The Real Beauty self-esteem workshop this past weekend was a great success! With the diligent help of five wonderful family members and friends, the session ran beautifully. Twenty girls—ages eight through twelve—participated in the two hours of discussions and activities.

The goal of the workshop was to heighten awareness about the unrealistic portrayals of beauty in the media, encourage girls to understand and accept a wider definition of beauty, and to promote self-esteem and positive self-image. Over the two hours, the girls participated in a fun “quiz” that pointed out which messages propagated by the media are “fact,” and which ones are “fiction.” They also did several workbook exercises designed to highlight the value of having unique talents or attributes, as well as stimulate thought about self-esteem. In our discussion about the way the media manipulates images, the girls watched a film called “Evolution” (which can be viewed at: http://dove.msn.com/#/features/videos/default.aspx[cp-documentid=8354359]/). Then after analyzing magazine advertisements, each girl was able to create her own “advertisement,” sending whatever kind of message she felt girls ought to receive… Most of the girls’ messages were to the tone of, “Be happy being you,” or “Every girl is beautiful in her own way.” It was great to see the girl’s creative sides! The workshop concluded with discussions about how to help other girls feel good about themselves, how to maintain self-esteem, as well as instruction on goal setting.

I have to say, I was truly blown away by the intelligence and maturity of the girls who attended. Their comments and insight was both refreshing and fun. The disparity in ages proved to be challenging, but the young ones hung in there for the entire two hours and kept up with surprising acuity. I think that the girls went home with a powerful message and I think they will remember it for some time. It is really encouraging to know that our world is graced with such strong, smart young girls!

I am glad to have my first workshop under my belt, and I do look forward to holding more in the future… I learned a lot of things this time around that I’d like to do differently next time, and gained some insight into how I can reach the girls better. Since I am going to be at Dartmouth for Fall and Spring quarters, the next time I will be holding a workshop in the Seattle area will be either in the Winter or next Summer. While I want to put on more of the standard “real beauty” sessions for girls, I am also interested in working more exclusively with young female athletes to talk about both the benefits and challenges of being a female athlete today. It also would be cool to do workshops with girl’s sports Teams… Of course there are lots of possibilities! There will definitely be more fun stuff in the future.

If parents have comments, requests, or suggestions about my last workshop or future workshops, I encourage you to email me at libby@libbyludlow.com.

Thank you to all who helped and to all who participated, I had such a great time!!

Next Up….

Workshops for young girls and athletes

August 23rd

ONVO Whole Body Health
10838 Main Street
Bellevue, WA 98004

Session 1: “Real Beauty” Workshop for girls ages 8-12
12pm-2pm

Girls are bombarded by images of idealized “beauty” every day. These images can negatively influence how girls see their bodies and themselves. This workshop will encourage the girls to embrace a more positive self-image, both inside and out. Borrowing activities from Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, girls will engage in a healthy dialogue about self-esteem.

Session 2: “Finding Beauty in Strength” Workshop for female athletes ages 13-15
3pm-5pm

Although it is undeniable that participation in sports helps young girls develop self-confidence, that doesn’t mean young athletes are immune to the unhealthy images of beauty portrayed by their peers and the media. This workshop will include discussion about athletic body-image and the virtues of pursuing excellence, as well as activities to cultivate self-esteem.

The workshops are free of charge, however, small donations will be accepted after completion of the workshop to help offset the cost of printing the girls’ workbooks.

Both sessions will be hosted by former U.S. Ski Team member and U.S. Olympian, Libby Ludlow. Three additional college-educated women who have experience working with kids will be helping facilitate the workshops.

Attendance for each workshop will be capped at 30 girls maximum.

These workshops are designed for the girls to attend without a parent or mentor, however, we highly encourage parents and mentors to carry out an ongoing dialogue about self-esteem and body-image into the future. The girls will be sent home with a workbook that will include information and various activities. The hope is that parents and mentors will be proactive in discussing what the girls learned in the workshop and encourage them to cultivate awareness and self-esteem by engaging with the workbook.

