Race Prep

Tomorrow is the Big Day.

Women's Skeleton World Cup starts at 9:00am, followed by the men. And Morgan, Corinne, Greg, Tyler, and myself get the opportunity to "pilot" (or forerun) the races!!! What an incredible opportunity!

Though we technically aren't racing, the 5 of us are still preparing for tomorrow as if it were to be a race day. And preparing for a race day is a lot more work than preparing for any cross country or track race day that I've had in the past!

This morning was the last day of 'official' training. Each slider gets their last opportunity to learn all the curves of the track, and to find the quickest, and safest lines.


Athletes preparing for Heat #1 in the start house

In case you missed my last post - we are 'forerunners' for the World Cup Races. Therefore, we slide down the mountain before the World Cup Athletes, so they can see how the ice at the beginning is cut, and so the officials are sure that the timing eyes are working correctly. Also, we are to report any 'problems' with the track that we see. We get 2 runs per day, just like the athletes - however, it's over an hour between each of our runs... nothing like trying to stay warm, while still remaining relaxed and energized at the same time. But trust me, the long waits are mooooore than worth it!

Preparation for races isn't held just on the track. Injury prevention and care are important leading up to a race as well. Last wednesday I was doing some power cleans, and tweaked my back on a light weight rep. Since then I've been icing my back every day, doing extra stretching, and trying to take it easy on any training involving strain on my lower back. Things have been going well, and today I woke up feeling as 'good as new.' I'm still taking some preventative measures, and so therefore spending at least 15-20 minutes per day in the COLD TUB. Even just typing it, makes me shiver. The water is a toasty 53 degrees, which feels like zero, and causes complete numbness in a matter of minutes. However, the first few minutes are incredibly miserable, and so in order to force ones self into the cold tub, you must gain comraderie with your friends...and have them jump in with you.


Morgan and I in the cold tub... looks waaaay warmer than it is

So, after sliding to prepare for the race, and then spending an hour or so with Coach Becca learning some sport-specific drills and workout plans, and then spending some time in the cold tub, we then prepare our sleds for the races.

Preparing a sled at the World Cup level is a slightly more complicated endeavor than it is for us forerunners. However, we certainly have put as much work into getting the sled ready as we know how.

So - this is the (less than world cup level) way of prepping a sled. First, you gotta pick which runners you want. Some are better when the ice is warm, while others are better when the ice is cold (and hard). Then, you have to make sure that all the bolts and tape are tight and adhered well. Lastly, you have to sand the runners (ya know, the blades on the bottom)... make them nice n' shiny.

PHEW! Now, that is a task!

My roomies, Morgan and Corinne, hard at work sanding runners

It takes anywhere between 1 and 3 hours to sand runners. Basically, we take sandpaper at 320 grit, and rub it over the runners about 20-50 times. Then we use 400 grit and do the same thing. Then 600, 800, 1000, 1500 ... some people even use "diamond paste" type of stuff, to make it UBER shiny and smooth. We're certainly not there yet.

Anyways, my sled is prepped and ready to go! I will take my last 2 runs of 2010 tomorrow, and will come back in 4 or 5 weeks to continue training on the ice.

Cameras, TV crews, Olympians, fast ice, and 4 great friends to make the experience of a lifetime tomorrow. CAN'T WAIT!