Time has flown by this off season, I have been very busy since returning to NZ.
I arrived back in NZ and before I had even slept in a bed I was at the Lawyers office buying a house!! really, who would have thought I could have found a way to buy a house, I still find it hard to believe my self. I managed to borrow my parents equity and secure a loan, and borrow extra to make renovations, probably very risky in this economical climate, but risky is not always bad, you just have to manage the risk, all is going to plan so far. The place I purchased has an unfinished relocatable house on the back section. I'm in the process of subdividing and renovating and hope to have one house up for sale next month.. does anyone want to buy a 3 bedroom holiday house 10 minutes from Lake Tekapo, 5 lakes, lots of mountains, Mt Cook, 3 ski fields (one only 5 min away) great cafes and lots of restaurants, on the school bus route (they even pick up at the gate), this is a wonderful place, and it has a rayburn range to keep the house toastie warm.
Anyway once sold I'll be left with a cottage to call home, and a small bit of land and the sense of a bit of security, after traveling the world and living the unglamorous suitcase lifestyle of a kiwi athlete for nearly 9years, and after working part time jobs and begging sponsorship off sympathetic supporters for too long, I have found a way to feel a little more secure in the world with my own patch of grass (with lots of weeds).
After the last Olympics when I sat down and analysed my 6 years in the sport, it was an easy decision to continue - I haven't yet achieved what I know I am capable of, so I looked at what I needed to do prior to the next Olympics to allow me to focus on performing to my absolute best and have a real crack at winning and not just surviving the experience. One of the points I highlighted as essential was removing the stress and doubt that I found building up towards and then following Olympic participation, that doubt can be summed up by saying 'well was that it? what the hell do I do now?
I decided that I needed to have an occupation or qualification lined up ready to go so that when the time comes for me to retire from the sport (who knows when) I am not left with a CV full of low paying part time jobs and no qualifications. This has been ticked off with my Helicopter licence, I have not fully completed my commercial but with one month of focused training my commercial licence will be complete and ready for me to start chasing a career in aviation. Knowing I have this qualification sitting there ready to go gives me peace of mind, it lets me focus on my sliding with out stressing over the future and what it holds.
The same goes with my unfinished but full of potential house, while it has been hard work getting the renovations done this off season, just having the knowledge that I actually have a wee old home waiting for me back in NZ is a blessing- it removes that whole stress of 'where am I going to stay this off season' and lessens the nagging 'I'm nearly 29 I have no income and nothing to show for the last 12 years of hard work'. I think these are two majors stresses that many Olympic athletes face, especially kiwis who spend far more time overseas, away from home and 'off the radar' than our northern hemisphere counterparts.
I am sure we have many kiwis now only days out from becoming Olympians in China wondering where their august credit card repayment is going to come from and which relative is going to let them stay for free when they get home, I just hope they can all stay focused on the job of doing their absolute best and that the kiwi media give them all the support that they deserve.
One of the features of living near Lake Tekapo that sealed the deal on moving here was the Alpine Springs Winter Park, a new hot pools and ice rink facility in Lake Tekapo, and I cant forget the cafe, they make the best coffee in Tekapo, it is a fantastic facility with a big open fire overlooking the lake and the mountains and just up the road from my house. I have been push training 3-4 mornings a week since getting home and my one hand push is looking great, the one hand push is faster than the two, but my injuries of the past prevented me from using the technique for a few years, now I have it working sweetly. I hope to have taken a significant amount of time off my push by using style, the times will tell with my first World Cup race in November.
My strength and conditioning has been going well, petrol prices made the commute to the gym in Timaru too expensive so I set up a great weights room at my place, I have a lifting platform and bench press, pulleys, med ball and plyo platform and a nice big garden for my hurdles.
I am still in the process of searching and securing all the funds and support I need to make this race season happen, it is endless but I am working on it and I am as determined as ever to be on ice early training with my coach ready for a new season back on the World Cup.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Saturday, April 05, 2008
I'm Americas Cup Champion!
Americas Cup Champion, what a great way to end the season.
I'm the first ever Southern Hemisphere athlete to win an overall title in Skeleton.
