Hintertux October

I've just returned from two weeks in Hintertux with Motion Team, it was a huge relief to finally go back out in the mountains, it was the best reminder of why I put in so many hours in the gym in the last couple of months! 

Me and fellow Motion and Rossignol UK team mate Kirsty Guest

I had a day of free skiing to get the feelings back and to get the feel of my new Rossignol equipment! I really like the new set up!

 It was straight back into GS gates for day two. As it was the week before Sölden, Hintertux was pretty busy with big national teams preparing for the races. It was cool to train alongside Tina Maze and the Italian World Cup teams there aren't many sports that give you the opportunity to train in exactly the same environment as the top athletes in the world. So I feel very lucky! Talking to some of them on the lift I was surprised but also relieved when they said they were finding the conditions really tough too! Despite not skiing for a couple of months I was really frustrated with how I was skiing and I think I found it more difficult than I was expecting.

Had a selfie and a lift queue chat with Elena Curtoni :)

With Davide SImoncelli, Giovanni Borsotti and Luca De Aliprandini

We couldn't train for the next two days because of the weather, the mountain had to close. Over a metre of snow fell in 48 hours at the top. Even where our team were staying at just 850m altitude we had 40cm. It turned the place into a winter wonderland, so we made the most of it and did a team snowball fight in the woods, watched a whole season of Suits and did fitness training sessions in an underground car park! 

  

When the bad weather had passed it was back to hard training. For some days we managed to do some double sessions of either slalom or GS in the morning with Super G in the afternoon. The slalom and GS wasn't going so well but I managed to get some good feelings on the Super G skis.

Conditions were almost perfect everyday for the second week. I managed to get more sessions of slalom in. I have to be careful training slalom because it's so easy to injure my thumb again.  Skiing slalom courses with only stubbies on the right foot turns looked a little odd, but at least among the sea of gates we could tell which course was ours... Hopefully when I am back out training again I can ski full slalom courses as I would in races.

The final day training was the best day for me. After a frustrating two weeks when I felt my skiing had not been where I wanted it to be. I finally started to feel like changes were being made and I got more confident skiing giant slalom. It was a good way to end the camp. 

I am now home for a month before I head out to Innerkrems in Austria. Hopefully my first races will be middle of December. Now it's the last final push to get stronger and ready for the winter and make the most of the time at home!   

Ready to go!

It's been a pretty good past few weeks! I've made quicker progress with the rehab for my thumb and wrist than my surgeon originally expected. As it's got stronger I've been able to vary my training and I'm feeling good! I've just got to be extra careful when I get back on skis and not to push it too hard.

Yesterday I was in London to meet my mentor, as part of the Jack Wills Young Brits prize. Stewart Castledine works for James Grant In the sports division - one of the biggest media and sports agencies in the UK. It was really cool to see the work they do for some of the biggest sports stars in the UK and their support for me and what I do was really encouraging. Probably one of the funniest parts of the day was being stopped by the police outside Piccadilly Circus tube station in the rain in rush hour...They suspected I was carrying a firearm.... but I was just carrying a pair of Super G poles I'd collected from Ski Bartlett that were wrapped in plastic. Not sure who was more embarassed, the police officers or me!

More good news! I'm so happy and thankful for the support from 9Point9Sports Ltd for their help and support from POC. I've used POC helmets, goggles and gloves for years as they are a brand I trust and I know suit me and my requirements so well! 

I'm now all ready to start training again in Hintertux! Also huge thank you to Jack Wills, X Bionic and X Socks, Reusch UK, Bounce Balls UK and Rossignol UK. Your help has made such a massive difference! 

I will keep you updated with how my training goes, don't forget to keep checking www.blog.jackwills.com for young brits updates too!

x

Thank you!

Big smiles when the post came today! 

My new gear from X-Bionic and X-Socks UK arrived! Massive thanks to Ardblair Sports Ltd for helping me with the support. Can't wait to get out training in the new kit! 

Check out www.x-bionic.co.uk for more high performance sportswear not only for wintersports but cycling and running too!

Nia's Everywhere....

Well today was the day the Jack Wills Young Brits Award Winners 2014 went up in stores all over the UK! I popped into the Norwich store to say hi today, it's surreal!

To follow the story and to see my fellow winners check out www.jackwills.com and for my interview and video follow www.blog.jackwills.com this is where I will also be posting my updates throughout the winter. For anybody interested in applying for 2015 there's information on the site!

In thumb news I'm now seeing my hand therapist regularly and have started physiotherapy. My thumb is healing well and I will be back on skis at the end of October! For the time being I'm doing fitness training 5-6 times a week to make up for the time I lost after recovering from surgery! 

Nia x

BIG NEWS

Quite a lot has happened in the last month! My focus has mainly been getting back to full health so I can return to training properly. 

Two weeks ago I went to Les Houches to see my old team mate Jazzy, I was meant to be easing myself back into training gently... But we decided to go hiking both days, each taking 5 hours each and climbing 1000m vertically each time! It was hard work and I was stronger than I thought so now I'm super motivated! It was weird going back to Les Houches in the summer and climbing up the pistes I'm usually racing down, and the views from Chamonix - Lac Blanc definitely made the effort worth it! 

As soon as I returned back to England I was working for BSA again at Norfolk Snowsports Club for the race camp before the All England Championships. I was with working the youngest group, most of them all too young to race in the championship but I look forward to seeing them race in the next few years! A huge well done to two of the boys who I've had great fun coaching when I've been at Norfolk Alex Ogden and Joseph Thompson who are now U10 and U12 English Champions! 

