First Impressions
I’ve only been at Craftsbury full time for only two weeks now, and I am so happy to already feel like I have a new home. I knew nearly everyone on the ski side of the team before coming, had known Pepa since I was a young junior, and had been to Craftsbury on countless races trips and training camps, but I still didn’t know what to expect in moving here and joining the GRP. I knew about all the pieces but had no idea what it would feel like putting them all together.
Any question was quickly resolved as I immediately felt at home and welcomed by the team. A big part that contributed to this feeling was a sense that everyone has a place and purpose that is very much their own. I could see everyone contributing in their respective niches. Whether taking care of the animals, working on trails, working in the garden, or collaborating on the new cabins etc, it was immediately clear to me how each individual does have a purpose besides strictly athletic ability.
In racing, we often share similar goals, we all want to be really fast, and it’s easy to feel like we’re all competing for shares of the same thing, whether it is on our own team or nation-wide, trying to get spots on trips, the national team or the world cup. There’s only so much of the pie and if you have some of it, then somebody else has less. But by way of the work we do in return for our spot here, it is pretty cool to see how each person’s unique interests and abilities work together to make the Craftsbury “pie” bigger and better for everyone, rather than competing for space.
My biggest apprehension in coming into life as a “professional” athlete was the balance of being able to focus on getting faster, without it over consuming me as a person. Upon beginning life on the GRP, it has been reassuring to see right away my teammates’ strengths and interests outside of training, and the mutual importance of those aspects of them. Seeing the rest of the team appear so well balanced in their other contributions to the Outdoor Center has been inspiring to me, hoping that I too can develop my place and add to the balance as they do.
Having the built in opportunity to contribute to something else here is more than a safety net to mental sanity, but rather feels like a driving force that’s really unique about this team and greater Craftsbury Outdoor Center community. It is a good reminder of how any kind of successful team operates, dependent on the different characteristics that each person brings, contributing to a whole that is much greater than the sum of its parts. For that reason, I’m so excited to be welcomed to this team, thanks for having me!
On the training side of things, we’re happily enjoying an easy week, helping with the BKL camp, after several weeks of hard training. Here’s a photo summary of the past week, taken from our instagram posts. Be sure to follow @greenracingproject if you don’t already for a peek at the pieces that don’t make it to the blog.
-Heather