This week has been great preparation for next years World Championships, there are 3 rather difficult corners / transitions in this track for me, they are the exit of 3, the 12-13 transition and the 14 to 17 straightaway, in all 4 of my race runs I got those sections of the track clean with no hits or skids, so my aim of entering the World Champs with detailed notes of how to do those sections is achieved. In fact I had great lines through both races with the exception of the top of the track, the groove was a lottery both race days for me as they did not have enough athletes testing the groove for them to fix it before the race. Both days I was one of the first up(2nd on day one and 1st on day two) and I hit right out of the groove before corner one, this wont be a problem in the world champs though as they will have the required 3 athletes per groove to test it before the first competitor starts.
Race one run one 15th (lost lots of time and speed with hit and skid out of the groove)
Race one run two 5th (Wicked run, really felt great, loved every moment of it)
Race two run one 13th (lost lots of time and speed with hit and skid out of the groove again)
Race two run two 9th (Good clean run, great lines, no hits or skids but did not feel it or gel with it like I did on the previous day).
AC race 1: did not race
AC race 2: 1st
AC race 3: 6th
AC race 4: 1st
AC race 5: 12th or 13th (still not clear if Noelle was racing or in guest class)
AC race 6: 11th or 12th (same as above)
I have really felt the length of the season over these last 2 weeks, I have raced in more races than any other athlete, been away from home for longer than any other athlete, and probably had more runs than most too! I am ready for a few days off. My aim was to get as many runs in this year as physically possible, and I sure did! I took 3 days off in October after pulling a muscle, and one day off earlier this month, and other than that I think I have trained every session offered to me. 13 competitions, 1 training school, 9 training weeks and 2 selection races over 6 months. I had only one week away from a track over Christmas, I went to Liverpool and spent it with my Grandmother.
I started the season with a personal best push time, and just ended the season breaking it and setting a new personal best time 5.84 seconds, and set a new down time record two weeks ago too.
6 months ago at the start of the season my shoulders were still too painful to run during my warm up and I founds the repetitiveness of sanding my runners too painful, and hauling my bags around airports left me searching for pain killers, but now I can run, sprint train, haul my sled around, sand and polish my runners all pain free, I have even started assisted chin ups and push ups (go shoulders go!).
All I have left to do is pack up my stuff and clean the house Peter and I rented. I fly out of Montreal on Monday afternoon and arrive in Christchurch Wednesday afternoon, somewhere along the way I completely loose Tuesday and get to visit Vancouver and Sydney, I have 3 hours of driving once back to Christchurch too, its going to be a long trip, but I really cant wait to be home :)
I'm the first ever Southern Hemisphere athlete to win an overall title in Skeleton.
This week has been great preparation for next years World Championships, there are 3 rather difficult corners / transitions in this track for me, they are the exit of 3, the 12-13 transition and the 14 to 17 straightaway, in all 4 of my race runs I got those sections of the track clean with no hits or skids, so my aim of entering the World Champs with detailed notes of how to do those sections is achieved. In fact I had great lines through both races with the exception of the top of the track, the groove was a lottery both race days for me as they did not have enough athletes testing the groove for them to fix it before the race. Both days I was one of the first up(2nd on day one and 1st on day two) and I hit right out of the groove before corner one, this wont be a problem in the world champs though as they will have the required 3 athletes per groove to test it before the first competitor starts.
Race one run one 15th (lost lots of time and speed with hit and skid out of the groove)
Race one run two 5th (Wicked run, really felt great, loved every moment of it)
Race two run one 13th (lost lots of time and speed with hit and skid out of the groove again)
Race two run two 9th (Good clean run, great lines, no hits or skids but did not feel it or gel with it like I did on the previous day).
AC race 1: did not race
AC race 2: 1st
AC race 3: 6th
AC race 4: 1st
AC race 5: 12th or 13th (still not clear if Noelle was racing or in guest class)
AC race 6: 11th or 12th (same as above)
I have really felt the length of the season over these last 2 weeks, I have raced in more races than any other athlete, been away from home for longer than any other athlete, and probably had more runs than most too! I am ready for a few days off. My aim was to get as many runs in this year as physically possible, and I sure did! I took 3 days off in October after pulling a muscle, and one day off earlier this month, and other than that I think I have trained every session offered to me. 13 competitions, 1 training school, 9 training weeks and 2 selection races over 6 months. I had only one week away from a track over Christmas, I went to Liverpool and spent it with my Grandmother.
