Olympic Motivation

PERSEVERANCE
per⋅se⋅ver⋅ance  [pur-suh-veer-uhns]
–noun
1. steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., esp. in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.

Since the Olympics are now underway I finally have some good entertainment on the couch. Watching the opening ceremonies and hearing the stories of different athletes serves as great motivation to me, it always has, but this time it is different. I hear about injuries, hours of hard work, perseverance, determination, and reward. It shows me that all of these things that could have easily broken these athletes has actually made them stronger, hungrier, and more determined to achieve success. I love immersing myself in the games, not only ski racing, but every sport. I am a fierce competitor so I can really put myself into each athletes shoes and enjoy their successes and feel their pain when they come up short. It makes watching the games all the more exciting to me knowing that I am working to be there one day. I want to know what it feels like to be an Olympian. That is why I am determined to persevere through the tough times which have been set in front of me to achieve higher success than I have experienced in the past. I am just as motivated now as the day I wrote my first entry on this site, if not more.

Yesterday my roommates and I had a pretty lazy day, I had done a lot of work the previous day so I was instructed to just use my game-ready and take it easy. Today I woke up and hit the gym with my trainer. Today was by far the most flexible, strong, and stable my knee has yet felt. I actually added weight to some of my exercises. On Thursday my physical therapists was thrilled and told me I was way ahead of schedule when I bent my knee up to 90 degrees... Today I was at 72 degrees. A full 28 degrees in just 3 days is remarkable, perhaps a small miracle. I have been doing my exercises like a shaolin monk. Never missing a session and never giving anything less than my full effort. I'm sure I will hit a few speed bumps in my recovery process but so far I would say there is no way anyone could expect things to be going better.

Tomorrow I am going up to Park City to watch my teammates go head to head with the best in the country on our home hill. There are a bunch of guys who will be racing next week up in Vancouver who are in town for some warm up races. Should be a great show, I just wish I could take a stab at these guys in slalom... soon, I keep telling myself, soon.