Diary of a Non-Wimpy Ski Racer

Journaling isn’t just for detectives like Nancy Drew (and diaries aren’t just for wimpy kids like the wimpy kid that kept a diary).  Writing, journaling, diary keeping—whatever you want to dub the pages soaking the ink of your thoughts—is rad.  And if you want to be numero-uno down the road, a training log is a great key to long-term success.  If you track it, you’ll always be able to go back to it.  If you end every training session with a journal entry, you’ll begin to recognize patterns, and solve the issues when you hit a plateau

Writing is also a good way to problem solve.  Ski racing is full of confusing, convoluted lingo.  Believe me, there were many times when I had no idea what my coach was asking of me.  Don’t feel ashamed to ask questions, and in your journal, work through those questions.  Technical talk is often hard to understand.  When you work through a training session in your journal, you may realize, “Hey, I didn’t even know what my coach wanted me to do.”  Ask for a drill the next day, and record it.  If you’re ever having the same problem again, you’ll be able to look back and know exactly how to solve it.

You’ll also learn what works and what doesn’t work.  Say one day you take two warm-up runs and the next you take five.  This pattern continues and you realize that two warm-up runs work for you.  Five just tires you out.  Boom, problem solved and now you’re on to a more productive training session.

If you want to hit the front page every race, get proactive.  Keep a ski journal.  It’s a smart way to victory.