The first race is over, and let me tell you it was a stressful, very tough week and a half of sliding. Training wasn’t going great but I was slowly getting the track down and going a little faster each day. I had more bumps and bruises than I had all together from even my first year

Start in Whistler

of sliding. I’m not sure if I’ve ever hit the walls as hard as I did this week.

It came to race day and I was really ready, my sled was done runners shiny and my ipod playlist was ready. It was snowing like crazy and made warming up a little difficult, but it sure was beautiful. I pushed well and was excited with that, but my first run I drove too much (which I never do) and was just slower than I had wanted to be. The second run I wanted to drive a little less and well it messed me up. I ended up on my shoulder out of corner 6 and it was messy from then on. I hit more walls and was just even slower and fell back 4 spots.

Although I was very disappointed with the end result, I have to look back on the week of sliding and realized that I learned a lot in a short amount of time. I was just tired by the end and my body was really hurting.

Whistler is a beautiful area and it was nice to be back there after getting to watch the Olympics. Since we weren’t home for Thanksgiving Justin and me decided to start a tradition of eating together. Although we didn’t cook a turkey and we cook most nights when we stay somewhere with a kitchen we made steak in the broiler (yes learning a lot about cooking things too), my favorite rice and some spinach. It was a basic but great dinner and a really nice night.

Cute little guy

This little guy was outside our room one morning. Although very cute I was glad I was inside and he was outside and there was a deck and about 5 feet from him to me!

We are in Calgary for this week, its not too cold but snowing some, training is tomorrow at 2. Race is Thursday at 9am mountain time!

Team trials has finished and I am back in Lake Placid for training before heading out again. Just to catch everyone up I finished trials as USA 1. I won the first 3 races and finished 3rd in the last race. It was stressful but well worth it. I broke the start record in Park City, pushed a 4.94! Talk about crazy!

I am ready to get the world cup season started, I had a great summer of training. All of my lifts improved and my sprints were faster. Despite getting bit by a dog (just on the hand), I’d say it was near perfect! I did a lot of pushing on the treadmill this summer, you can put the treadmill on manual we have a wooden set up to hold on and push for as long as we’d like. I think that helped me a lot this summer. I spent a lot of time learning how to keeps my butt down and hips low while pushing, which has really shown.

When I got on my sled for the first day of sliding everything just felt right. I didn’t change anything from the end of last season. I finally felt like my sled was mine at the end of last year and I didn’t want to do my normal re-padding job during the summer. Glad I didn’t!

Schedule for the first half:
Whistler Nov 17th – 27th
Race #1 Nov 25th
Calgary Nov 28th – Dec 3rd
Race #2 Dec 2nd
Park City Dec 5th – 10th
Race #3 Dec 9th
Lake Placid Dec 12th -19th
Race #4 FRIDAY Dec 17th!

I’m really excited for this season!

I finished 10th today in the last ICC race of the season in Park City. No nothing what I had hoped for, but I guess you learn to deal with disappointment when it has happened the entire season. I think I was wanting this to be a good race so I could end on something positive. Instead I am exactly where I started, not knowing or understanding why I am having such a bad season.

I had two very bad runs today, nothing different than training so again can’t complain about anything. I am ready to get back to Lake Placid and work and get ready to go watch bobsled in the Olympics. I’ve decided to not go watch the skeleton events although I will be cheering at the television I am sure.

I think I just need a little time to think about the season and maybe recap a little on why it went so poorly, I have a few thoughts but I wonder if they are the real reasons or not. We will see.

Travel day tomorrow, as I said can’t wait to get back there! Shocking, I know!

For the first time having a race in Calgary the weather was beautiful. It was about 40 degrees and sunny everyday. We were all just about shocked, as windy as ever though. Except for the first race it was just about the best racing weather we could have had!

I was training better than I have been all season and I was pretty happy with my runs except for one mistake that I kept making in an important spot. I didn’t quite get it for the first race either and ended up finishing 12th.  I was really hoping for some better results, maybe next time.

I fixed corner 8 (my major problem) for run 1 of race 2 and ended up in 12th place. I had a horrible second run from the start. I almost stepped in the groove and got a little off-balance which isn’t like me, but as soon as I got on my sled I said ok now just be perfect. It was the furthest thing from perfect let me tell you. I made every mistake you don’t want to make.

Onto the next and last ICC race of the season though. We were all headed back down to Park City, Utah. And guess what yet again we were driving. I was in the car with John and Keslie driving our teammate Eric’s F150 which I fell in love with on the drive.

It was actually one of the best car rides ever. John got a phone call from our coaches and he found out he was going to the Olympics. The three of us started screaming and didn’t stop for a while. It was awesome to see how happy and excited John was and still is. I think being there with him when he got that phone call, made my season.

In case anyone hadn’t noticed I should apologize for never updating my blog this entire season.  I think the easiest way to explain this is just because it was such a bad beginning of the season and I got really down on myself.

I pulled my hamstring during my first race in Winterberg, Germany and just never recovered physically or mentally from it.  Needless to say I had my worst races and finishes ever. We did have a fun time in Europe as a team. We have never gotten along as well as we did on this trip. There were so many team activities and outings we went on.

Christmas was a great break and time much needed to be spent at home. I stayed home for 2 weeks and hung out with my sisters and family. We went sledding which we hadn’t done in years. And get this I told my mom that I am slightly afraid of sledding. Ironic isn’t it.  I didn’t stay home for New Year’s I ended up going back to Lake Placid so I could work. It was a hectic week but well worth it in the end.

We enjoy matching during the holidays

Lake Placid was the first race for second half. I had hoped to do better but I ended up finishing 12th. Best finish I’ve had all season so I guess I shouldn’t complain, but you always want to do better on your home track.

It's tiring walking up the hill so many times

Right now I am in Calgary, Canada. Two races this week and for so many people it determines if they are going to the Olympics. Not for the US women we will only be getting two spots at the games. The men on the other hand have it a little more interesting. These races determine a lot for two of them.

It isn’t brutally cold here which Calgary is known for so I am really excited. Makes sliding a lot more fun when you can feel your toes when you get to the bottom of the track. We don’t slide until 7:00 tonight, night sliding here is fun.

I know I haven’t posted anything in the longest time, I got busy with traveling, homework and well just being stressed.

I finished 4th during team trials, I was fifth in both races in Park City. One of my best friends on the team Courtney retired. As she was coming up the out run everyone was cheering. It was one of the saddest moments yet. Her myself and Keslie were crying on the finish dock after her last run. We talk all the time and I miss having her on tour and doing workouts with her.

I went to Whistler with the World cup team and coaches for two weeks of sliding. They brought me because anything could happen and well at the time I thought hey maybe I would be in Whistler. The track is so much fun. Really fast, corner 14 you can just feel the speed it is a crazy feeling.

We had so many video cameras on the track during training and so many coaches I think I really learned a lot. I got a total of 10 runs, which was a lot I didn’t think I was going to get that many because I was USA 4 and just brought along as the extra. The track is very technical and your mistakes can add up very quickly.

I was just so grateful to be there and get sliding time. That pretty much made my season before it even started.

After Whistler I went to Park City to forerun for the race that week. Which I realized at the end of the week was not a good idea. I spent too many hours at the track, and my happy sliding turned into grumpy sliding and I did not have good training runs. I was ready to go back to Lake Placid.

Two team trials races down, two to go. Wednesday was the first race here in Lake Placid, it went pretty well, I got 3rd. I didn’t have the best runs that I had wanted but I kept it together and took 3rd. The second race was on Thursday and well it didn’t go as well. I was in 4th after the first run and had a horrible looking second run, so I moved back a spot to 5th. I was pretty disappointed with that but I am doing better now.

I wanted to go to Park City knowing that I was in a good place to make the world cup team, but instead I will just have to come from behind and slide the best I ever have in Park City.

My mom, dad, sister, aunt, and uncle came to the races here. It was great having them. I always love having family come and watch. It keeps everything a little more relaxed because I can spend my time with them not just sitting in my room.

I got my brand new sled though and it has been amazing to slide on. It is completely sized for me so I think this entire season will be great.

Well I have packed as much as possible, hopefully my suitcase isn’t too heavy since I know my sled and runners are wayy too heavy. My flight is at 11, so I have a shuttle leaving the training center at 7am. So much better than the 2am shuttles that I normally have because of the 6am flight.

I have a few more things to finish cleaning. I’ll write some more after I do my homework tomorrow once I get to Park City.

Well I am just getting ready for bed tonight and I am just so excited because we start sliding tomorrow night. I’m going to be so anxious all day tomorrow because we have to wait until 6:00 to slide.

I got my brand new sled on Friday night after I got back from being at the wind tunnel at RPI. I was so excited about my sled coming early because I really thought that I wasn’t going to get it until tomorrow night and I was going to be so stressed to pad and tape it really fast. I ran up and down the hallway and skipped my way down to the front desk. By the time I lugged my 65lbs box all the way up the stairs I was exhausted. I opened the box to find it packed with all packaging peanuts, after I took my sled out I got in the box with all the peanuts, mainly because it was the easiest way to clean them up. It is kinda fun to sit in a box full of peanuts!

My sled is perfect though, I am so excited to slide on it tomorrow, it fits me perfect and I am fully balanced. I finished padding it earlier today, that is a record for me. It took me a day and a half which is crazy because last year I spent 2 weeks  padding it all because I was so lazy I think. There are a few minor placed where I can fix the tape a little bit, but I am going to wait because I know I will fix a few more things before that.

About the wind tunnel, the students at RPI, down in the Albany area created a wind tunnel just for skeleton. I went down on Friday to try out a few things, it was a really long day, but in the end I think it was totally worth it.

It’s hard to get sleepy when you are really excited, but I am off to try to sleep it would be good to wake up early even though I don’t slide until the night. But next week I slide at 8am. Ouch that means waking up at 6, can’t think about that yet!

This has been a great week of pushing so far. Despite the fact that my legs are still way too sore for my own good, I feel confident. I think I am going to need a heavier sled than I had last year, by about 3kg. I lost a lot of weight over the past month or so, and I don’t know if I will put it all back on or if I want to.

Last year I thought the extra weight was going to be a huge advantage, and I really didn’t find a difference. Now since I got a little lighter I think I’ll just continue to let my body be where it wants to.

There are only 2 days left of pushing here in Calgary. I have worked on a few things, like staying closer to my sled and running in a straight line. It’s a little more difficult than normal since I am not pushing my sled and I keep hitting my ankles with the metal bunks of this sled. Quite painful.

I am getting really nervous and excited for October 5^th (the first day of the season) to come around. I have a little bit of a different feeling this year, normally I don’t get nervous when people ask me if I’m excited, but now I am. A lot of the guests at work ask how I am doing and if I am ready to go. I say yes because I am, but then I get nervous because I want this so bad and I stay that way for a good amount of time. Maybe the change is a good thing for me, I don’t want to be too confident that wouldn’t be a good way to go about anything.

It’s amazing what one day of being back to pushing can do to you. I went to bed last night not thinking I would be that sore, but woke up this morning and didn’t want to lift my legs to get out of bed.

My hipflexors, hamstrings, and shoulder are extremely sore. Yes even my shoulder. I was so off balance yesterday and I was swinging my arm like a crazy person I think. Never just back and forth, a little sideways with a little bit of a hurdler arm.

Today me and Courtney decided to postpone our lifting workout until tomorrow. I was supposed to do squats today but since doing anything hurts I decided it wouldn’t be the best workout. We don’t push until 5 tomorrow so we are going to lift before that.

I think I am going to do some school work then watch a movie. I forget how much free time there is sometimes.