As for her knee, the one in which she partially re-tore one of those reconstructed ligaments in a fall last month during practice?
"Knee feels good. Feels stable," Vonn said. "And, you know, just going to play it by ear tomorrow and make a decision on the race."
The biggest factor for Friday will be making sure there's no swelling in her right knee so it won't affect her thigh's ability to react and "fire appropriately," Vonn said.
The temperature dropped below zero during training, and she sniffled occasionally as she spoke near the finish line.
The American covered the course in 1 minute, 59.53 seconds, the 22nd-fastest time among the 65 skiers who finished Wednesday.
"She had a solid run. Just skied a bit of a conservative line, but everything was solid and she felt good, so we're pleased with how today went," said Chip White, head coach of the U.S. women's speed team.
"We haven't seen her at inspection for a while now, so it was great to see her back in the mix," White said. "Kind of like having the family back together."
Carolina Ruiz Castillo of Spain was fastest in training at 1:57.40, followed by past overall World Cup champions Hoefl-Riesch in 1:57.41, and Tina Maze of Slovenia in 1:58.06. Current overall World Cup leader Lara Gut of Switzerland was fifth, Cook was sixth, Mancuso ninth, and Smith 28th.
What mattered to Vonn more than her time was that she was out there. She was quick out of the start, then lost time as she progressed down the slope in the Canadian Rockies.
Vonn, who was 10th out of the gate Wednesday and will start from that same spot Thursday, said she "can't really put a percentage on" how hard she was trying to charge in her debut and repeatedly acknowledged feeling jitters about getting back on a World Cup slope. She had hoped to return last week at Beaver Creek, Colo., not far from her home in Vail, but her setback from the crash on Nov. 19 scrapped those plans.
She told The Associated Press last weekend that she needs another operation on her right knee but is trying to put it off as long as possible in order to be able to ski at the Sochi Olympics, which begin in a little more than two months.
Asked Wednesday how much she's thinking about Sochi, Vonn said she has to worry about more immediate matters.
"I'm just trying to make sure things are good with my knee, and build confidence every day, and right now I'm focused on this particular moment," she said. "Yeah, Sochi is obviously quite a way's away. Just trying to stay focused and focus on my knee and get my confidence back."
___
Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich