<![CDATA[Stacey Cook - Through My Eyes]]>

<![CDATA[Stacey Cook - Through My Eyes]]>Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:07:17 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[Like A Gypsie]]>Wed, 22 Feb 2012 01:17:04 -0800http://www.staceycook.net/1/post/2012/02/like-a-gypsie.htmlMy teammate Alice and I decided that the -25∘c/-13∘f in Garmisch was simply too cold, so we made a dash for the coast and found ourselves in Malaga, Spain

We had an amazing time and it really felt like a mini-vacation. Malaga is one of the oldest cities in Europe. It has been influenced by many different cultures and those cultures have each left marks that have stood the test of time. One of the highlights was the food. I have seen programs on tv about spanish food, but I was truly surprised by how tasty it was. The first two days we tried to really experience the culture and atmosphere of the town, and the last day we wanted to relax, so we went to a Turkish Bath, which is another new experience for me, but oh so relaxing! Check out some of the pics

After a few days of training back in Solden, we left for Russia. It was my first time there and I had many lasting impressions. What I found most interesting is that, yes, the people did come off cold initially, but they were amazingly polite and welcoming. They wouldn't start a conversation with you, but if you asked, they were so willing to help, more so then in Central Europe. I also really enjoyed some of the culture they brought in to show us. A choir, dancers, traditional dress.... I loved it all! Thanks Russia for such a nice stay.

I am now in Bansko Bulgaria for the last speed race before finals. It is crunch time now!
Lots of Love,
Stacey

]]><![CDATA[Long awaited post...]]>Sat, 21 Jan 2012 07:50:16 -0800http://www.staceycook.net/1/post/2012/01/long-awaited-post.htmlI know I have kept you on pins and needles waiting for this post, and the time has finally come! We are almost half way through the DH world cup season and I think a short and sweet update is appropriate. The first 4 downhills of the season have gone well so far. To steal a line from my young teammate Mikeala Shiffrin, if I had expectations I would have surpassed them. But, I did not have result based expectations for this season. My expectations have been to be in shape to ski my own very best on each given race day and I am happy because I think I have achieved that. My race runs have improved upon my training runs, and I feel confident each day in the the DH course to really charge and try and push my own ability. I am still trying to find that same confidence in Super-G..... but everything I do seems to be in baby steps! Something exciting is I got to be part of my first World Cup award ceremony in Cortina, Italy, one of the most famed stops on the women's circuit. Here is some pics of that, and I will try to post more often in the future. Until then, THINK SNOW and SMILE!
Love, Stacey

6th place got me a giant Milka ski, and a Cortina sweatshirt! I gave the chocolate to my technician who proceeded it drop it on the cobblestone. It broke into pieces so obviously it wasn't a Rossignol ski!

Hugging my teammate Lindsey. She was 2nd

]]><![CDATA[Dryland Camp and looking ahead]]>Tue, 25 Oct 2011 18:41:37 -0800http://www.staceycook.net/1/post/2011/10/dryland-camp-and-looking-ahead.htmlI didn't quite expect to be so busy the last couple of weeks. I thought I would actually get a break from my busy life here in Mammoth during our teams 10 day dryland training camp in Park City. Not so much the case, our camp had us running here, there and everywhere doing a ton of different and new activities. We learned rules and how to play volleyball, rugby, water polo, hockey, and geo-caching, as well as many other fun activities. Each day was a packed schedule which kept it fun and made me sleep well at night! Check out these pictures from a five hour bike ride we did one day!

Up ahead, I leave for New York City tomorrow night for the US Ski Teams largest fundraiser of the year, the New York Ball. It will be really fun to get dressed up and look like a girl! A few days after that I am off to Colorado to coach for 4 days, and then join my team for our last training camp before racing starts! I am excited to continue to work on my new boots and get up to race speed. It is such an exciting time of year!

