Christmas is in my top two favorite times of the year. It is a close second to the first day that the snow falls. Each of these times of the year bring different feelings. Christmas is about being with family and friends enjoying their company, not to mention the spiritual side of christmas that is so refreshing. That being said this was my first christmas that I didn't see any of my family members. As can be assumed I was a tad home sick, but I got to share it with great teammates! The pictures below shows some festivities. Moving on to what I have failed to post the last coupld months ill bring you guys up to speed. In the start of my offseason I worked alot and trained physically to prepare for the winter season. I then decided to go to Park City, Utah for a month to specifically become sport oreinteted. Unfortunetly I didnt get any on snow training when I was in park city, but I got strong and mentally prepared. The next move was to pack my stuff up and fly to Europe. I landed in Slovenia for about two weeks for my first jumps on snow. They had there ups and down's, but after the two weeks were up we headed up to norway to start the competition season. I competed in Vikersund, Norway and Nootoden, Norway. My form was not on point, so my jumping struggled. No matter we left back home to Slovenia. In this time I have been training and relaxing during the holidays taking all of christmas to watch christmas movies! Picture Below is of Vikersund, Norway. Training is now getting better and better. Mentally im wavering a bit with the slow proccess of changing old habits, but im hungry to get better. The next stop on the circuit will be in Zakopane, Poland. Look for an update after! Much love to all and happy holidays. God Bless!
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This summer has had its up's and its down's. I started in Park City, Utah for two weeks to get my legs back under me on the jump. I then had the opportunity to travel to german and spend most of the summer training and competing in Europe. I competed in Austria, Poland, Switzerland, and Germany. Not only did I have these opportunities, but as always we had two national championships. One event in Park City on the large hill (k120) and one in Lake placid (k90). During this time I had some of my best jumps I have ever had and some that were not so good. I change a lot in my training routines and mental routines. These changes had some effect on my jumping both positive and negative, but they are on the way up! Regardless of my summer results I am very confident at where my jumping will be come the winter season. This past week I spent my time in Lake Placid, New York. This is by far my favorite place to visit at this time of the year. The colors are changing hence the name of the event " Flaming Leaves". In the past I have found success on this jump and in this event. The training week i had was the best of the summer and I was feeling confident going into the event. Unfortunately my mental fortitude wasn't where it needed to be and I tried to hard in the events. I have been working on these techniques in mental training and they are starting to show in my training jumps. It won't be long until this comfort changes over to the competitions. This isn't to say I took jumping bad in the event's very well. I was disappointed, angry, and frustrated. These are emotions that I know well. What I was most happy about in this event was controlling my composure. This has been a struggle for me in the past. If the people reading this know me, they know that I am driven by my passion and emotions. Controlling these emotions are very important for who I want to be and for the people watching. A good quote I came across recently is by John F. Kennedy "Those who who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly." for this very reason I continue to work and strive for success. I know it will come. Yes, it has taking a very long time. Yes, I do get frustrated. But i will not give up, its not who I am.
On the bright side I get to be a normal person for awhile and get back to working like a horse. Need to raise some money for the up coming winter season. For this I will be taking a break from the blog, But don't worry folks i'll be back in action to keep you up dated within the next couple months! Much love. Every athlete has known the frustration of being inconsistent. The road to the top level in any sport is long and bumpy. It would be safe to say my journey has had its bumps. Since Switzerland I have been training in Hinterzarten, Germany for the past two weeks. The first week went extremely well! In my ski jumping I made progress in my technique. Physically I felt stronger and faster due to the focus on physical training. The following week however was a struggle on the ski jump. I struggled with overthinking what I needed to change making things worse. If you have follow my career this tends to happen. Anyways I still felt great in physical training and was excited for the Hinterzarten FIS cup. I'll make it short and sweet. My distance was not where it needed to be this weekend. Even though this was the case I have found some positives in my jumping. My in-run position is improving and the second half of my flight is getting better. Im on the cusp of a ski jumping break through, I can feel it. Lets change topics for a bit. Living is Europe is great for ski jumping, but its safe to say my social life in nonexistent. Ill share with you a few things that take up my time instead. The first is fantasy football! I listen to talk shows, converse with friends through Facebook, and frequently change my line up. Its a minor obsession. So that being said people drop some fantasy knowledge in the comments. Another thing is working for SKIF, though I frequently run out of work, it gives me something to do. Others include homework, netflix, trying to blog, and more netflix. I'm currently watching Brooklyn 99, great show. Now you all know my life. Luckily this week my brother came to safe my social life a bit. Unfortunately getting him from the airport was a mess. Drive two hours one way, got searched twice once at the Swiss boarder and once at the German border. Now I know I look suspicious, but come on twice..... Then his ski bag was lost and when it showed up it smelt like they dropped it in a lake and let it sit in the sun for three days. Regardless it was good to have Nate around for the weekend. It is also safe to say he is way cooler then me. Which was apparent from all his friends asking me when he was going to show up. I to was excited for him to come, but more so excited to have little bit of normal back in my life for a bit. (picture is of Nate and I at Hinterzarten jumps) In the time to come I will be in Germany for another week and a half. Then i will be home for about a week, then to nationals in New York. Still excited to do what I love, even if I'm lacking a social life. I'll share a few words of wisdom my coaches have shared with me over the years. Bine Norcic famous quote " Work, work, work, work , girls, work, work, work" and a good quote from Rolf " The most important attribute between a coach and an athlete is Patience" ....... Im still working on the patient part, I think I have the working part down. I'll keep you all posted in future ventures!
