Race day with my new Speedo skeleton suit

On the start line with coach Tim Nardiello

Waiting for the green light with cameras on me.

and I am off...

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A day of Harry Potter

Today Iain and I are going to see Harry Potter at the movies, Jack (my coach's son) saw it last night and said it was good. Iain only just discovered Harry Potter and has been reading the books non stop this last month after years of laughing at people who read the books, now he is hooked.
I ate something a bit dodgy the night before the race and all yesterday afternoon, last night and this morning I have been a bit queezy and crook, I am so glad I didnt feel like this during the race. I might have to catch a cab to the supermarket and get some fresh fruit, all the food here in the restarants are so greasy and ick. But now I am going to be adventurous (or perhaps foolish) and venture away from the bathroom to see Harry Potter, I hope it is as good as the book.
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Lake Placid World Cup

Today I raced in the 2^nd world cup of the season here in Lake Placid New York. Training this week has been great, my first run on the first day back was a new personal best time (unfortunately I didn’t beat it today). The weather here this week has been crazy ranging from 16 degrees with sunshine on the last day of training, blustering snow showers that caused heat one of the men’s race to be cancelled, and -10 degrees today with super cold fast ice for the women’s race day.

In the first heat this morning I finished 16^th out of 29, today was the first day this season that I have been on real cold ice and I was skidding a lot in the straights, and I had been getting corner 3 perfect every run but today I hit the exit hard and lost lots of time. I also made a big mistake in corner 10, so I was pretty sure that I would be able to improve on the 16^th placed run for the second heat. I fixed some of those mistakes and was two tenths ahead going into the last section of the track in the second heat, but lost time in the bottom of the track and finished 18^th. My overall placing was 19^th, with a 58.50 and a 58.62, it is a better result than last week, but I know I am capable of much more. The race was very close with in the Kiwi camp with Tionette finishing 20^th (58.55, 59.08) and Kelly finishing 21^st (58.77), it will be good to see all three of us in the top 20 in the next race. My world ranking is 22^nd (26 points), Kelly is at 25^th (19 points) and Tionette is at 27^th (17 points).

Our overall nation ranking is still 10^th but today we beat Italy and Russia, we were only 2 points away from beating Australia and Norway, and five points away from Japan, so I am still confident we will be able to recover our top 8 nation ranking.

The men’s race was yesterday and it was very exciting, it was snowing heavily, which should not have been a problem here as they have built roofs over most of the track, however the roof covering the start was removed so that Eurosport could get a good shot of us diving onto our sleds. The people sweeping the start trying to keep the snow out of the track where inconsistent with their sweeping and some athletes had a cleaner and faster track than others. At least 6 protests were filed and at the end of the first heat a team captains meeting was called, the heat was cancelled and the race was started again with only one run being held and it was made sure that the track had the same amount of sweeping and cleaning before each athletes run, and in the end a fair race was held.

Ben Sandford finished 14^th and Iain finished 31^st, which for Iain was a great improvement on his finishes he had last season. The men’s team is also ranked 10^th in the Nation standings.

Ben has already flown out to Switzerland to have his sled worked on by the builder, the rest of us head to Europe on Monday for the international training week on the Olympic track in Cesana Italy, after that we move onto Igls in Austria where the 3^rd World cup of the season will be held.

So I have a few days of rest now, which I feel like I really need, time to recharge and catch up on some sleep after a challenging full on start to the season. I have not been able to relax on my sled the same way I was able to at the end of last season, I haven’t found that beautiful peaceful flowing feeling on the sled yet, I remember exactly what it feels like, I just need to replicate it again, I will have the chance to find it in Italy at the Olympic track next week.

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Today was the last day of official training. When I woke up I went out side to see how many layers of clothing would be needed for the cold day at the track, and found that a singlet would do, it was 16 degrees outside!!!!! When Kel and I got to the track we did a track walk, and when it is real warm the track is usually very frosty, but it was too warm for the frost to grow, the track was one big wet slippery water slide, ice melting quicker than the refridgeration plant could refreeze it. They had a lot of difficulty maintaining the groove so alot of people were popping out, but i managed to stay in both runs.

My first run was fantastic I finished 11th and pushed close to my personal best, at one stage during the run i was in 9th. I should have left it at that, it had been my plan to take only the one run today with the ice conditions so poor, but my good result egged me on to try and do even better and in the second run i steered too much for the conditions and I finished 19th, but it was a very good run, i just cut too much ice for slow soft conditions.

