The Happenings
It's been exactly one week since the epic crash of Brittany Reinbolt and my last post. Much has happened.
Thursday: Highlight of the day was Mr. Matt Senske coming by to show us the race runner he'd just finished sanding. Super shiny. Britt was so impressed.
Matt hangs out with us in Room 141 quite a bit. He has no roommates, and his driver is just now finding him some teammates. He joined our posse early on, and we were glad to accept him as a fellow rookie into our clan. After handing off his race runner, he and Mr. Adam Blanford hung out for a few hours. This picture of Matt with Sineaid's Jane Fonda roller makes me laugh every time.
Friday: USA Team Trials
I was sleddogging all night at the finish dock for the USA Team Trials. Driver Bree Schaaf and brakeman Emily Azevedo won on the women's side. Schaaf and Azevedo clocked a total time of 1 minute, 57.87 seconds over two runs to lead the women’s field by over two-tenths of a second. The 2010 Olympic teammates trained together in Colorado Springs, Colorado, during the offseason. They were excited to be back in competition mode. They're both amazing bobsledders and teammates, and I'm really happy for them.
Schaaf and Butner pilot sleds to lead | News | USA Bobsled & Skeleton Federation
I also had to act as a USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) Chaperone. I randomly got recruited to get the girls being drug-tested after the race to the testing site. We had to follow them around and make sure they didn't do anything illegal before getting tested. I'm glad they were all good sports about it, but it was awkward. I hope I never get recruited for that again. But in retrospect, I'd rather be a chaperone than the athlete being tested. I can vividly remember those few times in college I was drug tested. Super awkward! All my rowing girls will completely understand and unanimously agree!
Saturday: We slept, worked out, ate Mexican and went to the Skeleton Team Trials #1. Mr. Matt Senske, Ms. Brittany Reinbolt, and myself are having Mexican food withdraws. I hadn't realized how addicted I'd become to Tex-Mex since I moved to Dallas. I eat tacos at least twice a week at home. Either at a great Tex-Mex place or at home. Homemade guacamole...drooling. So good!!! We've had some tacos in the cafeteria, and they did have 7-layer bean dip one day, but it was not satisfying the craving we were all having for some good Mexican food. Matt had been talking about enchiladas for days, so off we went to find a decent Mexican restaurant in upstate New York. This was not an easy task.
Ms. Sineaid Corley was kind enough to drive us on this quest, since she's the only one with a car. We ended up driving to the nearby town of Saranac Lake to find a little Mexican joint called Casa Del Sol. Not a single Hispanic person in the building. It was run by some hippie guy wearing a tie-dyed shirt who worked as the bartender. Our waitress was a riot. Matt really wanted some queso to dip his chips in before the food came out. Typical Tex-Mex appetizer. Here's how it went down:
Matt: Could I get some white queso for the chips?
Waitress: You want some white cheese?
Matt: Yeah, to dip my chips in.
Waitress: You want it now?
Matt: Yeah, now it good.
Here's what came out. A plate of shredded cheese.
She came out, sat this in the middle of the table and walked away before any of us had the time to process what had just happened. All three of us whipped our heads up to see Matt's seriously disappointed face before we all burst out laughing. After we could talk again, Matt flagged our waitress down and asked her if she could at least melt the cheese. She didn't see this as a possibility until he talked her into melting the cheese over the chips. Not exactly queso, but we enjoyed them just the same. The food was alright, and after all that talk about enchiladas, Matt ended up getting this monstrous piece of Mexican lasagna. I'd grant the night a success, but I'm not sure we'll frequent this establishment.
After our New York Mexican dinner, we headed to the track to watch the Skeleton Team Trials #1. It was crazy to stand that close to the track we've been rocketing down. I stood that close last winter in Park City, but it's a totally different experience to watch now that I've gone down this track a few times. We all came to the conclusion that we are completely ridiculous people for doing this sport!
We walked down the whole track to check out the racing from all the different curves. It's still hard to believe we rocket down the track in a sled everyday.