I started the season with a personal best push time, and just ended the season breaking it and setting a new personal best time 5.84 seconds, and set a new down time record two weeks ago too.
6 months ago at the start of the season my shoulders were still too painful to run during my warm up and I founds the repetitiveness of sanding my runners too painful, and hauling my bags around airports left me searching for pain killers, but now I can run, sprint train, haul my sled around, sand and polish my runners all pain free, I have even started assisted chin ups and push ups (go shoulders go!).
All I have left to do is pack up my stuff and clean the house Peter and I rented. I fly out of Montreal on Monday afternoon and arrive in Christchurch Wednesday afternoon, somewhere along the way I completely loose Tuesday and get to visit Vancouver and Sydney, I have 3 hours of driving once back to Christchurch too, its going to be a long trip, but I really cant wait to be home :)
Friday, April 04, 2008
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Day one Americas Cup
Official training for the last two Americas cup races began today. I did not know who would show for this race as it is at the end of a very (very very) long season, I have been away from home for 6 months now!
Germany has sent their top athletes including Olympian Anja Huber, she is the current World Champion and European Champion, she also achieved 10 podium finishes in the last 2 world cup season, her team mate Marrion Trott is also racing, Marrion has had 5 top 10 World Cup finishes this season.
The Swiss have sent their top world cup athletes, Jessica Killian is one of the fastest starters in the world and ranked 12th in the World Cup, Barbara Hosch is here to battle it out with Japan number two to see which nation will qualify two athletes for next seasons world cup.
Alexa Putnam, the world cup athlete from the Virgin Islands will be competing.
Italy has sent two athletes including their highest ranked world cup woman, Terestita Bramante.
Japan has sent their second ranked world cup athlete Nazomi, she must finish the season ranked ahead of Switzerlands Barbara Hosch in order to qualify for next years world cup, currently they are 12 points apart.
The reason these two world cup athletes have to defend their world cup spot from each other is that I did well enough in the Intercontinental series (world cup b) to be ranked ahead of both of them, securing a world cup position for me next year and knocking one of them out of World Cup, this is the last chance for both of them to try to gain enough points to stay in the top race series, but only one will succeed!
The Brits have sent 2006 Winter Olympic Silver medalist Shelly Rudman.
Host nation, USA have former two time world champion, and world cup points leader Noelle Pikus Pace, and world cup athlete Annie Oshea.
There are 26 women in total, with other athletes coming from Finland, Korea, Jamaica, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Slovakia, Iraq and ...
New Zealand, I'm the only kiwi here, a kiwi on a mission to do what many kiwis recently failed to do... a mission of immense national importance...
Germany has sent their top athletes including Olympian Anja Huber, she is the current World Champion and European Champion, she also achieved 10 podium finishes in the last 2 world cup season, her team mate Marrion Trott is also racing, Marrion has had 5 top 10 World Cup finishes this season.
The Swiss have sent their top world cup athletes, Jessica Killian is one of the fastest starters in the world and ranked 12th in the World Cup, Barbara Hosch is here to battle it out with Japan number two to see which nation will qualify two athletes for next seasons world cup.
Alexa Putnam, the world cup athlete from the Virgin Islands will be competing.
Italy has sent two athletes including their highest ranked world cup woman, Terestita Bramante.
Japan has sent their second ranked world cup athlete Nazomi, she must finish the season ranked ahead of Switzerlands Barbara Hosch in order to qualify for next years world cup, currently they are 12 points apart.
The reason these two world cup athletes have to defend their world cup spot from each other is that I did well enough in the Intercontinental series (world cup b) to be ranked ahead of both of them, securing a world cup position for me next year and knocking one of them out of World Cup, this is the last chance for both of them to try to gain enough points to stay in the top race series, but only one will succeed!
The Brits have sent 2006 Winter Olympic Silver medalist Shelly Rudman.
