I love my job.

The 2012 Kayak Polo Nationals are this weekend and even though I am just watching this year, it's still a great time!

Camp YesICan is a week long camp for amputee children put on by Wright & Filipis at Bay Cliff Health Camp in Big Bay, Michigan. It has been a favorite part of my summer routine for the past eight years. I go back as a counselor now because well, if you had this much fun you would too!

The kids that attend this camp are some of the most outgoing, creative, upbeat kids you may ever meet. Most of them I have known for the past seven years. I have watched me grow with their disabilities and become amazing people. They inspire me. Growing up I didn't really have the ability to get together with many other disabled kids. But when this camp started, that all changed. I now had the power to talk to other kids who would be going through life experiences like me. The bonds that are made in this one week are ones that can never be broken. 

                             

Well of course there is physical therapy, this is amp camp! Basically the only thing that makes this camp different from any other summer camp is that there is daily physical therapy. Wright & Filippis (which just happens to be where I get all my legs) has decided that during this week of fun, they would provide the best physical therapist and prosthetists to help make our prosthetics the best they can be. 

http://vimeo.com/45968190


Above is one of the best Paralympic commercials I have seen.

I just got back from a Team Summit camp at Mt. Hood, Oregon. Skiing in July is still sometime I am trying to wrap my head around.

Extremity Games

      I defended my title in kayaking at the Extremity Games for the fifth time this past month! I am extremely passionate about this event and the positive impact it has had on my life. I can honestly say I would not be the same athlete/person I am today without this event.
      Growing up in such a rural area, adaptive sports just wasn't an option. I participated in all able bodied activities, learning to adapt myself along the way. I actually consider this a blessing. Because I was  always having to push myself ten times harder to keep up with the able bodied kids, determination and hard work are second nature to me. Also, I think it is where I got my competitive spirit.  I really don't think there is a better feeling than when you see the spark of realization in someones eyes that "oh, maybe this won't an easy win after all". Stepping onto the court or field as the only disabled athlete  has been my life up until the first Extremity Games.
       I don't think I will ever forget the first year. It is by far the most influential event to happen in my life to this day. I mean it had everything! The venue was amazing, competition was fierce, and the goody bags weren't too shabby. These few things alone were more than I was expecting. Although, the one thing I wasn't prepared for was the atmosphere and how positive it was. Yes, we are all competing against each other, but on the other hand, we were all one community cheering for one another. We all had a common bond that brought us together. This was the first place I could really just be myself. I didn't have to be self conscious about my limp, or worry about people staring when I took my leg off to go to the pool (I just leaned it up against the wall, next to the other abandoned limbs). The Extremity Games is where I learned to fully accept myself as a 'disabled' person. Up until this point of my life, I had always worn the most cosmetic legs I could have. However, I think it was the day after I got off the plane to come home that I called my prosthetist and told her I wanted function over fashion. So now I wear my crazy legs that bare no resemblance to the human body what so ever. And for a fourteen year old girl to be making this decision to fully embrace herself and tell the world "hey world, this is me" I think the games served its part.

The staff at the Extremity Games has become family. I love them and all that they have done for me and so many others!

Day 2:
Yet another day of pre race prep. I did my hour and a half of paddling as soon as we got to the venue and then the rest of the day is basically mental prep. I found out today that tomorrow I will have two heats and then the finals on Thursday. I am surprisingly relaxed for someone who is about to take on their first World's event. However, I know I won't be getting any sleep tonight. I keep visualizing the course and what it will be like. I have been told many times that you should always visualize your goal, so I just see myself going through my routine: START STRONG (6 spears with the paddle), STAY STRONG, GET STRONGER (30 seconds in start to pass someone),  GET THERE (45 seconds in finish the race) Last 5 strokes GIVE IT ALL YOU GOT.

Day 1:
Today was the first official full day in Poznan, Poland. I don't really count yesterday, mainly because Dylan (my teammate) and I didn't arrive until mid afternoon and then we spent the rest of the day attempting to catch up on some much needed sleep.
This morning we headed to the event venue for a day of race prep. This includes boat selection and classifications. We did get to spend a little time on the water, about a hour and a half for each country. Today was a pretty slow day, there was a lot of sitting around waiting. However, I am not sure if it was just because we didn't do much or if it is that time seems to be standing still whenever I think about this huge race coming up!