]]><![CDATA[Home from Chile- Camp report]]>Tue, 27 Sep 2011 09:41:21 -0800http://www.staceycook.net/1/post/2011/09/home-from-chile-camp-report.htmlSummer and Fall seem to go by so fast, it is hard to keep up on this blog! I have a little time right now, as I am sitting in the Toyota Dealership in Reno because a rabbit decided to snack on the wires of my car while I was away in Chile. Life at my parents ranch is always interesting. You initially think they live a quite life, but withing 24 hours of flying in I had brake failure in my car (thanks to the rabbit), Attended one of my best friends weddings in the next barn over which was BEAUTIFUL, had to herd a stray cow back into her grazing ground, and was rudely awakened this morning by the smell of a skunk that wandered by my open window. Can't say that is a pleasant alarm, but it was nice to be awake to see the sunrise over the beautiful Sierra Valley.
Camp in Chile was one of the more interesting ones I have had over my career. We were blessed with some amazing weather and snow conditions and were very lucky to get to train next to the Norwegian and Canadian men everyday. I have been trying to switch boot to the newer model of Rossignols. Many athletes have had great success on this newer model, and well... I was the last athlete in the world still on the old model, so I decided to try to make the switch this summer. It has proved to be a very difficult switch for me, both mentally and physically.
I am not a big fan of testing equipment. I spent a few years trying to play the testing game when Lindsey and I shared a technician. She loves testing, and was very successful at finding the absolute fastest set up, so I went along her path and it caused me a bunch of confusion and a lack of confidence in what I was skiing on each day. Part of getting older is knowing to take your own path and it took me awhile to figure out my path is through "just skiing". I would rather pick a set up and adjust myself to it, rather then try to find "needle in a haystack" equipment that adjusts to me. Unfortunately, there is a reality in the skiing world that some testing needs to happen, so my new technician Miha and I have found ways to test without causing confusion.... until now. The first 3/4 of the camp I was utterly confused about what I should have on my feet. My old boots fit well, my new boots hurt so bad I had to take them off every run. My new boots ripped in GS, my old boots ripped in DH. Super-G was a lost cause in all boots for the moment. And to top it off, this whole time I was dealing with the emotions of my Grandpa passing away right before the trip.
I have to say I have never seen a group of coaches (we have 6) show so much support and patience so many days in a row, and I am so thankful to them for seeing that is what I needed. I got some great information out of the last block of the camp, and finally feel like the I will be a better, faster skier at the end of the tunnel. Our last day of training was with the German men, and it was really fun to be "chick-ing" them in SG. What a great way to end the camp! I have to say that a lot of good was taken out of the "bad days" at camp, and I hope this new change will help me reach some of my goals this year and in the years to follow. A big thanks to Rossignol for all the work they have put in this year to make this switch possible. ]]><![CDATA[Mammoth Mud Run]]>Sun, 28 Aug 2011 12:34:44 -0800http://www.staceycook.net/1/post/2011/08/mammoth-mud-run.htmlMy dryland training kicked up a notch this weekend adding a little fun, sun, and mud into the mix. Mammoth Mountain hosted its first ever Mud Run yesterday in conjunction with the Mammoth Rocks festival. I asked my trainer if we could fit this into my program a couple of months ago and he gave me the go ahead so all that was left to do was find my team and get ready to get dirty! My Co'ed division team was made up of my roommate and former teammate Kevin Francis, my neighbor and training partner Lindsay Barksdale, and Lindsay's husband Ian Birrell. None of us really knew what to expect as we had never seen a mud run before, and none of us are really known for our running abilities, so we set out to just have fun. As soon as the gun sounded, the competitive side of all of us kicked in Ian became our instant team leader. He was charging and it was all the rest of us could do to keep up. After about 1 mile of uphill running on the road, we moved to the dirt and into the first obstacles. Ponds, muddy hills, logs, and more mud to crawl through proved more challenging then I was expecting and after the first set of obstacles was a giant hill that was too steep to run up. Everyone was walking and I was working so hard, I don't know how people from low elevation and who don't work out everyday made it up this! I thought I was going to see my breakfast again at the top. At the top of the death hill was some more obstacles. I was thankful one of them was another pond as it felt so good to get in some cool water and give the legs a much needed but short break. Our pace kicked up another notch at the other side of the pond. That was about the half way point of the 6k loop and the first half had been all uphill, so I knew we had all downhill left and that is where I excel! We CHARGED down the hill as a team passing people left and right. All I could think about was letting my legs just go and making sure I paid attention to everyplace I wanted to put my feet. Near the end was the obstacle everyone was most excited about. The giant slip and slide! It was so fun and after our team linked arms all the way to the finish. I knew we had worked really hard, but I was super surprised to find out that not only did we win the Co'ed division, we had beat ALL the teams including the mens only teams. My teammate lindsay would have won the Lady's 30-39 age group, and I would have won the Lady's 20-29 age group had we been competing individually! I can't believe it! I have never won anything that involved running. This deserved a celebration and we did so properly with the help of the Journey tribute band that rocked Mammoth last night at Mammoth Rocks! Thanks to my teammates for such a fun experience and definitely the best workout of the year.

