Support Team

WARNING: This is one of my famous marathon posts. Prepare yourself. I included lots of pictures to break up the writing, so just scroll through those if you can't make it.

Let's start this post off with a little bobsled commercial I put together. When I'm having a tough day, I just have to watch this to remember why I'm here. Whatever you do, MAKE IT COUNT.



I've just finished watching the movie Julie & Julia, which I happen to thoroughly enjoy every time I watch it. What's not to love? Three of my favorite topics. Food/Cooking. Dreaming big. Writing/Blogging. I could talk for hours...which is impressive for me.

If you've never seen the movie, allow me to enlighten you. It's the story of Julie, a young woman working at a call center who dreams of more. She wants to be a writer, to do something meaningful with her life. She decides to cook every recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child in one year. Julie also decides to write a blog to motivate herself and document her progress. She eventually gets her big break and pursues her dreams while finding herself and realizing her life is exactly what she was dreaming of.

I have to say, I like her story, but the life of Julia Child stole the show for me. Her husband, Paul, worked for US embassies across the world. They lived in Paris throughout the 1950s, where she found her love of French cooking when attending Le Cordon Bleu. She became friends with fellow foodies and began collaborating on a book about French cooking for American housewives. She was a risk taker and major dreamer. Women were not educated at Le Cordon Bleu when Julia fearlessly tackled every obstacle in her way. She found something she was passionate about and pursued it relentlessly. I definitely connected with that part of her story (and her love for eating and butter). Bon appetit!



Both women needed help and encouragement from their friends and husbands to finish the journey they started. In my opinion, having a support system is vital to success no matter what you're doing. Plenty of people will want to be your best friend once you've succeeded, but it's the people who are with you along your journey that are the most important. They're the ones that know your ups and downs and talk you off the ledge when you're ready to quit. I am so blessed to have so many amazing supporters in my life. I wouldn't be chasing my dreams without their encouragement and affirmation.

One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when Julia Child's book has just been dropped by her publisher. She is sitting on the sofa with Paul, crying over her failure. And like any good supporter, Paul is there to give her a new perspective. He wouldn't let her give up on her dreams, and he could see her success even when she'd lost sight of her goals.

Julia: Eight years of my life just turned out for something for me to do...so I wouldn't have nothing to do. Oh well, boo hoo. Now what?
Paul: We'll work it out. We'll figure it out. [...] You should be on television.
Julia: (laughs) Oh Paul...
Paul: I'm not kidding you; I'm not. Someone is going to publish your book. Someone is going to read your book and realize what you've done. Because YOUR BOOK is amazing. YOUR BOOK is a work of genius. YOUR BOOK is going to change the world.

To see the relationship between Julia and Paul Child truly personified how important it is to have someone else who believes in your dream. Thank you to everyone in my life who believes in me. I couldn't do this without you!

Speaking of supporters, I had many of them attend my skeet shoot fundraiser. If you didn't know, I had a skeet shoot in Dallas on September 18. Huge thanks to Elm Fork Shooting Sports for helping me host the first ever "Shooting For Gold" bobsled fundraiser. It was a blast (pun definitely intended). We had 20 shooters who competed in the tournament. It was my first time at an official shooting range, and I owe any skills I possess to my Neufeld Family members in Fairview, OK. They taught me everything I know. Our foursome came in last, but we had a great time with 3 new shooters and one experienced shooter who was having a tough day. Ben's already training hard for next year's shoot, and I'll be excited to play the Rocky theme song when he destroys the competition next time.



Thank you to everyone who came out to shoot and donated! Your support allows be to travel and compete for Team USA. Especially big thanks to the following:



I also want to give a humongous shout-out to my awesome parents, Steve and Michelle Vogt. They rocked the Maize Fall Festival with a giant Plinko board to raise money for me. They borrowed it from the children's department at their church. My dad was wildly optimistic he and my mom could load it into the back of his truck on their own. I'm glad there were several men there to help them. The board is something like 7' wide by 11' tall. It is ginormous! I can't thank them enough for all their love and support! You are two of the best parents anyone could ask for. Big thanks to everyone who went out and played Plinko or donated directly.


As I stated last post, I competed in the first half of National Team trials about three weeks ago. It was quite an experience. I only had 3 trips off the top of Lake Placid in my career before team trials. I jogged it off the top the first day with two successful runs. I crashed twice in the two weeks of training and my race brakeman decided not to race with me less than a week before the race. Being a new pilot in an Olympic year is not the sunniest of scenarios. I understand that the people going to the Olympics are a priority this year, but it's not fun feeling like you don't exist and are even unwanted. I didn't get to slide several days because all the brakeman were being used by the World Cup pilots. I spent the time standing in curves with coaches learning and trying to improve. Definitely big highs and lows, emotional roller coasters, tears (which are very rare for me when it comes to sports), prayer, pep talk phone calls, great teammates who talked me off the ledge and lots of learning. Throughout the experience, I felt like my time and efforts were being completely wasted and the time and energy I was investing was pointless, but I had to remind myself that with God, nothing is ever wasted.