Email seattleselfesteem@gmail.com to register. Please indicate which session and the attendee’s full name and age.

After an amazing ten years on the U.S. Ski Team, I have decided to announce my retirement from ski racing. Although I was able to successfully fight back from many setbacks—including my most recent knee injury—in the end there have simply been too many injuries for me to justify continuing with the sport. Ultimately, the frustration of constantly competing less than 100% has exceeded the joy. Aside from the expected aches and pains from ten years as a professional athlete, however, I am completely healthy and happy. It has always been my intention to walk away from ski racing on my own terms.

Photo credit: Jonathan Selkowitz

Honestly, it is easy for me to walk away right now. I accomplished more in my career than I ever really thought I could. I scored forty-five top-30 World Cup results, at my best I was ranked tenth in the World in Super G, I had three top-10 World Cup results, I got ninth place at World Championships, I was a National Champion, and I was an Olympian. All of these things I accomplished during one of the most momentous and strongest eras of American alpine skiing history. It seems fitting that my World Cup career culminated with my 100th World Cup start, on the 2010 Olympic course in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, and with my family and friends in the crowd watching.

While I am very proud of my tenure on the Team, I recognize the time has come for me to move on. I have always been a multi-dimensional individual and I look forward to exercising my many other strengths as well as exploring my many other interests. Next year, in June 2009, I will graduate from Dartmouth College with a degree in Philosophy. I definitely look forward to the satisfaction of finishing my college education after what will be eight years of being a part-time student in the off-season. After college, I plan on traveling to India to obtain my yoga instructor certification. I have always had a passion for yoga and I look forward to enriching other people’s lives through instruction. It is possible I will consider graduate school after I’ve had the opportunity to soak up some quality time with the wonderful family and friends I have put on hold for so many years.

Obviously I am facing a major transition, but as I move forward I find confidence knowing that I gave ski racing every single thing I had. I gave 100% every moment of every run, and there wasn’t a single day I didn’t leave my heart out on the hill. Of course I also know that skiing will always be a part of me. My passion for skiing has not diminished in the slightest bit and I couldn’t be more excited to finally have the freedom to truly freeski.

While I look forward to joining my family every weekend at my home ski area Crystal Mountain, I will always remember my time on the U.S. Ski Team with fondness. My ten years on the U.S. Ski Team helped mold me into the person I am today and I am very grateful for the amazing experiences the Team afforded me. I had the privilege of working with wonderful coaches, became friends with some incredible individuals, and skied alongside some tremendous athletes. I will always highly value the many relationships and memories I collected over the years… I got to travel the world, doing what I love, with cool people—it really doesn’t get much better than that.

As this new chapter of my life unfolds, I couldn’t be more excited about what the future has in store for me! A big thanks to everyone who supported me throughout my career, I couldn’t have done it on my own.

It felt good to end the season on the podium. Getting third in the GS at U.S. Nationals was a really positive way to walk away from the 07-08 season. I skied well and I was proud of how I was able to pick myself up for my final race after a challenging couple of months. It was also really cool to see Lauren win, too. I couldn’t have been happier to see someone else on top in the GS.

Now that my season is over, I am back at school at Dartmouth College. I will be studying hard for the next couple of months, taking a heavy load of four classes. I am really looking forward to having the time off snow. Both my body and my brain need a break from ski racing, and going to school is the perfect diversion. I’ll be spending lots of time on my bike, and lots of time in the library… Just getting healthy is the goal for the next few months!

All of the resilience and patience I developed over the course of my career, I called upon over the past couple months…

Since I hurt my back in Sestriere, Italy in early February, things have been pretty tough. I tweaked my lower back during the World Cup Downhill in the middle of a turn. Although I was able to finish the run, it turned out that I had a couple of bulging disks. It was a very painful and debilitating injury and has literally been the “straw that broke the camel’s back,” so to speak. Adding the back pain, on top of my everyday knee pain, has made skiing a real challenge. I haven’t been able to move the way I normally do because I am so stiff, and the pain has been very distracting.

