Training for the 2018 Olympic Games. "If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough."
I’m back in Lake Placid tonight for a fundraiser the Whiteface Lodge has been putting together 
to help support myself and 3 other coworkers/teammates. I have worked their for about 7 years and the support has been amazing.
If you are interested in donating specifically to me please check out the link below. Every little bit counts in my hopes to earn a spot on the 2014 Olympic Team, which is no easy task. I am a self- funded athlete, who really needs your help!
Donate here:
I’m back in Lake Placid tonight for a fundraiser the Whiteface Lodge has been putting together to help support myself and 3 other coworkers/teammates. I have worked their for about 7 years and the support has been amazing.
If you are interested in donating specifically to me please check out the link below. Every little bit counts in my hopes to earn a spot on the 2014 Olympic Team, which is no easy task. I am a self- funded athlete, who really needs your help!
Donate here:
Because sometimes you just need a little more motivation and a push to get through the upcoming few days. Never stop reminding yourself all that you have done and what you have left to do!
You can tell summer is in full swing when there is no time for anything other than workouts and work, with a little bit of coffee and enjoying some sun. We got back from our annual team camp in Colorado Springs last Sunday, just in time to make it home before the crazy fires out there.
Team Camp was fun like always, jam-packed with meetings, team building and our regularly scheduled workouts. We left Lake Placid at 3am Sunday morning and had a miserable travel day getting all the way to Colorado. Traveling to and from Lake Placid is never an easy day. The NSCA (National Strength and Conditioning Association) is one of our sponsors with their headquarters in Colorado Springs, they were awesome enough to let us workout at their facility for a few days to get out of the training center. They were responsible for our first team building activity on Monday which about killed everyone!
Another one of our team building activities was to go to Dream Dinners and with a partner have one person blindfolded and the other use their non dominant hand to put together a dinner. Of course we made it a competition just to keep it interesting. It was so much fun and a great way to have easy healthy dinners. We got to BBQ them at the pool for dinner that night.
It is great to get away from Lake Placid for a week and train at another training center. The Gala on the last night was fun like always, Justin got the bobsled athlete’s choice award. (the only award athletes vote on). Some of us went to Fort Carson army base and talked with some of the wounded warrior soldiers, it was a great experience everyone was so interested in what we do.
The weather was awesome it was nice to not worry about it raining and have it be almost 100 with no humidity. It has been good being back in Lake Placid this past week. I started a new training block last Monday, front squats instead of back squats, clean pulls, only three days of lifting still and I have sets of 5’s. They are much better than sets of 10.
I have been working a ton, which is not what I wanted to do but we are starting to get busy and so many people are just randomly out-of-town at work. I suppose its alright get it all in now, since I have already decided I am not working next summer.
Going outside on this beautiful day to do tempo (strides and 1min abs). Wishing I could be in Florida with my mom, one sister, aunt, uncle, cousins and kids. Maybe next time. Must train!
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.
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.
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.
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 5th (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.
Hey everyone, this is my first post to my blog. It is taking me a little while to get used to this setup so hopefully I can figure it all out soon and make my blog site interesting.
I will try to post as often as possible, and give updates on sliding (since I slide until the middle of April), training and activities I do in my spare time.
I hope everyone enjoys following my blog and learns a little more about skeleton at the same time. I am headed out to the Lake Placid track right now for training. I will continue when I get back with the rest of my post!
Head First Around the World. Annie O'Shea's Blog 