My teammate Ian on the left trying to get up off the slip and slide!

And me trying to get up too. It was really slippery! Lindsay is right behind me coming into the picture

Feeling good at the finish showers. L to R- Ian, Lindsay, Me, Kevin

The winning team wishing our medals were chocolate...

]]><![CDATA[Lessons and remembering]]>Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:11:53 -0800http://www.staceycook.net/1/post/2011/08/lessons-and-learnings.htmlI guess this blog is a place to express what I am feeling, and since I am not sure if anyone actually reads this thing, I am going for a bit of a personal post. Someone who has meant the world to me is not in good health and writing it down helps me. My grandpa has been a very influential part of my life. He has not always had things easy, not always made the right choices, and not always been there for people that have needed him. But what he was for me was a man that always said the right thing when I needed him to, supported me even when he had no idea about what he was supporting, and been one of the best shoulders I have ever had to lean on even if it was a little boney because he never ate enough from fear of getting fat! He is a veteran of World War II and felt the consequences of fighting in a war through the rest of his life. Those experiences that he had during the war made him my number one advice giver when it came to handling pressure and executing at my highest level in sport. My favorite advice from him that I will remember my whole life is "keep your head down and your chin up!" He is kind and loving beyond words and inspires me to be a better person when ever I am around him. Even though now he can't remember what you said 30 seconds ago, he still has an amazing ability to say the right thing at the right time, like making everyone laugh by asking the nurse out on a date, or by saying "I love you" at just the perfect moment. No one knows when he will enter heaven, but every hour he is with us is a blessing as he continues to inspire, entertain, and shine light on a loving family. Please pray for my grandpa, we call him pa or pa-sie. ]]><![CDATA[New Zealand]]>Sun, 14 Aug 2011 09:24:20 -0800http://www.staceycook.net/1/post/2011/08/new-zealand.htmlWhat a glorious return to summer! I am fresh off the plane from a three week training camp in New Zealand. I love the change of seasons throughout the year, but it makes me so happy to have a complete change of season in just one day! It was winter when I left Queenstown on Saturday, and a perfect summer day when I arrived in Mammoth on, well Saturday.

What makes a return home even sweeter is when you step off the plane feeling like you accomplished something and your trip had a purpose. Our team had some amazing conditions to train on, and lots and lots of runs (200 to be exact) to make some improvements for the coming race season. Changes definitely come with some frustrations and challenges. I had a big crash early in the camp, and some days of testing that made me a little crazy, but the last day showed some big changes coming together.

I will write some more about New Zealand soon, as I have 3 weeks off snow before I head to Chile, but in the mean time I have a few reminders. J2's and J3's need to get your applications in for the Stacey Cook/SVST scholarship. If you don't apply, you cant win. And for the Masters out there, I am hosting "Stacey Cook's Master's Dryland Camp" from Sept. 30th-Oct. 2nd. Write me for more info at Staceycookusa@gmailcom

]]><![CDATA[First Post!]]>Tue, 19 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0800http://www.staceycook.net/1/post/2011/07/first-post.htmlAs you can probably tell, my website has a bit of a new look to it! I have struggled for 4 years to run my website writing my own HTML, which is pretty hard to do. I have moved to a simpler format that hopefully will allow me to keep you better updated and more interactive. I will start blogging here soon, and I strongly encourage you to play an active role on my website by writing comments and messages. I LOVE to hear from you all. Also, Let me know what you would like to see on my site and blog and hopefully I can make that happen. Be back soon... ]]>