Fly By
It's been quite a January! Let me just do a recap of this first month of 2011. I was in Kansas for New Years, came back to Texas, was in an car accident (which wasn't my fault and everyone's alright), went to Utah, had my first ride in a bobsled, bought my first car, and took my first trip to Las Vegas. Like I said, quite a month! What a way to start out the 2011.
I guess I should start this out with one of my New Year's resolutions. I am going to get back to regularly posting this blog once a week. I really do enjoy writing, and I like to hear what you all have to say about my life. I've never thought of myself as a particularly interesting person, but I've gotten that comment quite a few times over the last few months. Another one of my resolutions that goes hand in hand is to be purposeful with my time. Living intentionally. I found that I waste a lot of time doing absolutely nothing of importance. I don't consider this blog under that category, so here I am.
I also want to assure everyone that I'm alright from the car accident. I was driving home from work the Tuesday I got back to Texas, and a man ran a red light and hit me. My car was totaled, and I was a little shook up emotionally. It all happened so fast. Everyone walked away without a scratch, which had to be God (especially if you saw the side of my car). I had to bunk with Aunt Kay until I got back from Utah and got a rental car. Buying my first car was quite the experience. As Dad told me, "Everybody has to buy their first car sometime." Aunt Kay, Katy and I headed out on Saturday afternoon, and I signed the papers that evening. I was in the right place, at the right time, with the right people, and I now own an amazing car. It was definitely a God thing. An older lady brought in her lease to upgrade, and I snatched it up. I am now the proud owner of a 2008 Toyota Camry with 9,200 miles on it. Amazing! She took really good care of it and barely drove it. I got a practically new car for a great deal!
Now, on to my first bobsled ride. Just like my last trip to Utah, I must have told this story about 15 times already. Katy must be sick of hearing it over and over again. So here it is...
On Thursday, January 6, I flew out to Salt Lake City to meet up with Duffy and Kellen. Duffy had moved to Park City and was living with a friend's mom for the past few months. Kellen and I arrived at about the same time, so once Duffy picked us up, we headed to Park City. We stayed with Duffy in one of the most beautiful homes I've ever been in. It was at the top of a mountain, and it could have been one of those homes HGTV gives away every year. 20' ceilings, giant cedar columns, and some of the most beautiful views of the valley. You could even see the bobsled track from her porch. Mom, if you could have seen this mud room, you might have fainted. Big. That's the my best descriptor of this house.
Back to the story. Duffy has been sliding since she moved to Park City with whomever needed a breakman for the day. Kellen and I were set to slide with one such person. He is a firefighter in Park City, and he is a bobsled driver in his spare time. He's been driving for 3 or 4 years now, and his breakman was out of town for the weekend. It worked out perfect for everyone. We weren't sure if he'd be available on Thursday night, but we headed to the Olympic Park just in case. Kellen and I paid our fee, signed our waivers, and headed up to the start. We saw several people we'd met at the combine this summer that were there for evening training runs.
We found out our driver wouldn't make it that evening, but we got to go for a track walk. Kellen and I strapped on our track spikes and walked down the entire length of the track. We went down all 1,335 meters and 15 curves with a coach and three skeleton athletes. It was great to hear Matt explaining to them how to approach the different curves and when to steer. I'm not sure he completed a single sentence with actual words the entire 20 minutes we were walking. "You come into this curve and you start to feel the pressure...so you (some skeleton steering motion) hhhuuu...and then you (another motion)...hhhuuu." He made the same noise for everything, and Kellen and I had no idea what exactly he was talking about. I sure hope the others did!
We headed back to the house for the evening and played Xbox Kinect. Oh my goodness! It was awesome! To have the power to wave your arm and control the screen without touching anything was ridiculous! I really want to play again soon. We played all the sports games, then moved on to dancing. That's right. All three, tall, white girl rowers were throwing down! The truth is that none of us can really dance, but it was great watching us try. Highly entertaining, that's for sure. By the end, we started doing all the dances at the hard level without any practice just to make each other laugh. Good times. I don't know how many hours we played, but it was fun!
