Intercontinental Cup 2nd Half - spring 2010

You won't believe this, but I didn't take a single photograph the entire second half of the Intercontinental Cup tour this season....

.....I know, I know, I bombarded you with images of Europe for the first half, but just couldn't bring myself to take out my camera.

Why?

Well, one day after I arrived in Lake Placid for the first race of the second half, I started to get sick. Just one more day found me down for the count, and I remained down for the next 2+ weeks. The wracking cough wouldn't leave, nor the exhaustion from sleeping upright and coughing all night. (In fact, the British team called me "the walking dead" and I scared people by coughing myself into a bloody nose in Calgary, blech.)

Anyway, all I did was slide and sleep. Didn't have energy to respond to emails, didn't have energy to read. Read! So, the camera stayed in its case.

I do have to say, sliding on cough syrup was awesome - I was so loopy that it felt even more like flying than usual! Wheeeeee! Whoopee! Super fun....

Anyway, by race day, I somehow managed to pull out my best finish thus far, 10th!!! I was flying high. Heh, literally...

But by the time I got to Calgary the next week, in Alberta Canada, I was plumb tuckered out. My pushes went from top 5 or top 8, to 16th, and I just tanked. Terrible finishes: 16th and 18th. Ouch.

And then Park City. I made some TERRIBLE mistakes on my home track, and was frankly just over it all. So tired, still coughing, still taking narcotics to sleep every night, still sleeping sitting up....add in those mistakes and I finished 8th.

Yes, my best finish of the season, but with the ICC tour whittled from 29 women down to 13, 8th FELT pretty terrible. No, I was really just demoralized from being so sick for 3 weeks.

Now that I'm finally healthy, I'm much happier with my results. Funny how that works...

• I was the top US woman finisher in both the Placid and Park City races
• I held my place as USA 5
• I improved all my push and finish times, even in Calgary, Personal Besting everywhere!
• My worst finish this season was better than my best finish last season
• I was racing the most competitive IC circuit yet (several World Cup athletes dropped down to the IC in a hope to get more points)
• My rank moved from the mid-50s in the World last season, to being 35th in the World now
• I finished the IC tour ranked 10th. 10th!!! I was in the 20s last season!

Yes, I'm happy. How can I not be? I mean, yes, need to improve, and I'm ready to start training for next season.

Well, after a break of course...