My Next Competition

So I've recently been invited to compete in the Christchurch slopestyle event in New Zealand. Last year didn't exactly go to plan as I ended up crashing both my runs and not really getting a proper score. With some better results throughout the rest of the season and then spending 4 months training full time in Sweden, I feel far more prepared than last year, and excited to see what run I can put down.

I'd say the biggest difference in my preparation for this comp is my mentality going into it and specifically, my expectations of my own performance. Last year, it was my first comp back since I had broken my foot at an event in Switzerland and I think that I felt I was owed a comeback story. I had prepared physically very well and put myself in a good position to land a run, but a little piece of me was already expecting a certain outcome. Whether it affected my riding or not, it definitely rattled me once things didn’t go my way.

This year I've spent some time at home and learnt that placing my whole identity on a comp result is not the way to go about it if I want to be consistent. I've learnt to focus on the process of building a run that I would actually enjoy doing, regardless of the outcome. I still care about the outcome, but if it doesn't go my way, it's not an attack on my value as a person, and it just reflects the way I performed that day.

At first this seemed counterintuitive for performance. But I actually think being a little detached from the outcome is healthy. I guess we will find out in a few weeks.