So I changed my runners for this race today, my gut feeling was that the runners I had been using in training and yesterdays race were too sharp, and I was right, with a less than perfect run I went nearly a second faster in my first heat and, more importantly, I clocked the 4th highest speed 124.7kmph, for me I know I'm sliding well when I'm getting good speeds and this was the first good speed I've got since arriving. So with the confidence of knowing I was on the right runners, I decided that since I was not in the running for the podium and the points on offer were practically none, I decided to put up my rock and see if going significantly higher made a difference to my down time, usually you play around with your runner selection and rock settings in the preseason training, certainly not on race day and hit your first race knowing what your most comfortable on and what you will race with, but that's not an option and I figure best to find out now than spend tomorrows race wondering or even worse moving onto the next track still playing around for the best rock setting. My second run riding very high rock was defiantly a worth while exercise, I found out what was too high, my sled was quivering on the verge of 'out of control' so an exciting and challenging ride was had that was over a second slower than the first run and I went from the 4th highest speed to the 3rd slowest speed. This put me to 8th overall. But most importantly what I achieved to day was knowing where my rock should be, no more wondering or being temped to put it up and waste another valuable training session experimenting to find the optimum. I now know which runners and which rock setting is working best for me, and on my good run my splits ranking went 9th, 8th, 7th, then I mucked up the labyrinth and went 8th, 8th, 8th overall, this was good as I was catching and overtaking someone every split until I made a mistake in the midpoint of the track (which I can fix) but that mistake did not cause me to drop. Up until now I have not been catching or overtaking, so while again a race result of 8th is not want I wanted, I have achieved a huge amount today in respect to my preparation for my Olympic qualification races that will count, so I'm nearly on track. I'm going in to tomorrows race knowing that today I went a second faster than yesterday, and I am now only just over one second off my personal best down time, I am confident I will have the best runners and rock setting for tomorrow, I've found my high speeds again, I feel like I've achieved a lot in the 5 days I've been sliding, and I feel like I'm nearly ready to race. And, this result can also be dropped so it will not count, whew.
Another great thing today is that I had some supporters at the race! My mum emailed a friend in Aussie (Carol) to say I was racing, who emailed a friend in Salt Lake (Valerie) to say I was racing, and she came to the race with her husband (Dave), it's always great to have people here to cheer you on at the start line, and even better is that they shouted me dinner after the race (good steak sure beats tinned tuna!). Nice.
PS that odd twitter that's up on my blog to the right, it's not me, it looks like there is a problem with bloggers twitter widget (if that tech speak bamboozles you you're probably not alone) and someone is trying to fix it, if it doesn't get fixed I'll remove the widget tomorrow.
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
4 days on ice and improving
I've had 4 days on ice so far, still way way off my best down time, but making progress every day, going faster every day, am more comfortable on my sled everyday. Yesterday got my head down low (I know this as my chin guard ticked on the ice in the straights and I felt my eyes just peeking in the top part of my visor), was clean to 6 with no hits or skids, after 6 however I hit hard and stupidly used my toes in 11, 12 and 14 , which would have cut lots of ice and slowed me down, I know how to drive these corners with only my shoulders and knees, and need to put the feet away to go faster. I'm going to change runners as I feel like I had too much control with the ones I was using, too much control means cutting the ice more than I needed to.
There is so much to consider and think about and perform and just bring together and make happen, it really gives a new meaning to multi tasking! 8 minutes on ice so far just need so much more.
Tim says relaxation is worth a second and a half, and in the past I proved this for myself, so I must relax and melt into my sled so that I'm sliding 'with' my sled and not 'on' my sled, have not got there yet this season will focus on it today.
I'm really liking the line I'm getting through 4, in the past I would often catch the entry of 5 with a bump but I am getting through there nice, and 6 is not so hard this year, yesterday I managed to take some speed with me out of 10 drove off and felt a little boost, then mucked it up in 11, all the right feelings are coming back in bursts, haven't got that chilled out detached peacefulness yet either, that's the last thing that usually comes once everything else is in order.
