A great way to sum up this past week of sliding at Mt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Track.
This past week was the Skeleton Intercontinental Cup. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were Official Training days, where each athlete (9 different countries represent'n) gets a total of 2 runs per day. Thursday and Friday were race days for the athletes. I was fortunate enough to forerun (aka slide before the athletes) for Official Training on Wednesday, and then foreran again before Race #1 on Thursday.
My 'new' OTC iD
This week, the ice was FAST. Track workers spent 23 hours/day (no joke) working on the ice to make sure it was smooth, clean of debris & imperfections, and as cold as could be.
I was really frustrated with my sled & my driving during my 7 weeks of sliding before Christmas, as I was having a very hard time breaking the "1 minute" milestone... actually, my quickest time in that time frame was a 1:00.00 ... c'mon, really? But in this sport, it really does come down to hundredths of seconds... and not being able to get under that milestone really had me second-guessing my future.
This past week though, I finally joined the 'sub-minute' club. I threw down a 58.8, which is my PR since beginning skeleton sliding in January of 2010. Oh, how wonderful it felt! Along with another 3-4 runs that were sub-59's, and a few other sub-minutes. Coach claims that my sled knows that i'm starting to 'like' it, and therefore it's translating to quicker times... if that's the case, I'm gonna make a space for it on my bed tonight-
However, with fast ice, and fast times, comes fast driving - which, though i'm not a novice driver, I still...well... could use some help.
When a beginning slider takes his first 50-or-so trips down the ice, one of the biggest 'problems' Coach sees is that the athlete tends to 'pull' on his/her sled, and therefore slide with their elbows sticking out. Well, I suppose the speed, along with the intensity and energy associated with the ICC cup made me revert back to my bad-habit roots...
Not only does chicken-winging the track decrease aerodynamic speed... but it also tends to Increase the size of one's elbow... by allowing for intense blows to the appendages if you happen to take a smack to a wall.... Ahhhh, and that I did.... See?
Just a tap to the upper arm in the Chicane (straightaway)
This ain't nothing compared to my days (aka just 4 weeks) as being a bobsledder last year... I'll take a skeleton bruise any day over this! ....
December 2009 after a couple crashes in a bobsled
And actually, last year during my skeleton training I was plagued with bruises all over my hips, thighs, elbows, etc... but my bruise this week was the first one I've acquired in my 9 weeks sliding since November 2010 - so, heck, I'm actually a little proud of it :) No, it doesn't really mean i'm any 'better' (though I am a little for sure) - but more so, I fit inside the 'bumpers' of my sled, and Don has the 'saddle' cushioned nicely to my box-y figure...
So with forerunning the ICC on Thursday, I left the track around 12, and was back to the track around 2 in order to prepare for the "Lake Placid Cup" series races for the Elite Developmental athletes.
My runs during forerunning in the morning were still comparable to my fastest of the season, and I was hoping to combine a fast down time, with a fast start time for the Lake Placid Cup. However, with a jam-packed schedule on wednesday of a morning sliding session, video reviews, and a 5-hr drive to Montreal and Thursday morning comprising of 2 runs, I was unable to really tap into my quickest start times, due to some leg-lag. Ahhh, but I was still considerably happy with my times for the day, and was able to capture a bronze medal for the race.
Most of the developmental athletes here have anywhere between 2 weeks and 15 weeks (me) of sliding experience. So, to have been stuck in the '1-minute' club for the entire fall season, I was beginning to second guess myself. Now that I'm beginning to love my sled, know the track, and understand steers, it's all starting to really come together.
So a little burnin' from the ice & some bruises... but burnin' up the track with some great personal times... couldn't be happier :)
No comments:
Post a Comment