VARA ED Series - Knowledge is Power

VARA Education Series - Knowledge is Power

VARA/Vermont has seven academies and a plethora of educated and experienced individuals working their dream jobs within our state! It's time we tap into that knowledge and spread the wealth. Full of informative, educational, and thought-provoking writings from ski racing, fitness, and psychology experts, The VARA Education Series - Knowledge is Power will provide tools to help competitors progress in alpine ski racing and parents better understand their child's journey in the sport.

Journaling - Make Everyday a Win!

What if you could fast-track your progress?

What if you could feel more confident in the starting gate?

What if you had laser-like focus every run?

What if you knew how to instantly get in the right headspace to perform at your best?

What if every day felt like a win?

With Journaling, you CAN. And you can start today! And it only takes a few minutes!

Many people think of a journal as a diary, but it’s so much more than that. It can be your roadmap to success. Imagine having a list on hand of what you learned from every race this season. Or knowing how you successfully handled a particular distraction on race day. Or imagine being able to look back and see which cue words you used on the day you raced your personal best. This is valuable information that can help a racer get more out of EVERY training session and race day!

Although it’s an easy thing to do, not many athletes actually do it. Too often the emphasis is on physical and/or technical training. Plus, many coaches, athletes and parents believe that athletes only need to work on their mental skills when they’re struggling. NOT SO!

Strong mental skills don’t just fall into your lap. You have to work on them. The same way athletes workout to get stronger, faster and more agile. The same way ski racers take run after run after run on the mountain, honing their technical skills. Mental skills need focused attention too. But here’s the best part… it really can be a quick and easy task, but one that has the potential for a MASSIVE pay-out!

At a minimum, a Journal can be a tool to help remember stats, lists, names, exercises, drills, schedules, and results. Things that an athlete can learn from to make decisions, create plans, train more effectively, and communicate better. It can serve as a library of information to make day to day training a lot more efficient.

At its best, a Journal can be the secret sauce that makes the magic happen! It can ensure that every training session and every race is positive and productive. It can be the light that illuminates the positive progress and healthy habits that carries an athlete up to the next level. It can help reveal the twists, turns and traps that pull them down and take focus away from their goals. It can also provide the instant MOTIVATION to inspire an athlete to work harder and reach higher!

From the time I was a junior athlete, all the way up to racing in the Olympics and winning a World Championship medal, I used a Journal. The benefits of journaling are many, but here are some of the ways it helped me – and can help you.

From Journaling ....

..... To Competition

How Journaling Helped Me and Can Help You.

Kept me Focused on my Goals:

I had big dreams, and by writing them down in myJournal they became real. I had to face them every day, and that kept me working and going forward, even if I had bad day after bad day. When things outside of my goals took energy and time away, I could see it on the pages in front of me, and it helped bring my focus back to what mattered. Also, seeing my daily goals right there in front of me, made it super easy to do the small, yet important things, every day – like hydrating, stretching, reviewing my packing list and writing in my Journal!

Helped me Stay Positive:

It was a mini “win” each time I wrote down something good about the day. Whether it was a great result in a race, or the fact that I had tuned my skis to perfection, or simply having a strong and aggressive start, if I could identify just one thing that I did well that day, then I went to sleep positive. Ski racing is a sport full of disappointment and struggle, but if you can write down something good each day, no matter how small, it gives you hope. This is especially important on race days when you might not land on the top of the page, but if you make it a point to identify the things you did well, you will likely find that you did a lot of things right… and you can build on that!

Tracked my Progress:

Instead of just focusing on a particular race result, I could look back and see my training and race times getting faster overall. I could read about my breakthroughs technically and tactically. Also, a big thing for me was my physical fitness. I was constantly trying to get stronger and heavier. With my Journal I could track my improvement in the gym and on the scale. My Journals in the off-season were filled with numbers and reps and weights and scores and how big I was getting!

Managed Race Anxiety:

When I was growing up, I was one of those racers who got a stomachache at every race! I was so focused on results that I would make myself sick. By writing down and focusing on daily process goals instead of focusing solely on an outcome, I could put my energy into something productive instead of my gut. It allowed me to leave my nerves and anxiety on the pages and not bring them with me to the starting gate.

Taught Self Discipline & Grit: Champions love doing the hard stuff. Actually, for Champions, there is no hard stuff, it is just the things you need to do to reach your dreams. Journaling becomes just another of the many things a Champion does to keep moving forward and closer to their ultimate goals. If you can’t put aside 5 minutes a day to Journal, how are you going to make time for the really tough things you need to do to become your very best.

For the younger athletes (U12-U16), it can be much easier if they do it with their coaches at the end of the day. For Coaches reading this, I CHALLENGE YOU to skip the last free-ski run of the day and instead assemble the group inside and lead them through a Journaling session. It’s a fantastic opportunity to teach them valuable mental skills, cement the gains learned that day, AND get to know your athletes better!

For athletes who want to give it a go, keep in mind, journaling does not have to take time away from your other training and activities. Add it on to one of your other habits. It’s called Habit Stacking and it WORKS!

- During your ride to or from the slopes, fill out your Journal

- While you’re waiting for video review, fill out your Journal

- During snack time or lunch, grab your Journal and fill it out

- As you chill on the couch before bed, fill out your Journal

It's Never too late to Start!

If you like the idea of having some structure to get started and/or help guide you through the process, use a Sports Performance Journal like ELITEAM’s “My Ski Racing Journal”. Otherwise, just use a notebook, your phone or computer. It doesn’t matter how you do it, just get started!

Check out a few powerful short videos of top athletes who recognize the importance of journaling.

Video 1: Jackie Wiles - USST

https://vimeo.com/916055484

Video 2: Dasha Romanov - USST

https://vimeo.com/916056748

Video 3: Sam Morse - USST

https://vimeo.com/916059899

#VARAPROUD

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Thank you, Doug Lewis, for this thoughtful contribution for the VARA members.

Doug Lewis is a VARA Hall of Famer and grew up racing in the Mid-Vermont Council for the Middlebury Ski Club. From there, he went to the Green Mountain Valley School and landed on the US Ski Team for 8 years. He is a Two-Time Olympian and won the Downhill Bronze Medal at the 1985 World Championships - the first-ever medal won by an American male in a speed event! Now, he spends his time educating and inspiring young athletes through his ELITEAM Programs, which teach mental toughness, fitness, and nutrition. He also continues to share his passion for ski racing as the Alpine Analyst covering World Cups and Olympics. Finally, he is on a mission to continually push his mental and physical limits by competing in Ultra races around the World.

Doug & his Wife Kelley have created a Ski Racing journal for athletes ages U21-U16, If you are interested, it is available online NOW for Parents to order! Clubs can order in Bulk and save 50% off Retail.

LINK FOR ELITEAM Ski Racing Journal

https://eliteam.com/product/ski-racing-journal/

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