But I'm loving the sensation of speed in 14-15 straight, getting that clean every run. Wore no padding yesterday as well and felt good with it, no fear of big painful hits, just need to take all these good things and make them happen through the whole run all at once and then I'll get back to my pb times (which is way faster than the winning time yesterday).
Came in 9th yesterday. Race number 2 this evening at 6.30, lucky that I have a few races that will not count for Olympic selection so I can drop yesterdays result. Time to polish up my runners, so there are no nicks or scratches and they glean beautifully and help me to get the best out of my descent.
As always I'm racing to win.
There is so much to consider and think about and perform and just bring together and make happen, it really gives a new meaning to multi tasking! 8 minutes on ice so far just need so much more.
Tim says relaxation is worth a second and a half, and in the past I proved this for myself, so I must relax and melt into my sled so that I'm sliding 'with' my sled and not 'on' my sled, have not got there yet this season will focus on it today.
I'm really liking the line I'm getting through 4, in the past I would often catch the entry of 5 with a bump but I am getting through there nice, and 6 is not so hard this year, yesterday I managed to take some speed with me out of 10 drove off and felt a little boost, then mucked it up in 11, all the right feelings are coming back in bursts, haven't got that chilled out detached peacefulness yet either, that's the last thing that usually comes once everything else is in order.
But I'm loving the sensation of speed in 14-15 straight, getting that clean every run. Wore no padding yesterday as well and felt good with it, no fear of big painful hits, just need to take all these good things and make them happen through the whole run all at once and then I'll get back to my pb times (which is way faster than the winning time yesterday).
Came in 9th yesterday. Race number 2 this evening at 6.30, lucky that I have a few races that will not count for Olympic selection so I can drop yesterdays result. Time to polish up my runners, so there are no nicks or scratches and they glean beautifully and help me to get the best out of my descent.
As always I'm racing to win.
Monday, November 30, 2009
I made it just in time.
I'm in Park City Utah!!
So the TV interview worked... I sold my car! But I did not have enough money to make it to my first IC race in Europe so the tickets got cancelled (was very very bummed out). But there was one option left that was much cheaper and still left me with a pathway (a very challenging one) to qualify and compete at the Olympics, that was to go to the Park City AC race that started a week later, do all the AC's in North America and stay on in Lake Placid after Christmas and rejoin the IC series once it arrives in Lake Placid, the challenging part is that half of my qualification races will be Americas Cup races which have very little points allocated (and qualification is all about your world ranking based on points gained).
Really I need to podium at 4 Americas Cup races and get very very good results at higher points IC races. It's doable, its gonna be hard as the first race is tomorrow and I have only had 4 runs in total on my sled on ice this season so far, it couldn't be in any more of an underdog situation, but I've spent nearly 4 years dreaming of the Olympic race in February, and the last 10 living and breathing skeleton, there was no choice but to come and race and hope like hell I find a way to stay on tour...
So that was the last option left for me, but I didnt actually have the funding to do it, but not going was not an option so I am here, and I have money from sponsorship (thank you Black Cat Consulting and Nick) and selling my car and a bunch of other stuff to get my tickets and get through the first 3 and a half weeks. I need to find another sponsor or have my house sell, or have my house fill up with lots families wanting a holiday in Mackenzie district (my house is set up as a holiday rental), or sell all my runners (blades) and other sliding equipment that I don't use - I've got a for sale sign up in the start house, or someone buy my brothers car (on trademe)...
It's a bit of a gamble, heading away with out enough money but I'd rather come away and try and run out of money and have to head home knowing I did all I could, the other option was to sit at home in NZ and wonder what if....
I'll update you all on how the sliding is going tonight after I've come back from my final training session.
So the TV interview worked... I sold my car! But I did not have enough money to make it to my first IC race in Europe so the tickets got cancelled (was very very bummed out). But there was one option left that was much cheaper and still left me with a pathway (a very challenging one) to qualify and compete at the Olympics, that was to go to the Park City AC race that started a week later, do all the AC's in North America and stay on in Lake Placid after Christmas and rejoin the IC series once it arrives in Lake Placid, the challenging part is that half of my qualification races will be Americas Cup races which have very little points allocated (and qualification is all about your world ranking based on points gained).
