Betsy Mawdsley: June 2011

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Is it loud in here?

Rollerski Season is Here

At the end of last season I met with my coaches to review the year and make adjustments and suggestions for the coming season.

One of the things we discussed was getting rid of my ipod. If you spend more than 10 minutes around me its easy to see I am addicted to my tunes. I generally do everything from buying groceries to studying for exams plugged in and training was no exception.

The debate about training with music is valid on both sides. One on hand my tunes provide me with some motivation when I'm tired and company when I'm training alone. However, on the other side, its easy to not worry about what's in your head or what's supposed to be in your head if you've got some sweet beats keeping you company.

So for the last month I have been trying without success to ween myself off my headphones. A couple weeks ago my poor little abused ipod died. Suddenly their was silence, and a lot of it. Then there came this explosion of thoughts. Everything from did my pole always sound like that to I wonder if I could find a way to make my coffee taste like peanut butter.... productivity at its finest.

The point of this isn't that the world is really really loud. A couple weeks ago I met Lisa Rogerson a great sports psychologist who is going to help me deal with some of the race anxiety I experience. We had a long conversation about what I think about when I race and train. It was a little tough to describe what I was focusing on when all my memories come with a sound track.

So that has been the goal for the last few weeks. Shifting out all the random pointless noise and finding the functional thoughts. Or at least enough of them to be able to explain to Lisa what is going on in my skull. I have a funny feeling some blank stares may occur.

The process has been alleviated by some welcome distractions from work. This weekend I helped coach a shooting camp to some of the older Foothills athletes in Canmore. These kids rock my socks and I had a blast trying to keep up with them all weekend. This is only added to by our awesome Jr development group who are extremely keen and have been kicking my butt mountain biking through the mud pits in Canmore.

Foothills Shooting Camp

New stock is almost done. Dave Bradley has been piecing together an amazing bamboo stock for me and to be finished this weekend. Pictures soon!

By the way, should you ever loose your ipod access check out http://www.hypem.com/ a wicked site combining blogged music from a bunch of different genres.

Betsy Out!

All About Me

I was born and raised in the small northern town of Fort Smith, NWT. With my two sisters and brother, being active and involved in sports was a regular part of our everyday life. My parents encouraged us into organized sports, including figure skating, track and field, soccer, volleyball, swimming and skiing. Having four kids in the house meant we were regularly kicked outside to play to keep from driving our parents nuts. All my childhood memories include playing baseball and soccer in the backyard as well as tones of early memories doing swim team and weekends playing at the lake. My family remains my greatest form of support as they support and encourage me through the many challenges of being an athlete.

My love for skiing started in the Jackrabbits program when I was seven years old. With my Dad I spent every Saturday learning the basics through fun and games. I started biathlon when I was thirteen under the watchful eye of Patti-kay Hamilton and Don True. Growing up in this program were some of my favorite years as I competed in the Alberta cup, Nationals and three Arctic Winter Games capturing two gold and a bronze Ulu. Through these training sessions, many of which were done by headlamp at very cold temperatures, I learned dedication and mental strength as well as a pride of my northern upbringing. PK and Don taught me to succeed you must work outside your comfort zone and at the same time find joy in every training session.

After graduating I spent a year training and racing for West Coast Nordics in North Vancouver. After competing at Canada Winter Games in 2007, I was given a scholarship to race for the Augustana Vikings Biathlon Team in Camrose, Alberta. While racing for them I have been completing my Bachelor of Science in Physical Education. Despite moving teams I still hold pride in being an NWT athlete and race under that title as often as possible.

I am also working to complete my coaching levels and while summer training, I have been working as the assistant coach with Foothills Nordic Biathlon. In the fall I will work in support of the Camrose Ski Club Biathlon program. While working with a very talented group of young athletes I am reminded everyday why I love my sport.

During my years with the Vikings I have had multiple top ten finishes at nationals and am currently ranked 11th nationally. I have also had multiple podium finishes on both the Alberta and North American cup races.

Currently I am training with hopes of making the IBU cup and World University Games. My long term focus is the 2014 Olympic Winter Games which will come after four more years of work and dedication.