Sunday: I watched Covenant Church online. Huge shout out to Pastor Stephen and the media crew who make watching CovLive possible! After lunch, Sineaid, Britt, Matt and I visited the Olympic Center. Here's a view of the valley from the front doors. You can see the bobsled track in the distance.
Check out some of the stuff we liked in the Olympic Museum.
After we took a gander around the museum, which we got in free with our official OTC badges, we headed up to see what we'd come for. The Olympic Center is the home of the Miracle on Ice. THE MIRACLE ON ICE took place here. In the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, the USA hockey team won gold, defeating the Russians, and I got to walk into the rink where one of the greatest moments in sport took place. I'm a huge fan, if you can't tell. If you don't know about it, check out my post Miracle and watch the movie trailer. We came back and watched the movie. One of our coaches even sat in the lounge and watched the ending with us. Watching this movie in an Olympic training center after visiting the actual place was amazing! Coach Dion was ready to take us all to the gym and workout. We were ready to run down the hallway Rocky style, fist pumping all the way around the building.
After our tour of one of the meccas of sport, we headed back to the track for night two of the Skeleton Team trials. Great day!!!
Monday: Sliding with Megan at Start #3. That has become my home away from home lately. Megan was driving really well. It was a great night of sliding. All three runs were very smooth.
Tuesday: I had my first night of co-ed sliding. Collin Coughlin needed a brakeman, so I volunteered. He's been with us at Start #3 for the past few weeks. Both he and Megan are first year drivers, but he drove like a pro. Another night of three smooth runs. I'd break again for him any day.
Wednesday: I didn't slide today. Just sled dogging at Start #3 for Megan and Collin. I'm glad it was my night off though. Sineaid took all three runs with Megan, and that last run was a doosy. Sineaid and Megan got rocked by Curve 19. Sineaid's first words to me were, "I think my spleen exploded!"
At precisely 11:32, Sineaid and Britt decided that Mr. Adam Blanford needed a birthday cake at midnight for his 28th birthday. They ran out the door, sped into town, took way too long debating on the right cake at Price Chopper, bought a cookie cake, sped back to the OTC, burst into the room at exactly 11:58, ripped open the package of candles, and started lighting candles as we walked next door.
Thursday: (Disclaimer: The following events happened after midnight, so it's technically on Thursday.)
We were still lighting the 24 candles as we pounded on Adam's door at midnight singing Happy Birthday. I'm really glad we didn't set off the smoke alarm right above his door. He came over and shared some cookie cake with us and ended up staying until 2 am playing Words With Friends with my two roomies. What a night! It was definitely memorable.
So those are the happenings. Crazy, awesome living here at the OTC. I can't believe I've already been here two and half weeks. Now that it's finally sinking in, I'm about to leave. I head out to Salt Lake City on Saturday to go on the America's Cup tour. I get the chance to wear the red, white and blue to represent Team USA! So excited I can't even tell you. The line by Mike Eruzione keeps running through my head. (Watch the trailer! It's so worth it. Goosebumps every time!)
Thursday: Highlight of the day was Mr. Matt Senske coming by to show us the race runner he'd just finished sanding. Super shiny. Britt was so impressed.
Matt hangs out with us in Room 141 quite a bit. He has no roommates, and his driver is just now finding him some teammates. He joined our posse early on, and we were glad to accept him as a fellow rookie into our clan. After handing off his race runner, he and Mr. Adam Blanford hung out for a few hours. This picture of Matt with Sineaid's Jane Fonda roller makes me laugh every time.
Friday: USA Team Trials
I was sleddogging all night at the finish dock for the USA Team Trials. Driver Bree Schaaf and brakeman Emily Azevedo won on the women's side. Schaaf and Azevedo clocked a total time of 1 minute, 57.87 seconds over two runs to lead the women’s field by over two-tenths of a second. The 2010 Olympic teammates trained together in Colorado Springs, Colorado, during the offseason. They were excited to be back in competition mode. They're both amazing bobsledders and teammates, and I'm really happy for them.
