An Epic Crash and Race Results

Americas Cup Race 1 and 2
SALT LAKE CITY

The USA Americas cup team kicked off the season with 2 races in park city. This was my first race on a track other than Lake Placid and it was a pretty crazy experience.

Before I begin to talk about the races and the results, I should probably explain a little bit of what happened in training first. All went well for the first few days on the new ice. I had a lot of confidence going into our third day of training; the higher speeds and pressures didn’t seem like a serious obstacle. This is when the track decided to give me a wake up call. Curve six man handled me and gave me a big slap on the wrist for thinking I could own this track. Which turned out to be a giant smack to my head.

Curve six is the fastest curve on the track. Girls reach up to 78mph. This is where I decided to have my first ever crash. I went into curve 6 really late. It’s hard to explain to those who don’t know about curve six why this is bad. Long story short when you go into six as late as I did you’re supposed to emergency steer the crap out of it so you don’t take off an arm on the exit. I basically did the exact opposite of what you’re supposed to do and the result was that I hit the exit wall so hard that I flipped. I slid through 2 and a half curves on my back with a 75lb sled on top of me going probably about 60mph…and finally coming to a stop. The scariest part for me was being pinned underneath my sled, and going that fast with that much weight on top of me. Because I was flipped on my back, I was headed head first into curves with no idea where I was going. I had a very nice view of the ceiling however. After 2 curves I pushed my sled off of me and watched it continue the run without me. After I came to a sliding stop I was not upset. I was so angry. I was mad that I wasted one of my few training runs by crashing. I was mad because my sled would probably get damaged. And I was mad at myself for making a rookie mistake and messing up. Most of all I was embarrassed about crashing…I was the only one.

After a truck finally came and picked me up I sort of fell apart. The minuet the medics started asking me what happened I started crying. And as the adrenaline began to wear off EVERYTHING started to hurt. There literally was not an inch of my body that wasn’t screaming at me. My shoes were torn, my speed suit was torn, my mouth guard re-broke, and my helmet was no longer usable. The medics made me promise never to use it again or they would cut the straps.

I was put on oxygen as they asked me questions to see whether I was concussed. I also had some minor bleeding ice burn on my elbow. (The nerves in it still haven’t completely healed because my hand tingles whenever I lean on it.) The medics told me I was concussed and gave a teammate directions to the hospital if my symptoms got worse. I don’t remember telling the medics I felt dizzy or nauseous which is why they said I was concussed. But how am I supposed to feel right after I got my shit rocked? All in all I was JUST FINE. No more symptoms, and if it was a concussion I believe it was very minor. My helmet did its job. RIP.

I took 2 days off and got right back on the ice. There were only 2 days of training left (I think) before the race. Training was fine and there were no casualties. Except for a teammate who also got concussed. But he hit the ceiling not the wall ☺

My first run after the flip was kinda nerve wracking. But there was no way I wasn’t going to slide to get ready for the race. So I just tried to forget it ever happened. Which was really hard to do!!! But it all went well.

(Wed) Race one did not end with the results I was hoping for. I placed 10th over all and had a bit of a scare in 6 again. I hit the wall so hard that I came off my sled again but never touched the ice. I stayed on and just wanted the run to be over. My second run was a lot better! And pulled me into an overall better ranking.

(Thurs) Race 2 went really well but was really frustrating!! I had two beautiful runs that were a total of 4 seconds faster than my runs from the day before. (for skeleton that’s a big difference) My runs were absolutely amazing and I had the fastest push out of everyone! Overall I placed 8th in the second race. Which was frustrating since I did so bad the first day and got 10th, and did so much better the second day, yet I only improved by 2 places. Oh well….

On to the next one. After the races in Salt Lake City we departed for Calgary, Canada! With a whopping 17 hour drive. Lucky we spit it up into 2 days. Unfortunately one of my teammates got food poisoning so she had to endure 7 hours in a car while wanting to vomit. She started feeling better on the drive but 7 hour drives are torturous enough.

Our first race in Calgary is on the 18th!!

Team Selection Races and SALT LAKE CITY!

