AST Athlete Journal: Mikayla Wunsch
Hey everybody! My name is Mikayla and this is my second athlete journal.
After a successful Kimberley and Panorama race series, our team headed home for some much needed rest and recovery. Although I had tons of fun in B.C, preparing my mind to race for these two weeks was one of the toughest things I’ve done all season. Rest is super important to maintain a happy and healthy mindset throughout these long, action packed months. I was really glad to spend the days off with my family. Later in the week, we joined the Banff Alpine Racers for some training on Silver Legacy, at Norquay. Silver Legacy is personally one of my favourite runs to train on because of the super long pitch. Hopefully our time spent there pays off during the Norquay Series in March.
During our Pano/Kimberley block, we didn’t have much time to hit the gym, so our first sessions back were tough. Our trainer Nate makes sure we have the right amount of work in our program to get us back on track. Maintaining physical fitness during the season is crucial for injury prevention, and long term development. With another few days off, I went for a free ski day at Sunshine Village. A relaxed day on the hill is just what I needed to remind myself how much I love skiing!
I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine’s Day, with whoever makes you feel special! We had an awesome day….. Sitting in the airport……. Then the plane……. Then in a car for a couple hours. Despite the travelling, we made the time to have a little celebration of our own. Shortly after landing, we headed off to the grocery store and bought a strawberry cake, and lots of gummy worms to go with it. GALentine’s Day was a great way to kick off another eastern block.
Our first leg of the trip is a Super Séries in Québec, taking place at Bromont and Owl’s Head. Here the boys and the girls race at two different hills, and then switch halfway through. Prior to this series, we had some training time on the actual race runs. At Bromont the slope is injected so our time on the ice in both Hintertux and Belgium paid off. We started with GS at Bromont, while the boys raced Slalom at Owls Head. Our team had a few good results in the GS. Polly was able to score and achieved 4th place. Personally, I felt more connected to the GS rhythm than I have in a long time, and was able to match my points…… down to the hundredth! Owl’s head has brought some huge successes for our team, with Polly, Eva, Zoe and Katie all scoring well below what they currently have. Polly also ended up with third and second place medals! Our boys had some success, with Caleb getting a 3rd place in the slalom, and Gered scoring in both Tech events.
One of the many things that makes me look forward to our travels is our extravagant dinners. I’m super happy to be with a group of girls that agree nutrition is a high priority. We started off with a team dinner featuring polly’s spaghetti bolognese. Between the delicious food, and the pool table, it was a really fun night. The next evening we ate stuffed yam potatoes, which have Mexican style flavouring. I will certainly be asking Eva for her recipe. After the potatoes we had Zoe’s peanut noodle stir fry, Kyleigh’s Korean beef, Katie’s peanut butter chicken, and a pesto gnocchi made by me. Even if our skiing isn’t always great, we always look forward to our culinary adventures!
After a cold and snowy series in Québec, Zoe and I are headed off to New York state for the Whiteface NOR-AM Super-G’s. Polly, Eva Katie and Kyleigh are going to Collingwood for the Georgian Peaks FIS GS. A few days after these series, we will all meet up again for the Collingwood NOR-AMs. Our boys will be going to race the Whiteface Super-G’s and then travelling to Mont Saint-Marie for their Tech NOR-AMS.
Finally, I’d like to take the chance to thank our awesome sponsors GMC Canada, Karbon Sports, Sporting Life and Genstar for supporting all of our journeys. You guys are crucial to making our dreams a reality. Stay tuned for more adventures to come!
