Calgary race two was much better and I put down a spectacular run, one of those runs that just feel amazing, I was still and did exactly what I wanted to do and was breathing at the right places, felt totally connected with my sled, felt a push out of 8, totally clean out of 8, just loved the run, apparently the announcer was really excited (kiwi), and standing on the podium and getting my medal was very cool, felt like I was back on track.
Then I flew to Montreal and drove to Lake Placid, training in placid was not so smooth, but I was getting faster each run. Internet in Lake Placid was not good and so I have not been able to blog or keep in touch with people. The temperature has been very cold -30 Celsius, and it's a damper cold than in Calgary so it felt sooooo bad, the coldest I have ever been in my life! and the ice was very very hard with those temperatures too.
On race day on Friday I skidded in the chicanes and did not straighten up as I entered 17 and entered it pointing the wrong way sideways, the result is that you get a bit of a flick or whiplash action when you climb onto the corner and the sled straightens up but I was a couple of meters lower in the bend that I needed to be. The laws of physics mean the low line can not be maintained the whole way around so at some time I'm going to climb that corner, if not at the entry then it will be at the exit, and I did climb and hit the wooden roof and came down and hit the inside short wall and I was thinking, here I go I'm gonna flip at the fastest point and get real beat up, I was waiting for the pain but some how instincts kicked in and I managed to do some fast foot work and not flip as I climbed back up 17, but I missed 18 and climbed it on the exit and again was lucky to not flip, I came to a stop way way way down the out run, with the slowest run. Gutting. The second run, I knew that I have been sliding here for years and that was the first time I ever hit that roof and the chance of entering it sideways pointed the wrong way in such a bad skid two times in a row was nearly impossible. So I actually went into the second run ready to make up for it, the run was real nice, I felt a push out of 10 and shot out of 14 into the chicanes and got through them clean, was clocked at 114.9 and just before 17 my sled kicked out, I must have moved too much and broke it into a skid and I repeated the exact same thing, hit the roof, then the short wall then caught the lip on end of 17 and entered 18 way too late launching my self off the exit but avoiding a crash... last place. Shit. I needed good points here. There is two weeks until the next race, I still have 4 races and they are on the IC circuit which offers much much better points. My splits all week in training were good, and the chance of skidding out at that point can be reduced by either being stiller, or more easily changing my runners to ones which are sharper or have a narrower spine (dig in more so they have more control). So I'll work on it and get that last section fixed by the next race. A disapointing week, but thats part of the game. So now I'm working on keeping the feeling I had when on my sled during the Calgary race.
Lake Placid is looking like a real winter wonderland, stunning, with all the christmas decorations around town and dripping off the houses.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Calgary race one 5th place
Well after having a real arctic blast come through, with temperatures plunging to close to -30, and our first two training sessions cancelled due to the risk of us freezing to our sleds, we finally got to train yesterday in the snow. Today we raced, it was my first time back here since 2007 season, and I get one day training to prepare, not ideal. First run today was a bit messy up the top of the track I went too late into 1 and then hit the right wall on the exit, and I used my feet too much on the run. After that run I had a wee 'coach talk' with my self, I might not have a coach with me but there are still things I need to hear! and reminded my self that I can drive this track with perfect position and do not need to use my feet to steer in every curve!!! The pep talk worked, I had a beautiful second run, and only used my toe in one place and that is OK because that is how I exit that curve, my exit 8 felt so great I felt a push out and shot down the straight way with a super clean line at 117.65kmph, with only one light touch of the wall out of corner 9 (which set me up perfectly for 10). It was the best feeling run I've taken so far this season, I was totally still in the straights, and kept my clumsy feet off the ice, but can melt into the sled more and get a continuous flow and more rhythm going, so there is much more time to find but it was one of those runs that makes you want to yell all the way up the finish ramp :) it left me with a grin from ear to ear and a great shot of Adrenalin. I love it. But I need to go faster faster faster . Race two tomorrow.
Also need to find a way to fund my training over Christmas in New York and the second half the Olympic qualification races, any ideas??
Also need to find a way to fund my training over Christmas in New York and the second half the Olympic qualification races, any ideas??
