My last blog called Make An Appearance was probably the busiest week of 2020 so far - appearances, work & getting ready to leave for Canadian Championships. 

Little did we know... that the world was about to shutdown. 

There hasn't been much to talk about since March, because somedays it feels like a rinse & repeat cycle. 

After spending 80 days away from home competing/training in the winter, the immediate quarantine actually came at a great time.... because I needed to rest & be home. 

#stayhomecrew

Immediately, all my chiro, pilates, training facilities all closed. This came as a shock for sure, I was in a gym on March 16th, the last day until the first week of July I would be with my coaches in person. 

Luckily, with a small amount of equipment, and it being early off season, I still didn't panic and turned our sunroom into my workout studio, and the park across the street became my place to run. After two full weeks of quarantine, my dad became a part of our circle. He has a full home gym in his basement, and it became my lifeline as an athlete (and being able to see someone else too!!)  

Many hours were spent down there, on a zoom call with my strength & conditioning coaches, and I got REALLY good at finding the right angles to take videos for them to analyze. It was up to me to be in control, and articulate what I'm feeling & what I needed. 

In the midst of this all, in June, I was offered a full time position at Classroom Champions, an organization I was working part-time at. It was a sign - this is the perfect year to shift a bit of my focus over to my career (and bank account!). I'm so thankful to be able to work from home & remotely, and that they are so keen to help me balance my athlete life with a career. 

Skeleton runners made for some makeshift weights! 

July suddenly got very busy as Alberta started to re-open. After almost 4 months of doing online zoom workouts, my team of coaches moved to a new gym that we could return to under new COVID guidelines. I went back to sprinting with my sprint coach, and was working full time. I was then thinking back to the March-June that were slow & relaxing for me & wishing for a bit of free time back (not really).  

As we got back to a more "regular" training (and the chiropractor... thank goodness!!), I was worried. Was everything enough? What if I wasn't fast this year? Was last year a fluke?  

With that, the thoughts on what a season would even look like was often ran through my mind & was a topic of conversation at training on a regular basis. 

As we began to go back to a more regular/consistent training schedule, I started to realize that I was the most pain-free I've probably ever been since I've started skeleton. Sprinting always bothered my shins, my adductor was tight or my back hurt. None of that was a regular occurence anymore. 

The thought was "ok well I may not be as quick as last year, but at least I'm pain free" 

Then we went back to the icehouse. Again, my body didn't retaliate for the first time in a long time. 

Then, in September ,after all of our camps had been pushed, I finally started to get that "fast" feeling back. Training PB's in the icehouse, on the track & on power cleans were all made. 

#crisisaverted 

Trusting the process finally was kind of working for me 

The bottom line is, I've loved every quiet moment this year to reflect. My Mind & Body had a chance to rest & reset. 

I almost feel guilty that it took a world pandemic for me to slow down, and rejuvenate. 

However, it's what happened, and clearly, the focus on my training & recovery away from work, has been beneficial. And I actually LOVE working from home. 

I don't know what the future holds, but I'm ready to take it on! 

That's it, that's the update. 

Nothing & Everything happened this summer, and I couldn't be more grateful to be happy & healthy.