Friday morning we slept in and had some breakfast. We decided to go for a hike up a trail right outside the front door. I'm not joking. Literally at the end of the driveway was a hiking trail. None of us had ever gone hiking in snow, and it was definitely a new experience. For some unknown reason, Duffy and I did most of the sinking and falling. Kellen must be more nimble than us or something. I think I got as much of a workout from laughing as I did hiking. At one point on the way down, Duffy sank one leg up to her thigh and was having trouble getting out. Kellen and I were both doubled over laughing. So funny! Our ascent took about 40 minutes. I've once again affirmed that I have NO DESIRE WHATSOEVER to climb Mt. Everest or any other tall, snowy mountain! It is not for me. We couldn't make it to the top of this mountain without snowshoes, so we took a side trail. It led us to this ski lift bench along the trail. It was the perfect ending spot for us with spectacular views. After a quick rest, we headed back down to the house. The descent didn't take us as long since it was basically a controlled, headlong jog downward (that is when we were not falling or sinking). In the end, a good time was had by all.
After lunch, resting, and some good book reading time, we got ready for our first ride down the track. As a side note: I find it very interesting that I have befriended yet more people that can sit in a room with me and not talk for hours. Katy and I can spend an entire day together reading and say only a handful of words. I do love a good book! Like my friend Marlene would sing to you, "Having fun isn't hard, when you've got a library card!" Anyhow, Kellen and I got ready for our first ride down the track.
We arrived at the Olympic Park to find our driver working on his sled. Apparently the spring that connects the runners to the D-rings (these are the ropes connected to the runners that the drivers use to steer) was bent. He had been working on fixing the problem for hours and was just finishing up as we arrived. After he finished re-assembling, school was in session. Kellen and I learned about the sled and how to load it into the truck. That sucker is heavy, and moving it is definitely a two or more person job. I don't know if I'll be able to paint this visual picture for you, but I'll try.
Getting the sled from the ground into the back of a truck (I describe this as being like a canvas covered Army truck):
1. Set the sled in wooden scabbards (These are wood blocks the length of the sled with notches cut out for the runners. Like the protectors you put on ice skates when you're not on the ice.) When the sled is on its side you put these on, then roll it into the sitting position.
2. Push/Pull it up to the back of the truck.
3. Lower the loading platform on the back of the truck to the ground.
4. Push the front nose of the sled onto the platform.
5. Lift it up so the sled is at a 45 degree angle with the back end on the ground.
6. Push really hard to get it up into the truck.
That's it. Nothing high tech there. If there's one thing I've discovered about the sport of bobsledding, it's all about the manual labor. You have to be in shape just to move your equipment. And like rowing, all the equipment is big. There's no showing up with a ball and a pair of shoes in your bag.
So, once we got to the top and unloaded the sled, Kellen and I got in and got our quick lesson. And when I say quick lesson, I mean very quick.
Here's where you sit. Here's where I sit. Make sure our heads down hit. Here's where you hold on. Your only job is to get in the sled at the start and pull the brake at the end. I'll yell at you when to pull it. Pull up hard, look around to judge where we are, and then judge how hard to brake us so we stop at the loading area. There's a big bank of snow about 30 feet past the loading area. If we hit it, I'm going to duck under the cowling, and you're going to get it all in the face. Okay, let's go.
That was it. These are the pictures from our brief introduction. Kellen is in the silver helmet, I'm in the black helmet, and Matt Davi is the guy in the driver's seat.
Typically for your first ride, you just sit in the sled and someone pushes you off. Matt said, "You'll be fine. I'm just going to run about 10 yards past the start clock and jump in. Just make sure you get in the sled." I'm not positive what Kellen was thinking, but my mind was saying, "WHAT?!? Did I just hear him correctly? Run on ice? Haven't ever done that before. Jump into a moving sled on ice? Definitely haven't ever done that before. Just make sure you get in the sled! Ahhhhh!"
