1-2-3... GO!

It’s 5am right now here in Whistler, Canada. I’ve been struggling with jet lag more than I ever have in the past. The 9 hour time change in this direction is killing me… especially having our sliding session in the evening. But the exciting news is that I’m here and I’m happy to report that I made it to the bottom of the track in one piece both runs yesterday (from start 1)! As a safety precaution, it’s mandatory that every athlete take their first two from the women’s luge start, which enters into curve 3. On Wednesday, I had a blast sliding from there, so naturally I was wondering why this track has such a scary reputation. It couldn’t be all that different starting two curves higher… or could it? Well, I expected to be pretty excited when I got to the bottom of the track… perhaps a little celebration dance on the finish dock was in order but my reaction was a bit more like a deer caught in headlights! The only thing I could say was, “wow” or “ouch” or “what just happened”! haha. Everything that seemed so simple from the lower start suddenly turned into a disaster at higher speeds. I got lost somewhere around turn 5 and flew off the end of multiple curves landing on my shoulder bunks a few times. I found myself laughing in my helmet at one point when I revealed the bottom side of my sled to the row of video cameras at the exit of 6! I guess now I understand what everyone was talking about. I wasn’t scared after my first run, but because I got a little beat up and didn’t remember much of what I did, I was more nervous about making the same mistakes twice. And believe me… those mistakes did not feel very good! On the truck ride up, I was reassured that my reaction was very common after everyone’s first trip, which definitely made me feel better. I was able to fix my “big bang” areas my second stab at it but there are still a million things to figure out from here!

At the end of the day I’ve decided that this is a really awesome track. Although my first experience was a train wreck, I’m excited to slide again today and start piecing things together. It’s a challenge because no one has the answer… only suggestions. It’s up to us to figure it out and constantly try new things since it’s a brand new track. It’s also tough because once you start feeling comfortable, you can’t lose an ounce of focus since the track demands such precise steers at high speeds. Unfortunately I’ve seen people find that out the hard way this week. There’s so much I want to say about this place and my experience here already but I don’t want to make this journal entry a mile long… I’ll break it up and share another piece later ☺ So far everything has exceeded my expectations and can’t even express how amazing the Games will be here! This is such a perfect town to host the mountain events and I’m really beside myself that I have the opportunity to be here this year. Unbelievable!