Firsts.

I decided that now I am taking a gap year, I would have some time to start my own blog. These past few months have been crazy. The amount of firsts I have had, has taught me a lot and I thought it would be a great topic for my first blog.1.) First Blog.So as you have read, this is my first time having my own blog. I have written blogs for my club, NNF, and NENSA, but never for my own blog. I am still experimenting with the format since it can be pretty confusing, but let me know what you think!2) First time being named to the U.S. Ski Team.This spring I was named to the U.S. Ski Team Development Team! I attended rookie camp in June and learned a lot about USSA’s recourses and I met a ton of cool people.3) First time having SurgeryAbout 8 weeks ago, I had compartment syndrome surgery on both of my legs. Surgery wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be, but the Anesthesia isn’t too fun in my opinion. My recovery is going well so far!4) First Time living in Park CityOn the topic of recovery, I moved out to Park City, Utah about 10 days ago to recover from surgery and to start building up my training carefully and monitored. The Center of Excellence has great recourses such as amazing physical therapists, strength coaches, and equipment to facilitate recovery. I plan on living out here for about another month before heading to Stratton.5) First time living on my ownAlong with moving out to Park City, it is the first time I am really living on my own, surrounded by a completely new environment with very few familiar faces. So far, I love it out here and am enjoying becoming independent and changing things up a bit. My three host families, the Adam’s, the Farra’s and the Bleil’s are all wonderful families! I couldn’t be more grateful!6) First time using an AlterG.For those who do not know what an AlterG is, it is a medical treadmill which can take up to 80% of your body weight off so that people like me can train with little impact on the legs. I must admit, it is a bit weird being suspended by spandex and not being able to see your feet, but I am grateful to be able to start running!7) First time running since surgeryOn the topic of the AlterG, this past week I was able to run for the first time with 50% of my body weight. It felt great to do the movement again, even if it was only for 10 minutes.Please give any feedback about my blog since I am fairly new to this!-JKern