Calgary and Lake Placid

Sorry about the super late update!
A lot has happened since park city!

The team moved on from Utah to Calgary and overall we did pretty well. I placed 7th in my first race in Calgary but was beginning to become really frustrated. I always seem to find myself just out of reach of a medal. However, race two came around and I placed 6th! I earned myself my first international medal! The second day of racing in Calgary had less than ideal weather. It was at least -10 and snow was blowing in the track. The finishing times that day were at least a second slower so at first I didn’t realize that I had placed.

Sometimes when you have a clean run down the track you can feel your sled going that much faster and as you cross the finish line you know you set your self up well to medal. Other times, during runs with lots of mistakes, you call yourself and idiot and tell yourself you’ll do better next time. During my second race in Calgary I crossed the finish line both runs feeling like a retard skeleton slider. I skidded both runs and hit a few walls that I shouldn’t have…and yet I medaled. This is why skeleton is such a weird sport sometimes. Either everyone else had a much worse run than myself, (which could be true but I find it hard to believe) or the lines I took or the way I set up my equipment was more effective. Either way, during that race I never crossed the finish line smiling, but I ended the day with one ☺

After finishing up the races in Calgary we moved on, to our home track, Lake Placid. After being on new tracks for so long I was really looking forward to being back home, somewhere familiar. However, I was a little discouraged when I was not sliding as well as I believed I would. I was having clean runs but they were not fast. I finished my runs believing that I was going to be in the top 5 but I ended up placing 6th in the first race. However I slid a little better the second day and ended up placing 5th in the second race. Overall I was happy with the results.

I learned a lot about myself during this first half of the season. I learned my weaknesses as a slider and I know what I have to improve on to become more mentally prepared.

Mentally, I have to remember to be me. Worry about myself, slide for myself, and accept winning or losing as MY experiences and accomplishments. I have to learn to keep everything in perspective. I have to realize when I am making excuses, and when I just need to accept that no matter where I placed I learned something. Even when I do really well I always have a feeling I could have done better, and I really need to work on being satisfied with my results.

Sometimes I let pressure get to me and I forget to just enjoy the sport. I love sliding and I love the process of becoming better. This is not a sport where anyone can say that they do it for the money, or for the fame. So failure should not be severely mourned over. You still got to slide and you still got the opportunity to learn from your mistakes. Everyone is broke, and no one is famous. Whatever pressure is on me doesn’t matter because I am doing the sport because I LOVE it.

Moving on…

Turns out that my first half of the season had good enough results to open a few unexpected doors of opportunity. I have been given the opportunity to slide Europa cup for the second half! So starting January 2nd I will be traveling to Austria and Germany for an entire month! During this time I will also be competing in Jr. World Championships! Unfortunately, internet access where we are staying costs money so I will try write updates as often as I can.

Wrapping up 2011…

I am very happy with my progress as a slider this year and I made some close friends during the long periods of travel and competitions. School is also going well, I made the deans list at PSU! Thanks to everyone who has helped me out this season! Especially the Bluemont Winery, the Price family, Russ Collison, Mrs. Denale, and my parents.