We decided to take turns, so Kellen went first. She came back up with a big smile and a thumbs up. Now it was my turn. Matt reviewed about getting into the sled and when to brake, and then we took off. I'm not gonna lie. That first ride was terrifying. You have no idea what to expect. I was rattling around like I was in a pinball machine. I lost track of the number of turns really quickly, so I had no idea where we were. It's amazing how fast 55 odd seconds can go by when you're thoroughly distracted by ridiculous speeds and g-forces pushing you down into the sled. It's also strange that you don't see anything but the floor. The finish line is right around the end of curve 15. So when you lose track and have no idea where you are, it comes up real fast. Matt was yelling at me to brake, and by the time I started pulling we were probably 30 feet into the finish area. I was pulling for all I was worth the entire time. There was no letting up to judge the distance. I was just trying to get us stopped before the snow bank, which was looming ahead of us on our fast approach. I stopped about 4 inches from it, but I considered it an accomplishment. Crazy fast speed. That's all I have to say.
On our ride back up the mountain, Matt kept pushing on the front of the sled. I couldn't figure out what he was doing. Apparently the spring had re-bent during our run. This means that the runners will wobble without him ever feeling it in the D-rings. So, instead of going straight through the curves we were kind of making a wave pattern. This made for a rough ride. Kellen went down a second time, and she said it was much rougher than the first time down. That made me feel a little better. It wasn't just me being completely terrified, and a different sled would be smoother. I just want to say that she almost hit the snow bank too. That wasn't just me either.
Once they got back up to the top with the sled, Matt and I were ready for the fourth and final run. As I was putting my helmet on, he started explaining what to do when a sled flips. "The sled is acting kind of squirrley. I'm not saying we're going to flip, but here's what you do if it happens. Grab onto something by your foot opposite the side on the ice. This will let you lift the shoulder by the ground up so you won't get burned. And at all costs, stay in the sled! The roll bars with keep you safe." I think my eyes were as big as saucers at this point. That was just a little frightening. After saying another prayer, I hopped into the sled and we shot down the mountain. We didn't crash or hit the snowbank, so I'd say our first trips down were a success.
After unloading the sled back into the garage, we headed back to the house. The hot tub was calling our name, so we hopped in. My elbows hurt really bad, so they were happy for the relief. I didn't know elbows could bruise, but I'm here to tell you that they do! This picture doesn't do it justice. They looked awful. When I went into Zoom on Monday, I had to request that we didn't do any planks or any other elbow related exercises. Everyone that saw them cringed and made this awful face, so I know they looked as bad as they felt. Next time my arms will go inside my knees in the sled! Either that, or I'm wearing elbow pads.
Saturday, we checked in with Matt in the morning to see if we could go down again in a different sled, but it didn't work out. Instead, we decided to go be tourists in Park City. Duffy hadn't really done that yet, and we had coupons. We had good food, saw lots of interesting shops, and ate some really good ice cream at a place called "Yellow Snow." Good times. We capped off the evening with sushi and then a hockey game. This was a local club team comprised of guys from 18 to 40. It was quite a group, and the cheerleaders/ice skaters made it even better. This wasn't high class, but we had a good time. We learned about a guy with good DNA, saw several men with good beards, and investigated every aisle at the local Walmart. Quite the day!
Sunday Kellen and I headed back in the afternoon. The morning was spent eating bacon, reading, and packing. My flight was delayed for 6 hours, so I spent lots of time reading in the airport. There was some snow in Dallas, and when the plane finally pulled away from the gate to come to Salt Lake, it broke. They had to pull back up to the gate and get a new one. Unfortunately, no one from American works at the Salk Lake City airport, so we didn't know any of this till we got on the plane and asked the stewardess. It was a long day, but I made it home safe and sound with my very bruised elbows.
Overall, I rate the trip a smashing success. It took about a week and half to get rid of my elbow bruises, but that hasn't scared me off. I don't have another bobsled trip until May for a combine. I'm not sure when or where quite yet, but I'll be sure to update everyone when I know.