My First Team Trails

Our first face was scheduled after only 2 weeks of on ice training. As a new slider, I was a little concerned about this. Last year it took me months to slide well! To make things worse 3 days of sliding were cancelled due to unseasonably warm weather. So with around a week of training we had our first team selection race.
Day one went pretty well. I ended up 10th overall. It wasn’t what I was hoping for but it still gave me enough points to put me in a position to make Americas Cup. I was actually shocked at how well I did because my runs were messy and slow.
The next day I had a bit of a mental break down. I was so worried about placing that I didn’t focus on sliding enough and ended up 12th. At this point I started to care less about team trials, which probably sounds bad. I figured what ever was going to happen was going to happen and would be meant to be. I stopped trying to get pumped up for my races and just tried to relax and concentrate on sliding the best that I could.
I think relaxing worked pretty well because things really started to come together for me. I slid 8th in our next race and 5th in the final race. My total amount of points put me at 8th overall! Which secured me an Americas Cup spot!
To those who don’t understand the circuits of skeleton, there are 4 circuits. Americas cup, europa cup, intercontinental cup, and world cup. To make the team you must make one of the “cups”. World cup is top 3, intercontinental cup is for those who finish in 4th and 5th place. Europa cup is 6th and 7th, and finally Americas cup is for 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th. If you did not make any of those teams then athletes stay in LP and train, with out promise of races.
A lot of the races for the second half of the season are coaches’ discretion for AC and EC. I am hoping to do well enough in the AC races to go to Europe second half. We’ll see how I do on new tracks first.
My first races are in Salt Lake City, Utah, then 2 more races in Calgary Canada, and hopefully 2 more in Lake Placid, NY.
I am so thankful for my family and the support I received in Lake Placid that week. Although I wish I could have relaxed and focused sooner to place higher over all, the AC circuit will help me to develop as a slider. I know that next year’s team trials will be even better with everything that I am learning.
To my family and friends at home:
I’ll be home for thanksgiving and Christmas! However, its not looking like I will be home for more than a few weeks this summer. The weight lifting coach really wants me to stay in NY over the summer. I know that the Olympic gym will help me to make greater improvements than the make shift gym at home. I want anyone who wants to, to come visit me! I miss everyone and would love to see people and potentially send them down the bobsled track for a skeleton experience.
School is going really well so far. I have good grades and I’m managing to complete all of my work even while we travel. Penn State has been a blessing and I credit my ability to participate in this sport their online program!

First day on a new track

Going down a new track for the first time can be pretty nerve wracking. No matter how many times you watch video or walk the track you still don’t really know what to expect the track to feel like. The Salt Lake track is much faster than Lake Placid. There are lots of double pressure turns and double oscillations. Which will also be a new experience because the Lake Placid has only single pressure turns and no double oscillations.
When I slide Lake Placid I know when I am in trouble. I have a lot of “oh shit,” moments that require me to drive hard to fix mistakes so I don’t hit walls or lose time. I was worried about going down a new track because I would have no idea if I were headed for trouble in a curve. I have no experience on this new track to know that if I go into this curve late, I need to down steer really hard or I will flip. So basically, I could be heading for disaster and not even know it.
This is pretty much what I was thinking when I was on the starting block about to take my first run. Probably not the best thought process. Strangely enough I was not nervous at all to go down this new track. Up until about 2 minuets before I was about to go. I was nervous that I wasn’t nervous….if that makes sense? “I’m not ready for this, why didn’t I get nervous? I should be nervous!” Not being nervous made me feel unprepared. However, as I took my first run everything turned out fine. No injuries and I actually had fun.
My second run was a bit of a fiasco. I had decided to push faster now that I was a little more comfortable and I popped the grove. This was my first “oh shit” moment on the PC track. It got even worse as my sled managed to do a 180, and I started sliding backwards. I had a moment of panic and my “oh shit” moment turned into a OH F***!
On this track you reach speeds up to 80mph and all I could thing about was reaching those speeds backwards. (Apparently there was an Australian chick who went down half the track backwards) Fortunately, I managed to get turned back around before curve one. The rest of my run was obviously pretty slow due to my trick start. I still can’t believe I managed to go backwards on my second run. At least it wasn’t on my first!
All and all I really like the PC track., it’s fun and fast. I’ll be training on it for another week and a half before our first race here and it should be fun. A lot of other countries are here as well, Korea, Mexico, and the British bobsledders, (who painted their faces for sliding on Halloween).

Push Champs and Preparing for Team Trials

I’ve been slacking on up dating my blog. I wouldn’t call the last 3 weeks hectic but my Internet access has been spotty.

Anyways, Push Champs went well. I got second place and pushed much faster than last year. Although second place sounds pretty damn good, it’s not exactly accurate. None of the World Cup girls competed so I might have been bumped down a spot or two if they had. It was still nice to feel successful though and I had more fun this year. Last year, as a new person, I didn’t really know anyone and pushing the sled felt awkward. It was nice to hear people encouraging me this year and I felt strong pushing the sled.

The team’s first day on ice is on Monday the 9th! I’m pretty excited to get back on the track and feel like I’m making progress again, although I have been making some serious progress physically as well. I was put on a new work out program and it’s a lot different than anything I have ever done before. The change in workload has taken some getting used to. I’m exhausted at the end of every week. I’m told every day at least 30 times a day, that I’m weak. The new strength coach asked if I was training for cross-country all summer.