Really I need to podium at 4 Americas Cup races and get very very good results at higher points IC races. It's doable, its gonna be hard as the first race is tomorrow and I have only had 4 runs in total on my sled on ice this season so far, it couldn't be in any more of an underdog situation, but I've spent nearly 4 years dreaming of the Olympic race in February, and the last 10 living and breathing skeleton, there was no choice but to come and race and hope like hell I find a way to stay on tour...
So that was the last option left for me, but I didnt actually have the funding to do it, but not going was not an option so I am here, and I have money from sponsorship (thank you Black Cat Consulting and Nick) and selling my car and a bunch of other stuff to get my tickets and get through the first 3 and a half weeks. I need to find another sponsor or have my house sell, or have my house fill up with lots families wanting a holiday in Mackenzie district (my house is set up as a holiday rental), or sell all my runners (blades) and other sliding equipment that I don't use - I've got a for sale sign up in the start house, or someone buy my brothers car (on trademe)...
It's a bit of a gamble, heading away with out enough money but I'd rather come away and try and run out of money and have to head home knowing I did all I could, the other option was to sit at home in NZ and wonder what if....
I'll update you all on how the sliding is going tonight after I've come back from my final training session.
Friday, November 06, 2009
Interview
Thanks to Burmuda slider Patrick Singleton, my CGW interview is now on Youtube, check it out, forward it on and help me find another sponsor please! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg5hNYoCBJY
mini sold
ok, so I've sold my mini, never expected it but my Mum and Bron (step dad) want it!! So theres $6000 towards the season and overnight I got a quote in for all my flights... $6100 which is very expensive, need to pay for them by wednesday, money for the car doesnt come in till Saturday and I still need to find a way to pay for car rental, accomadation, food and training runs.... any good ideas or keen sponsors out there?
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Road trip complete and The Crowd Goes Wild.
Well this week has been busy, 7 days ago I arrived in Christchurch and did a loop around the south island collecting my mini from storage and headed back up to Auckland in my 1980 1275gt Mini with my brother Matt as co driver. We did Burkes Pass to Auckland in 33 hours, and we caught up with all 4 parents, 6 siblings and 2 nieces along the way. I was wrecked by the time we rolled in to Auckland. But the house is now listed for sale with 3 companies and both the Mini and Matt's car are listed on Trademe in a bid to get me some money to get to my first race.
Today I trained at the Paradise Ice rink in Avondale and Hayley Holt came along to try pushing a sled (I'm sure we could turn her into a skeleton racer, Hayley there is a school at the end of the month, I can lend you a sled!) and to find out why I'm not overseas yet, the interview should to air tonight on The Crowd Goes Wild, Prime TV at 7pm.
For any one wondering why I'm not overseas yet it's because I have not managed to secure the $$ to go. What a waste of 4 years hard work to get to this point and not have the money to make it to my Olympic qualification races, it is so frustrating. But with any luck someone will be watching tonight and think my little house near Lake Tekapo looks like the perfect holiday house, and some super keen Mini enthusiast sees my wicked little car and decides a classic mini that handles the road like a go kart and can buzz up the country with no worries would be a great summer toy! AND AND someone else watching decides that sponsoring me to have a crack at New Zealands first ever Winter Olympic Gold medal sounds like an adventure they would like to be part of. I can provide GST receipts for companies wanting to advertise on my sled/car/helmet/website or I can process credit card donations through Pay Pal , what else... Public speaking, let me come and inspire your class/staff/clients with the tale of how a West Auckland girl became an Olympian in wild wild winter sport.
