How Do I Train in San Diego for a Winter Sport?

I can't tell you how many people ask me... "how do you train in San Diego, there's no snow there". Well, actually, there's no snow anywhere that has a skeleton track during the summer. So I spend the entire off-season training for the first 5 seconds of the race - the sprint before I get on the sled. It's estimated that every tenth of a second you gain on your start, will multiply by three tenths at the bottom of the track. This is because greater acceleration from the start will carry more momentum to the bottom.

So here it is... this is the most sport specific training we do. Dry land pushing! Thanks to Eric, we have an awesome push sled with wheels that we practice with. The best way to explain it is to watch the video :)

Today's Track Workout

We just started our last phase of California training before we taper off and rest for team trials. This is called the "Power Phase"... We are focusing on being quick and explosive with our movements in order to blast off the starting block fast and efficiently. I wanted to share what we did this morning because it's probably something most people have never seen. We sprint with a weighted sled (~30 lbs) for about 15 meters and then we release the sled and keep running another 15-20 meters all in one motion. If you look at the pictures you can see the sled being released... I have a rip-cord in my right hand which is hard to see but that's how I drop the sled.

Just imagine running and instantly dropping 30lbs! You feel like you're flying! I didn't know my legs could turnover that fast! This is something new to my training so I had a lot of fun with it. I like when we mix things up with our workouts because you can get very bored doing the same thing over and over with the amount of training we do. My best advise to anyone just trying to stay in shape is to have fun with it! Change things up and try new things. I'm a big fan of cross-training... everthing doesn't have to be done in a gym...get out and enjoy the day!

Having fun building my website

I've always wanted to make my own website to keep friends and family updated with everything going on in my life. It has been quite an adventure in itself to learn how to design, create and upload my site but the time and effort has been well worth it. If you have any suggestions or ideas please feel free to pass your thought along my way!

I think my favorite part about building this site has been having the opportunity to put my creative side to work. I really enjoyed designing my logo and trying to keep each page consistent yet unique. I definitely have a new found respect for people that design websites. It's really difficult and terribly confusing...at least for a first-timer like myself! I'm proud of how it is turning out and I hope to be able to update it often. Thanks for taking the time to check things out! I'd love to hear your feedback!