So that is all the training over, tomorrow the guys race at 9am local time, and we race the following day. I just got my race bib and sticker, I drew 18th, not a very good draw but it will have to do, Kelly got 11th (very nice) and tionette got 21st (very good, top number in the 3rd draw). Our race bibs are sooooo huge, as big as a baggy tshirt, so i have had to sew the seams in so that it fits snugly and wont flap as I slide.

Kelly Peter and I went to collect our speedo speed suits that were being made especially to order for us, but when we got the the hotell where the speedo crew are staying i found out that they had lost my measurments and did not have one for me :( Kelly got a great black suit with hood, thumb loop and booties, real nice, they are going to send me two over to Itally next week, and for the race on friday i have a spare one that was made for the americans, no hood and the zip is at the back rather than the front but it fits good, and will be better than the ones that I have.

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sliding fast again

So today was the first day of official training, my ribs were feeling good and breathing is perfect, the 3 days with no training was exactly what I needed. As usualy Kelly Peter and I were the first there at the track, we get there early so we can do a track walk and not be rushed to get through our warm up. I was a bit nervous about not wearing the chest brace, but i dont want to go slow here and i want to feel my sled, i'll put it back on if I really need too. Run one was a personal best push time of 5.81 and a new best down time for me as well, 58.38. So happy. My ribs were a bit sore, but nothing like they were last week. Yay, got my groove back and my lungs back and my ribs seem to be staying where they are meant to be.

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Didn't get to slide yesterday, which was for best really, I have caught a cold, and it was good that I had a full day off with no training or travelling. Today after training I am moving into the Golden Arrow hotel with Peter Van Wees, it works out the same price as the Hostel and we wont end up sharing a room with strangers, just a bit more comfortable and there is a hot tub and swimming pool as well. Official training begins today at 2pm.

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calgary photos

Ryan Davenport, my sled builder, making me a new saddle

the plastic rib brack Jeff Pain made for me that protected my ribs all week.

On the start line with my coach, waiting for the track to be call clear and green light.

and I am off with tv cameras filming.

me

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Wednesday and Thursday the first world cup of the season was held at Canada Olympic Park. A Chinook was rolling in over the mountains, which meant that the days were warming up, we had a high of 11 degrees and the ice temperature was a very warm 0 degrees at the start of the race.

I had a very challenging week, when I first arrived the out run (the section of the track after the finish eye) was so bumpy that we were bouncing in our sleds the whole way up the ramp. This rattled me to the bones and knocked my ribs out of place, the same ones I knocked out during my crash in Lake Placid a few weeks ago, so I have been seeing a chiropractor daily having them put back where they should be before the next training session where I was knocking them out again.

The day before official training began I was particularly sore after one run and found it hard to breath, obviously I did not get my second run in, but over night it settled down and I thought I was ready for day one of official training. But after the first official training run (one of six) I had big breathing issues, and had to lie on the floor to breath, I was in a lot of pain, and unable to do the second run. Jeff Pain, the top Canadian slider offered to help me build a rib brace, he had built one for himself last season after breaking ribs in a crash in Sigulda Latvia. So with a solid molded plastic rib brace made and another trip to the chiropractor I was ready for the second day of official training, but my breathing was still difficult, it feels like I just cant get a full breath in. The brace worked but it was very hard to relax and be heavy and still on the sled when wearing it. My coach tells me that my head and shoulders have been way to high, which is not an issue I usually have, but I managed to complete day two with out ending up lying on the floor of the start house in pain and trying to breath.

So I had my 3 safe training descents which meant I was qualified to race, and there was one more day of training. My times had all been so slow; I was 2 seconds slower than my personal best time at this track and trailing at the back of the field. When I saw my chiropractor to get the ribs manipulated back in (I spent 14 days with them out of place after my crash in Lake Placid so they were popping back out with every run, three at the back one at the front, ouch) he told me he was positive I had broken a rib, which didn’t help my focus and relax. The last day of training I slid a bit faster, I have not had issues with any corners, and have not been skidding, but I have been going slow, it is just real hard to relax and be peaceful on the sled when you have a plastic corset and busted sore ribs and it is painful to take deep breaths. Being relaxed and comfortable on the sled is the key to a fast time. So on race day I finished 24^th out of 30 with a time of 60.03, more than a second behind my Personal best time here. I am disappointed with the result, but really I know that I am lucky to have been able to slide at all this week, and I can thank Jeff Pain for making it possible by building me the brace. Every race counts towards Olympic selection, this poor result just means I will have to step it up in the next races. Kelly Moffat finished 26^th with a personal best time of 60.19, and Tionette Stoddard finished 30^th with a 63.40 after flipping out of corner 8, she did very well to get back onto her runners so quickly. Our nation ranking has dropped to 10^th, but I am confident we can claim back our top 8 ranking in during the next few races. On Thursday I went and had xrays to see what was going on with my ribs and sternum, thankfully no breaks, must just be badly bruised with muscles spasms making my breathing difficult, the good news is that today after 2 and a half days off sliding I am breathing fine again.