I realise that the kind of program that included coaching, physio, camera analysis, a manager, like the one I was very privileged to experience for a few years (thanks to a generous sponsor who unfortunately was unable to continue the financial commitment) is out of the question for this Olympic season. So I'm going back to the cool runnings/ kiwi style of participation, rejoining my fellow 'banana nation athletes' who participate on the smell of an oily rag, the lucky thing is that even if I'm staying at the cheapest little pension, or back packers, or even better - score a free couch to sleep on, even if I'm back to living on two minute noodles, cuppa soups and subway, I've still got 9 years sliding experience, I've still got one Olympic games under my belt and I'm a great driver and this off season I've put in more time in the gym and pushing on ice than ever before. So it doesn't matter if I've got no support crew, I think I have a shot at achieving the so called impossible even on the tiniest budget.
This is what I need to be able to do it with a rented car, a paid room and affordable meal options that don't include two minute noodles: $5000 airfares, $5000 car rental, $1000 training fees, $800 insurance, $5000 Accommodation/Food. Any extra will be spent on petrol, extra food, extra training runs and Coaching. (A top coach for the season with all travel and related expenses will set you back between $70k and $100k ... it's the biggest cost in this sport, and while I have a coach lined up keen to go, it would take a miracle to find the support to have him this season). And if your wondering how I can include petrol as an extra, there is always a small nation ('banana nation' as we are called) athlete with no car who will chip in petrol to get a lift to the track - thats how I started out.
If you think you might like to sponsor any part of that, purchase advertising space on my sled, contract me for a speaking engagement, buy my house, buy my car or buy Matts car, then email me lou@nzskeletonracer.com, phone me 0211580728 or donate directly at paypal.
A huge thank you goes out to Black Cat Consulting, who have come on board with support, if you need a great recruitment firm to find you your next key member of staff then contact Black Cat. And another huge thank you to Paradice ice rink for all the ice time they have sponsored me with and Adbloc for sponsoring the upgrade of my website.
And one last note for anyone reading this who is wondering how good I am at this sport and how much longer I can keep racing... I got the highest result out of all the women on the Kiwi Olympic team in Torino with a 12th place finish, I am the 2008 Americas Cup Champion (first southern hemisphere athlete to take out a championship title), my best World Cup result is 11th, my best IC result is 8th and I've won 3 Americas Cup gold medals. And in this Olympic season I will compete in my 100th international event representing NZ, but I'm still 7 years younger than the reigning Olympic Gold medalist.
Today I trained at the Paradise Ice rink in Avondale and Hayley Holt came along to try pushing a sled (I'm sure we could turn her into a skeleton racer, Hayley there is a school at the end of the month, I can lend you a sled!) and to find out why I'm not overseas yet, the interview should to air tonight on The Crowd Goes Wild, Prime TV at 7pm.
For any one wondering why I'm not overseas yet it's because I have not managed to secure the $$ to go. What a waste of 4 years hard work to get to this point and not have the money to make it to my Olympic qualification races, it is so frustrating. But with any luck someone will be watching tonight and think my little house near Lake Tekapo looks like the perfect holiday house, and some super keen Mini enthusiast sees my wicked little car and decides a classic mini that handles the road like a go kart and can buzz up the country with no worries would be a great summer toy! AND AND someone else watching decides that sponsoring me to have a crack at New Zealands first ever Winter Olympic Gold medal sounds like an adventure they would like to be part of. I can provide GST receipts for companies wanting to advertise on my sled/car/helmet/website or I can process credit card donations through Pay Pal , what else... Public speaking, let me come and inspire your class/staff/clients with the tale of how a West Auckland girl became an Olympian in wild wild winter sport.
I realise that the kind of program that included coaching, physio, camera analysis, a manager, like the one I was very privileged to experience for a few years (thanks to a generous sponsor who unfortunately was unable to continue the financial commitment) is out of the question for this Olympic season. So I'm going back to the cool runnings/ kiwi style of participation, rejoining my fellow 'banana nation athletes' who participate on the smell of an oily rag, the lucky thing is that even if I'm staying at the cheapest little pension, or back packers, or even better - score a free couch to sleep on, even if I'm back to living on two minute noodles, cuppa soups and subway, I've still got 9 years sliding experience, I've still got one Olympic games under my belt and I'm a great driver and this off season I've put in more time in the gym and pushing on ice than ever before. So it doesn't matter if I've got no support crew, I think I have a shot at achieving the so called impossible even on the tiniest budget.