Living in such a competitive environment can be completely overwhelming and made me feel totally insignificant sometimes, but I can't give up after coming so far. I can't get discouraged if the path is more difficult or different than I imagined, and I know I can't allow setbacks or people's opinions stop me. I'm here in this time and place for a purpose. God never promised the road would be easy. These tough lessons must be learned for growth to occur. I kept reminding myself that this is all part of the journey to reach my goals.

The person with more heart and less talent will win every time because they want it more and they're convinced. 
-Joel Scrivner 

It would be so easy to see everyone that is so much better than me and just give up right now. It seems as soon as we give ourselves permission to dream, comparison is nipping at our heels. We see everyone that's more qualified, so we disqualify ourselves before we even get started. But the reality is, even if someone else's dream looks, sounds, or even feels like yours - it's not the same. You have different life experiences, talents and insights than anyone else. You're unique and special, and there's no one else like you anywhere. You are the only you we have in this world, so your dreams either happen through you or they don't happen at all. I've seen this again and again in my own life. I've never been the smartest, fastest, best at anything, but God always helps me shine. I've continually been in positions my talent level should have never allowed me to be at because I have heart and I'm convinced.

I really want to encourage you if you're struggling through dreams that don't seem possible. Your life matters even more than you know, and you are making a difference even more than you see. You are a warrior. Every day you dare to dream, you are on an adventure that's going to take you to places beyond what you could have ever imagined.

One day, I just had to get out of the training center, so I headed out on a walk. I needed to get out, clear my head and remember why I was there. Nature is always such a good reminder of how amazing God is and being in the mountains always makes me feel closer to God somehow. I had never hiked in Henry's Woods. The trails are right across the street from the training center. I'll definitely go back next fall or spring when the weather is nice. Beautiful fall folliage and amazing vistas made my day.

 
 
 

Cool view of downtown Lake Placid. After reading the map on my way back home, I found I had climbed 425ft in elevation.
Mt. VanHovenberg and the bobsled track

The time outdoors really helped, and I came back focused and ready to face any and all obstacles. If someone had asked me three years ago if I would be driving in Olympic team trials with one of my good friends on brakes, I probably would have laughed. Sineaid Corley ended up as my brakeman on race day, and we came in 6th. Those two race runs were my best out of all the training runs. I definitely saw my growth as a pilot from last season. I tended to drop off on my second run last year, and my second run was actually better on race day.

Sherry with her race runners on and ready to go.
My awesome teammates and fellow NAC compatriots
Post race photo with Sineaid
All in all, it wasn't a horrible experience as my previous few paragraphs might lead you to believe. This is the schpeel I give myself when I need to keep things in perspective: "You have so much more in life than bobsled. This is not your entire world. You are not starving. You do not have some incurable disease. You are happy, healthy and safe. Now buck up, and remember that you love sports. Enjoy this experience. It's once in a lifetime. Don't miss out on anything because you've made yourself miserable with everything you can't control. Do the best with what you've got and what you can control." The schpeel, prayer and some worship music get me out of my funk. We did manage to have a good time in between all the drama and politics. Here's a little picture chronology of the week:

My babies arrived from Europe. I bought brand new race runners this year. So shiny. So expensive. So fast.
Meet Sherry. She was my ride for the week. The Swiss women used her last, and I couldn't bring myself to remove their symbols.
Here's where Sherry spends her nights in the garage.
Track walks were so beautiful.
Sometimes I forget how tall these curves are when we're zipping through them.
 
Katie Uhlander forerunning our practice session
Berit and I got a fiberglass lesson from the masters. That yellow sheet is kevlar. If somebody shoots at Berit's sled, the brakeman's right butt cheek is safe.
Crashed...hand contusion. That's a new one to add to the list.
More bruises...but still smiling
Good times at the push track.
I finally made it to the top of the Lake Placid ski jumps. I know I slide 80mph down ice, but those ski jumpers are crazy.
After my Lake Placid races, I flew home to Dallas. Our plane had a crack in the windshield, so we had to wait for a new one. I got home at 1:30am and the baggage carousel jammed. After another delay, Aunt Kay was patiently waiting to welcome me home. Thank goodness for amazing aunts who love you enough to pick you up at crazy times of the night. Love you Aunt Kay! I slept in my bed for a few hours, didn't see Katy (my roommate), packed up my car and headed to Kansas. I haven't been home since Christmas last year, and it was nice to be back. Dad used his fancy new Traeger grill to smoke a brisket and make beef jerky. Both were amazing!
 
