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.

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.