I thought I would have gained weight over the summer from training. I have gotten so much stronger I just figured my numbers weight would go up too. However, I stepped on the scale for my body fat percentage test and found out that I lost about 12 pounds from last season. Not sure how that happened. I should probably weigh myself more. But now I have to keep a food journal and give it to the strength coach (Brad), to make sure I’m eating right, and as often as he wants. Brad has me getting up and eating breakfast at 730am! If you know me, you know it would be a miracle to see me up that early every day. I get up at 8 every day. Close enough? The food journal/schedule also requires me to eat about 6 times a day. I thought eating that often would be hard to do but with the new workload and school, I feel like I could eat all day.

Unfortunately, I just heard today that I might not get my sled in time for the first day on ice. It may get here just in time, but it will be close. I’m not really happy that I will have to rush to put the sled together and pad it. I wanted to take my time and maybe get some help to make sure it was perfect! Luckily, a friend here said I could use their sled for a few days if needed be. Ideally, I would have liked to be able to start day 1 with me new sled so I have time to get used to it before team trials. But, as a new slider, a few days probably wont make that big of a difference. Since I’ve been off of the ice now for about 7 months, the first few days will probably, mostly consist of remembering what it is like to slide, remembering turns and steers.

School is going well so far, I’m almost half way through my first semester at Penn State. I only took 2 classes this semester so I could still work out and slide relatively stress free. After being here for 3 weeks I’m so glad I didn’t take 3 classes. It would have been too much to handle.

The weather here has been beautiful. 70’s and sunny, until today it dropped to 39 and were supposed to have snow flurries tonight. Crazy. Time to slide!

I miss attending college and the friends I left there. Every day I wonder what I could have done in college track, or what friends I could have made, but I am VERY happy here in LP. I feel like this is where I am supposed to be.

I’m anxious for team trials and so thankful that I was invited! I feel very privileged. Although I am unsure of where I’ll end up this season, I can already feel that this year will contain amazing moments for me and I will learn a lot. Excited to improve!

Countdown to Next Season

I’ve been home for a little over month now and I’d say things are going pretty well. My schedule is a little hectic. School from 8am to 5pm twice a week, working at the pool 3 days a week, and working at the winery on the weekends. I work about 9 hours on Saturday and Sunday and sometimes go straight from one job to the other. And when I get home sometimes I work out until 10 at night. I sleep like a baby in pretty much all of my free time…if I’m not doing homework. Let me just say if Accounting had a face…I would punch it. Worst. Class. Ever.
Honestly I thought doing all of this was going to be a lot harder than it actually is. I’m actually kind of enjoying being busy, keeping me out of trouble in a sense ;) And NOVA Community college has actually turned out to be more entertaining than expected. My marketing professor went on a rampage about marijuana scented shampoo today.

Another bright side of being busy is seeing improvements pretty much all around. I can already power clean about 20 kilo more than I did last September. And squats are making good progress too. I am taking the combine test in LP in July and I’m hoping to go and kick some ass.

In other news I am officially attending Penn State in the fall. Penn State is the only school where I can take classes online during the season in Lake Placid, and then go live and take classes on campus during the summer. Getting into PSU is a bigger deal to me than I think some people know. If I hadn’t gotten into PSU then I would have seriously considered returning to UMW in the fall and being done with skeleton. Like I have said…as much as I love skeleton, I do value my education more. I was always stressed about the day I would have to choose between the two. This is going to sound like the corniest thing in the world but getting into PSU was honestly a dream come true because I no longer have to choose between pursuing a dream and securing my future. I have the best life. …now if only I could get a sponsor.

I am in the process of ordering a sled, technically I have already ordered it but I haven’t had to pay anything yet. The sled costs about $5,000 and a pair of runners cost another $650. On top of that I have to fly to either London, or Calgary to get fitted for the sled because it’s going to be made just for me. More money. (Note the donation button) Here’s the link to where I’m getting the sled. http://www.bromley-aet.com/page.php?25
I am so excited to go back to LP! I’ve never really been the friend that’s stays in touch but I miss the LP fam.

BLUE SKIES

Going to Dicks this weekend to buy Olympic weight lifting bar so I can do my work outs at home! I was planning on building my own squat rack of some sorts too but I don’t necessarily trust my own carpentry. So, maybe I can get my bro to chip in on buying a legit rack.

Just got 3 jobs!…well sort of. One I just applied for…but I think I’m going to get as a waitress/bread and water supplier. I also got my old job back as a lifeguard! I went to the park office today and it turns out I was wrongfully terminated because some one who works for parks and recs put white out on my I-9 form? Ridiculous. And the last job is only for a week but I have a list of things I can do around the house to make money too. For example I can mulch, and mowing some of our land on the tractor. Since I am in the process of buying a $4,500 sled all of this work is really going to help me out.

I’m also almost done with my online classes for this semester! My mood is improving with the weather.

