Never in my life have I been living proof of that old saying “you learn more from your failures than you do your success” more than right now. I started this season off with a “BANG”! Two races two wins. I was on fire, hot like a tamale. However, this weekend I cooled off.

The first weekend of racing I had this year was an Alberta Cup three weekends ago. I skied classic like I never had, gaping the field to win easily in the final. I surprised myself, big time and was really fired up. The next weekend the good times keep rolling with another big W. Facing a deep field of Canadians and Americans, I was able to dig deep in the final and win the big lunge for the line.

And I’ve now just come off another weekend of racing and I didn’t get the result I was hoping for. Things started off well on Saturday with a 3^rd place qualifying round. During the afternoon things were progressing as planned and as I lined up for the final I knew this was a huge chance for me. “Well Phil this is it, go for it buddy.” Long story short, I came up shy of my goal. I was a little bit tired and my skis were a little bit slippery, making the climbing difficult. The course was very tough and without those two very important ingredients, skis and body, the result wasn’t what I was hoping for. I skied things in to a 6^th place finish. Not the podium I was hoping for but not a horrible day. I saved the horrible day for Sunday. Snowed in tracks resulted in qualifying 20^th, despite feeling pretty snappy out there. After I crossed the line I was happy with the way things went, but once I heard I was 20^th my heart sank a little. I did my best to get fired up for the heats but my body wasn’t there. I think part of it wasn’t fueling up properly/post race on Saturday and being tired from the events of the previous day. I skied poorly and as a result it was my worst Nor Am finish in I don’t know how long, ouch. So, it’s safe to say I’ve cooled off. Two wins, two “no wins”. Still, a pretty good start to the year, but seeing as this last weekend was Olympic qualifying, it’s much tougher to swallow than had the races simply been Nor Am’s.It stings, it hurts, its emotional and real. But it’s racing and like the old saying goes “you learn more from your failures than you success.” Needless to say I will learn a lot from this weekend and am going to get ready to fight hard the rest of the season after some festivities this Holiday Season. Merry Christmas everyone! ‘Till the next update.

Check yourself before you wreck yourself,

Phil