And I have been WORKIN’ (and reading some Khalil Gibran, hence the quote…)

Here are some updates since I’ve been a little MIA over the past couple of weeks:

It’s been busy busy being back to the USA since my incredible training trip in Australia (and little side vacation in Malaysia…)

I had a quick presentation with Mark Edwards CPO, and Ottobock Healthcare at the O&P Academy meeting in Chicago, which was absolutely freezing (hello, polar vortex) but also a really fun event and a great experience.

My newest traveling while training tip:

Sprints down an empty hallway.
Brilliant.

After the Academy meeting, I was invited to train and work with some scientists for a week at my second home, the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California. We got A LOT of interesting information on my athletic performance and I look forward to following up with Alena Grabowski, PhD at the University of Colorado (coincidence, I know) at the end of my season to see what movements have changed and hopefully have improved overall.

The next day upon arriving into Denver, I had the absolute honor of being the highlighted speaker of the Sportswomen of Colorado 2014 Awards Banquet, which was an incredible gift. Being in a room full of talent and hard work is something that truly speaks to your soul and motivates you even more than you know possible, so a special congratulations to Mikaela Shiffrin for her new Olympic jewelry from Sochi, and on being named 2014 Colorado Sportswoman of the year.

This past Wednesday, Ottobock kicked off it’s first ever Fitness Revolution event in Denver, where we showcased the new ski/snowboarding prosthetic system called the ProCarve. It’s seriously an impressive leg. I also presented on behalf of my beloved 3S80 running system that I use for training and competing. I’d say for our first event, it was a total and complete success. My first ever ski instructor I had post-amputation, Dale, was actually a part of the trials at Winter Park the next day. It was kind of a cool full-circle moment for me… A true “teacher has become the student” kind of deal.

Of course, coming back home after three months of travel is hard when you don’t actually have a home so I’ve been moving throughout all of this, but it feels so good to be settled in a place to call my own… With parking (finally)

Other than that I am still training with my absolute favorite group of people on this planet and getting ready to do some serious work for the outdoor season. We have two 2016 Olympic hopefuls, my coach Jeremy Dodson and team mate Joe Morris (who by the way, medaled at his first ever Indoor USAs 60m final this year… Huge deal) a top high school 400m runner, Zane Vanderberg, another coach and mentor, Quinton Dodson, and then little ol’ me working towards the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games. It’s a solid support system and an even stronger training group. I’m thankful everyday for those dudes in my life.

I have literally “hit the ground running” since coming back to the states, and wake up every day feeling so grateful that I have a job that makes my heart so incredibly happy. It certainly isn’t an easy or stress-free road, but whoever has a job without that kind of demand probably wouldn’t understand the true joy that being busy can really bring to someone… I think I’m the luckiest girl in the world, and it’s because of the opportunities I’ve had to continue doing what I do, working directly with people who are fighting any sort of battle, including limb loss, to achieve whatever goals they want.
And that is totally AWESOME.

As long as I can stay organized enough to take naps, I’ll keep this up for a long time.

Be on the lookout for a calendar to be published soon to catch me at some track meets or national events with Ottobock!