I’m volunteering every tues/thurs at the high school with my old track coaches. I’m thinking ill be doing work outs with them…figure its one more way to stay busy and work out. I have to return to LP at some point this summer to take the combine test so the sprint work-outs will be beneficial. The combine test is an athletic test that all of the athletes have to take every year in LP to determine if we get funded or not. It’s a combination or weightlifting, sprinting, jumping, and throwing. If we score over a 600 then we get to live and slide at the OTC for free! So starting Monday I begin my off season training!

HOME

Oh god. So I have been home for 2 full days now, and I can already tell it’s going to be a very long 6 months before my return to LP. For a couple of reasons….

My parents. I love them, but in the 2 hour journey back from the airport I already had a list of about a hundred things that I need to do.

Find a job. Call Parks and Recs to get my job back. Find another job just in case. Do my taxes. Go to my brothers lacrosse game. Write letters to family/potential sponsors. Register for classes. Get ready for dad being in the hospital. Disperse 20 bags of mulch.
Plus some things I have to do for myself
Study for exam. Listen to lecture. Apply to Penn State. Send transcripts from UMW. Withdraw from UMW. Send transcripts from NOVA. Send Transcripts from HS. FIND A JOB. Buy my sled for next season. Empty my bank account paying for a sled next season. Volunteer coaching track. Run. Find somewhere to lift. Workout. Go to class. STUDY.

It’s really not that much to do I suppose but I feel a bit overwhelmed and over stressed at the moment. And my parents do not help. NO I am not an angry teenager. But they had the life talk with me and it was a little depressing. “So Meghan what do you want to do with your life” “maybe you should put skeleton on hold and just finish school” “just get any kind of degree”…talk about giving me a F’ing heart attack.

I am still unsure of what I want to do with my life. Is that not ok!? I’m 19! Put skeleton on hold! But if I quit now…ill never go back…and I have so much potential…and isn’t now the time to go after crazy dreams like this? While I’m still young and have the rest of my life to get my shit together?

A lot of the older people in this sport have to deal with things like…I’m 26 and I live with my parents. And I don’t have a real job. I don’t have time for a relationship/the relationship I’m in is failing. I’m poor. I drive a beater car. I live in a dorm. When is time to get a real job and start a family?

I don’t have to worry about half of those things because I’m still young! And its socially acceptable for me to still live with my parents, not have a real job, live in a dorm, and drive a crappy car! The only thing I have to worry about is getting my undergrad, and potentially being single for the next 8 years haha. Which my mom insures me wont happen but…the lifestyle doesn’t exactly encourage healthy relationships haha.

Don’t get me wrong I worry about school every day. If I don’t get into Penn State then ill end up going to NOVA again in the fall…and my parents will tell me to get an associates degree and then transfer to a 4 year university. They were even talking about the jobs I could get with JUST an associates degree. That is not what I want. I actually love school, and am not sure if I could sacrifice my education to that extent for skeleton. Since I was little, the idea of going to college and becoming a super successful, cut throat, business woman was burned into my brain by my parents.

At this point I don’t think I know enough about life to know what would truly make me happy. And I don’t know if being the wo ”man” of the office, would make my life complete. I can’t even imagine myself walking around in heels 24/7. BUT I have always wanted a really prestigious job, a job where I would make enough money to be completely independent. And where I would find a husband who was even more successful than I was.

So I have devised a plan to do both skeleton and obtain prestigious degree…if I get into Penn State, which has both online and on campus classes. Ill be getting an undergrad degree in law and society…aka pre law….and then after skeleton I will be going to law school. That’s the plan. If I don’t get into Penn State..ill take it from there and ill have a couple of huge decisions ahead of me.

Even though my dad compared skeleton to a drug, its what I love doing. It’s not the future that my parents probably envisioned for me, and I know there only being logical when they worry about me. But I have realized that I can do anything that I put my mind to. I am determined and stubborn and will be super successful in life, including life after skeleton. There are times when I am insecure and I have to reassure myself I am doing what god meant for me to be doing. And I know my parents support me…but their doubts are obvious in the way they talk about my future. Being home is hard because it makes me feel unsure and insecure about my future in skeleton. When I’m home the realities of the rest of life….pretty much come crashing down on me… (might be a little over dramatic haha)…. With me already doubting myself the last thing I needed was my parents doubting my future. I know they are only trying to keep me grounded but it’s a difficult balance between grounded and discouraged. Thanks to everyone who has ever supported or believed in me. As you can probably tell, it means the world to me.

AMERICAS CUP RACE

The race on Thursday went better than I anticipated. However, now that it is over I know I could have slid better than I did. My original goal was…. to not come in last place….mission accomplished there. But really I just wanted to bring home some hardware and win my first medal. Which would require me to get top 6. I got 7th, so close! In reality I was not really close to 6th place. The difference in the times from 6th to 7th place was wide enough that I would have needed an amazing 2nd run to move up a spot. So I got a solid 7th place.

