Monday November 22, 2010

Training with Coach Kash


AAAaahhh, a nice relaxing night at the OTC.

I needed a break from sliding. Last week, being the first week from the top, really rocked me. I'm having a hard time figuring out how much pressure my sled needs to steer, and what variables are keeping me from getting some fast times. The types of runners (those steel things that the sled slides on), the weight of the sled, how well balanced the sled is, and how good the driver is - allllll come into play when talking about speed. Granted, I get a beautiful run now and then, but I'm still not even sure HOW I do that!

Steering is one of my biggest problems (I know...probably should figure that one out pretty quick, huh?). Basically, It's like being 16 and driving a car for the first time. You learn how hard to spin the wheel to make a certain turn radius. In skeleton, all the driving comes from your shoulders, knees, and toes. Ideally, you should never drive with your toes - that means you're directly putting your toe on the ice (usually to keep from skidding) and therefore adding force against the natural speed of your sled. If you want to win - you don't drive by putting your toe down. If your new, and prefer not to die - you put your toe down.

The most preferred way of driving the sled is by using your shoulders. We lay belly-down on the sled, with our shoulders resting directly on the 'body' of the sled. If I wish to steer right, I push down on the sled with my left shoulder. If I wish to steer left, I push with my right shoulder. Our knees also are great for steering, as there are driving bars underneath them as well. If I wish to go left, I push down with my left knee, and vice versa.

That all sounds easy until you remember that we're 'driving' on ICE! Skidding sideways down straightaways is one of my specialties! And my 'panic' button is demonstrated by immediately dropping both my toes, legs wide apart, and holding on for dear life... Just like this video (courtesy of my hilarious and awesome teammate, Kristina Hull...I edited out all the laughing):


Me, skidding out of control between curve 2 and 3

So after runs like that all week, I erased any thoughts of doing skeleton on saturday, and took the whole day to chill, and get caught up on things like GETTING A JOB.

Wooohooo! Somewhat unsuccessful...but I at least got somewhere. I'm hoping to get on a babysitting list for Whiteface Lodge, where i'm promised to receive at least $60/sitting. It's a beautiful hotel, with many amenities, and usually quite wealthy guests. I also signed up on a website as a babysitter in the area, and have been contacted about babysitting in December already. We'll see... I'm guessing I'll need something more than babysitting once January hits.

So, today is Monday. I got back in the groove of sliding today. Got a great workout in, and spent some time babying my sled... I put on new runners (maybe my last runners were reason for my steering problem?), and wrote "Diesel" in orange duck tape on the pod of the sled, as well as tried to make the runners super smooth by sanding them with sandpaper. My sled looked pretty snazzy :)

The ice was slooooooow today. Really slow, due to frosty conditions. The weather up here has been warm, and rainy, and therefore all the moisture in the air collects on the ice, making it more sticky. But, it was nice to be able to hold my head up off the ice and see where I was going - normally you can't do that due to the G-Forces you experience on the curves. It was a nice confidence booster!

It will be a rather relaxing week, with only 2 runs down the mountain per day, and a workout every day. I'm excited about that, but already am missing being home with my family for the holiday.