This is what I need to be able to do it with a rented car, a paid room and affordable meal options that don't include two minute noodles: $5000 airfares, $5000 car rental, $1000 training fees, $800 insurance, $5000 Accommodation/Food. Any extra will be spent on petrol, extra food, extra training runs and Coaching. (A top coach for the season with all travel and related expenses will set you back between $70k and $100k ... it's the biggest cost in this sport, and while I have a coach lined up keen to go, it would take a miracle to find the support to have him this season). And if your wondering how I can include petrol as an extra, there is always a small nation ('banana nation' as we are called) athlete with no car who will chip in petrol to get a lift to the track - thats how I started out.
If you think you might like to sponsor any part of that, purchase advertising space on my sled, contract me for a speaking engagement, buy my house, buy my car or buy Matts car, then email me lou@nzskeletonracer.com, phone me 0211580728 or donate directly at paypal.
A huge thank you goes out to Black Cat Consulting, who have come on board with support, if you need a great recruitment firm to find you your next key member of staff then contact Black Cat. And another huge thank you to Paradice ice rink for all the ice time they have sponsored me with and Adbloc for sponsoring the upgrade of my website.
And one last note for anyone reading this who is wondering how good I am at this sport and how much longer I can keep racing... I got the highest result out of all the women on the Kiwi Olympic team in Torino with a 12th place finish, I am the 2008 Americas Cup Champion (first southern hemisphere athlete to take out a championship title), my best World Cup result is 11th, my best IC result is 8th and I've won 3 Americas Cup gold medals. And in this Olympic season I will compete in my 100th international event representing NZ, but I'm still 7 years younger than the reigning Olympic Gold medalist.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Burkes Pass
Had a great day yesterday travelling from Christchurch to Peel Forest to Burkes Pass, got to catchup with family and see my new neice who is 5 weeks old. It is snowing right now here in Burkes Pass! About to head to the mechanics to see how my mini is, is she upto a big road trip?
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
On a mission.
So I'm still in NZ and my first race is less than a month away, I need to find another sponsor or win lotto or sell my house or sell my car, so I'm trying all of them. Last night I flew to with Jet star to chch (total headache, don't fly jet star 8.30pm flight got us to chch at 2am, heading on a mercy mission to get my mini out of storage in Burkes Pass (near Tekapo, Mt Cook area) and drive it to Auckland to sell it. Should get enough money from selling it to get my tickets and get to the first lot of races. Driving an old 1275gt up the country shoud be eventful, the wee car has had me broken down on the side of most state highways over the years (due to my neglect rather than serious mechanical issues - she's still worth buying). I'll keep you all posted on how the journey goes.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Have had a great month of training with the last two weeks being massive as I have set new personal records in the gym and on the ice. I have knocked off 0.50s from my timed 3om ice push, and am feeling strong.
I have been very busy pursuing different grants, scholarships, sponsors, business arangements, loans, house sales and deals that will hopefully get me the support and money I need very soon to head away and begin the qualification races for the Olympics.
My very out of date www.nzskeletonracer.com website is currently being updated, it's going to look awesome.
Next week is a testing week it will be interesting to see how I've improved over the last 5 weeks.
If anyone has any ideas or suggestions for me regarding sponsorship or funding for this season please email me lou@nzskeletonracer.com
Cheers
Lou
I have been very busy pursuing different grants, scholarships, sponsors, business arangements, loans, house sales and deals that will hopefully get me the support and money I need very soon to head away and begin the qualification races for the Olympics.
My very out of date www.nzskeletonracer.com website is currently being updated, it's going to look awesome.
Next week is a testing week it will be interesting to see how I've improved over the last 5 weeks.
If anyone has any ideas or suggestions for me regarding sponsorship or funding for this season please email me lou@nzskeletonracer.com
Cheers
Lou
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