Peace Be The Journey

Less than two weeks until D-day! My trip back to Lake Placid is fast approaching. I have kind of the same level of non-reality as last time. Some days it really hits me how awesome an opportunity this is that I'm going to go live in an Olympic training facility for a month with the potential of competing this season, but most days I'm just living life, being me. I have to say, I rather like that aspect of my personality. I'm glad that I'm typically laid back and not a panicker (you probably won't find that word in the Scrabble dictionary). As for all these preparations and packing, this is craziness. Again I ask the question, how does a person pack for a potential 6 month nomadic lifestyle in a cold climate? It's just ridiculous. I bought my first motorcycle helmet this week. That should be interesting to pack. And I have to say I really do enjoy the look on people's faces the first time I tell them I'm trying out for the US bobsled team. It's...

This has been a rollercoaster week for me. Lots of ups and downs. I'm doing good now, but it took me some time to get back on level ground. I'll list a few so you can see what I'm talking about. High: Tuesday I got the email from women's bobsled head coach Todd Hays inviting me back for team trials Oct 10-30. SO AWESOME!!! Super excited. Grabbed my phone and ran downstairs at work to call my family. Again with the jumping around and talking excitedly with people probably thinking the crazy girl is back at it. He also let me know that I won't have to pay to stay in Lake Placid at the OTC this season even though I didn't score the 600 points. He thinks that the next time I take the combine (this time next year) I'll pass with flying colors, so I'm good to go. Even said they need people on the team like me. Yeah! High/Low: I emailed one of the drivers about what life is like after October 30th. (I have to give a big shout out to Megan Hill! She's be...

Recap: 1. Breakfast 2. Packing 3. Push Championships 4. Hitch a ride to Albany 5. Fly home 6. SLEEP!!! So, today was my last day at the OTC. This week went by very quickly, all things considered. It is somewhat strange coming back to real life. I'm sitting on my bed typing this, and it's kind of surreal. Living in the OTC is not like real life. There were no stresses of work or when I'll fit a workout in. Your sport is your life there. It was strange to come back and realize I'm going to have to dress up, carry a purse and wear make-up again tomorrow. I didn't really miss any of those things this last week. Anyhow, it was tough to leave so many new friends all at once, but I'm hoping we'll be reunited soon. Today was the big day. Push Championships. It didn't turn out the way I'd planned, but I've had the whole day to gain the proper perspective. I ended up getting last place out of the rookie and veteran brakewomen. I was definitely dis...

Recap: 1. Wake up early 2. Breakfast 3. Catch the van to the push track 4. Long warm up (really long when your muscles are this sore) 5. Short push track session 6. More breakfast 7. Chill in cafeteria 8. Cold Tub (Again Brrrr!!!) 9. Lunch 10. Chill in the cafeteria 11. Card games with some other rookies 11. Foam Roll and more cold tub (both are considered self inflicted torture) 12. Dinner 13. Another team meeting 14. Chill in teh cafeteria for another few hours 15. Sleep I was beat from the combine, and I slept really hard. It was rough being the first group out at the push track this morning. It was good to get those muscles moving, but it wasn't pleasant. That's an understatement, but we'll let it ride. The warm up this morning was to get us loosened up and get some of that lactic acid build-up out. It worked, but those backwards lunges for 50m almost did me in. My quads are pretty sore, especially that area right above your kneecaps that always gets ...

Recap: 1. Breakfast 2. Group 5 shuttle to the track for the running and jumping portion of the combine 3. Run and jump in the rain 4. Shuttle back to the OTC for the rest of the combine 5. Change into dry clothes and head to the gym for the shot toss 6. Wait around for other groups to finish and throw the shot 7. Grab a snack and hang around the weight room 8. Lifting portion of the combine 9. Get invited to stay for Push Championships 10. Decide to stay till Wednesday and change my plane ticket 11. Cold Tub (Brrrr!) 12. Chill time in my room making all my phone calls 13. Dinner 14. Bible Study 15. Sleep! I just noticed my recaps keep getting longer and longer each day. This was the most eventful day, so I guess that makes sense. Today was D-Day. The combine had arrived. If you haven't heard by now, you have to score 600 points to make the team. I scored 390 last summer and improved to 548 this summer. I wasn't sure how far my sprint times would have progresse...