I'll start by saying the Swiss Alps are beautiful! This weekend I had the pleasure to train and compete in Einsiedeln, Switzerland. This is one of my top five favorite little town's I have been to in my life. The Jump and the views are great. I only got to stay here for two days, but it was well worth the travel. This is what the complex looks like. This weekend we had two competitions on the largest hill on the right (k105). As I stated before this was not my first time jumping this hill, so I had a good feel for how it jumped. We started off the weekend by having a full training session on Saturday morning before the night event. Recently I have been struggling with some technical issues in my take-off so this was welcome news. In the trainings I was happy with my progress and was excited for the events. The first event took place at 8pm on Saturday night. I won't get into the technical aspects of my first competition jump, but needless to say it was a bit early into a backwind. Not one of my best jumps, but I found some of the positive things that happened and moved on to the next day. On Sunday the event took place at 8am, a 12 hour turnaround from our last event. My jump's where better technically, but was still unable to make the second round. Regardless I am happy with the progress I made this weekend. I find most of my progress has come in my mental approach to the sport of ski jumping. As most of you reading this will know ski jumping in not all about jumping off a large ramp. It's more then just training's in the gym and your physical fitness level. Most of this sport is mental. When you are confident in your technique and feel comfortable in your surrounds the good jumps will come. This weekend was a step in the right direction both mentally and technically. If any of you know me personal you could say I have a very hard time relaxing. I get this trait from my parents. Mostly from my dad, this man does not know how to sit down for more then five minutes. He is always working on his lawn, the house, business work, or the next big project. Restless would be a good way to explain both of our mind sets. Anyway's I have learned the best way to relax is to enjoy the places I get to travel. It just so happen's this weekend was in the Alps. Beautiful mountain's, amazing views, clear lake's, and cool cars. Below is a picture of my favorite car I saw this weekend. This is a huge feat seeing as I saw Ferraris, Lamborghini's, GTR's, and even a McLaren! This weekend was just one of many great weekends I was blessed to be apart of. Ski jumping for me started as a sport, but truly has grown into a live style. One I wouldn't change for the world. I don't take for granted the life I am able to live because of this sport, my parents, and my God. Thanks to all who have shown support along the way.
P.S. If any of you have questions about my travels or enjoyed this post share it or drop a comment. I will do my best to answer any questions you may have! Fair warning this is my first attempt at blogging. The main purpose for my entrance into the blogging world is to keep my family and friends updated of where I am in the world at the moment. That being said I'm going to do my best to create fun blog post's that people enjoy! Most who read this will know me, but for those who do not my name is Nick Mattoon. I am currently 21 years old and growing older and wiser everyday. In my short life I have had the honor of representing my country in my sport, ski jumping. I was born and raised in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The picture above shows my home hill "Silvermine". People always ask "how did you get into ski jumping in Wisconsin?" .My answer is always the same. Ski jump's do not need to be in the mountains, all we need is a hill and some wood to build a tower. That is exactly what we do in the midwest for ski jumps. we slap some wood together forming a tower and then hurl ourself's off it at high speeds so we can try to fly. Sounds fun right?!?! Anyways EC is my home and I wouldn't change it for the world. Even now after traveling to over 23 different countries and hundreds of different cities and towns, Eau Claire has my heart. Moving on to the updates. The past couple of weeks have been very eventful, full of traveling and of course skiing. Traveling from Germany to Park City, Park City to E.C., E.C. to Canada, Canada back to E.C., E.C. to Finland, etc.... You get the picture a lot of traveling. My last event where in Kuopio, Finland. This was my first time traveling to Finland and let me tell you it is beautiful in the summer! The picture above shows Andrew Urlaub and myself before the events in Kuopio. In the event's I did not jump very well and was struggling with some technical issues. No matter I am keeping a positive attitude! I had an amazing time in Finland and really soaked in the culture.
I am now in Germany. After a terrible travel day and losing my bags for five days things are looking up. I will be training and working here for the remainder of my stay in Europe. I have couple of events coming up and some more opportunities to do what I love so stay tuned people. Just remember God is good and no matter the situation stay positive! p.s. if anybody actually will read this let me know and I will continue to post more. If not I will go back to my lazy ways of not keeping people up to date. |