National team skeleton racer Tirza Lara soared into first place during the North American Cup (NAC) at Whistler Sliding Centre from Nov. 29 to Dec. 3.
Lara finished with a combined time of one minute and 49.97 seconds for her two runs, strong results for the first race of her season. Now she’s in Park City, Utah for her second NAC of the season.
A former dancer, Lara said skeleton racing has a healthier approach to athleticism.
“I like that the emphasis is more on what your body can do, as opposed to what your body looks like,” she said.
By 16, she took a risk and moved to Whitler to pursue her sport while finishing high school, and that mentality to take calculated risks translates well to her sport.
“You need to have a certain type of mentality to want to chuck yourself down an ice chute headfirst,” she said.
This year, Lara spent her summer training at Alpine Fitness, focusing on speed and weight training, and some time in Calgary working at an ice house practicing pushing her sled.
“The entire outside world shuts off around me and it’s just me and my sled on the ice,” Lara explained as she describes her sport as a form of flow state. “It feels meditative, and it’s an intimate moment.”
Settling into these moments and facing her fears during competitions comes down to her daily routine, the music she listens to and grounding exercises.
If she could change one thing about the world, it would be how people relate to fear.
“We fear what we don’t understand, and I think that comes into the sport too when you come to a track that you’re not familiar with,” Lara said.
Her music choice at the beginning of her training season was electronic to hype her up, but she’s recently shifted towards calming spa music. She practices grounding by focusing on the present moment, whether it’s a ritual morning coffee, drinking in each sip, or time spent walking to Cheakamus River in Whistler to appreciate a waterfall.
She’s also prioritizing socializing with her teammates to combat the isolation of a hectic training schedule.
Inspired by her mother Karen Lara, who is a practicing psychologist, she’s completing her bachelor’s degree in human sciences online part-time, with a goal of obtaining a master’s in neuroscience and specializing in head trauma.
“I’d love to be able to contribute to skeleton in that sense and try and make the sport a little bit safer,” she explained.
What did you think of this story?
Your feedback after we publish a story helps ensure we're always improving our reporting to better serve you.