The highlight through all of this recent injury drama, was being in Whistler for the World Cup races in February. I had been looking forward to those races all season, and even though my body was operating—uncomfortably—at about 60%, I still somehow made it down the Downhill course safely (although not very quickly!) Being greeted by my entire family, and a collection of my closest friends from Seattle, was one of the best feelings I have experienced at a ski race. It meant so much to see all of their smiling faces at the finish and to have them there supporting me.

After Whistler I flew back to Europe to race in the last GS of the regular World Cup season, my final chance to qualify for World Cup Finals. I was ranked 32nd in the world going into the week and only needed to move into the top-25. Although my back wasn’t feeling great, I actually had some really fast training leading into the race. We made the trip north to Zwiesel, Germany for the races, but we never got to compete. A huge wind/rain storm (which I believe actually attained hurricane status) tore through the region that weekend and cancelled the races. So, a week after I arrived, I flew right back home.

The past few weeks I have been racing at Noram finals and U.S. Nationals. My back seems to have reached a plateau in its improvement since I keep cranking on it day after day skiing. I can’t express how much I am looking forward to getting back to school at Dartmouth, not only for the mental “break” from ski racing, but the physical break too. I think a few months of rest are exactly what my body needs!

I’ll admit, it has been a disappointing couple of weeks.

By nature, ski racing is always a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs. I suppose I should not be entirely surprised that I’ve slipped into a brief slump—especially considering my limited training—but that doesn’t make my sub-par results any easier to swallow.

Although I didn’t qualify for second run in the GS in Maribor (35th), it was easy to brush off the disappointment because it was practically impossible to move into the top-30 that day. Conditions were really poor and only two girls starting outside the top-30, broke into the top-30. Thirtieth place was almost six seconds out! I skied well and was pleased to have a mistake-free run on a challenging course.

Me racing in Maribor. Photo credit: Zoom Agence

After Maribor, I had a really productive three-day training block in Reinswald, Italy. I can’t tell you how nice it was to finally have a few days to focus on my skiing away from a competitive setting. The Super G training went really well and it was encouraging to see that my times were just as fast as Lindsey’s. I also figured a few things out with my equipment setup… Basically, I made gains with my skiing and equipment that I normally would have been making in October or November. I finally felt like I found a level of skiing that felt solid and competitive.

Cortina at its best

Unfortunately, I didn’t do a very good job at translating that feeling to my racing. Albeit, my 29th in the Downhill in Cortina wasn’t a bad result for me—especially on such a glider’s course—but my finishes in the Super G races were definitely a letdown. In the first Super G I was too hard on my edges in the soft snow, and I had a couple of uncharacteristic bobbles. I was crushed that I got 35th place in what I consider “my” event.

The next day I was determined to be more aggressive with my line, softer on my edges, and more relaxed with my approach. I actually did all of these things… Then I went out of the course. My aggressive tactics eventually caught up to me when I hit some bumps, and missed a gate. Game over. I don’t remember the last time I DNF’d a Super G. I never do that. I was bummed, but at least I went out going for it, which was at least better than the day before.

Haffey and me on an epic powder day in Cortina. I love my Katanas!!

The next weekend I raced GS in Ofterschwang, Germany. I started number 30, which was such an exciting position to be in! I have worked so hard to be a world-class GS skier, and just having that bib on at the start made me feel like, “oh my gosh, I am one of them.” Pretty cool feeling. Anyway, I didn’t exactly ski like a world-class GS skier in my run, making a significant mistake in the middle of the top flat, and I failed to qualify for second run. Another big disappointment, but the way I look at it, is that was basically my first bad GS race of the season. And I think everyone is entitled to have a bad day.

Well, no on can accuse me of lacking consistency in GS right now! Although I am ready to punch through and get into the top-15 for the first time this season, I am still really pleased with my consistent top-25 finishes.

My first run in Lienz last week, I charged into 19th place from starting 41st. My coaches were psyched with my skiing and I was relieved to prove that Panorama wasn’t just a fluke… The course second run was very unrhythmical and I over-skied the straight sections pretty badly. To me, the error really just demonstrated that I hadn’t faced a single course set both in, and out, of the fall line all season, and I basically didn’t know how to approach it. Regardless, I ended up in 22nd place for the day.

