I hurt...

I think I know what a rookie AFL footballer feels like after their first really bruising match, or a lightweight boxer who faced off against a heavyweight champion, it feels like I do right now. Everything hurts. Steamboat, CO, has definitely taught me a lot about what it will take for me to be competitive at this sport, it has taught my body that it can withstand all sorts of pain and still function and it has taught me that I need to be more confident in what I'm doing or it is time not to do this sport.

Racing in Steamboat started off with a fairly intimidating training day. I had had some fantastic days riding powder with my family and teammates and was feeling really great about my snowboarding. Spending time flying through trees, carving up moguls and slashing at powder stashes made me confident that I was in good shape to compete this week. However, inspection of the course showed that just competing would be a challenge, the course was long, very technical and had some massive jumps to contend with. The start section was completely different to anything I had seen before. It consisted of a steep drop in to an abrupt step down, then you rapidly approached a 20-30ft kicker that spat you high in the air. After that you had to make sure that you landed solidly so as to be prepared for 5 very deep rollers into the first burm. This start proved a challenge to almost all the riders, people were being spat out left, right and centre. Nevermind that you still had another 2 step downs, 4 kickers, 6 burms and 2 roller sections to contend with after getting through unscathed. This course was all about commitment, more speed made everything smoother but it also meant facing the prospect of fairly high speed crashes.

It took me a fair amount of time to build up the courage to drop in. I struggled to clear the first jump on my first few runs meaning that hitting any of the lower features was impossible, not having enough speed at all. I finally 'manned up' and followed Justin into the course at more appropriate and committed speed. I took the jump perfectly, landed with aplomb and barrelled into the rollers. Unfortunately I was carrying a lot of speed and was bounced in an epic fashion. Apparently, this was fairly spectacular from the top. I cracked my goggles, bruised my nose and put my teeth into my lower lip (note to self: don't forget your mouthguard next time). Ski Patrol asked me where I was, what I was doing and my favourite whether I remembered what happened - I epically face-planted into the uphill of a roller and smashed my head... is that what they wanted to know? Later on I also realised that my helmet was cracked and my ribs were pretty sore too. This was not how I had hoped to prepare for race day, the only thing to do was to go home and forget about it.

Wednesday I woke up feeling much better than expected and ready to race. I knew I could do this course. I did better in training, Adam was still unsure whether I should be competing. The agreement we came to was that I would drop in but if I didn't have enough speed to hit any jumps I would pull out and disqualify myself. Adam seemed reassured that self-preservation was high in my priorities. I wasn't the only girl not sure if they would compete after Tuesday training and Wednesday pre-race training the number of girls had gone down from 20 plus to 12 starters. No one was feeling that confident. I nailed my first run down the course, albeit very slowly, when I reached the bottom I swear I was the happiest person there despite being in 10th place. Actually riding off of all the features was no small achievement for me, I was very happy with myself for committing to riding the course. My second run was not so successful, I crashed on the first jump and thus did not have enough speed to complete the course, I had to pull off, thus ending my day.

Thursday, Race Day 2 was all about being aggressive in the course and not just making it down. My first training run was a winner, I hit everything at speed and was feeling great. Unfortunately my second training run, where I really tried to match the landing better off the first jump ended in a fairly decent crash. A little more gravel rash on my lower back just made me angry and ready to race. Time trials started with the skiers which gave me even more time to get anxious, not a good thing. I had a small crash into the b-netting off THAT (first) JUMP but got up and rode the rest of the course pretty well.

It was the second time trial where everything went really wrong with a huge crash off 'that jump'. As I took off I could feel that I was on my heel edge, I was flying through the air with little to do but relax and prepare for the impact. The worst part was knowing Mum was standing about 20 metres away watching this all go down. I landed solidly on my hip and was unsure that I could get up. Ski Patrol checked out my head again and got me moving but I needed a little sled ride down as I was way too battered and shaken up to snowboard. The application of iodine to gravel rash really hurts, don't let anyone do it to you unless you have something to squeeze ridiculously hard. Luckily my new helmet was not yet cracked!

I have never felt quite as sore as I do at the moment. I delayed my flight to California for a few days to give me more time to recover more comfortably on the couch with Mum, Dad and Lizzie to nurse me. Also, I don't think I could carry my bags quite yet. I'm looking forward to making amends at Tahoe after a fairly shambolic event in Steamboat. Though, to be fair to myself I was one of the few girls who actually attempted to compete, and was pleased that I did get through the course a few times. My snowboarding was not pretty and it made me realise I need a lot more time practicing being in the air and committing to big jumps.

I have loved having friends and family in Steamboat and have had really relaxed time despite all the crashes, I have had fun eating good food, making lovely new friends and the occasional Margarita. Thanks to everyone here who has made such a good support crew including, Courtney, Rick, Mike, Paul, Ollie, Cat, the Jeremiah's, the Howsens, and especially Mum, Dad and the Lizard.

Sending smiles and the occasional grimace from Steamboat.

Wish me a speedy recovery!!