20 Questions for Kyla
Age: 26
Hometown: Port Elgin
Racing Category this Season: Senior Women
Sponsors: As a member of XC Ottawa, I have a number of really great team sponsors – Podium Wear, Lafleur, Vauhti, Infinity, Canadian Winter Sports, eLoad/eMend, Fresh Air Experience, Owl Rafting and MKC, Salomon, Jessica Spring, Suunto, Clif Bar, Rudy Project, and XC Zone.tv
Major Racing Goal this season: Improve my ski technique and consistently find an optimal level of race excitement and focus; win all the races
What inspires you most? Awesome team mates, watching races on tv, success stories
Favourite workout? Any kind of intervals, especially ski striding
Strongest technique? Probably 1-skate
Best race distance? Sprints!
How do you swap your rollerski tips? Remove them by melting the glue over boiling water, scrape off any excess old glue; melt new glue using a red-hot element, place on new tips and push down with your full weight. …Who writes these questions??
What song do you want to hear before you start a big race? 7 Nation Army, Up-Town Funk, Lady Gaga or MJ
One travel item you can’t go without? Running shoes
What’s the most epic workout you’ve ever had? It wasn’t especially epic, but my favourite training experience was probably doing the 5-Peaks trail race in Whistler last year. It was a gorgeous day to drive the sea-to-sky highway, take the Peak 2 Peak gondola, hammer out a hard race on the top of Blackcomb, and enjoy the views and free food after. Someone from Ottawa even recognized me as an XC Ottawa member, and I made a few friends in the Gondola on the way back down.
Favourite skier? Honestly I don’t really follow any elite skiers. Karl Mica was famous back home for fighting off a grizzly bear with a ski pole, so that’s pretty noteworthy. I also respected Jesse Cockney for speaking up for University athletes at the CCC athlete’s meeting last year.
Where will skiing be in 5 years? In Canada, better integration of high-level competition with post-secondary education. Nakkertok is a good example of this!
Worst training experience ever? Being injured at any time is the worst (non)training experience. I’m not very good at not having the exercise drug in my system. Shout out to those who patiently handle a long-term injury!!
Most scared you’ve ever been during a race? Probably during one of my first races at Hardwood, on a steep downhill – I think it’s called Vertigo. It seemed ridiculous at the time. On that note, have you ever watched a race of rookie high school skiers trying to take on technical downhills? It’s sort of a cruel form of entertainment.
Best sport (after skiing)? Dizzy tee-ball
Are visors cool? If it’s sequined, and you’re a senior in a casino.
Favourite race course/location? Duntroon, because it’s where I first raced when I started skiing. [One of my first “races” was a pursuit time trial at Duntroon. I started on skate skis and skied the wrong course. It was a good start to a shining career :P]
Petter or Marit? Petter – his stupid bravado can be amusing.
When do you call track (in meters back of competition)? 2
Worst pre-race food consumed? Amazing Indian food…it was too good so I ate too much of it. Didn’t go over too well 😮
Klister or hardwax? Whichever works best that day! Both can be pretty nice.
Favourite Taylor Swift song? Shake it off!