Ciao Belli!

Well, it’s been 2 years since the girls were down here in Tarvisio. Throwing a glance at the official Tarvisio press kit and advertising collateral, you’d see that I used to own this hill; yup, my picture is all over the place.

But alas, own it I haven’t in a good while.

Still though, in life, we find ourselves on many different paths and in many shifting circumstances. I could cry in my soup right about now that my best result was 13 in the downhill on Saturday, and a measly 20+ in the combined and Super G, but I’m not (much to my surprise and delight).

Nope… I’m starting to see a truth about life: what you focus on ultimately expands and manifests.

If all I ever thought about was how awesome I used to be, all that would manifest through doubt and looking back is more and more mopy, uninspired appearances. No thank you.

There are so few things we can control in life, but one place I know we can make a difference, is by focusing on our inside. Work on that and the rest will fall into place.

I’m stoked about the future! Heck, I even decided to hit Bansko this coming week. For the longest time I thought I would sit it out, but now that I’ve woken up a new inspired girl, I’m going to work it.

Yeah baby!

Ohhh and how about all that good Karma we racked up with the charity auction??? Over $8000? That’s AWESOME! That psyches me up too. Super sweet.

Thanks to everyone for participating and putting up with all those emails from Stephan (love ya, Stephan!). Hahahah….

Alright you guys… I’m going to enjoy the dumping that Salzburg got this past week. Maybe go Langlauf, maybe build a snowman, or maybe I’ll just sleep in.

Talk soon!
XOXO
Jules

VAL D’ISERE, FRANCE — She can hardly hide her disappointment in this season. At least not in the recent Super Combined event at the World Championships in Val d’Isere, France when she pulled up and simply coasted off course. Anyone who has followed Julia’s career knows that this sort of stunt is not her MO. There must be something wrong.

Perhaps a computer analogy will help explain.

Ever experience the frustration of an exceedingly slow, bogged-down computer that takes 10 minutes just to boot up and another 10 minutes to launch the email client? The computer might even be fairly new and should have plenty of life in it, but you have already lost all confidence in it.

You must know what I am talking about – we have all experienced it.

But how did it this happen?

In the case of the slow computer, it is usually not due to a sudden traumatic experience, like spilling your coffee over the keyboard. Rather, its resources have been slowly but surely eaten up: an overflowing browser cache, a jam-packed system tray, a ton of installed programs, corrupted registry files, etc… all slowly but surely sneak up on you, building up slowly day by day with every click, until suddenly you just want to throw the damn thing out the window. Short of spending $2000 for a new laptop, eventually you come to realize that the only thing you can do is to simply accept that there is a software problem and find a solution.

Unlike a sudden and violent injury (for instance a broken leg or torn ligament), Julia’s case is attributable to a combination of things that snuck up on her: an ailing hip that stems from her spring 2006 operation in Vail by Doctor Philippon was not diligently rehabbed over time, say her doctors. The consequence was a deficit in on-snow training days this past summer. Julia will also tell you that her many travels around the world in 2008 contributed to a shortened strength and conditioning program as well as other nagging injuries like back spasms.

There is consensus that Julia is a hardwired, natural ski talent. She accepts that there is a software problem and is finding the proper solution.

But what to do?

With your computer, you backup your files, format your C-drive and reinstall the operating system. After that you learn how to better maintain your system by getting the tools you need (I recommend CCleaner, Defraggler and AVG Free, all of which are free). Voilà: computer 2.0, a new world of possibility and productivity.

Analogously, Julia will focus on rehabbing her hip until it is 100% pain free and firing. She plans to scale-back on the amount of races for the rest of the season, and conceive the best possible integrated strength and conditioning plan for the off-season. Consequently, she will maintain her body through continuous sessions with her doctor and better integrate her ski and gym programs.

Enter Julia 2.0.

In the meantime, go ahead and bid on authentic Julia Mancuso memorabelia at the 2009 Charity Auction benefiting Right to Play and LIV.

>> AUCTION ROOM

Hey There Everyone…

Well, when it rains it pours, huh? I crashed out of the Super G today at World Champs in Val d’Isere. Arrrrrgh… tough for me, really tough.

While I try to find the answer to my personal challenges on the hill, I remind myself that there are many other people out there whose odds are stacked up against them so much more and they have very little opportunity to get our of their personal nightmare. For that reason, I just wanted to write you a quick BONJOUR and remind us all that we can give people less fortunate than us a better chance at overcoming their problems by giving…

And you know, that when you GIVE, you also RECEIVE! That can’t be any more true than with this auction… by giving generously, you can get some of the COOLEST GEAR in the process. The final auction item list is set and we’ve got kick ass stuff:

• Rossignol chipped in a pair of skis and bindings;
• I got 3 of my POC helmets up for auction;
• 3 speed suits;
• US Ski Team Jackets;
• Reusch Race Gloves
• POC Goggles
• T-Shirts
• Race Bibs
• and much much more!

Preview all the items here at the AUCTION PAGE.

And finally, before I head off to dryland training, I just wanted to show you this lil video Chemmy made about our Right to Play journey last year in Africa. It’s cute and gives us a great insight on whom we are helping in this charity auction.

Thank you everyone for your great support!

Much Love,
Jules