Lindsey Kildow, a product of Ski Club Vail and a four-event racer on the U.S. Ski Team, will report regularly from the tour this season for The Denver Post. Kildow finished third in the season super-G standings last season and fifth in downhill.
Soelden, Austria – My goals this season are to finish in the top three in the World Cup super-G and downhill standings. I really hope to get at least one medal at the Olympics in February, but I don’t want to put too high expectations on it, because I got into trouble doing that last season.
I definitely trained to win this summer. You always have to focus on the highest point you can achieve, and that for me is winning World Cups as well as the Olympics, but psychologically it helps me to keep expectations low. Don’t focus on results; focus on the skiing.
That was a big problem at the world championships last season in Bormio, Italy, where I finished ninth in super-G, fourth in downhill and fourth in combined. There was so much media attention. Going into the super-G, everyone was saying: “Lindsey hasn’t won a super-G yet. This is her time.” I wasn’t expecting to win it, but then I started thinking, “It would be great if I won.” It just wasn’t the best place for me to be, psychologically.
I have to stay away from putting so much pressure on myself, not let other people’s expectations get in my head. I learned so much from last season. It was a great experience, and it has only made me stronger, especially mentally stronger. I think I’m a lot more prepared for this season.
I have a lot of goals just for the World Cup, and then in the middle of the season there’s an Olympics. I have to really focus on time management, staying rested and getting my breaks whenever I can because racing all four events is really hard.
In the offseason, I trained with Matt James, who was Picabo Street’s personal trainer. I spent most of the summer with him in Portland, Ore. The Nike Training Center is up there as well. Matt has his own gym, about five minutes from Nike. I would do a morning session at his gym and then go to the Nike facility in the afternoon.
Nike was awesome. They provided me with massages, Pilates classes, awesome training facilities. Whatever I needed, they provided, so it was a great combination.
In Saturday’s giant slalom, I broke a pole on the fourth or fifth gate in the first run and didn’t qualify for the second run. It really threw me off my balance. That hill is so steep that if there’s something that’s making you even more unbalanced than the hill itself, it makes it twice as hard. Consequently I wasn’t attacking, I was really passive.
Now I’ll go home to Park City, Utah, for a few days. The first week in November, I will be in New York for some media appearances and the New York Ski Ball. We have an on-snow training camp in Colorado for 2 1/2 weeks in the middle of the month. After that we’ll go home for five days and then go to Lake Louise, Alberta, for the resumption of the World Cup on Dec. 2.