Now a BIG announcement to make!! Over the past few months people have been asking me what happened with the Jack Wills Extraordinary Young Brits award 2014. I am thrilled to announce I was a winner in the Endurance category!!! I've known for about 2 months and it's been so hard to keep it a secret!!!! This means I've won £5000 to help fund my winter season, and round the world travel next summer. I'm also extremely lucky to receive mentoring throughout the winter to help manage my season. It's a fantastic opportunity and I'm having so much fun! Over the last few months I've done photoshoots and interviews, and I will feature in Jack Wills stores from the 18th September! I would like to thank EVERYONE who has helped support by voting and sharing, I could not have done it without you! I'm now super excited to see how this winter goes and hopefully help raise the profile of British Ski Racing!

Here's a sneak peak at some of the behind the scenes pictures from my photoshoot! (Pictures were taken by the awesome Matt Holyoak!)

 

 

I've now started back fitness training and progress with my thumb recovery is going well. I've had my cast removed and I now have a removable splint. Fingers crossed I will be able to get back on skis at the end of October!

Will keep you updated!

Nia x

Post Surgery!

I finally had surgery to repair my injured thumb on the 1st of August! Surgery went well, it was slightly different to originally planned. They managed to create a ligament to support my thumb but they were unable to reset the break and they confirmed I have early onset arthritis that will require surgery again in the future.

Unfortunately I won't be able to be back on skis for almost 3 months, I really need to give it time to heal as there is a chance that I could rupture the ligament again! This does mean I will miss 3 weeks of glacier training in Hintertux in Austria in October and the end of the summer indoor season. I'm pretty disappointed as I had scored good points in the indoor series at the beginning of the summer but I'm really looking forward to focusing on the winter season!

Recovery so far hasn't been easy, it has been painful and I've struggled with a combination of sleep deprivation and illness! I get my cast off on Wednesday to be replaced by a more comfortable removable splint. This will hopefully help me get back into training, I was really happy with the progress I had made in the early parts of the summer in terms of fitness and strength so I'm paranoid all of my good work will be undone! I think for the next few weeks my training will mainly be cycling (on a stationary bike), sprints and interval training, lower body weights and core. Thanks to Bounce Energy Balls I've got the healthiest way to keep my energy levels up when I'm training! I will keep you updated with how it goes!

Next week I'm going to Les Houches to see my old team mate Jazzy Butcher who has been there for the summer. I can't wait to be back in the mountains, go hiking and just chilling in Chamonix! It will be nice to see it all in the summer!

I also need to say a huge thank you as I'm really happy to announce that Reusch Gloves UK have kitted me out with gloves and mittens for the new winter season! The best brand to ensure warmth and protection for my newly healed thumb! Also a big thank you to X-Bionic and X-Socks UK who will also be supporting me this winter by providing compression base layers and ski socks, its essential to be comfortable to get the best out of your training and X-Bionic are perfect! Check them out! 

I've played around with the layout on my blog, I'm no expert in web design but I'd love to hear any feedback and tips to make it look and work better! I've also got some cool things to announce over the next few weeks so I will keep you updated!

x

Summer Training in Tignes

It's been a long while since I last posted, so here's a brief update on what I've been up to!

Firstly a huge thank you to everyone who voted for me in the Jack Wills Young Brits Award 2014, I've made it to the Semi Finals - the final 10! I will keep you all updated with how it goes from here! I would also like to give a huge thanks to Bounce Balls UK who are continuing to support me for this next season. Keeping energy levels up while training is really important and eating the right things while training makes a huge difference! High protein and natural foods are the way forward and the new Mint and Cacao flavour are delicious - I have a new favourite, check them out!!

Most of my time has been spent focusing on my fitness preparation for the winter season. At the moment my training is a mixture of weight training in the gym, sprints, speed and jumping, supplemented with cycling and balance/core exercises. 

(Completing a 110km bike ride with Jazzy Butcher)

I've just returned from 10 days glacier training in Tignes. This was with Motion Team, the new ski team I will be training with this winter. We'll be based in Innerkrems in Austria. It will be a big change for me after skiing with the British Ski Academy for so many years but I think it is time for a change and I'm really excited for this season!!

I've never done much skiing in July/August before so I was really excited to get back onto the skis earlier. In general the conditions were really good, there were only 2 days which we couldn't ski. On the days we did ski, we managed to do full mornings from 7.30-12.30 averaging 20+ runs a day and managing to split the morning between slalom and GSq. The camp was entirely focused on technical work so most of the time was spent perfecting drills and trying out new things. As I normally start skiing again in October, I usually miss this phase of the season of concentrating on technique. I'm really happy with the work I've done over the last 10 days so hopefully it will put me in a better position this winter.

Every afternoon we did dryland fitness training. Luckily in Tignes the facilities are amazing so you have so many options for training, and can mix it up a bit to keep it fun! We managed to go Kayaking, swimming, badminton, use AstroTurf for speed and agility training, and have the use the gym.

Practising Sprints!

Chilled walk round a lake with the team

(Strength training - the gym was great!)

Unfortunately I had to cut my training short. I finally have the surgery to repair my thumb on the 1st August so had to return home. After having the injury for almost 6 years I'm looking forward to having a pain free, fully functioning hand! Unfortunately due to the slight change to the surgery I am having and the risks surrounding it I will be unable to ski or do any real sport involving my hand for 3 months. I am gutted that this means any training I had originally planned to do up to November has had to be cancelled. I'm hoping that I will still be able to continue fitness training involving sprints, leg strength core and agility. I'm really happy with the progress I have made on my fitness this summer and really don't want to lose it. So let's just hope the surgery and recovery go to plan!

I'll keep you updated with how everything goes! Thanks for all of the support and encouragement!

x