Christmas in Kitzbuhel. Stacey, me, and Lindsey
After a very quick—but very needed—trip home to Seattle over the new year, I returned to Europe to race GS in Spindleruv, Czech Republic. My body was a little stiff and sluggish after all of the travel, but I somehow managed to qualify for second run, coming in 27th position after first run. I felt lucky to have made second run after a not-so-good first run, but I guess it proves that I must be doing something right!

I skied a really solid, aggressive second run—one that I felt was my best GS run of the season so far… And my time proved it. I was 14th fastest for the run and moved up to 25th place overall for the race. I was hoping to move up more than that, but just posting a top-15 single run really made me feel like I am making great progress.

I am really pleased with my GS right now. I mean, I just scored top-25 results in three consecutive World Cups. I have never scored in two consecutive GS’s before, let alone two in the same season. I am proving that I am a contender with the best GS skiers in the World, and I have SO much more left in the tank! I’m not even 100% yet, nor have I really found my “groove…”

I am looking forward to training some GS this week so that I can iron out some kinks before my race next weekend in Maribor, Slovenia. I really think that after all of this consistent GS skiing, I am due for a “breakthrough.” I truly think that when it does come, it is going to be huge!

After Aspen, I hopped the pond to Europe. My first races were a Downhill and Super G in St. Moritz, Switzerland. I only did one training run on the downhill course because the flat landing off one of the jumps made my knee pretty sore. I was confident that I could do well in the race, however, because I’ve raced in St. Moritz several times—my first being the 2003 World Championships. Unfortunately, the downhill went down in a fashion I feel all too familiar: I skied well but was just unexplainably slow… Well, the very long flat at the top does help explain it a little bit, but doesn’t eliminate the frustration.

After a disappointing downhill, I am always excited to get on the mountain the next day for my favorite event, Super G. It is literally a relief for me to see more gates (more turns) set on the hill! The course was a fast set and had some tricky spots. I was pleased with my performance. Even though I made a couple of tactical mistakes, I attacked from top-to-bottom. I still think that my ability to “send it” in Super G—despite my very limited amount of training—is a very promising sign. If I can ski so confidently this early in the season, then I think it is inevitable for things to start falling in place in my upcoming races. Afterall, skiing is the easy part… it is the mental game that is so difficult.

Getting 24th in the Super G wasn’t by any means impressive, but it was definitely another positive step forward in my very progressive “comeback.” I was excited to head to St. Anton, Austria because I’d heard it was a technical downhill course—right down my alley. When I arrived, I wasn’t disappointed. We were racing on the men’s course from the 2001 World Championships. I have always wanted to race on a true men’s downhill course because they are always more technical and action-packed than a typical women’s course.

The St. Anton downhill is pretty insane. There are huge, sweeping turns at the top, then the course narrows as the trail funnels into the trees, eventually plunging over a “waterfall” called the Eis Falle—a very steep schuss which we skied straight down. The rest of the course is fast turns over a lot of terrain. I did all three training runs, the second of which I was 19th fastest. There were a lot of delays on the third day of training because so many girls were crashing. The light was very poor by the time I ran so my coach decided to have me pull out half-way down the course for safety reasons. It was a bummer to not have a full run, but considering one of my competitors was air-lifted to the hospital, I was glad to just be safe.

After all of the drama of the third training day, I’ll admit that I was nervous for the race. Although I have made tremendous improvements over the last few weeks, apparently I haven’t entirely overcome my fear of downhill yet. I convinced myself that the best way to handle it was to ski offensively, which worked… until the fifth-to-last gate at least. I had a really solid run going, but towards the bottom of the course where speeds are exceptionally high and the light was exceptionally poor, I got bumped around by some pretty major ruts in the snow. Instead of powering through the bumps, I panicked and wasn’t as clean as I should have been. It wasn’t pretty, BUT I came down in 25th place.

