Saturday morning came wayyyy to early after a late training session Friday night, but that's OK. I don't know of anything that wakes you up faster than roaring down a bobsled track at 80 MPH.
It was an odd morning when we first arrived to the track. Fog covered the entire valley that the course is nestled in so that when you stood at the start and looked down the start ramp you could barely see turn run. But the fog soon melted away and the sun came out to provide one of those beautiful mornings that really get you energized for slidding.
Well, Don and I pulled the two-man out of storage and wiped off the dust (it's been two weeks since we used it last). But as we were putting the runners on the sled, another team who was going to use the club's four-man pulled their two-man off the truck and set it next to the four-man. After we got the runners on we went into the start house where we found Matt and Brad who was going to be pushing with the other team.
We got to talking and asked the other driver if he was going to do two-man on the first run. He said yes so we all had the same thought: let's do four-man first and then do two-man on the second run. The other driver agreed so we were all very excited.
It was also an exciting morning because we had a lot of friends and family up there. Matt's girlfriend Robyn came up, my mom was there (she's the one who took these cool photos), and Don's family also arrived which caused a considerable stir since his dad is Donny Osmond. Boy did he get a kick out of being up there and watching us train!
So our turn soon arrived and we were all pumped up. I have to say, the chemistry with this team is incredible. Other than the fact that we give each other a hard time ALL the time, we also push each other to be better athletes. It is not often that as a driver you find your pushers teaching you things, but this season I have learned a ton from these guys.
Anyway, we got the sled to the starting line and took our positions. Another really cool thing is the way that all the skeleton athletes have supported us and encouraged us this season. When we launched the sled off the starting block and started sprinting down the ice you could hear them all cheering us on. It was awesome.
Well, the run itself felt great. It was smooth and clean and we definitely felt Turns 4 and 6. Next time I'm going to work on 11 and 12 to get more speed, but when we crossed that finish line we knew we had a good time. And we did, one that everyone both cheered and groaned about. It was a 52.03! A mere three-hundredths off of a 51! I was both elated and disappointed, but only in that 'Gosh I want a 51 so bad' kind of way.
We got the sled back to the top and all our supporters were so excited for us. It was really a great morning!
On our second run Don and I took the two-man down with a 5.6 second push. Definitely a good time as we keep improving. I wish I could say that my two-man run was as clean as the four-man one, but it was still decent. We even had a huge group of school kids lining the start ramp to cheer us on. And Don's family went down to Turn 12 to watch us come rushing through. After that I couldn't tell what his mom was thinking about this crazy sport her son has gotten into!
Sadly, this is the last week of on-ice training for the season, so be sure to check back as we will try to update the blog after each session! And don't worry, we'll be sure to write about all the great things happening over the summer for us!
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