Schaaf and Butner pilot sleds to lead | News | USA Bobsled & Skeleton Federation
Ms. Sineaid Corley was kind enough to drive us on this quest, since she's the only one with a car. We ended up driving to the nearby town of Saranac Lake to find a little Mexican joint called Casa Del Sol. Not a single Hispanic person in the building. It was run by some hippie guy wearing a tie-dyed shirt who worked as the bartender. Our waitress was a riot. Matt really wanted some queso to dip his chips in before the food came out. Typical Tex-Mex appetizer. Here's how it went down:
Matt: Could I get some white queso for the chips?
Waitress: You want some white cheese?
Matt: Yeah, to dip my chips in.
Waitress: You want it now?
Matt: Yeah, now it good.
Here's what came out. A plate of shredded cheese.
She came out, sat this in the middle of the table and walked away before any of us had the time to process what had just happened. All three of us whipped our heads up to see Matt's seriously disappointed face before we all burst out laughing. After we could talk again, Matt flagged our waitress down and asked her if she could at least melt the cheese. She didn't see this as a possibility until he talked her into melting the cheese over the chips. Not exactly queso, but we enjoyed them just the same. The food was alright, and after all that talk about enchiladas, Matt ended up getting this monstrous piece of Mexican lasagna. I'd grant the night a success, but I'm not sure we'll frequent this establishment.
After our New York Mexican dinner, we headed to the track to watch the Skeleton Team Trials #1. It was crazy to stand that close to the track we've been rocketing down. I stood that close last winter in Park City, but it's a totally different experience to watch now that I've gone down this track a few times. We all came to the conclusion that we are completely ridiculous people for doing this sport!We walked down the whole track to check out the racing from all the different curves. It's still hard to believe we rocket down the track in a sled everyday.
Sunday: I watched Covenant Church online. Huge shout out to Pastor Stephen and the media crew who make watching CovLive possible! After lunch, Sineaid, Britt, Matt and I visited the Olympic Center. Here's a view of the valley from the front doors. You can see the bobsled track in the distance.
Check out some of the stuff we liked in the Olympic Museum.
 |
| These are original bobsledding masks and gloves. Glad we upgraded! |
 |
| Old school bobsleds. Again, glad we've upgraded! |
 |
| Britt and I with the Lake Placid mascot |
After our tour of one of the meccas of sport, we headed back to the track for night two of the Skeleton Team trials. Great day!!!
Monday: Sliding with Megan at Start #3. That has become my home away from home lately. Megan was driving really well. It was a great night of sliding. All three runs were very smooth.Tuesday: I had my first night of co-ed sliding. Collin Coughlin needed a brakeman, so I volunteered. He's been with us at Start #3 for the past few weeks. Both he and Megan are first year drivers, but he drove like a pro. Another night of three smooth runs. I'd break again for him any day.
Wednesday: I didn't slide today. Just sled dogging at Start #3 for Megan and Collin. I'm glad it was my night off though. Sineaid took all three runs with Megan, and that last run was a doosy. Sineaid and Megan got rocked by Curve 19. Sineaid's first words to me were, "I think my spleen exploded!"
At precisely 11:32, Sineaid and Britt decided that Mr. Adam Blanford needed a birthday cake at midnight for his 28th birthday. They ran out the door, sped into town, took way too long debating on the right cake at Price Chopper, bought a cookie cake, sped back to the OTC, burst into the room at exactly 11:58, ripped open the package of candles, and started lighting candles as we walked next door.We were still lighting the 24 candles as we pounded on Adam's door at midnight singing Happy Birthday. I'm really glad we didn't set off the smoke alarm right above his door. He came over and shared some cookie cake with us and ended up staying until 2 am playing Words With Friends with my two roomies. What a night! It was definitely memorable.
So those are the happenings. Crazy, awesome living here at the OTC. I can't believe I've already been here two and half weeks. Now that it's finally sinking in, I'm about to leave. I head out to Salt Lake City on Saturday to go on the America's Cup tour. I get the chance to wear the red, white and blue to represent Team USA! So excited I can't even tell you. The line by Mike Eruzione keeps running through my head. (Watch the trailer! It's so worth it. Goosebumps every time!)
"Mike Eruzione. Boston, Massachutsetts."
"Who do you play for?"
"I play for the United States of America."