The star of the Kiwi team this race was Ben Sandford who improved on his great World Champs result here last year and finished 8^th overall, Russell Ward finished 36^th, giving the men’s team a nation ranking of 9^th.

Yesterday Kelly and I traveled to Lake Placid New York, where Iain Roberts has been training for the last 3 weeks, Iain will take Russ’s place on the team for this next World Cup. Later today I will put up photos from this week on my blog.

I feel like I have unfinished business in Calgary, after I crashed here during the world champs last season and then had this challenging week of injuries and slow times, I look forward to coming back here injury free and plastic corset free and claiming a new personal best down time, but it will have to be next season.

But now it is all about Lake Placid and my last run there a few weeks ago was new record for me, so that will be a good time to improve from, and the good news is that Lake Placid has not got any hard left hand hits, so my ribs wont get such a battering as they did in Calgary. I am off to the track in an hour to get some sliding in, official training begins tomorrow.

Lou

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I havent had very good internet access lately, so I have alot to tell about here in Calgary.

When I got here I had my sled builder Ryan Davenport replace the saddle on my sled, I wasnt totally happy with the way it felt, and to go fast you must be comfortable.

My training has been disapointing so far this week, I havent had any particular issues in any corners but just havent been going fast yet. My injuries from the crash seemed to have all healed, except for a bruised rib which was getting even sorer with every run. Eventually two days ago the discomfort was too much and I went to see a chiropractor, and it turns out that I have had 3 ribs 'out' at the back and one at the front, the Chiropractor relocated them and i could breath much easier and stand straight. Then at training yesterday, the first day of official training I knocked them all out again, it was very painful, and I found it hard to breath for a wee while. I had to cancell my second run which is not good, as I only have 6 official training runs and thats one lost.

Jeff Pain, the top Canadian mens team athlete, broke some ribs last season and could sympathise with the pain, so he help me make a rib brace that is molded perfectly to fit my torso while lying in my sled, hopefully that will help prevent knocking them out again. I am seeing a chiropractor every day.

To go fast you must relax and it is hard to relax if you cant get a deep breath in and have tender ribs, that are getting knocked every time you bump a wall. I have a day off today for them to heal, and then two more days of training before the race, the good thing is that I am used to managing pain at the moment with my shoulders and the crash, and with my chiropractor working on me daily and this new rib brace, and icing and hot tubs, I think I am doing every thing I can to get it all right, and I should be able relax and get my head right for racing. But this certainly isn't the ideal way to be going into my first world cup.

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A fast run to finish on.

So last night, Kelly, Peter and I foreran the US race, I had a 2 hour sleep after the first training session and woke up about 15 minutes before we had to leave for the track for the last session, and I was real sleepy, I thought about scratching the runs as I was still only half awake when I got to the track. But good warm up and skipping session out in the cold snowy car park did a good job of bringing me back to life. I had decided to drop my rock to the level it was when I did the 58 second run the day I crashed, I rode my women's big wheels last year on very high rock and I had been working my way back up on these new men's big wheels, but it looks like the fast setting for me on the men's big wheels is lower than the women's. So I dropped the rock and went a second faster, faster than the run I had the day I crashed, the perfect way to end my sliding here in Lake Placid. And I can go even faster as my push was 2/10th of a second slower than my PB... So I am taking today off sliding and tomorrow I will be in Calgary and there is no sliding scheduled. My first sliding session there should be on Monday, $CA50 per run! Ouch!

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another day training.

Just got back from training. I wasnt in a good headspace for training today, the ice was fast and I have shead all my extra padding that I have been wearing since my crash, and I was nervous today. I knew i wasnt going to crash but i wasnt finding it easy to relax and focus. My runs were faster but I am not back to where I was before the crash (58.77), must relax if i want to go fast. I did a 59.30 and a 59.59, Kel had a personal best time of 60.02.