My first run was a 57 something…I was super happy with that, but again tripped on my push...still pushed a 5.63 though which is good. During my second run I pushed a pr of 5.56, but my down time was almost a second slower ☹

Team USA overall, did pretty well. The girls got 5th, 6th, and 7th place. The guys got a 3rd and 6th place. There was an awards ceremony afterwards where they played the anthem of the winning country and handed out medals to those on the podium…Kinda cool. Competing with other countries…even cooler. Representing the USA….the best part haha. Yeah I’m being corny…but it was awesome haha.

The final results from the Americas Cups race are here.
http://www.fibt.com/index.php?id=63&event=26378&L=0

The article on national champs is here.
http://bobsled.teamusa.org/news/2011/03/05/oshea-and-antoine-named-u-s-skeleton-national-champions/41254?ngb_id=23

The race was really fun and I am already excited for next season! I was told that all of us competing were probably going to be invited to team trials which I’m reallly happy about because now ill get put on a tour/circuit next season!
…..Now I just have to figure out school…..

The season now is officially done now that Americas cup is over. I have mixed feelings about that. Overall it was a realllly good season. However, I don’t want to stay here at the OTC or Lake Placid over the summer because I miss home, warm weather, and family and friends. At the same time I don’t want to leave either because that means I have to go back to the real world. Where I have to juggle school, work, and working out. Where I live with my parents, and have to pay for gas again. I feel a bit homeless haha.

Times like these make me wish I had a normal college experience because in college summer = work and play. My summer = school, work, working out….maybe some play. Yeah I’m being a little over dramatic but it does seem daunting when the whole summer is ahead of me. 6 months and ill be back in LP though!

Pre Race

Tomorrow is my first international race…12 countries. Get to wear a team usa speed suit which makes me feel pretty legit. But I’m actually nervous for this race…not like nationals. I think this race is different than nationals because I have expectations…and because I had an awesome week of training leading up to the national championships. I have had a horrible 2 weeks leading up to this race.

These past 2 weeks I have been trying new runners. For those who don’t understand skeleton runners this isn’t going to make much sense…but thy coaches had me try men’s big wheels plus 50…not positive if they are actually plus 50 but that’s what they jokingly said so…I don’t know. Anyways….these runners have a fatter spine..and shallower groves than the runners I was on for nationals. Which means that there is less of the runner cutting into the ice…which gives me less control…which I tend to like to have.

However, the less runner that cuts into the ice..the faster you go..so the ultimate goal was to teach me to control these squirrely runners so that I could go faster. However I couldn’t manage them/I think I needed more than 1 week to get used to them because it was a complete disaster. I came off of my sled again..in curve 18/19..I was still holding on but I have a bruise that runs down the entire length of my right leg. So my ego is incredibly bruised for this race.

I tried different runners today and did better. Feeling much better about racing tomorrow now.

I’m getting it all sorted out in my head...I’ll forget most of the negative stuff by tomorrow…and will be ready for the race. The coaches seem to have faith in me, so why shouldn’t I.

INTERNATIONAL DRIVING SCHOOL

In the weeks after nationals not much was happening around the OTC. There was less ice time due to a large number of skele and bobsled recruitment camps. I liked having some time off after nationals to kind of absorb what I had accomplished and to think about what was next.

Unfortunately, I think that my mind is still not completely re-focused on skeleton. Which means I need to get my shit together because today I started my first international driving school, and next week I have my first international race.

The atmosphere at the OTC has changed again. The world cup sliders, for the most part, have all left. But they have been replaced with sliders from all over the world, some of which are world cup. There are sliders here from Mexico, Canada, Australia, Korea, Sweden, England, and Greece. I know I’m missing some but you get the picture. Most of the people here are staying after the driving school to compete in the last Americas cup race of the season.

My sliding today was not great. I popped the grove at the start and actually let go of my sled…debated letting it go down the track with out me…hopped on anyways… and hit 2 walls before I even reached the first curve. I have been working on my push start a lot lately, and not pushing well today ticked me off just a bit.

Not sliding well for a day normally doesn’t bother me, but because I was 1 of only 4 women who got picked for this school, it makes me feel bad. -- You know when you try out for a team….lets say soccer, and you just nail a shot and score right in front of the coach. You feel kinda badass after. Lets say you make the team, but in your first game you get another break away and completely miss the next shot…like it was not even close…way over the goal, like you were trying to punt a football. And then you miss your next shot on goal too…you feel like shit…obviously. So are you as good as you showed in try outs....or did you just get lucky? Does the coach regret picking you for the team?—That’s pretty much how I feel right now

Friends from home ask me all the time what you need to be good at skeleton. And a lot of times I feel like their trying to figure out why I am any good at it, or they are trying to judge how athletic you have to be to actually be good. Because to them, it seems like most of the sport is just laying on a sled. Which is true, but the push start is super important if you want to get faster down times. And I can’t name any other sport, (except for bobsled and luge obviously), that only gets to practice for 2 minuets every day. I had never even thought about how ridiculous that is until one of our coaches said something. But seriously, 2 minuets a day…2 runs…taking about 58 seconds each. No wonder it takes so long to get good at this sport.


