No Olympics. Eh, whatever...

I'm bummed, but it's time to pick the next adventure.

This past Tuesday was probably the longest day of my life. I was trying not to build the day up in my mind, but it was literally impossible. I was stressed in the morning and didn't sleep much the night before. All I was doing was thinking about it. I was thinking about the call I was going to get. It literally felt like I was waiting for Christmas morning having to wait until everyone was up to open presents.

That morning I told Sarah how I was feeling and it was something she said that really made me take a step back and put things into perspective. I can just refer you to my post on my athlete page that begins: "Right now I'm going to go for a nordic ski..." (www.facebook.com/sylvanellefsonathlete)

The news came Tuesday night while I was sitting at Sarah's work on her patient table reading Outside Magazine. I read the email, laid back on the table. Looked at Sarah. I think she immediately knew. Shook my head at her with a forced smile.

It was really hard for me to take. Immediate emotion always takes over. Anger, disappointment, sadness... but this was something that I had never felt before. But again, just like that morning, Sarah helped me put everything back into perspective. She reminded me of all the amazing relationships I had developed in skiing, all the amazing places skiing has taken me and all the things I had already accomplished in my ski career.

I won a National Championship for the first time in my life less than 3 weeks ago. That is so sweet. 

I'm bummed to be honest. How could one so close not be? I wanted one more taste of being able to perform on the world's stage. But now I get to watch some of my best friends do that and I'll be cheering my ass off every single race during these games.

The Vail community and the ski community is unbelievably amazing. Very supportive. 

Everyone has been very supportive and loving. That has helped a lot. 

I have always believed that happiness can be found down many different avenues so when something gets you down, you find something that reminds you of and brings you back to that warm, fuzzy, familiar place. I can't get stressed over missing an Olympic Team nomination. I won't let it get me down. 

So now I'm busy getting back to the drawing board for my next adventure.

I'm equally bummed for my ITA teammate Caitlin Gregg, who has skied the most impressive domestic season I think I have ever seen by a woman. I am equally as excited to see my other ITA nordic skiing teammates, Torin and especially Brian for qualifying for the Olympics. I know how hard and how long Brian has been working at this goal of getting to his first Olympics!

A National Title

Some people have 17. Some people don't ever think they'll get one. For some people like me, they hope that their work over the past ten years will finally boil to down to one of these.  

A National Championship.

For the first time in my life, I was able to call myself a National Champion and I couldn't have been happier. I was humbled by the men I was competing against. Of course it was none other than my ITA teammate, Brian Gregg, chasing me down to the final stretch. It was fun and most important to me, it was an exciting fun race to watch.

I was blessed to have over 30 people come watch me on the courses in Soldier Hollow, Utah. It was so fun to share the experience with everyone who has believed in me for so long.

Now we play the waiting game. We play the game of who get to go to the Olympics. It's crazy to me that we don't know how it works. We kind of do, but not really. I won't even try to explain.

The next time, I'll be writing as an overjoyed Sochi-bound Olympian or Nordic athlete that is continuing to love the dream one day at a time.

One thing I've learned on this journey is that we, as athletes, always have to remember why we participate in our respective sports. For me, it's because I love it and it makes me happy. It's not a means to an end. It's what makes me wake up each morning!