Host nation, USA have former two time world champion, and world cup points leader Noelle Pikus Pace, and world cup athlete Annie Oshea.
There are 26 women in total, with other athletes coming from Finland, Korea, Jamaica, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Slovakia, Iraq and ...
New Zealand, I'm the only kiwi here, a kiwi on a mission to do what many kiwis recently failed to do... a mission of immense national importance...
TO BRING HOME THE AMERICAS CUP
With so many top quality athletes it will be a good race, the reason nations have sent top athletes here is that Lake Placid will host the 2009 World Championships, and this may be the last opportunity many nations will have to get their athletes some extra training on the track.
Day one of training went well, only one hit in the first run and a totally clean run in the second heat. We have two more days of training, then two days of racing.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Can a kiwi win the overall Americas Cup?
I am now in Lake Placid USA, on Monday the FIBT sliding school begins, then on the following Monday my campaign to be the first Southern Hemisphere athlete to have an overall win in an FIBT race series begins.
I am currently sitting in 2nd place in the Americas Cup, we have two races left of a 6 race series, I won 2 of the previous 4 races. These next two races are the last races of the season and will be on the 2009 World Championship track, so winning here will set me up well for next years world championships.
The good news is I set a new personal here last week, only .95 of a second off the track record.
I am currently sitting in 2nd place in the Americas Cup, we have two races left of a 6 race series, I won 2 of the previous 4 races. These next two races are the last races of the season and will be on the 2009 World Championship track, so winning here will set me up well for next years world championships.
The good news is I set a new personal here last week, only .95 of a second off the track record.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Winterberg
I am now in Winterberg Germany, I am forerunning for the World Cup final here, after this I will head to Altenberg for the World Championships.
I have been rather poor at updating my blog this season, so to sum it up, I have had my best season ever as far as sliding goes, and probably my 2nd best as far as resutls go (to this point), my sliding has improved and my understanding of what it takes to go fast and a how to apply it has improved, thanks to my coach, Tim who has helped me make these important steps forward.
My results in the 9 races I have competed in so far were a mixed bag, at times rather inconsistent, but at other times fantastic and in Konigsee, I had the best half run of my life. I have be competing on the new Intercontinental Cup series, which had about 20 women who were supposed to be comparable to the athletes ranked 9th -25th on the World Cup.
This was the first year that they split the field into two major race series, to start with we were all unsure how the quality of the two fields compared. Athletes on IC have been breaking track records, showing that the best are certainly as good as the top WC athletes, and this week I have been forerunning for the World Cup Final (being the first athlete down the track to test the timing and the groove, but not competing) and was pleasantly surprised to see that the level of ability in WC field seems to be not far above that of the IC field, two other IC athletes are competing in the WC with their times down the track showing a much smaller gap between IC and WC than the official points table suggest.
I am one of only a few athletes going to the World Championships from the IC and can not wait to race the best in the world on the demanding track in Altenberg.
I have been rather poor at updating my blog this season, so to sum it up, I have had my best season ever as far as sliding goes, and probably my 2nd best as far as resutls go (to this point), my sliding has improved and my understanding of what it takes to go fast and a how to apply it has improved, thanks to my coach, Tim who has helped me make these important steps forward.
My results in the 9 races I have competed in so far were a mixed bag, at times rather inconsistent, but at other times fantastic and in Konigsee, I had the best half run of my life. I have be competing on the new Intercontinental Cup series, which had about 20 women who were supposed to be comparable to the athletes ranked 9th -25th on the World Cup.
This was the first year that they split the field into two major race series, to start with we were all unsure how the quality of the two fields compared. Athletes on IC have been breaking track records, showing that the best are certainly as good as the top WC athletes, and this week I have been forerunning for the World Cup Final (being the first athlete down the track to test the timing and the groove, but not competing) and was pleasantly surprised to see that the level of ability in WC field seems to be not far above that of the IC field, two other IC athletes are competing in the WC with their times down the track showing a much smaller gap between IC and WC than the official points table suggest.
I am one of only a few athletes going to the World Championships from the IC and can not wait to race the best in the world on the demanding track in Altenberg.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
I won, again :)
Well I have had a very busy couple of weeks competing in 2 IC races and 3 Americas cup races.