Americas cup is going to be next Thursday and Friday I believe. And I was just informed today, that the women’s gold medalist in skeleton from the Vancouver 2010 Olympic’s, is going to be competing with us. That is crazy. I have heard that some other world cup sliders from other countries maybe competing with us as well. Apparently world championships are going to be here next year and a lot of the world cup people want as many runs down this track as possible before then. Makes sense. But to a person who has only slid for….what 6 weeks now. I’m kind of worried about getting my ass kicked haha.

8th AT NATIONALS

Nationals and Americas Cup

This past week was a pretty eventful one. The world cup team came back to LP from the World championships. Having them around changed the atmosphere a bit. Official training started on Thursday, and the first day of racing was on Friday. Initially, the races were supposed to be on sat and sun but because of warm weather they moved them up a day. On Friday there were 2 runs, and sat there were 2 runs. The combination of all 4 of your times added together determines your final place.

The Race wasn’t until 6 at night. I actually liked that because it gave me a chance to sleep in haha. But pretty much race day went something like this.

Wake up. Eat. Watch film of training runs. Sand runners. Eat. Warm up. Head to track. Set your rock. Get in order. Wait an hour. Warm up again. Get ready to go.

Just to clarify. Setting your rock is when bow the runner so that there is less of the runner on the ice. Having less of the runner on the ice makes you go faster.

And referring to getting in order, we are all put in a random order of who goes down the track first. So if you are listed to be the first sled off, you have the put your sled in slot number 1. If your second, you have to put your sled in slot number 2. Ect. Ect.

On race day the race officials also sand our runners over a few times, and wipe them down with acetone, just to make sure there is no substance on there that’s gunna make us go faster. They also carry our sleds to the starting block for us and hold them while we wait for our turn. Which is nice because in practice we have to carry and hold our sleds ourselves.

FIRDAYS RACE

The ice on Friday was very hard and fast. Weirdly enough I wasn’t really nervous. This is gunna sound bad, but I just figured no one expected much out of me because I am so new to this sport. And because I felt no one really had any expectations of me I was pretty relaxed. Normally I put a lot of pressure on myself too, but I didn’t really know what to expect of myself either so I felt like no matter what I did I was gunna surprise myself.

I slid realllyyy well that day. After my runs on Friday I was in 6th place. If only I could have done as well on Saturday! I would have gotten a medal!

SATURDAYS RACE

Saturday was a little more stressful. Because I had done so well the day before, there were expectations now. And I put pressure on myself to try not to drop down any places. But again, I was pretty calm, my runs were not as good as Friday and I ended up in 8th place. Still amazing for a new person.

Heres an article on the national championships.

http://bobsled.teamusa.org/news/2011/03/05/oshea-and-antoine-named-u-s-skeleton-national-champions/41254?ngb_id=23

WHATS NEXT

So as far as racing goes I think I may qualify for team trails this fall! Which would be amazing. Because I did so well at nationals I ended up getting picked for the FIBT driving school and to race in the last Americas Cups race in April. There are 15 girls, and only 4 of us got picked to stay and compete. So I will be at the Training center for at least another month after all!

School is a different story, I will be going to the local community college all this summer to get more credits, and ill take block classes until October. So that school will be over just in time for team trails. Long term, I’m thinking I’m going to get my associates degree from NOVA CC, and then transfer those credits to Pen State online. Which will work out really well for me, because apparently next year the team is going to be traveling a lot.

I love this sport and wish that everyone could come up and watch it in person at some point. Its just not the same seeing videos and pictures.

Empire State Games

The Empire State games were held this week. Most of the skeleton athletes here competed. I didn’t do very well, and it was my first official race so…oh well. I got 8th out of 13. My second run was so much worse than my first. I went into curves 8-12 late and it slowed down my run a lot.

The ESG had an opening ceremony where we all marched in under our sport into the ice hockey arena. Kind of like the Olympics. They lit a flame, had a bronze medalist speak, and it was televised. Everyone got a sweat suit and hat if you signed up to participate. So everyone in the arena was matching. Id say there were about 200 athletes there? Maybe 300, about 100 of them were figure skaters.

Bought my first speed suit and brush spikes this week. I feel pretty legit now. Not like a nube in my track spikes and under armor compression clothes. I’ll work on putting up some pictures.

