"Heck Yes I'll Race"

Just got back to Lake Placid last night. I came up here to get in a few days of practice and pack up my room before I go to Europe. I was also going to help out with the America's Cup race this weekend before I drive home on Sunday but I just found out that two U.S. girls backed out at the last minute. Sign me up baby! Now I'm racing! Originally I was disappointed that I wouldn't be able to race on my home track but I guess it was meant to be because the opportunity presented itself and I was in the right place at the right time. YEAH!

It's fun having all of the other countries come to Lake Placid to race. I always love seeing new faces in the start house but as I was looking around today, there has been a complete turn-over of sliders and I really don't know anyone! It's crazy. I guess that's what happens the first year after the Olympics. A lot of veterans retire and a lot of new people get involved.

Well, I'm really excited to race on Saturday so I'll keep you posted :)

Thanksgiving @ Home

I had such a nice Thanksgiving at home! I was bummed that my brothers weren't able to make it but I had a great time with my cousins. I was kind of worried about dinner because my mom had me make just about everything except the turkey. It was my crash course in cooking since I'm extremely challenged in the kitchen due to the fact that I've eaten in a dining hall for the past 12 years. Yikes, that's gross! To say the least, I was pleasantly surprised with my mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, jello salad and apple pie! I don't plan on writing a cook book any time soon but it certainly was a good start :)

The night was filled with fun stories and some really entertaining TV...2 whole hours of Deal or No Deal! There's just something so exhilarating about the suspense of the person opening the cases mixed with all of us screaming nonsense at the tube... What a great show...and for the first time, I chose to watch that instead of Grey's Anatomy! Wow! After we stuffed our faces with with so much food, sitting in front of the TV was just about all we could do! haha

Being home has been so nice... Even though I haven't been able to get off of mountain time with my sleep schedule, it's been really relaxing. It's also nice to have all the time in the world to get my workouts in at the gym... I even brought my parents to our local high school track with me today... they walked while I sprinted. haha It's always nice to get outside when it's sunny!

I go back to Lake Placid on Monday... looking forward to getting back on the ice before I leave for Europe :)

That's A Wrap... On Trials :)

Here we are... The 2006-2007 U.S. National Skeleton Team! I ended up ranked 7th overall, which is two spots higher than last year, and I'm the top ranked woman going on the Europa Cup Tour. I couldn't be happier with how much I've improved. In our last race, I tried a new technique with my push to help my balance and broke into the 5.20s! That's another three hundredths off of my personal best! Woohoo. I about knocked the official over at the bottom of the track when he told me my start time. haha

I'm also really excited for our World Cup Team this year... we have a really solid group of sliders representing us and I can't wait to see them do well this season. Congrats to Bree Schaaf Boyer and Chris Hedquist for making the team for the first time!! Nice work you guys!

I haven't been home for Thanksgiving since I started sliding... This year I don't have to leave for Europe until early December so I'm going home next week! I'm really excited to spend the holidays with my family...it will be a nice change! I can remember two years ago the team was in Canada for a race and we went out to a restaurant called Montana’s for ribs on Thanksgiving... Even though the team is like my second family on the road, it's just not the same.

Thanks for keeping up with my adventuresome team trials and Thanks for all of the support! Feel free to leave a comment anytime... I love reading them! :) If you want to see all of my trials pictures make sure you check out the "Lake Placid and Team Trials 2006" photo album on my Media Gallery page!

One More Race To Go!

Ok. Here's the deal. My last of 6 straight races is tomorrow and I couldn't be more relieved to see the end in sight. This has been a really draining two weeks both mentally and physically. It takes a lot out of you to get psyched up for a race, give it your all during race and as soon as it's over, you get to start preparing for the next day to do it all over again. I've felt like it's been groundhog's day for the past two weeks.

Am I happy with how these races have gone? Yes and No. No, because I would have liked to have place higher in a few of the races (wouldn't everyone?). For instance, today I was beat by 0.01 seconds. That might be the most frustrating way to lose a spot in a race but that's also what makes Skeleton so exciting. Yes, because I felt like a stronger competitor than I did last year. I had a more consistent mental routine that prepared me well for each race. I was happy with my sliding in practice and on race day. I matched or surpassed my personal best times for my starts and for my finish times at both tracks. That in itself means more to me than where I place in a race. I've always told myself that as long as I keep improving, I'm succeeding.