 

After my day at home, I headed off across the plains to spend the night with my great aunt and uncle in Colorado Springs. I love my trips to Utah because I get to spend the evening catching up with Orville and Ida, who I rarely get to see otherwise. The next day's drive took me across Wyoming to Park City, Utah. I stopped at various visitor's centers and truck stops along the way. I was that crazy girl doing yoga in the parking lot as people gave me very strange looks, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. I crossed the Continental Divide for the 5th time in the last year.

Wyoming is desolate, but beautiful. I highly recommend a drive across the US if you've never done it.
 
Part of the way across Wyoming, I had my first snow siting of the season.
 
 
 
Look who I found along the way.
So serious
History lesson of the day. I was driving across the Lincoln Highway which goes from coast to coast.
First snowball of the season


I arrived in Utah and got ready for the second half of team trials. Cherrelle Garrett and I teamed up for this second race. We had less drama this go round, and I have to say I liked it better that way. We showed up on race day and pushed two tenths faster than my personal best. That's a crazy big improvement. We pushed a 5.33 and 5.31 start times and had a personal best down time. I was dancing at the finish line when I heard our times. So embarrassing, but I didn't care. After everything, we did way better than anyone, even we, had expected. Cherrelle and I wanted to push in the 5.40's and blew past that goal. We pushed a time that would have been competitive in last years World Cup race here. We were proud of what we accomplished and rightly so.

Mom and Dad were able to come out for this race. They stayed with me, and we had a great time. They'd never seen me drive a bobsled in person. Hopefully I didn't scare them too much. I think they actually feel better to have me piloting the sled instead of being at the mercy of someone else as their brakeman. I rarely hear specific people cheering at the start line, but it was really special to hear my mom yell out, "You can do it Cole!" I'm so glad they were able to be there and support me!

 
Mom & Dad helped me cut out USA from duct tape sheets and put them on my sled. Lulu is looking snazzy now!
 
So proud of us!
Overall, I find that I am proud of how I competed and what I accomplished. I can now say I've finished a USA team trials. I have competed in an Olympic team selection race. I had personal bests across the board. I made it through the month of October. I finished 6th place in both races out of 7 women's sleds. I piloted a bobsled down two tracks successfully. I wore USA across my back and competed for my country. I became closer to my teammates than ever before. And most of all, I learned from my experiences. What more can you ask for? 

I've come to conclusion this week that all these lessons are something you never stop learning, and as much as I hate to say it, I wouldn't want to. I have become a student of life and competition like never before. I had this grand illusion that once you become a national team pilot, everything would be peachy. No more scrounging around for sleds or brakeman (which will hopefully be true), but there will always be new obstacles in your way, something else to overcome to reach success. You don't appreciate things given to you as much as things you have to work for and earn. If I magically moved up the ladder without having to work and improve to get there, I wouldn't be prepared for the new obstacles I encountered. It's all part of the process. It's all part of shaping me into a person that will be prepared for promotion when it comes. I'm glad I figured that out now so I won't be so disappointed later.

Our first day of practice after the races, I was the first sled off. I was the snow plow for everyone else, clearing the track as I went down. We went 4 seconds slower than race day.

The last week has been spent cheering on the skeleton athletes as they had the second half of their team selection races, recovering and training. Last week I took two new brakeman down the track, and the young men had interesting experiences. One was actually thinking of being a bobsledder for New Zealand, but he soiled his pants and probably isn't coming back. If he can't handle one smooth trip on this easy track, he isn't going to make it in Lake Placid or Whistler. The second was a roommate of one of my teammates. He has wanted to try bobsled, and I took him down for two trips. He was wide eyed and unprepared for the pressures, but he said he'd like to come out some other day this season to brake again. He must have had a good time to volunteer for more. This week I'll be sliding with more random guys before we leave for Calgary on Saturday. Another long road trip pulling sleds on a trailer. Remember last years grand adventure? I'm preparing for more cold weather and long underwear on our trip to Canada. I'll keep you updated on our journey.

Until then, start looking for your support team. Find the people who will support you on your journey and allow them to help you along the way. Trust me, you'll need them if your out of your comfort zone chasing after your goals on some crazy adventure. Without all my supporters, none of this would be possible. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your support makes a difference, no matter how large or small. Thank You!