Recap: 1. Wake up early 2. Breakfast (oatmeal, scrambled eggs, and bacon cooked just the way I like it. Crispy and wonderful!) 3. Short push track session. 4. Shower 5. Lunch 6. Headed into town to the movies. Shanae (sorry if that's spelled wrong) has a car here, so she took Britt, Val, Katie and I to see The Help . Great movie, and highly recommended. 7. Chill and chat it up with the other rookies 8. Switch rooms. Val and I had to move downstairs to a three person room. We've heard rumor that there is another rookie girl coming tonight, so maybe she will fill our third bed. That is yet to be seen. 9. Dinner 10. Watch Cool Runnings with other rookies 11. Team Meeting The push track went really well this morning. We didn't do much to save our legs for tomorrow, but we've all improved leaps and bounds in just one day. It's pretty crazy how fast you can learn something totally new. I'm impressed with all of us and how we've progressed in 24 hour...

Recap: (I'm liking the hitting the high points recap opener. I think I'll stick with that for the rest of the trip.) 1. Sleep in till 8. Nice! 2. Breakfast (I'd forgotten how much I like those big, flat McDonald's style hashbrowns and the greatness of living with a cafeteria where all the food is already prepared for you. Love it!) 3. Headed to the push track for about an hour session. 4. Lunch while watching some college football. I love fall and college football! 5. Chillaxing in the caf and my room. 6. Back to the push track. 7. Dinner 8. Hanging out 9. Sleep! First day on the push track! A couple of us had already done a push track session, but most hadn't done it here. It was great hearing everyone's reactions as we sped down the crest those first few times. We had a few screamers. So funny! I guess I should better explain what the push track is. They take a bobsled and replace the ice runners with metal wheels and roll it onto roller coater sty...

Day 2 at the OTC! Today in a nutshell: 1. Quick bite for breakfast. 2. Bobsled 101 with the men's and women's head coaches 3. A little more breakfast 4. Push cart intro in the gym. 5. Lunch and hanging out in the caf 6. More push track and assigning of nicknames 7. Dinner 8. Head into Lake Placid 9. Hang out in the caf 10. Sleep! There are 22 rookies: 8 girls and 14 guys. I can't name us all yet, but I've got the girls down. Todd is the new women's head coach. He's great and we're having a great time learning. He told us this morning that even if we don't get to stay for push championships, there is a good chance we will get invited back on October 10th for opening day on the ice. They are really short on girls right now, so our odds just went up. There are 5 drivers, and they'd like at least 2 breakmen for each driver. They currently have 13 girls total, so they need bodies at this point. Also found out that as soon as I score 600 I can stay he...

I made it to Albany this afternoon. I picked up my bag and waited around with other rookies for the shuttle. There ended up being 14 of us on the shuttle, but some of those were already team members. I'm still not sure how many actual rookies there are. Guess I'll find out in the morning at our bobsledding 101 class. Anyway, we stood around and talked for an hour and then started loading up. We were handing our bags up to someone in the back of the shuttle that I couldn't see. It was my turn and low and behold Curt Tomasevicz is taking my bag. If you don't know who that is, allow me to enlighten you. Curt played football at the University of Nebraska during the glory days of Cornhusker football. (I grew up a fan since Mom is from Nebraska and everyone there bleeds red.) He is also a member of the Olympic gold medal sled the Night Train. I'm a huge fan and was taken aback. Good thing I didn't have to talk just then. He and Emily Acevedo (another Olympian) were on...