Here's a quick recap of my first trip to Vegas. Last spring I was in a national student design competition hosted by an organization called ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers). We had to select the best HVAC system for a 600,000 SF, 16 story hospital in Orlando, FL. My team ended up winning the competition. (I'm including the link to our presentation posted on the ASHRAE website. Click on the "Kansas State University" link under "Design Competition 2010". Watch out though. It's so sick you'll puke!) Thank the Lord all that work paid off! I can't recall a single day after the first two weeks that we all didn't want to quit. With myself and five other guys on the team, it took us an entire semester of 40 hours a week per person on average to pull this one off. Needless to say, I had no life between this ridiculous class, Senior Project, my other classes, and traveling for rowing. There were stretches were I wouldn't see Katy for days. Words can't even begin to express how much joy filled my life when this infernal class ended!
I found out in August that we had won the competition and that our local chapter wanted to sponsor us all to attend the winter conference. So, three of the guys and myself headed to Las Vegas this last weekend to accept our award. It was great to see Matt, Joel, and Zac again. I spent a good portion of the last three years of my life in classes with these guys, and it was fun to catch up. Being out of school has not changed the fact that we are all huge enginerds. We all flew in around the same time and hopped on a shuttle to head up the strip. We were catching up, reminiscing about school and professors, and taking in the sights. We'd be talking right along and then suddenly stop. "Did you see how many cooling towers that was? I can't believe how many air handlers are on that roof! Who runs so much exterior ductwork in the desert? That seems like a bad plan." I could go on and on, but it was pretty funny. There was a random lady in the back of the bus with us that was trying to hold in her laughter. She finally asked what we all did and why we were in Vegas. We had to explain our nerdiness yet again to the unassuming public.
We had a fun weekend. We got lost in the endless maze of casinos pretty regularly. They definitely don't want you to make it out the street easily, that's for sure. Yet again, the nerdiness emerged. We were often walking with our noses in the air staring at the diffusers, lighting, ceiling tiles, and fire protection systems. Can you say NERDS?! Definitely not the point of a casino, but we were having a grand time. The fountains at the Belagio were sweet, and the architecture of La Paris was pretty spectacular. Everything was just so big and flashy. Sensory overload everywhere you go! We went to see Blue Man Group on Saturday evening. It was really cool and completely ridiculous in every way. It was everything messy and loud you've ever wanted to do but can't. The drumming was legit. I was highly impressed. I don't know what they were smoking to come up with the rest of the show, but they can sure play those drums.
The whole point of the trip was to accept our award, which we did. Saturday afternoon we walked on stage on got our sweet trophies. All three AOS owners were in attendance to see me on stage. Shane is the only mechanical engineer, but Greg and Trent came along for the weekend. On Sunday, we attended the student only awards presentation, where we received a plaque and our award money. Cha-ching! We had some time to talk with other engineering students and two of our K-State professors. I didn't realize how much I'd missed hearing Fred's stories and frank remarks. Good times. After playing the penny slots, and each losing a dollar, we headed back to the airport to come home. It was great to catch up with friends and be recognized for all our hard work. I don't ever need to go back to Vegas, but I can at least say I've been there now.
The last thing I have to report is that training continues to be ridiculous! Let me recap the last three weeks for you. Three weeks ago I had to run with three pound weights in my hands at a 35 degree incline. As if that wasn't enough torture for one day, I then proceeded to have bungees strapped to my legs for extra resistance. They strap one on your thigh and one on your calf and stand behind you so it's harder to pull your legs forward. I got to hold on, thank goodness, because running on a 35 degree incline with your legs being pulled backwards is terrifying and very difficult! So, just imagine this girl with her treadmill at almost half way to vertical being pulled backwards with bungees, and that's what I did. Sick and wrong!
The next week, I ran 8 second sprints at a 45 degree incline. This workout was just downright maniacal. I don't know what my heart rate was spiking to, but it was really, really high. My teeth were throbbing at one point. After I finished and had rested for about 5 minutes, my heart rate was still over double my resting. They definitely make me work hard! I looked something like this girl after I finished. Big sweat spots on the floor, excited, but too tired to get overly excited.
