AST Athlete Journal: Keira McLaughlin

Hey everyone! I’m Keira McLaughlin and it is my first year on the Alberta Ski Team. I am super stoked to share with you my first athlete journal and my experience with the team so far.

I am so glad to be back home and part of the team as I had attended Burke Mountain Academy for the past two years in Vermont. Before then, I had been part of CARC in u16 and prior to then, NASA. Safe to say, my favourite ski hill is Nakiska, so when I heard that we would be training there for three weeks, I was ecstatic. There is something about returning to your home hill after a couple years that makes it feel special.

Reflecting on my preseason, I found that I was able to make some considerable improvements to my skiing and I can’t wait to make more throughout our next training blocks. So far our preseason had consisted of going to Saas Fee (Switzerland) and Chile, both places I had never been before, with my main focus being on GS and SL. Both camps went very well, with myself gaining back confidence on snow as well as getting a lot of volume in. Nearing the end of our camp in Chile, my focus shifted to putting some more intense runs in and getting back to just “sending it” down the course in preparation for the Colorado NORAMs.

Unfortunately, those races were cancelled and instead my focus has turned to putting in some more high-intensity training. We have been at Nakiska almost every weekday morning, then heading to the gym in the afternoon to keep up our strength and aid our recovery for the following days. I have found doing recovery to be one of the most important parts of my day. After some tough injuries over the past couple of years, I now realize it is crucial to spend at least twenty minutes doing mobility, stretching, and some exercises. Furthermore, I find it mentally very relaxing and a good time to just listen to music and reflect.

One thing I have learned recently is having balance. Without school, it is often easy for myself to get consumed by skiing. While it is a major part of my life, I find that having other hobbies and interests helps me prevent getting burnt out. With the mild temperatures so far, I have been finding myself playing lots of tennis as well as badminton.

I hope you all are as excited and ready as I am for the races to begin and I look forward to meeting and seeing everyone at our quickly approaching races. I want to extend a huge thank you to our team sponsors: GMC Dealers of Alberta, Karbon Sports, Genstar Canada, Mountain Fire Foods and GearUp Sport Canmore for making all of this possible.

See you on the slopes!

-Keira