My coach, Don Hass, said that bicycling across the country would be a major hindrance on my combine test performance and my sprint speed. He said that back in March, when I was still trying to decide whether to pursue the sport of skeleton.
The decision to come back here, to Lake Placid, was not an easy one. For one, I had committed myself (back in October of 2009) to bicycling across the country with Bike & Build for the summer of 2010. At that point in time, the thought of bobsledding or skeleton sliding would have been a complete joke. By the time March of 2010 rolled around though, I realized that I possibly had a future in the sport of skeleton – but all the while was anxiously awaiting my journey across the country on a bicycle, and had already raised nearly $4000 in donations. There was no way that I could back out on Bike & Build. Nor did I want to.
Bike & Build wasn’t the only thing that was causing me to hesitate with the decision to pursue skeleton. There’s also the time-frame factor. Anyone pursuing this sport is of course looking to one day compete in the Olympics. In fact, that is my #1 goal. However, there are hundreds of tiny stepping stones to get to that point – and the fact of the matter is, that if this is something I really want to pursue, I must realize that it will be at least four years of commitment to the sport – if not eight. Sure, I can call it quits at any given moment, but why invest the time and money if you don’t want to go all the way?
Which leads me to my third point: money. Money was the biggest reason for my hesitation to come back. If you’re on the World Cup (top 2 sliders in the country), then money isn’t going to be quite as much of an issue. I’m not there, so let’s just be frank. Remember the combine test that Don said I would struggle with if I bicycled across the country? Well, you pass that baby, and you get your food and housing paid for at the Olympic Training Center. You don’t, and you’re on your own; food, housing… not to mention I bought a $3,000 sled, paid $250 for the year to slide the track, will be buying a $150 helmet, $150 pair of spiked shoes, and any other random equipment needs that pop up. Today, I’ll be buying a set of hex keys to change the ‘bend’ (we call it rock) in the runners on my sled.
The thing about the combine test, is that it doesn’t directly correlate to how well a slider competes on the ice. Let’s break down the test. There are four sprints, all of which are 45m or less. Then there’s an underhand shot-toss, a standing broad jump, a 1 rep max power clean, and a 3 rep max back squat. They all measure power, explosion, and speed. The sprint at the start of the track for skeleton must be very quick and powerful, and therefore athletes who test well in the combine will be best suited for the sprinting portion of the sport. But, the number ONE key ingredient to skeleton success (according to Coach Don Hass) is commitment – it takes hundreds and hundreds of runs down the chute of ice before one finally begins to become a respected and successful slider. My one friend, Lauri Bausch, is an AWESOME skeleton slider. In only her second season she is competing on Europa Cup. But, as Lauri will tell you, she is usually slower at the sprinting start than any other woman on team USA. But her commitment to the sport is admirable, her driving skills are incredible, and those things have proven to take her a long way. And she's still working hard to drop those sprint times.
In all honesty, today I’m feeling a little deflated. Coach Don didn't want me to get too hyped-up about passing the combine. He'd be "happily surprised" if I passed, he said. He reiterated the fact that bicycling across the country probably slowed down my muscles quite a bit. And he’s right, I agree. But, I spent 8 weeks (directly after my bicycling trip) training hard at R.A.W. training gym with Jerame Tuman, past Pittsburgh Steeler. Jerame set up a complete training regimen for me, and I continued to improve every week that I was under his instruction. If I don’t pass this thing this week, I'll train hard and then I’ll try again. And I’ll try again. And again. And again.
But, then again, maybe Thursday I’ll really kick this test’s @$*.
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