This week was high knees at a 45 degree incline for 45 seconds. I thought my kneecaps were going to shoot off. It was awful. I was having a hard time walking, as my legs felt like wet spaghetti, and that was just the first sprint. I did a few 8 and 6 second runs, only to be told I had to do another 45 second high knees run. What?!? My feet were barely making off the treadmill by the end. It was awful. That was followed by 8 second runs with weights in my hands and then a burnout at the end. I think I might have made it all of 5 seconds. I got the, "You're better than this" speech twice from Vince throughout these three weeks. "Look at what you're trying to accomplish. This isn't going to be easy. You're trying to make it to the Olympics. I know you're better than this." I hate that speech, but it works every time. I deserved it and needed it, but it's not a fun one to hear.
Overall, I'm doing great and glad to be home for awhile. No more trips planned in the near future. Katy and I were just discussing which sport I'll write about next week. I'm really not sure since I haven't written a winter sports post in so long, but I'm looking through my pictures for a gem to start us off again. This was another long post, and I applaud you're endurance for making it to the bottom. Nice work.
I guess I should start this out with one of my New Year's resolutions. I am going to get back to regularly posting this blog once a week. I really do enjoy writing, and I like to hear what you all have to say about my life. I've never thought of myself as a particularly interesting person, but I've gotten that comment quite a few times over the last few months. Another one of my resolutions that goes hand in hand is to be purposeful with my time. Living intentionally. I found that I waste a lot of time doing absolutely nothing of importance. I don't consider this blog under that category, so here I am.
Now, on to my first bobsled ride. Just like my last trip to Utah, I must have told this story about 15 times already. Katy must be sick of hearing it over and over again. So here it is...
On Thursday, January 6, I flew out to Salt Lake City to meet up with Duffy and Kellen. Duffy had moved to Park City and was living with a friend's mom for the past few months. Kellen and I arrived at about the same time, so once Duffy picked us up, we headed to Park City. We stayed with Duffy in one of the most beautiful homes I've ever been in. It was at the top of a mountain, and it could have been one of those homes HGTV gives away every year. 20' ceilings, giant cedar columns, and some of the most beautiful views of the valley. You could even see the bobsled track from her porch. Mom, if you could have seen this mud room, you might have fainted. Big. That's the my best descriptor of this house.
Back to the story. Duffy has been sliding since she moved to Park City with whomever needed a breakman for the day. Kellen and I were set to slide with one such person. He is a firefighter in Park City, and he is a bobsled driver in his spare time. He's been driving for 3 or 4 years now, and his breakman was out of town for the weekend. It worked out perfect for everyone. We weren't sure if he'd be available on Thursday night, but we headed to the Olympic Park just in case. Kellen and I paid our fee, signed our waivers, and headed up to the start. We saw several people we'd met at the combine this summer that were there for evening training runs.
We headed back to the house for the evening and played Xbox Kinect. Oh my goodness! It was awesome! To have the power to wave your arm and control the screen without touching anything was ridiculous! I really want to play again soon. We played all the sports games, then moved on to dancing. That's right. All three, tall, white girl rowers were throwing down! The truth is that none of us can really dance, but it was great watching us try. Highly entertaining, that's for sure. By the end, we started doing all the dances at the hard level without any practice just to make each other laugh. Good times. I don't know how many hours we played, but it was fun!
