While most 16-year-olds are still asleep at 6am, Minto speed skater Paisley Perrie is up preparing for another busy day of training at the Olympic Oval in Calgary.
Perrie hits the ice six days a week in a quest to represent Canada at the Olympics one day. However, training up to six hours a day is far from boring, as the group heads out on cycling tours on the road or at the local velodrome.
Other activities have included weight training, yoga and a power hike up to the 1,300-metre summit of Mount Lady MacDonald in the Rockies.
Currently the Grade 12 student is taking this semester online through Norwell District Secondary School. With skating and school it’s quite hectic, but Perrie still has time to earn some money at the local organic supermarket, working 24 to 30 hours a week.
“It gets my mind off skating and helps pay the bills,” she said. “There’s still time for socializing and relaxing. Having Thanksgiving with a small group of Ontario skaters including Christine Nesbit was very special and made it feel better when I thought of my family and friends back home in Ontario.”
In the first long track competition at the oval, Perrie had a promising start to the season, finishing 7th in the 500m and 1,000m events and 10th in the 1,500m.
Perrie was optimistic knowing that she is already faster than where she was at her peak last season.
Her goal is to finish in the top four at the National Qualifier in late January in Saskatoon. This would earn her a spot on the Canada’s Junior World team, which will compete in Norway at the World Championships in March.
Her next major competition will be the Can Am Championships in late November.