Today in Calgary we had our 3rd day of racing after 3 days of training and I won the Americas Cup Race with my fastest down time of the week. In the IC race held two days ago I finished with my highest points of the season in 8th place, but was disapointed as I did not have very clean runs and my result was missing the high speeds that I am used to getting, but today I went 2kmph faster making the win even sweeter, my best run of the week, my best down time of the week and my highest speed, i'm super stoked! I also beat the two top IC US athletes and tomorrow morning I am off to their home track, Lake Placid, were I aim to do it again.
Right now I am ranked 2nd overall in the Americas Cup series (even after missing one of the races), I hope to compete in the last two AC races in April (after the World Championships), if all goes to plan then NZ might just be able to bring the Americas cup home after all!
After the IC in Lake Placid I'll head to Europe for the World Chamiopnships, in Altenberg Germany.
You can check out all our rankings at http://www.fibt.com/
and you'll find a points chart so you can compare results on http://www.skeletonsport.com/ (go to the ranking page).
Oh yeah, two golds, but no flag or national anthem!! thats just not fair, I'm just goin gto have to win again and hope that the venue has a traditional awards ceremony. In Park City I was on the podium with Led Zeplin playing!!?
Today in Calgary we had our 3rd day of racing after 3 days of training and I won the Americas Cup Race with my fastest down time of the week. In the IC race held two days ago I finished with my highest points of the season in 8th place, but was disapointed as I did not have very clean runs and my result was missing the high speeds that I am used to getting, but today I went 2kmph faster making the win even sweeter, my best run of the week, my best down time of the week and my highest speed, i'm super stoked! I also beat the two top IC US athletes and tomorrow morning I am off to their home track, Lake Placid, were I aim to do it again.
Right now I am ranked 2nd overall in the Americas Cup series (even after missing one of the races), I hope to compete in the last two AC races in April (after the World Championships), if all goes to plan then NZ might just be able to bring the Americas cup home after all!
After the IC in Lake Placid I'll head to Europe for the World Chamiopnships, in Altenberg Germany.
You can check out all our rankings at http://www.fibt.com/
and you'll find a points chart so you can compare results on http://www.skeletonsport.com/ (go to the ranking page).
Oh yeah, two golds, but no flag or national anthem!! thats just not fair, I'm just goin gto have to win again and hope that the venue has a traditional awards ceremony. In Park City I was on the podium with Led Zeplin playing!!?
Friday, January 11, 2008
I won
I competed in the first Americas Cup race of the season today in Park City Utah, we had heavy snow -15 degrees celcius and strong winds, it was horrible weather to be sliding in but I put down two great runs on a snowy track. I was .22 behind in the first run but put down my cleanest run in the second heat and finished .08 head of the next closest athlete.
I havn't been on the podium yet, the awards ceremony is tomorrow after the IC race.
Tomorrow I am racing in the 4th Intercontinental race of the seaon, so best go and get a good nights sleep.
I havn't been on the podium yet, the awards ceremony is tomorrow after the IC race.
Tomorrow I am racing in the 4th Intercontinental race of the seaon, so best go and get a good nights sleep.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Park City sliding
We are now in Park City Utah for the Americas cup and Intercontinental cup races, Iain, Mike, Katharine are also here, with Iain and I racing in the Intercontinental race on Saturday and all of us competing in the Americas cup on Friday.
There is a 'Snow Emergency' in Park City, which means there is so much snow that they have no where to put it so they are restricting cars in the village, it is a real winter wonderland.
Training started yesterday, I did pretty well with a 52.58, and was the fastest women of the second run in our training session.
Ben and Tionette have been training in St Moritz and will shortly be headed to Cessana for the next world cup race.
Time to go to the track now.
There is a 'Snow Emergency' in Park City, which means there is so much snow that they have no where to put it so they are restricting cars in the village, it is a real winter wonderland.
Training started yesterday, I did pretty well with a 52.58, and was the fastest women of the second run in our training session.
Ben and Tionette have been training in St Moritz and will shortly be headed to Cessana for the next world cup race.
Time to go to the track now.
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