To Larisa, Kelly, JP, Bourque and Johnny.

EDIT: Falling is part of our sport; getting hurt is part of our sport; winning is part of our sport!!  Timing and a little bit of luck can have a huge effect on what any of these aspects of our sport mean... weather a fall is a normal fall and you ski away, or if a fall means being airlifted off the course... Sometimes when you fall it's because of a technical or tactical mistake; sometimes when you fall it's from cutting the line to the point where you cannot physically make the next turn without some extreme recovery moves; but what I mean about luck is to what degree any fall affects any skier.  Some of the craziest crashes you see on TV have been harmless to the racer and they walk away, some of them not so much.  SO with that in mind, I think our team has had a stroke of bad luck and bad timing for five of our best skiers.

I guess I have been keeping my blog updated on only the POSITIVE parts of my life and ski racing, but it's hard to ignore the fact that a huge part of our team is now out for this season due to injury.  Every time I heard that another teammate was injured I felt a lump in my throat and a slight panic in my heart.  It's a scary realization what effect this sport can have on our bodies.  Each person injured (Larisa, Kelly, Johnny, JP and Frankie) were as fit, or fitter, than any other ski racer out there, so it's not a matter of strength, power, agility or any of the aspects we excel at in the gym, it's more a matter of luck (and bad luck...)
The idea of Luck being part of the injuries may sound sort of fairy-tale-ish... but in my mind it's part of our sport along with crashing, injuries, and winning.  From my point of view, we (the Canadian Alpine Ski team) do everything possible to make sure our bodies are ready for the intensities thrown at them on good and bad days; courses are set according to certain guidelines; our coaches always have our best interests at heart and make sure everything is running safely and smoothly; we have physio's, trainers, nutritionists, psychologists etc... so when somebody gets hurt it just seems like really bad luck.  Pushing the limits of our sport can be dangerous and we all know that, bus some days are more dangerous than others....
Once you are in full race mode, the only way to win or be anywhere near winning, is to be aggressive and take the risks other racers are not willing to take.  In that respect I applaud my injured teammates for being aggressive and totally pushing their limits to the point where they would either have been SUPER fast or out.  Going out and crashing is another part of our sport,  unfortunately on some days it can mean the end of a season.
Since I am a slalom skier, crashes aren't nearly as risky as downhill, Super G or  Giant Slalom crashes.  Pushing my limits is more a matter of not straddling or not missing a gate....  I have had some pretty intense crashes and I feel lucky that all my ligaments held together and I am still on the slopes!!  Last year I broke my thumb and got surgery the same night (LUCKILY!!!) and was able to race a week later with a metal plate in my thumb!! And for that I feel so grateful that everything worked out in my favour and that I walked away with only a sore thumb.  With that in mind, I hope that the rehabilitation process for all my teammates goes AMAZINGLY and they come back with stronger legs, knees, bodies and minds.  I have been thinking of them a lot lately and know that injuries can happen to anybody any day, and I find strength knowing that they are dealing with their injuries with a positive outlook.  I just read Kelly Vanderbeek's blog and it inspired my to write about the way I have reacted to our team's unlucky timing with injuries. Reading her honest words about getting injured gave me hope that if that is me one day, I too, will be able to get through the devastation of a season ending, and move on with a positive attitude looking forward to the following season or the following Olympics!!! I can already picture Kelly and Larisa taking down the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia!!! LOOK OUT 2014!!! haha!  And I know that JP, Frank, Johnny, Larisa and Kelly will be a serious force to be reckoned with next season and for many more to come!!
Good luck to my teammates! I miss them!

Merry Christmas to everybody, and many thanks to my family, friends, coaches, teammates and all who have helped and supported my adventure so far!!