Arrived in Florida

After receiving a text Thursday night that the flight would be delayed by 2 hours, I arrived in Florida at roughly 20:00 Friday night, local time. There was therefore not a lot of time nor energy left to really do anything on Friday. Saturday, however, it was time to enjoy the start of an amazing holiday to the fullest. Luckily Florida was kind to us, and the weather was great. After breakfast it was already a great temperature to go out and ski. We couldn’t wait, so started the day with a slalom set. Even though it hasn’t been that long since my last set, it was officially last year, so this was the first set of 2017! It was a bit of a struggle to find the rhythm in the course the first 2 runs. But despite having an odd timing, I still enjoyed the inexplicable joy of swerving on the water after some time off the water. It didn’t take long to get the timing back and at that moment I could start enjoying the fact that my muscles were strong and ready for this moment. I had a couple of great passes to start the year and think it won’t take long to get back to the level I left last year, and afterwards of course over that level. If you followed my blogs last time I was in Florida, you’ll know that I left at a bitter sweet moment. I did ski a new personal best, but it was just 1 turn short of running the 13 meter pass, which I really want to run. This holiday, it’s time for revenge.

After getting the first set out of my system so my muscles could stop itching to get on the water for a bit, I could admire my new skis. I ordered jump skis to be delivered here last time, they arrived a bit late, so I hadn’t seen them yet. This time they were waiting for me in the garage. I was really excited to screw on my bindings and give them a try. There’s no ramp on the lake here, so I’m not sure when I’ll be jumping on them, but until then, it’s good to do some drills and get used to the extra 6 inch I have now. They already felt great to hold and look up at, because they really are bigger than my last ones. But more importantly, they were also amazing on the water. I expected to feel a bigger difference with my previous skis, but I immediately felt comfortable on them. I think it is also because the material of my new skis is lighter, so even though they are much bigger, they are still lighter than my old skis. For now, I will be doing drills so that I’m completely prepared the moment I can take them over a ramp and fly.

After 2 sets, I dared to say that my muscles felt good and weren’t aching yet. I was ready for a trick set, because I just really wanted to do everything on the first day! I only did some hand tricks, because I had no one to pin me. Because of that I was also hesitant in doing steps over the wake, because I would never forgive myself if I got injured on day 1. Thus I decided to give the 540° wake turns a try. I’d wanted to work on these last time, but my eardrum was still pierced, and the chance of falling on my ear was too high. Now I wanted to see how they were, because when I did them at home on land, they were getting really stable. They felt great, especially for a first set back on the water, so I have high hopes for them too.

All in all it was a great day, though I do feel my muscles today… I can’t wait to ski more, especially since I’m leaving to Whitney McClintock’s clinic this afternoon. I’m excited to see what this will bring!