Again, placing in the mid-twenties isn’t particularly spectacular, especially when my teammates are getting such phenomenal results, but considering my struggles with downhill the past several years… I’ll take it! The Ski Team reported that it was my best downhill result in nearly four years. I had no idea it had been that long. It had been so long since I had been competitive in downhill that I started to lose faith that it was possible to even get in there and score. Scoring points with a less-than-perfect run helped instill some badly-needed confidence in my downhill.

My team had an amazing weekend in St. Anton—Lindsey and Julia won and got third place in both the Downhill and the Combined. There was a lot of excitement buzzing around the USA camp. It isn’t easy to keep perspective in such an electric atmosphere. I constantly have to remind myself that I am literally still in the healing and rehabbing phase of my knee injury. I have to force myself to stay within myself, and be patient with my goal of finding satisfaction in incremental gains.

If I look at my season to date with this goal in mind, I am right on pace. Every weekend of racing has been incrementally better than the previous weekend. I have been top-25 in all three of my disciplines, and it is only December! My results may not be getting any attention now, but I know that I am building a very solid foundation on which the rest of my season will grow. For once, I feel calm and in control of my career.

With a four-week speed block in the books, I am ready to trade in my long boards for my GS skis. My GS is really good right now and I look forward to racing in Lienz, Austria next weekend. In the meantime, I have a few days off for Christmas, which I will spend in Kirchberg, Austria. I miss being home at this time of year, but luckily I will get a whopping THREE days back in Seattle after my GS race in Lienz to catch up with my family!

I have been doing this ski racing thing for a long time.  There is no denying that ups and downs are just part of the game… It amazes me that, in my tenth year on the National Team, I feel like I am learning more now than I ever have before.

Last week I arrived at Lake Louise feeling reasonably confident after scoring in my very first race back since my injury.  I was aware of my limited amount of training, but had convinced myself that I was plenty-prepared to start racing Downhill and Super G.  The second I got onto the downhill track for inspection, fear knotted in my stomach and tears welled in my eyes.  I realized that I was horribly wrong.

While I had spent months in the gym getting physically prepared to race this season, I couldn’t ignore the reality that mental preparation to ski 70 mph comes exclusively from on-snow speed training.  The fact was, I hadn’t had much on-snow training, and what little training I’d had, was mostly in GS.  I hurt my knee in Downhill.  I was scared to go fast again.

After some reflection, I decided to take a little step back.  First, I had to recognize how huge it was for me to even be attending a World Cup downhill when just a couple months prior I wasn’t sure if I’d be skiing this season at all.  Second, my limited days of training in Austria and Colorado simply didn’t prepare me to race Downhill, despite what I thought I’d convinced myself…  So my approach to the week became very simple: treat it like training.  All I could reasonably ask of myself was to ski each day better than I had the day before.  The goal shifted from being fast, to being satisfied with incremental gains from day to day—just like I would treat an average day of training.

Given my simple goal, the week I spent in Lake Louise was a big success.  I executed good tactics every day, had great jumps, and made technical improvements.  I got 42nd in the race, but my result was beside the point—I’d built basic confidence on a fast, icy course.  My coaches were really happy with my progress and my skiing.  So was I.

I had higher expectations for the Super G since, after all, it is my event.  To be honest, I actually surprised myself at how “normal” I felt racing the Super G.  Both mentally and technically, I really didn’t feel much different than I did in any of my races last season.  I ended up 26th place, which wasn’t what I wanted, but scoring points in my first SG was still a great start to my “comeback.”  Not to mention, the wisdom and perspective I walked away with after just one week of skiing was invaluable.

I was really excited to head to Aspen after Lake Louise.  It is such a luxury to get to race in my home country for once, and the hill in Aspen is my favorite on the entire World Cup circuit because it is so technical and fun.  We had the privilege of visiting the local Aspen schools when we got into town.  Lindsey, Kaylin, and I had an hour-long question and answer session with about four hundred fourth through eighth graders.  They asked great questions and I really enjoyed the opportunity to drive home a few messages I personally believe in.  The kids were fired up to have us in town for the races, and we were barraged with autograph requests following the assembly.