Friday morning we slept in and had some breakfast. We decided to go for a hike up a trail right outside the front door. I'm not joking. Literally at the end of the driveway was a hiking trail. None of us had ever gone hiking in snow, and it was definitely a new experience. For some unknown reason, Duffy and I did most of the sinking and falling. Kellen must be more nimble than us or something. I think I got as much of a workout from laughing as I did hiking. At one point on the way down, Duffy sank one leg up to her thigh and was having trouble getting out. Kellen and I were both doubled over laughing. So funny! Our ascent took about 40 minutes. I've once again affirmed that I have NO DESIRE WHATSOEVER to climb Mt. Everest or any other tall, snowy mountain! It is not for me. We couldn't make it to the top of this mountain without snowshoes, so we took a side trail. It led us to this ski lift bench along the trail. It was the perfect ending spot for us with spectacular views. After a quick rest, we headed back down to the house. The descent didn't take us as long since it was basically a controlled, headlong jog downward (that is when we were not falling or sinking). In the end, a good time was had by all.
After lunch, resting, and some good book reading time, we got ready for our first ride down the track. As a side note: I find it very interesting that I have befriended yet more people that can sit in a room with me and not talk for hours. Katy and I can spend an entire day together reading and say only a handful of words. I do love a good book! Like my friend Marlene would sing to you, "Having fun isn't hard, when you've got a library card!" Anyhow, Kellen and I got ready for our first ride down the track.
We arrived at the Olympic Park to find our driver working on his sled. Apparently the spring that connects the runners to the D-rings (these are the ropes connected to the runners that the drivers use to steer) was bent. He had been working on fixing the problem for hours and was just finishing up as we arrived. After he finished re-assembling, school was in session. Kellen and I learned about the sled and how to load it into the truck. That sucker is heavy, and moving it is definitely a two or more person job. I don't know if I'll be able to paint this visual picture for you, but I'll try.
Getting the sled from the ground into the back of a truck (I describe this as being like a canvas covered Army truck):
1. Set the sled in wooden scabbards (These are wood blocks the length of the sled with notches cut out for the runners. Like the protectors you put on ice skates when you're not on the ice.) When the sled is on its side you put these on, then roll it into the sitting position.
2. Push/Pull it up to the back of the truck.
3. Lower the loading platform on the back of the truck to the ground.
4. Push the front nose of the sled onto the platform.
5. Lift it up so the sled is at a 45 degree angle with the back end on the ground.
6. Push really hard to get it up into the truck.
That's it. Nothing high tech there. If there's one thing I've discovered about the sport of bobsledding, it's all about the manual labor. You have to be in shape just to move your equipment. And like rowing, all the equipment is big. There's no showing up with a ball and a pair of shoes in your bag.
So, once we got to the top and unloaded the sled, Kellen and I got in and got our quick lesson. And when I say quick lesson, I mean very quick.
Here's where you sit. Here's where I sit. Make sure our heads down hit. Here's where you hold on. Your only job is to get in the sled at the start and pull the brake at the end. I'll yell at you when to pull it. Pull up hard, look around to judge where we are, and then judge how hard to brake us so we stop at the loading area. There's a big bank of snow about 30 feet past the loading area. If we hit it, I'm going to duck under the cowling, and you're going to get it all in the face. Okay, let's go.
That was it. These are the pictures from our brief introduction. Kellen is in the silver helmet, I'm in the black helmet, and Matt Davi is the guy in the driver's seat.
Typically for your first ride, you just sit in the sled and someone pushes you off. Matt said, "You'll be fine. I'm just going to run about 10 yards past the start clock and jump in. Just make sure you get in the sled." I'm not positive what Kellen was thinking, but my mind was saying, "WHAT?!? Did I just hear him correctly? Run on ice? Haven't ever done that before. Jump into a moving sled on ice? Definitely haven't ever done that before. Just make sure you get in the sled! Ahhhhh!"
We decided to take turns, so Kellen went first. She came back up with a big smile and a thumbs up. Now it was my turn. Matt reviewed about getting into the sled and when to brake, and then we took off. I'm not gonna lie. That first ride was terrifying. You have no idea what to expect. I was rattling around like I was in a pinball machine. I lost track of the number of turns really quickly, so I had no idea where we were. It's amazing how fast 55 odd seconds can go by when you're thoroughly distracted by ridiculous speeds and g-forces pushing you down into the sled. It's also strange that you don't see anything but the floor. The finish line is right around the end of curve 15. So when you lose track and have no idea where you are, it comes up real fast. Matt was yelling at me to brake, and by the time I started pulling we were probably 30 feet into the finish area. I was pulling for all I was worth the entire time. There was no letting up to judge the distance. I was just trying to get us stopped before the snow bank, which was looming ahead of us on our fast approach. I stopped about 4 inches from it, but I considered it an accomplishment. Crazy fast speed. That's all I have to say.