These team trial races are the most important races of the year. It determines what tour you'll be traveling on for the season. As of now, with only one race to go, I'm in contention for the Europa Cup Tour which is an amazing circuit in Austria, Germany and Italy. However, the second most important race of the season is right after New Years - U.S. National Championships right back here in Park City. This is the race that will give us our U.S. rank for the year so it's a BIG one! I was going to come back to get more time on this track to figure things out/test equipment over Christmas but after looking over my finances, it's going to be much cheaper for me to just stay out here for another week now. Heck, I'm already here and there's ice time available so at least I'm cutting out an extra expensive plane ticket over the holidays!

So That's all for now. One more race to go tomorrow. Go big or Go home.... or just stay in Park City an extra week and then go home! haha just kidding.

(Eric and I in the start house in between our first and second runs...who said you had to be serious during a race?haha)

RACE #1 in Park City

Here I go... I'm running out the door... Wish me luck! :) I woke up really excited about today so we'll see how it goes! The ice conditions are going to be different than any of our practice days because the weather has changed so much. The first two days were 70 degrees and sunny... yesterday was 30 degrees and rainy/snowy... and today is sunny and SUPER COLD! So it will make for a great race! I feel confident that I can slide fast here so we'll see how it goes! BYE!

YAY PARK CITY!

I arrived in Park City last night after a long day of traveling. Eric and I are staying at an absolutely gorgeous house in Deer Valley that was generously offered to us for the week by some great friends back at home. Although I get along with most everyone on the team, I can’t tell you how nice it is to get away and have my own space for these races. Later tonight I'm going to have a pool tournament against Eric to get our minds off of sliding for a minute... I'm pretty hit or miss with pool so I hope I'm on my game tonight!

Psychologically, having a quiet place to reteat to must be working already... I had an awesome first day back on this track after a year and a half absence. We only have six runs of sliding to figure everything out before this next three-day race series. I don’t have many expectations at the moment only because it’s been so long since I’ve been here. On my first push today I matched my previous personal best start time, which was really surprising. I guess I can only expect to give it my all and try to be consistent for all three races.

My last race in Lake Placid was disappointing. I finished 9th place, which is still an improvement from last year. The most frustrating part was that I thought I put down great runs but the times didn’t reflect my efforts. Maybe I wasn’t as relaxed on my sled as I was in the past two races but I guess I’ll never know exactly what happened. I marked it in my book as a learning experience and was excited to get on a plane to Park City. As for my start time goal in Lake Placid (to push in the 5.60s)… I didn’t quit make it L But I was only two hundredths of a second off so I’m not too upset. I still have the rest of the year to try. The most important improvement for me is that I’m consistently pushing at my last year’s best!

Park City is wonderful! The weather couldn’t be more beautiful (65 degrees and not a cloud in the sky)… Although I heard we’re suppose to get a foot of snow tomorrow night! AHH I’m taking headshots for the team in the morning for the federation so I hope they turn out well! I’ll post a sample later…

(The girls hanging out at the start dock in the sun...it was so great not to be cold!)

Let The Races Begin...

National Team Trials is a long process but I finally have one race under my belt for the new season! I was almost so relived to get it over with that I would have been happy anywhere I finished. Luckily, I ended up throwing down two solid runs, matched my previous years’ personal best start time, and ended up in 7th place. I couldn’t be happier with how I raced today. The beginning of the season is always nerve racking no matter how well you did the year before… It’s like starting from scratch and you never know if you’ll have the same mental toughness on race day as you used to.


The race conditions were awesome… the weather was a little warmer than we were use to (about 40 degrees) but the track held up great. My first run was 58.77 and my second run was a little faster at 58.22. That may not mean much to the average person but to put it into perspective, the winner’s fastest time was a 57.45 - doesn’t seem like that big of a gap between 1st and 7th place does it! That’s why it is so important for skeleton sliders to prefect their driving skills down to the smallest detail.

I’m excited that I’m sliding well but it’s going to be a huge test for all of us to see who can be consistent for six races in two weeks! I think everyone is ready for a day off already and there’s so much more racing to be done. The anticipation is exhausting in itself but I’m ready to take on the challenge. This is what racing is all about!

Here’s my goal for the next two races in Lake Placid…I’m going to put it out there so everyone knows- My personal best start time is currently 5.71 sec. My GOAL is to push in the 5.60’s… Even if it’s a 5.69 I’ll be happy! It seems like no big deal but it will be a huge hurdle if I can do it! Stay tuned…I’ll let you know the outcome on Friday!

1 RACE DOWN…. 5 TO GO!

"As long as we try our hardest... when the buzzer sounds I don't' care what the scoreboard says... In my book we're all winners" - Hoosiers (thanks dad!)