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Now in Frozen Calgary
My week on ice last week was great, it was such a buzz to be back on my sled, and I was relieved to be in control of my sled from day one, there's always this little fear of getting on your sled at the start of the season and finding that for some mad reason you have totally forgotten how to control it, but that was not a problem, the only hits I took were one out of 6 and 11, when I was experimenting with a new steer, and one into 11 when I judged it wrong and got too close to the entrance wall, being still and wishing to get past it clean when you know your close did not work that time.
As far as the races go, 3 days training was not enough time for me to be ready so my results were disappointing, but like I said earlier, only my top 7 races count for Olympic qualification and I have 7 races left, so I can drop them all.
The trip to Calgary was a real adventure, a huge winter storm came in and cancelled the flights, I was shipped off to Minnesota (wrong direction) where I sat watching my connecting flight get delayed, I expected to sleep in the airport that night, but the pilot decided that while conditions were bad there were right on the line of 'acceptable' so we departed, unknown to me my runners for my sled, headed to Seattle instead of Minnesota and they did not arrive in Calgary with me. At Calgary at midnight, the airport was alive absolutely packed full of people and no way of leaving, the roads were so bad that no one was coming to pick people up, the airport shuttles that go to the hotels were not running and there were 3 very long lines for the 3 different taxi ranks, lucky I had booked a car I thought, but the car hire guy talked me out of trying to drive and recommended joining the taxi line even if it too 2 hours.
Well it took more than two hours, but finally I got a cab and we crawled along in a real blizzard with carcasses of cars strewn off the highway every couple hundred meters, it was the worst road I've been out in and I was very glad when we found the house I had a room rented in at about 3am. The owners (who I did not know) had left the light on, the door unlocked and a hot water bottle in my bed for me!
My runner bag did not show up until last night Tuesday night 4 days late, lucky that the official training was cancelled so I did not miss out. But today official training has also been cancelled, too cold under Canada's labour laws for the track crew to be working on the ice... wow! -30 last night.
So we will train tomorrow and be given 3 runs then we race. I've got a video of the track that can lay on my sled watch that helps me get the timing and a bit of feel for the track.
As far as the races go, 3 days training was not enough time for me to be ready so my results were disappointing, but like I said earlier, only my top 7 races count for Olympic qualification and I have 7 races left, so I can drop them all.
The trip to Calgary was a real adventure, a huge winter storm came in and cancelled the flights, I was shipped off to Minnesota (wrong direction) where I sat watching my connecting flight get delayed, I expected to sleep in the airport that night, but the pilot decided that while conditions were bad there were right on the line of 'acceptable' so we departed, unknown to me my runners for my sled, headed to Seattle instead of Minnesota and they did not arrive in Calgary with me. At Calgary at midnight, the airport was alive absolutely packed full of people and no way of leaving, the roads were so bad that no one was coming to pick people up, the airport shuttles that go to the hotels were not running and there were 3 very long lines for the 3 different taxi ranks, lucky I had booked a car I thought, but the car hire guy talked me out of trying to drive and recommended joining the taxi line even if it too 2 hours.
Well it took more than two hours, but finally I got a cab and we crawled along in a real blizzard with carcasses of cars strewn off the highway every couple hundred meters, it was the worst road I've been out in and I was very glad when we found the house I had a room rented in at about 3am. The owners (who I did not know) had left the light on, the door unlocked and a hot water bottle in my bed for me!
My runner bag did not show up until last night Tuesday night 4 days late, lucky that the official training was cancelled so I did not miss out. But today official training has also been cancelled, too cold under Canada's labour laws for the track crew to be working on the ice... wow! -30 last night.
So we will train tomorrow and be given 3 runs then we race. I've got a video of the track that can lay on my sled watch that helps me get the timing and a bit of feel for the track.
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Great day.
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.
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.
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
Thursday, July 09, 2009
I'm still here!
Well, it has been a long time since I updated this blog, which is a pity as I had soooo many followers. A few years ago I landed a dream sponsor, he read about me in the Air New Zealand magazine and contacted me, and sponsored me, he did not want me blogging and so I stopped. He is no longer sponsoring me, but helped me get to where I am now, 3 months out from my first Olympic qualification world cup, and I'm no longer required to 'not blog'.
