t my best performance, but after a very loooong season (and competing on a new sled) I’ll take it. Best of all, most of my family made the trek to Lake Placid to cheer me on AND try their hand at my sport! Our federation held a Friends & Family event after Nationals so that our loved ones could get a better feeling for our sports. I had so much fun watching my family bravely hop onto their skeleton sleds! I made my way home a few days later after filming promos with NBC to be used in their commercials leading up to the Games, which was pretty cool!
I spent the first week home sick as a dog with a nasty cold. To be fair, I think it was the final iteration of the cold I got (and spread…sorry teammates!) at the beginning of the season coming back around to me to give karma her due. Other than that, April went by way to quickly, filled with appointments, family time, making sense of all of my federal tax documents, a quick trip to the Happiest Place on Earth and GRADUATING FROM GRAD SCHOOL! I finished up my Masters in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from Keller Graduate School at the end of April. This girl has her masters, y’all!
2017 DSG Winter Contenders
I drove back to the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center on my birthday to attend a Media Summit for the Dick’s Sporting Goods Contenders Program along with many other Winter Contender athletes. I started working at DSG last summer as an apparel associate and I can’t rave enough about being a Contender. The program offers Olympic Hopefuls a part-time, flexible schedule that works with our training regimens and allows us to earn the money necessary to fund our seasons. I am beyond grateful to DSG, and proud for work for a group where sports matter!
And with that, you are caught up through April! Stay tuned to learn more about my current whereabouts, and thanks for reading!
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