Well, there ya have it. I am now on the United States National Team for Worlds. I did it. I won my race! The race I had no idea about up until a month ago. What is my life? How are all of these amazing things happening to me? I realize hard work and dedication do play a factor, but still. I am just a one legged nineteen year old girl from the part of Michigan no one knows about, how am I standing on the top podium at the US Olympic Trials?
This is by far the the most prestigious honors I have been given. I am going to represent my country in Poland at Worlds! How many other other people get to say that in their lives? The list of people I have to thank could honestly go on forever.

TEXAS.

Well, with the end of my ski season come and gone what now?
KAYAKING THATS WHAT.
Yep, I have yet again moved my entire life to a new place where I know no one, this seems to be a recurring pattern for me. This time instead of the rocky mountains, I am in the home of cowboys and big hair (which really isnt that much different from Colorado). A few weeks ago I received a message from a man named Ben Kvanli, a former Olympic kayaker who was looking to put together a team this summer. This message came to me in no other way than Facebook! He said he had been searching for me since he saw me compete in last years Extremity Games. After a few messages back and forth, the decision was pretty clear, I was to finish up my ski season and then make the 17 hour drive from Frisco, Coloardo to San Marco, Texas ASAP.
So I did. I saw the beautiful cornfields of  Kansas and Oklahoma (and then more in northern Texas). Lets just say this ride was a lot of me belting out to the radio for what seemed to be endless hours on in. But then I finally made it.
I am lucky enough to be training with some of the most amazing people. Ben is such an elite athlete, paddling with him is such an experience! We paddle on the San Marco's river every day, which is just a few steps outside my door here at the Olympic Outdoor Training Center. So far we have done a lot of white water, I went down a 13 ft waterfall two weeks ago!
We are also focusing a lot of time on our flat water sprint. This is the first time I have ever been in a race kayak and let me tell you it is a whole new experience. First of all, it is so narrow I had doubts I was going to get my big ski racing leg in it at all! Once I finally squeezed in, I learned my next great challenge.. balance. Ben first put me in his old race boat. I literally let go of the dock and next thing I knew I was saying hello to the fishes that swam underneath me. So I got upgraded to a little wider boat, and it has been a perfect match since. Ben explained to me that the boats I am currently practicing in are way tougher to handle than the one I will actually be racing in come two weeks at the Paralympic team trials. So by training in these boats, the others will feel like a walk in the park. Let's hope so!

Mau took me on the adventure of a lifetime in Jackson Hole! I attended the "Steep & Deep" camp put on my Adaptive Adventures. It was amazing skiing, Mau even said I had a break though! I learned how to finally ski powder, which is something I have dreaded in the past. You can check out more photo's from my trip and follow me on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelly-Allen/370425689636743

We had a great race in Park City, Utah last week! This was my last disabled race of the season, it went by way to fast. However, my training is only just beginning. I still have a few weeks left on the snow, even an able bodied SL race to attend in April. And then I'm off to "da  UP" for a summer of the gym and traveling to dry land camps with Team Summit.

Road trip! Me, Jess, and Katrina load the car for our eight hour drive to Park City, Utah for our next big race! Wish us luck..

Today was a powder day at Copper kinda day.

This past weekend I helped out at a Stars of Tomorrow Camp held by Adaptive Adventures.  It was a great long weekend filled with good skiing and awesome kids!

I defended my title at the Stiler-Meyers Cut two weeks ago at Schuss Mountain in Downstate Michigan! This was my second year at this race, and my second year winning! The trophy is on display at the National Ski Hall of Fame in Ishpeming Mi. It was great to get the opportunity to ski in the midwest again. It was typical Michigan weather- snowing so hard you could barley see in front of you! Oh, and lets not forget about the sheet of pure ice under that foot of fresh powder, yep typical Michigan skiing! 

Between skiing and the gym my favorite pass time is knitting, I think I am starting to be known as the "crazy hat lady" at ski races.

After my race in New Hampshire I was given a week off to spend at home, and what a great week that was! To add to spending time with family and friends, I was also given the opportunity to check out the BOSS headquarters, where there I got to shake hands with some of the employee's and take a tour through the factory. I cannot thank BOSS enough for the opportunities they are allowing me to have! 

I am on my way to my very first race of the season, and I couldn't be more excited! After weeks of hard training with Mau and Team Summit, I feel ready to make my debut in the disabled race circuit. Just yesterday I did a  forerun for an able bodied race at Copper, and I felt strong. Let's hope this continues on all week! I am not only excited that this is my first race of the season, but this will be my first race ever with disabled athletes. Growing up I have mainly competed with able bodied people, so it is just  incredible to be able finally go head to head with my own peers. Wish me luck!