Photo Credit: Zack Ornitz, Aspen Daily News
Our two days of downhill training were a blast…  Then, it started to snow.  A lot.  It snowed so much that the downhill race on Friday was cancelled and we were forced to (boo hoo!) go powder skiing.  It was definitely in my top-3 powder days, ever.  The face shots were so thick, I was choking on snow!  My true passion for my sport lies in freeskiing, so getting the chance to go out and enjoy some freshies was an absolute treat.  You can watch a funny little video clip from the epic powder day at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnRfMG9GF98

I was extremely disappointed they decided to cancel the Super G altogether, in favor of running the downhill on Saturday.  It is a shame to lose a Super G on what I believe to be the most technical and challenging course on the circuit.  Of course I am partial because Super G is my best event, but I do believe it was a mistake to try for the downhill over the Super G.  Because it continued to snow, the downhill was moved down to the Super G start anyway, plus, the slower speeds of Super G would have made for a safer race as well…

Despite the overwhelming amount of fresh snow, the Downhill race began on time on Saturday.  Conditions were questionable.  Due to excess snow on the course, two girls suffered season-ending injuries within a half hour of each other.  After a long course-hold the race was ultimately cancelled after number 37.  I never even got to go out of the start gate.  The race was scored and counted like usual even though about a third of the field never got to race.

I left Aspen with a bitter taste in my mouth.  My one opportunity to race in the U.S. turned out to be quite anticlimactic.  It was a disappointment to lose the Super G, then to top it off, I missed out on the chance to score in the Downhill on my favorite hill.  While I am now hungrier to kick butt in my European races this season, I still feel bitter that my rare opportunity to race in front of family and friends, and my one chance to gain exposure in my home country on American television, was squandered.  I am grateful, however, that I was not forced to race in what were deemed unsafe conditions.  So at least I left Aspen in one piece!

With the North American portion now behind us, the World Cup circuit resumes next weekend in Switzerland.  I will be spending the remainder of December in Europe, including Christmas.  With a Downhill and Super G coming up this weekend in St. Moritz, I look forward to building off my solid start!

Getting 25th place has never felt so extraordinary.

Last weekend was my first race in eight months. It was my first race since I had 28 holes poked in my femur. First race since I spent six weeks on crutches, and six months doing rehab. It was my fourth time scoring a World Cup top-30 in GS, ever. And I accomplished all of this on just 22 days of training over the last month and a half.

I did not ski my best GS in Panorama last weekend, but simply getting a second run in my first race back since my injury was a tremendous accomplishment. I know that I have much better skiing in me, but just starting the season on such a positive note makes me really optimistic for the rest of the season.

Although Panorama is traditionally an easy hill, the conditions this time around made it quite tough. Because there was such limited snow, only the race hill was skiable, leaving us nowhere to properly warm up prior to the race. They also decided to treat a majority of the gates—basically all right-footers—with water, making the snow extremely hard and icy. The inconsistent and challenging snow made the first run of the race pretty brutal. I definitely didn’t feel good on the exceptionally long course, but I skied well enough to get 25th for the run, and qualify for second run.

I ran fifth second run and definitely felt like I skied a lot better. I got launched pretty big off a roll towards the top of the course, but felt like I recovered and made my way back into the course with satisfactory grace… I was very surprised to be 2.4 seconds out when I came into the finish area. I guess it was one of those runs where I skied decently, but just wasn’t quite fast. Still, finishing 25th for the day, out of 72 racers, was more than respectable.

It is such a relief to have my first race out of the way. Now that I have Panorama under my belt, I feel like such a weight has lifted off my shoulders. All of the apprehension and pressure I felt during my six months of rehab has disappeared.

So often I questioned if making a comeback from my injury in such a limited amount of time was even possible. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to compete this season at all, let alone ever again… The severity of my injury was such that I even made alternate life plans, going so far as to arrange to study philosophy in Scotland for a quarter this Fall. Not many people recognize it, but racing last weekend was the most powerful statement I have made in my career.

It blows my mind to think of everything I have gone through over the last six months…and to think how far I have come. Pretty cool.