Nationals are this weekend. I wish I could say I was excited but I’m really just more interested to see how it turns out and to get to watch the world cup athletes slide. Mom and Dad are coming up so they’ll get to see more of what I try to explain to them. Maybe they’ll take some video of me sliding and I can post it up here.

I might be coming home in the next 3 weeks if I don’t get picked for the FIBT driving school or the Americas Cup race in April. I’m still crossing my fingers but I think I have to do really well at nationals to get picked. Going home is going to be weird, I’m going to talk to normal people again?? Right now I would be really excited at the thought of interacting with people that I don’t compete with every day. But ill miss my crazy LP family for sure.

Off the sled

Week 3

This week did not have as much productive sliding involved. We slid from start 3 again this Friday because the top of the track was melted. It was 45 on Friday! Anyways, obviously everyone took sliding from start 3 very seriously. A few of the guys dressed up in super hero costumes, and bikinis over there spandex. Others taped extra weight to themselves and the sled in attempts to win. Unfortunately there were sled checks and a few of the sliders were DQd for their extra weight haha. It was all a joke anyways. There were also large rubber bands attached to the luge posts at the start so there was an attempt to slingshot a sled down the track. Failed attempt.

The beginning of this week was not as much fun for me. For the first time I actually came off of my sled, and was holding on with one hand. I came out of a turn extraaa late and my sled stayed in the turn…as in the sled was still sideways coming out of the turn and stuck to the sidewall as I was dragged behind it. It wasn’t actually very scary because it happened so fast that I pulled myself back on my sled almost as fast as I was thrown off. When I finally got off of my sled I actually couldn’t stop laughing, I think that might have just been the adrenaline or the shock, but I guess I thought I was hilarious. I didn’t feel the injuries until later in the day, I got some iceburn and actually ripped my spandex for the first time on my left arm. My right hip was a little swollen, which got much worse in the days fallowing. My chest bone also was bruised because when my body started to come off the sled, I was thrown to the left, and my chest bone landed on the left side of my saddle, which is metal.

I’m actually glad it happened because now I think I have been initiated into the sport haha. It’s happened to everyone at least once and now I know I can get back on the sled even after a spill. Not that this spill was really that bad, I’m sure it’ll happen again.

Anyways, nationals are coming up and mom and dad are gunna come up to watch. Which I’m kind of excited to show them just how fast we go. It’s kind of hard to tell watching it on TV, but in person makes it seem more intense.

RACE DAY and SCHOOL

Friday was a good day for pretty much everyone who competed. There were lots of PR’s all around. I had a few myself, I pushed a new pr of 5.59 and had a new pr down time of 57.83. The best part for me was probably getting in the 57’s. A lot of sliders who have been here longer than I have, have not gotten into the 57’s yet so I’m extremely happy about my progress. But it was also an awesome day for me because I was consistent with both of my runs. My second run was 57.90. It cant get much more consistent than that! Overall I got 6th place out of…17 people..i think?


School has sucked big time. When I was at home, I did my schoolwork pretty diligently because I was so bored I had nothing else to do. Here, I try to still do a little every night but its not easy. I have 2 tests due the weekend of nationals so I have to take them a week early, which doesn’t help me out. Good thing a lot of the work is easy.

On another note, I signed up today to compete in the empire state games. I’m not really sure what they are but they have opening ceremonies and we get a sweat suit for it. So it sounds pretty legit.

After 2 weeks here, I don’t love skeleton any less than I did from day one. If anything, these two weeks have made me enjoy it more. Of course that could definitely change in the next 3 weeks. But I feel that I have reached a point where I know I want to seriously peruse this sport. A point where I’m considering transferring to SUNY Plattsburg. (Sorry mom and dad that you had to read it here first) At first I wanted to avoid SUNY Plattsburg because it doesn’t have the academic reputation that UMW does. But I’m loving skeleton so much right now that I’m trying to convince myself that life is what you put into it, that I can still get an awesome job based on my personality, and drive. And maybe when I’m done with skeleton I can get into an awesome grad program. If I were to transfer to Plattsburg It would be cheapest for me to live at the OTC and commute to class 3 times a week.

A lot of people have asked me if I will regret not having the typical college experience. And I was worried about that too for a while. There are three reasons I don’t think I will. 1. UMW wasn’t your typical college experience anyways. There are no frats, no raging parties, no clubs, and an insane amount of girls. 2. This sport might offer me opportunities to go Europe and to compete at a level that few people will ever experience. I think those experiences will be priceless, and more valuable than the future hangovers that would surely be awaiting me in college. :) And finally, 3. I talked with a veteran athlete here who started at the same age I am, and did go to SUNY Plattsburg. He managed to slide, finish school, and be the alternate for the Olympics twice. And the best part is that he said he did not regret in the least that he did not have the typical college experience.

