Obscure Exercises

So after 8 years in the sport and having worked with numerous trainers (a.k.a. Drill Sergeants in disguise), I thought it would be a bit entertaining to list some of the more....creative exercises that some of my trainers, coaches, and fellow athletes have made me do.

1. Run up the K-120 Nordic Jumping Hill - Yes, you're vision is quite blurry once you reach the top!



2. Push a car across the parking lot - Hey, with gas prices the way they are nowadays, maybe it isn't such a bad idea?



3. Football Fumble - Basically the trainer drops the football, you let it bounce once, and then chase after it. Perfect for entertaining everyone else but the victim.



4. Tennis Court Net Jump - Gives us some fresh air (and we get to watch the girls playing tennis).



5. Reverse Hamstring Curls - I don't even know how to explain this one! I'll try to get a picture of it up here soon. But basically you take the calve-raise machine and load it up with weight. Then you get in front of the machine and hook your feet into the cushions and lean forward until your legs give out. Your partner pushes you back up and you start again. Hurts? Oh ya. Effective? Incredibly.

6. Running Down the Bobsled Track - I think it was meant to be some sort of twisted speed drill (and knee killer). That's 8/10ths of a mile while dropping 400 feet!



7. Stair Jumping (with 45-pound weights) - Oh, it is easy. Just hold a 45-pound weight straight-armed in front of you, then frog jump up six flights of stairs without letting the weight drop. Three times.



Don't worry, we'll keep adding some more crazy exercises throughout the summer! And some better pics! But stay tuned because next time we'll be adding some of our most embarrassing bobsled moments!

Frosty the Snowmen

So it was one of those nights of training. Not bad, not superb, just kind of in between. You can tell it is getting to the end of the season because all the athletes are getting a bit more sore and equipment is breaking just a bit easier.

But last night we took three runs (Don and I had two and Matt and I had one). The track was rather frosty so it wasn't as fast as we would like it to be. What happened is that Park City faced some warmer weather during the day yesterday, so the outside air temperature was higher. When this occurs, the ice on the track starts to melt just a touch. Almost "sweat" if you will. But then as the day went on and the temperature started the drop, this "sweat" on the ice began to freeze and this creates a layer of frost on the surface. Frost, for us, is a bad thing as it acts like a miniature layer of sand paper. As athletes we find its easier to drive since the frost gives us more grip than smooth ice, but it also slows us down.

So Don and I had a good push on our first run, a 5.68. Both of us want a 5.5 so badly this season! Our down time was a 52.40, so not too bad! Still, we are pushing for that goal of a 51 second run before the season is over!!! Matt and I had a bit slower push than usual, a 5.98. both of us were shaking our heads over that one. Not sure what happened there. But we had a clean run and posted a time of 52.57. So while our push was slower, our time was considerably faster when you do the math (52.40-5.68=46.72 and 52.57-5.98=46.59 SO 46.72-46.59= 0.13 BUT the pushes were 5.98-5.68=0.3 difference SO Don and I should have had a time that was 0.6 seconds faster than Matt and I).

Wow, doing that math definitely pulled out the arithmetic skills!!!

Anyways, as the season does wind down we have big plans for pushing ourselves physically over the summer, working with TOSH's acceleration program, and finding sponsors! So if any readers have suggestions for companies who may be interested in helping a team race for the Olympics, please let us know!

Be sure to check back this weekend because this Friday we are pulling out the big guns. That's right, its four-man time!

Crash Test Dummies

So last Friday night's (Feb. 8) training session was definitely an interesting one!

One of the directors for our local bobsled and skeleton club called in a favor and asked Matt and I to test drive a bobsled to figure out what is wrong with the steering system. Apparently the driver of the sled has voiced serious concerns about the sled's ability to respond to his driving. I can understand since a broken sled would make any driver nervous considering it would be out of control at 80 MPH.

So, we agreed. I think in our heads we were thinking "Hey, its a great way to provide some service to our fellow athletes and its a free trip down the track."

Well, even a free trip down the track can cost too much sometimes!

Matt, Steve, Tom, and I all made a few modifications to the sled's steering system before the run. Thinking that we had solved the problem, I got into the driver's seat and Matt gave us a small jog off and then tried to jump in. I say tried because while he made it into the sled, due to the sled's custom rollbars (the sled is built for a paraplegic so it has a few modifications) Matt was unable to tuck down like he normally does. In his words, "That was the first time that I've ever seen the whole track!"

So, as we started to pick up speed in the first few turns my brain automatically registered an immediate problem: the sled was indeed broken. The steering system wasn't responding so I had to literally crank the steering ropes in the direction that I wanted the sled to turn. I felt like I had about 15% control over the sled whereas normally its a comforting 100%. Needless to say we bounced off the walls and waved up and down in the turns.

When we crossed the finish line Matt and I pretty much had the exact same thought in our heads: NEVER AGAIN! Well, at least until the steering system gets fixed. That had to have been one of the scariest rides I've ever taken in a bobsled in 8 years in the sport! So needless to say the sled's owners took it home to work on over the next few days! Whew!

After that we took another three runs in our own sled and they were, to our relief, much better (not to mention faster). Don and I went first, Matt and I went second, and then we took a newbie down for his first run, Hans. The ice was a little bit slower so our times weren't record breaking or anything, but it was still a good night! The most disappointing news of the night was that our race the following day (Sat the 9th) had been cancelled due to a shortage of participants. Grrr! We were looking forward to winning three races in a row, but that's ok. We'll just keep improving and getting faster and looking forward to the next race!