On our ride back up the mountain, Matt kept pushing on the front of the sled. I couldn't figure out what he was doing. Apparently the spring had re-bent during our run. This means that the runners will wobble without him ever feeling it in the D-rings. So, instead of going straight through the curves we were kind of making a wave pattern. This made for a rough ride. Kellen went down a second time, and she said it was much rougher than the first time down. That made me feel a little better. It wasn't just me being completely terrified, and a different sled would be smoother. I just want to say that she almost hit the snow bank too. That wasn't just me either.
Once they got back up to the top with the sled, Matt and I were ready for the fourth and final run. As I was putting my helmet on, he started explaining what to do when a sled flips. "The sled is acting kind of squirrley. I'm not saying we're going to flip, but here's what you do if it happens. Grab onto something by your foot opposite the side on the ice. This will let you lift the shoulder by the ground up so you won't get burned. And at all costs, stay in the sled! The roll bars with keep you safe." I think my eyes were as big as saucers at this point. That was just a little frightening. After saying another prayer, I hopped into the sled and we shot down the mountain. We didn't crash or hit the snowbank, so I'd say our first trips down were a success.
After unloading the sled back into the garage, we headed back to the house. The hot tub was calling our name, so we hopped in. My elbows hurt really bad, so they were happy for the relief. I didn't know elbows could bruise, but I'm here to tell you that they do! This picture doesn't do it justice. They looked awful. When I went into Zoom on Monday, I had to request that we didn't do any planks or any other elbow related exercises. Everyone that saw them cringed and made this awful face, so I know they looked as bad as they felt. Next time my arms will go inside my knees in the sled! Either that, or I'm wearing elbow pads.
Overall, I rate the trip a smashing success. It took about a week and half to get rid of my elbow bruises, but that hasn't scared me off. I don't have another bobsled trip until May for a combine. I'm not sure when or where quite yet, but I'll be sure to update everyone when I know.
The last thing I have to report is that training continues to be ridiculous! Let me recap the last three weeks for you. Three weeks ago I had to run with three pound weights in my hands at a 35 degree incline. As if that wasn't enough torture for one day, I then proceeded to have bungees strapped to my legs for extra resistance. They strap one on your thigh and one on your calf and stand behind you so it's harder to pull your legs forward. I got to hold on, thank goodness, because running on a 35 degree incline with your legs being pulled backwards is terrifying and very difficult! So, just imagine this girl with her treadmill at almost half way to vertical being pulled backwards with bungees, and that's what I did. Sick and wrong!
This week was high knees at a 45 degree incline for 45 seconds. I thought my kneecaps were going to shoot off. It was awful. I was having a hard time walking, as my legs felt like wet spaghetti, and that was just the first sprint. I did a few 8 and 6 second runs, only to be told I had to do another 45 second high knees run. What?!? My feet were barely making off the treadmill by the end. It was awful. That was followed by 8 second runs with weights in my hands and then a burnout at the end. I think I might have made it all of 5 seconds. I got the, "You're better than this" speech twice from Vince throughout these three weeks. "Look at what you're trying to accomplish. This isn't going to be easy. You're trying to make it to the Olympics. I know you're better than this." I hate that speech, but it works every time. I deserved it and needed it, but it's not a fun one to hear.
Overall, I'm doing great and glad to be home for awhile. No more trips planned in the near future. Katy and I were just discussing which sport I'll write about next week. I'm really not sure since I haven't written a winter sports post in so long, but I'm looking through my pictures for a gem to start us off again. This was another long post, and I applaud you're endurance for making it to the bottom. Nice work.