End of the Season

Today was a beautiful day, sunny, low 70’s, low humidity, and no pressure on me to perform. Finals for some events were run today; Ladies, Gentlemen, Girls, and Boys. I was given a Canadian Team T-shirt as a birthday gift, received lots of ‘happy birthday Holtzy’ during the day, and was taken to dinner by the New Zealand team where they sang the birthday song, embarrassing but flattering to be loved by my family in the Southern Hemisphere. After the birthday dinner, I went back to the site for some Brazilian entertainment, then back to my room to write you all.

Basically it as a wonderful birthday and I totally enjoyed every minute; it began with watching my friends compete in the Finals, a great dinner, and an evening with entertainment. Brandenburg knows how to throw a great Birthday Party for Holtzy!

I’ve uploaded the photos of the day: http://picasaweb.google.com/103472112604379439617/WorldsDay5HappyBirthdayToMe#.

Well, it’s the end of the barefoot season; I’ve had today some time to reflect on what I’ve learned from this experience:

1. I strained the inside muscles in both arms three months ago from overuse, but I kept trying to ski and took anti-inflammation meds. When that didn’t work, I lightly skied for six weeks with meds - that didn’t work; so six weeks before Worlds I just about stopped skiing completely. The impact on the lack of ski time resulted in me having very little confidence in my ability to perform at the World Class level, or to even make a back-deep-to-one start because of pain. I was not able to practice on site because of the terrible winds and rough water, and this just compounded my lack of confidence.

The lesson learned is that if I strain a muscle in the future, I need to ‘stop’ skiing until it heals. It’s better to stop skiing in the beginning or middle of the season, than a few weeks before a World Competition.

2. I now ‘know’ that have the skill to make the finals in both Slalom and Tricks at a World Championship. In 2008 – New Zealand, I missed the Trick Finals by 70 points out of 2600 or less than 0.03%; this year (yesterday) I missed the finals by 80 points out of 2660, again less than 0.03%. To advance to the Finals in Slalom at this Worlds required 12.1 points, and I have a PB of 15.

I know that if I had the confidence, strength, and practice skill, I would have skied both finals at this years Worlds. I have the ability and have proven that I can compete at the World Class level.

My goal it to be totally prepared for the 2012 Worlds; be in the best physical shape of my life; attend ski schools, ski hard so that I’ll have total confidence when I step on the dock that I will have the handle at the end of all passes and that I’m moving into the Finals. This will take total dedication because I’ll be 61 years old in 2012…

Saturday – Today I attended the World Barefoot Council meeting so I knew what to expect in the future.