It's winter! And along with winter comes the next level of my training. This weekend will mark the beginning of my ski season, first day back on the slopes will be Sunday. Wish me luck!

Thanks BOSS

I now have all the gear I need to let people know, I'm the BOSS.

I have begun to wonder what normal people do on Sunday afternoons. 

Frenemy

This is Mr. Bongo Board. He is new to my work out routine this week. I hate him,  and from the joy I'm guessing he gets from throwing me off, I think the feeling is mutual. Mau says we will become good friends over the next few months. We'll see.

Package from Home

Today I received a package from my lovely mother! She know's me all to well, it contained six pairs of shorts, one sweater, four pairs of ski socks, eight chapsticks, one camel backpack, ipod chargers, multiple dvd's, my glasses and three cook books. All a girl needs to survive. 

Snow

It's here!

Snow

The mountains are calling. 

Stacked

So this is what my "Day off" consisted of. For a light work out Mau decided that I would be stacking the wood pile for the winter. After a day of lifting and pushing, I have decided to change my life long dream of becoming a lumberjack, to just about anything else. 

50 K? No Big Deal

What started off as just a day of helping Adaptive Adventures out, turned into one of my most challenging days so far. I was told I was going to be doing a 10 K to just watch the kids, this was even something that I felt uncomfortable with. Considering I had never ridden a hand cycle for more than three minutes, completing a 10 K or about 6 miles seemed like a bit of a stretch for me. Yet somehow Mau convinced me that I should sign up for one of the longer events, the 50 K. Now, I have learned not to question Mau's ways, because most of the time she is right, so I did what I was told. It seemed like an okay idea, until someone told me how long of a ride that was (about 31 miles)! But of course I had alright signed my name up, so it as to late to back down. At the moment I realized there was no turning back, I was petrified! I was about to embark on one of the most physically challenging activities of my life up to this point, who wouldn't be scared? Luckily there were the others who felt my fear, and we all decided we were going to go through this together.
I'm so glad that I had the people around me that I did. We had many laughs along the way to hide the pain! After the struggle to the half way check point, I decided only then that 'okay, yeah, I can do this!'
And I did! I finished a 50 K bike ride, something I never thought I would have an opportunity to do. That in itself has made this trip worth it!

A New Home

 

The time has come, I have left the nest! I am now in official training mode. I live with my coach Mau Thompson in Winter Park, Colorado. This is me on one of our many hikes, which oddly enough is not my C-Leg's favorite things to do. On this particular day my leg decided it had enough and didn't want to work anymore on the way down! 

Luckily, I have my prosthetist on speed dial!

I'm BOSS

I could not be more appreciative to my new sponsor The BOSS Snowplow! They are helping me reach my goal of becoming a 2014 Paralympic athlete by taking away all of my financial burden, which is more than I thought would ever happen.
Who would have thought that a quick stop by my high school tennis coaches house would take so much stress away? The day before my mother and I left for our twenty hour drive to Colorado we decided to make one last attempt to seek a sponsorship. And to our surprise, it worked!
I am eternally greatful to Ellette Brule Nyman and her family. They believe in me enough to take me on as a full sponsorship! I don't think I will ever delete the text I got that night "You are officially sponsored by The BOSS SNOWPLOW." As you can imagine, there were tears when reading these amazing eight words. And I don't think I could put into words the feelings I had holding my check in the Wells Fargo parking lot. I called every member of my family and told basically anyone that would listen! I just sat in my car for about a half hour just looking at it. This check meant more to me than the amount that was written on it. This meant that someone believes in me enough to want their name associated with me.
Thank you BOSS, I will try my hardest to make you proud!