I know what my parents will probably be thinking right now, What about track? Yeah I’m going miss it a lot. And I know college track is an experience that I would like to have, and my parents would love me to have. But I don’t enjoy track anywhere near as much as skeleton. AND if I wanted to run track at Plattsburg, I could. A skeleton athlete who was just at the past Olympics in Vancouver, also started skeleton close to the same age as me and went to Plattsburg. AND he was an all American track athlete. So…not making any promises…but I could run track, do skeleton, and go to school all at the same time!

Week 2

Week 2

This week got switched up a little bit. Instead of starting from start 1 (the top) they moved a small group of us down to start 3 (the next skeleton start below start 1, start 2 is for luge). The lower start was to help us work on our form. When you run the sled from start 1 the hits are much harder (obviously). When you hit a wall, your form breaks because your body is flung to one side of the sled. So when you are going at such high speeds, recovering from a hit and getting good form back is pretty basic, but is hard to get used to. Sliding from start 3 makes it easier to hold form after a hit because you are going slower.

The hardest part about recovering after a hit isn’t really physical, because when your adrenaline is pumping you don’t really feel much. The hardest part for me is recovering mentally. When I catch air coming out of a turn, that instant I’m in the air is in slow motion, even though I’m going about 60mph. That moment I’m in the air is like..oh crap oh crap of crap oh crap SMACK ...then SLAM into the wall (curve 12). Next thing I know I’m in another curve and I have to think about whats next, but its already too late because my head is jumbled from the hit, and the next thing I know I hit another wall.


I know when I’m going at slower speeds and I mess up or start to skid, I cuss out loud. I’m sure if there was a microphone in my helmet it would be pretty entertaining.

Bruises last a really long time here for me mostly because I usually hit in the same spot every day. Unfortunately it will be a while before I stop getting bruises. There are people here who have been in LP since November and are still getting them. So I’m sorry to say mom, and aunt Shannon, the bruises are here to stay.

Went back to start one on wed. Did awesome! Got faster after every run.

Got an official work out from the weight trainer on wed. I’m really surprised how opposite the peer pressure is in LP as far as how often to work out. You see a lot of people here work out, what seems like every day and lift a lot of weight. Seeing them makes me worry that I am not doing enough as far as training goes. But I was told today that over training is a real problem here. The weight coach said to take 2 days of rest a week. Because we have to slide after we work out, the added stress on the body requires more recovery time.
I feel like normal people don’t have to force themselves not to work out. But some people here in LP have to force themselves to take a day off! And I never thought I would ever feel lazy for only taking 1 day off! It just makes me realize what a backwards life we live in the training center.

People sliding 60-70mph face first down in ice shoot. Forcing themselves NOT to work out…crazy

Week 1

All right, So I have been in LP for a little over a week now, although it feels more like a month. I have been doing some kind of work out every day except Friday and Sunday. Because I have races every Friday and Sunday the gym isn’t open.

I got pretty beat up this week. Banged my elbow so hard into a wall that it took some time to get it to bend properly afterwards. I got more bruises on my hips from the saddle of the sled banging into my side as I skid into walls. Ripped a hole in the knee of my spandex. I don’t remember how I got it but I have a bruise there as well. I got my final set of bruises during my race on Friday, on the bottom of my chin from catching air out of a turn and landing with my chin bouncing on the ice.

The race this Friday was more of just a practice race for me because Its not really helpful for me to try to win my first race after having my first full week sliding from the top… for 2 reasons. 1. I was on a school sled so I’m going to go slower than those on there own sleds. And 2. Because everyone here has slid for longer than I have, so if I were to worry about times a lot right now it will only worry me and hurt my ego haha.

As far as times go I didn’t come in last! I got 7th. But my push time was the fastest out of all the girls that were there. Which is awesome for how little time I have had to learn the right technique. The girl who normally gets the fastest times wasn’t there so I would rather think that I have second fastest.

Yesterday I found a new sled to rent for 300. It’s a 99 Davenport. I have to find Davenport runners to put on it, which will cost me another 400 at least. A pair of new Davenport runners cost between 700 and 800 dollars. Goodbye graduation money.

Socially, I feel as though I am back in High School. There is a cool kids table, which I like to call the winners circle, and then everyone else. No I don’t get to sit at the cool table. Haha. There is also more drama than I thought adults were capable of. Rumors, gossip, ect. In a place as small as this I guess it is inevitable.

Being the youngest here has positive and negative effect. Positive: its ok that I have no idea what im doing, as far as how to put the sled together, put in my rock, and how to do a power clean correctly. Negative: I feel like a child a lot haha, and all the guys are..about 24 or older so…I feel out of the age range haha. Which can be a good thing. Don’t worry dad, there’s no potential dudes.