So even though you may have to go through some bumpy experiences in order to help out those in need, sometimes it really is the best thing to do!

Dream big!

Two in a Row- 2nd Win for Team Holm

That's right, two in a row! Last Saturday (after surviving Friday's freezing temperatures) Matt and I participated in the 2008 Utah Pioneer's Cup bobsled race.

And we took first place for the second week in a row! We were pretty excited considering Matt has been extremely sick all week and we were just grateful that he was able to compete, although I could tell that it took a lot out of him. After fighting a fever all week and losing 14 pounds, it tells a lot about the guy's heart if he's willing to get in a sled at 80 MPH after all that.

But it paid off. I have to laugh as we again stuck it right at the low 52-second mark for both runs (52.21 exactly on both) but I know we will break into the 51s before the season is over! This gave us a pretty substantial cushion ahead of the next team, the Jamaicans, who we have a joking bet about who has to buy who dinner if they win!

Its been an exciting couple of weeks, and we look with some sadness as the season is swiftly coming to a close (end of February), unless we can get some training time in Canada which is our goal. We'll keep our fingers crossed!

We just wanted to thank everyone for all their support so far, it has definitely made a difference. Be sure to subscribe to this blog so you can get our updates in your email because we are trying to update it as often as possible!

Best wishes!

The Night Hell Must Have Frozen Over

It was cold. I mean, we're talking COLD. Friday (Feb 1st)night's practice was almost miserable. I had to loan my gloves to Don who was pushing that night and everytime I touched metal it was so cold it burned my hand. We're talking instant minor frostbite here. And we made the crazy decision to train in our spandex racing suits that night! Why oh why didn't we just wear normal clothes training clothes???

A highlight of the night was that we had a photographer from Provo come up to take some candid shots of us training, Mark Weinberg. You can check out some of his shots at http://mlwphotos.com/proofs/teamholm/ .

So, we've established the fact that it was cold. Like, in the teens cold. So on our first run as soon as I loaded into the sled and felt Don load into his seat, my helmet began to fog over. And I mean, really cloud over. Most of the time I can just tilt my head back a little bit to get some air on the helmet shield to clear it up, but this time I had about 40% visibility for most of the track. Imagine doing that at 80MPH!

But it only got worse from there. There was so much snow up at the track that it had covered the tarps that are over Turns 14 and 15. Once we came out of Turn 13 it was like looking down into an underground tunnel: pitch black. So that mixed with a fogged helmet made for a pretty interesting run! It was a 53 second and given the conditions I was ok with that.

So the second run was only marginally better, a high 52 and I just had to laugh. It truly was a great night of training in the worst conditions imaginable. It wasn't that we were really able to work on our technique so much as now we know that we can slide in the worst conditions possible. Its like they say, sometimes you just need to face the worst situations in life just so you can know that you can handle it next time it comes around. Experiences like that should give us all confidence that we really are stronger than we thought we were.

But, still, I think it was cold enough that Hell froze over that night!

Gold Medals for breakfast

You know, since it has been a full week since the race pictured above, we figured it was time to get it up on the blog!

On Saturday, January 26, 2008 we participated in the Utah Winter Games bobsled race. It was a beautiful day for a competition and Matt and I were so excited. We'd like to thank everyone who came up to cheer us on and who pushed us to give it our all.

As you can see from the pictures, our best was good enough to place us squarely in first place! Both runs were in the low 52-second range and we were so close to getting a 51 that Matt and I set that as our goal on the second run. 52.12! So close! But both runs felt great and we both cheered so loud as we crossed the finish line. Its been a season full of hard work, cold nights, hours in the gym, and money shelled out of the wallet so the win definitely tasted sweet!

The Utah Winter Games was the first in a serious of three races over three consecutive races that our governing body has planned, so we will definitely be working on the sled and our push starts and I'll be working overtime on my driving technique! I have to say thanks to all the pushers who have been helping me improve my driving, thanks to them I have dropped over a full second off my average times from seasons past. You guys are the best.

So stay tuned for updates on the races coming up! Best wishes!

Summer Recruiting

This summer, as I mentioned before in the previous post, has been full of mostly working out and school for me personally! But for the other members of Team Holm Racing, its been work, vacations, parties, and more vacations! Am I the only one getting ready for the upcoming season??

Sometimes as a team captain and a driver you get a little worried over the summer about which athletes are coming back, which ones are working out and preparing, and which ones will actually be there for training and race day. And as much as I joke, I seriously can't express how excited I am for the 2007-2008 year!

Over the summer I have met several new athletes who are going to bring an incredible amount of talent to the team. But I also know that the experienced athletes from seasons past have been working their butts off too! Guys like Lane, Don, Adam, Brandon, Cameron, Nick, and so forth. They push me pretty hard to be better and stronger! You should see how strong some of these guys are, I have a lot of catching up to do! I'm just glad I get to jump into the sled first, that's all I can say.

We will be posting bios for each athlete on our main team website, http://www.teamholmbobsled.com/ under the 'About Us' section. Please be sure to check out our athletes and get to know them a bit! Also, if you would like to email any of them to ask them questions about the sport, please feel free to use our main email on the 'Contact Us' page!