This season has really flown by. What an incredible journey it's been... with lots of ups, downs, bruises & smiles...
This past Friday and Saturday were the U.S. Skeleton National Championships. All the athletes who have been representing the U.S. (from Olympians to Development athletes) nestled back into Lake Placid about a week ago, in order to conclude the competitive season with this last race.
National Championship Athletes
This was the most important race of my season, and I was more than enthusiastic to be competing against some of the best sliders in the country including Katie Uhlaender-2010 Olympian, Annie o'Shea, and Kimber Gabryzak, all part of the World Cup team. There were 3 women who were unable to attend the championship, so our field was 15 sleds deep.
On Friday, my mom and sister drove in from Butler to watch & ring their cowbells. It was nice to have familiar faces cheering for me from the sideline. The weather was a bit warmer than it had been, but the ice was still hard and verrrryyyyy fast... like TRACK-RECORD-BREAKING-FAST!!! John Daly, Matt Antoine, and Annie O'Shea all came away with track records, an incredible feat when you imagine that this particular track has been around for approximately 10 years.
I've never raced in front of so many competitors, as well as so many spectators (at least here in Placid). Knowing that the World Cup coach was paying very close attention to us development athletes, as well as knowing that my chances of competing at the end of the month were on the line, I prepared myself well and came to the race ready and rip-roaring to go.
The announcer will often bellow over the announcements the order that the athletes are to slide off from the top. Day #1 (Friday) I was to start Run#1 in the 11th spot. As I watched the competitor in slot 10 take off from the top, I could feel my heart throbbing, and my adrenaline rushing through my veins. I hadn't felt so pumped to be in-the-moment since my very first run down the track this season. I was able to reach into the depths of my 'purpose' and pull out the excitement & energy & love that I have for the sport. I blasted off the block to a .10 personal best improvement on my start. One tenth doesn't sound like much...but in a sport that is measured to hundredths, it's pretty significant - and I really surprised myself.
I could feel the speed under my chin whiz by, and by the exit of the first curve, knew that this run could potentially chalk-up to be my quickest of the season.
And that, it was. A relatively 'clean' run (aka not much wall-hitting), and I descended the 1455m track in 57.86 seconds - a personal best downtime. The majority of my teammates also came away with great times, and we all ascended back up the mountain for 2nd runs with smiles on our faces... I was sitting in 11th place.
On my 2nd run I surprised myself with a 5.60 start - a Personal Record now by .17! The run itself was a bit sloppier than my first, yet I still came away with my 2nd best downtime EVER! The high's of this sport can be SOOO great, but often they can be accompanied with quick jabs of low moments... which came when I found out that I had fallen to 13th place by the end of my 2nd run.
My 5.60 start (in slo-mo), taken from our video-review session - with Coach Becca giving advice on how to improve my start
Most skeleton races are two heats long, with the exception of Nationals and World Championships, which are four. Friday was our first two heats, and we would combine those times with our two heats taken on Saturday to give our final placing. So, even after 2 heats, I knew that I still had a chance to climb the ranks, especially since I was only a few tenths of a second off a few competitors ahead of me.
Saturday was much warmer than Friday, and we were (for the first time) battling raindrops rather than snow. The yucky weather not only softened the ice, but also made for wet equipment, and wet clothing. I came to the starting line with anything but dampened spirits though, enjoying every second of the competitive atmosphere that I've been lacking since my days in college track.
I clocked off a start of 5.64, a now, somewhat-consistent start time over the past 3 runs. Everything that could go right, did. I knew that I was having a great run as I zipped through the Chicane (the straight portion of the track), only slightly grazing the right and left walls. Though my time was slower than it had been due to slow ice, I was lucky enough to climb back into 11th place.
One Run left to go.
I was beginning to tire by my final run. After pushing 3 of my fastest start times, and incorporating solid warm-up routines between each, I knew that I needed to take a slightly different approach to keep myself pumped at the start line in order to rack up another quick start. I psyched myself up. Huffing, puffing, and focusing completely on blasting off the start. BE powerful. BE explosive. QUICK. c'mon, Leisl, let's DO IT!
Mistake.
Or...partial mistake. But a lesson taken.
I had incorporated so much focus into really blasting off the start block, that I had lost a lot of focus on what is the MOST important - driving the track!
How to be 'fast' on the track cannot be explained in words. You have to 'feel' the track, you have to stay relaxed and 'melt' into the sled, and then be confident in the steers that you make. I had myself so pumped up, that I never really relaxed, and descended the track still with muscles tensed.
I came off curve 3, much too stiff, and created a ping-pong'ing effect until curve 4, where I swoooooped up and knocked down late into the next curve.. a 'snowball' reaction occurred. Though I knew I had made a critical mistake, I knew that I still was in contention for holding my 11th place spot... I just needed to hold it together.
a n d it A L L L L f e l l ap a r t
I came out of curve 14 and skid sideways on my runners... as you can imagine, just as in a car, going sideways is INCREDIBLY slower than going forward... c'MON!... turn, turn, twist back into position... Ahhhhhh!
All was lost. The last few curves on the track seemed so sluggish, that I immediately knew I had dropped back in rank. When I crossed the finish line, I saw my time flash up on the clock.... *1:00.99 seconds*.... I had single-handedly put down the slowest run of the ENTIRE race.. yippee.
Welllllp. Ya can't win 'em all, right? I ended up placing 14th of the 15 sleds. I was a little upset, and disappointed in myself, and may have had to bite my tongue a little to fight back some tears... but ... heck, I'm fairly (90%) certain that coach will be inviting me back for Fall 2011. I'm so blessed to have had the opportunity to compete in Nationals, and am excited to improve my speed over the summer and continue the sport for at least another season. My 'race' to the top doesn't really end until 2018 Olympics. So what if I didn't do so hot in the 2011 National Championships? just peas n' carrots.
As of tonight, I still don't know whether or not I'll be competing in the International America's Cup races here in Lake Placid that are scheduled for the beginning of April. I know 4 or 5 other great women skeleton athletes who placed above me this weekend that deserve the spots. Probably a few more days and the waiting will end!
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