Anna Segal is a skier from Melbourne aiming to compete in the new ski-slopestyle event at the Sochi Olympic Winter Games. 2014 will be the first time the event is contested at an Olympic Games, and Segal is a fortified contender having won the World Championship title in 2011. Unfortunately injury prevented her from defending the title this year. Hear from Anna about how her recovery is going...

BLOG: A week ago I made the move from my familiar home city of Melbourne up Sydney’s beautiful Northern Beaches. Over the last few years I’ve had small tastes of Sydney life, but this next month will be my longest stint.

I lucked out with my accommodation, scoring the position of joint house-sitter. Scott Kneller, Australian skier-X athlete, is my house-sitting partner.

The main reason I ventured up to Sydney was to work with strength and conditioning guru John Marsden. I train with him 2-3 times a day 6 days a week. It’s not all super high intensity training as I have to manage the swelling in my knee, but John still manages to wipe me out.

I’ve spent the last month on the bike and the pilates reformer- which both are great for rehab, but are dead boring!

The great thing about John’s sessions is that they’re varied. From stationary biking, rowing, pilates and weights, to outdoor swimming, road bike riding, surfing and eventually running (hopefully).

One of the great things about Sydney is it’s ocean pools. You can swim laps in the ocean, with fishies swimming underneath you and all, but are protected from the surf by the pool’s concrete walls. Quite idyllic.

Yesterday I went on my first outdoor ride since surgery. This was my first achievement. But I was also challenged to ride a road bike for the first time. I was a little shaky at first, but once I got used to the new set up, I loved it.

Next up is surfing. I’ve got the all clear from my doc, but I gotta say, I’m a little anxious about my knee- something I need to get over. I’ve sourced a board from a buddy, so now I just have to get out there.

So things are coming along, step by step. It’s nice to be outdoors and active again. For the next month I have to work as hard as I can so I can be back on snow by the middle of May. It’s quickly nearing the time to get back at it.

Anna

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