So here's the update, I'm living in Auckland with my brother Matt, who has been a massive supporter of me over the last 9 sliding years. I'm up here to train and my training is based at the Millennium institute of Sport in the New Zealand Academy of Sport Gym (fantastic facility)under the guidance of Matt Kritz senior strength and conditioning specialist for the Academy of Sport, and Dan Lavipour assistant strength and conditioning specialist, these two have been fantastic and written a daily program specifically for me, that addresses my weaknesses, what I have found most beneficial is having them on hand in the gym to give me advice and direction, it is so important, but a luxury I was unable to have over the last few years, I have been setting personal records every week, they are not world record breaking but they are pretty damn good for me, currently I can bench 50kg, dead lift 90kg and squat 96kg. I also have a sprint program that Dan working with me on, and twice a week my brother and I melt a groove into the ice rink at Paradise Ice in Avondale. I push train there and use video and 4 timing eyes to analyse my improvements, I am setting new records every week so Matt's program is obviously working, and am now confident and strong with the one hand push. Using timing eyes when push training has been very interesting, and has shown that what feels good is often slow and what I though felt like a bad push was actually much faster, such important feedback. Whats really cool is that my brother built the timing eyes himself.
I've started tweeting you can follow me @louisecorcoran on twitter.com
Over the last 2 years my brother Matt and I have been developing and building skeleton sleds, Taniwha Sled Company, which has been an exciting venture.
Last month, the New Zealand Olympic Committee held a series of events to honour all Kiwi Olympians and to issue us with our own official Olympian number, it was a great event, and I got to meet many great Kiwis and hear some great stories from Olympic medalists and who had been mad about sport . I am officially Olympian number 983, I made it into the first 1000. The best part of the evening was seeing the older Olympians honoured for their achievements, some of them were in their 70's, I doubt there will ever be an event the same, where all the Olympians in the community are in one place together, I should have taken my camera.
I'm (as always) looking for sponsorship to help me train, qualify, compete and win in the Olympics this coming February, and as a back up plan I'm trying to sell my house to help cover some costs of this coming competition season.
Here's an article that was in the local paper two weeks ago about my preparation for this Olympic season.
So that's the latest on me, please come back and follow my preparation for this season, and if your on twitter then look for me @louisecorcoran
Thanks!
So here's the update, I'm living in Auckland with my brother Matt, who has been a massive supporter of me over the last 9 sliding years. I'm up here to train and my training is based at the Millennium institute of Sport in the New Zealand Academy of Sport Gym (fantastic facility)under the guidance of Matt Kritz senior strength and conditioning specialist for the Academy of Sport, and Dan Lavipour assistant strength and conditioning specialist, these two have been fantastic and written a daily program specifically for me, that addresses my weaknesses, what I have found most beneficial is having them on hand in the gym to give me advice and direction, it is so important, but a luxury I was unable to have over the last few years, I have been setting personal records every week, they are not world record breaking but they are pretty damn good for me, currently I can bench 50kg, dead lift 90kg and squat 96kg. I also have a sprint program that Dan working with me on, and twice a week my brother and I melt a groove into the ice rink at Paradise Ice in Avondale. I push train there and use video and 4 timing eyes to analyse my improvements, I am setting new records every week so Matt's program is obviously working, and am now confident and strong with the one hand push. Using timing eyes when push training has been very interesting, and has shown that what feels good is often slow and what I though felt like a bad push was actually much faster, such important feedback. Whats really cool is that my brother built the timing eyes himself.
I've started tweeting you can follow me @louisecorcoran on twitter.com
Over the last 2 years my brother Matt and I have been developing and building skeleton sleds, Taniwha Sled Company, which has been an exciting venture.
Last month, the New Zealand Olympic Committee held a series of events to honour all Kiwi Olympians and to issue us with our own official Olympian number, it was a great event, and I got to meet many great Kiwis and hear some great stories from Olympic medalists and who had been mad about sport . I am officially Olympian number 983, I made it into the first 1000. The best part of the evening was seeing the older Olympians honoured for their achievements, some of them were in their 70's, I doubt there will ever be an event the same, where all the Olympians in the community are in one place together, I should have taken my camera.
I'm (as always) looking for sponsorship to help me train, qualify, compete and win in the Olympics this coming February, and as a back up plan I'm trying to sell my house to help cover some costs of this coming competition season.
Here's an article that was in the local paper two weeks ago about my preparation for this Olympic season.
So that's the latest on me, please come back and follow my preparation for this season, and if your on twitter then look for me @louisecorcoran
Thanks!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