Tonight Kelly Peter and I are forerunning or after burning the US trails for the Americas Cup team. I have one more session on ice tomorrow morning then Ben, Tionette and I head to Montreal air port and fly to Calgary for the first world cup of the season.

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A tough day at the office for Kel and me...

Sliding was cancelled yesterday after we had over a foot of snow at the track and branched had fallen over the track and the the roads needed to be cleared. So instead I had a productive day in the gym, went and drank coffee with Kelly got some lunch stuff, and soaked in the Dutch Bobsled teams hot tub with Kel. My shoulder is feeling and looking much better, and I have been feeling the 'old' shoulder joint pain more and more, which, strangely is a good thing because it means that all the other bumps and bangs and burns are not longer too painful.

Training today was frustrating, I put a new set of runners in that I have not yet tried, but I couldn't manage to get them to measure the same rock flat (meaning their height from the base of the sled before I put rock in them), they should be equal and flat, but they were 1 1/2 mm out, which may well be OK, a lot of people say their runners are never the same flat, but my sled has always had runners measure up equal, and I was not in the mood for another 'experimental' run like the one last week where I flipped twice and went for a sledless ice speed record at 107kphr... So with half an hour to sliding starting, Kelly and I both had to change runners as Kel had my spare runners in her sled.

This pic is of my on the start line today doing some last minute visualizing before the 'track clear' is given. See my jacket that www.base.net.nz gave me, thanks, finally a jacket with NZ on the back.

I was disappointed with my runs today, I haven't had a fast one since before my crash (when I did a 58), but I do have another day sliding before heading to Calgary, so it will have to be a fast run tomorrow. Our run times today were:

Lou:1.00.54 and 1:0047, Kel: 1:00.85, 1:00.80, Tionette1:01.53, 1:01.51, Ben58.99, 58.58,

Iain: 59.86, 1:00.10.

Tonight all the athletes at the Hostel (kiwis, aussies, dutch and a slovak) and the kiwi bobsled team are coming over to Kellys house (Kel has been living here over the summer) and we are having tacos, should be fun.

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Me and Kel in the track, in the straight between 2 and 3 during a track walk.

some pictures from today

Unloading the truck at the end of the day.




















Everyone riding the truck down after a days training












snow ball fight, aussies vs High peaks hostel athletes










We got the the track, the gate were shut and the training on hold, time for a snow ball fight...

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another day off

Yesterday Thomas, Jan, and Michelle from the New Zealand Olympic Committee and Ross the president of the NZ skeleton association came to visit us all, they went down to the track and saw the Canadian selection race that was on, and we all went out to dinner and had a good evening talking about the next 3 months leading up to the Olympic.

It snowed 4 inches overnight, and no one was really expecting it so when we arrived at the track they were running a bit behind schedule so there was plenty of time for a snow ball fight in the carpark, but being injured I kept well away, and there was even down time in the battle for the injured to head across the battle field (with out being hit) to see the medics. The medics here at the track have been great, I got the dressings replaced, but I also had the burn cleaned with a sterile soapy scrubbing pad, ouch! I did not slide today, still sore and a bit stiff, needed a good rest, have been sliding for a solid couple of weeks so a few days off wont hurt me. Kelly and I managed to get a soak in the Dutch Bobsled team’s hot tub, it did wonders for my legs, they are getting back to normal, but the left one is still a bit swollen and I am still icing it. Kelly has been sliding fantastically, and Tionette seems to be pushing better with her hamstring not giving her as much trouble. Now that I have had two days off training, I am ready to get back into it tomorrow, but the track is closed on Mondays so I’ll be in the gym.

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Shoulder joints OK, and a good nights sleep.

Kim Hardy, my room mate, an aussie slider, helped me dress the burns on my shoulder and elbows last night. My thighs and bum, (which have ice burns on them, but the skin was not broken) have become one of my biggest concerns, they have swelled up, and gone solid like wood. I always wanted big solid quads, but would prefer the muscular ones not these swollen bruised ice burned ones. It has been hard to ice such a large area so I had an ice bath last night which worked well, but was not fun getting in. I actually managed to sleep really well last night, I was fine lying on the shoulder as long as I stayed still and flat, I only woke up twice. This morning I obviously couldn’t go to training, as I don’t fit in the sled, the left thigh is still swollen, so I have a day off, to ice ice and ice.

The best news is that my shoulder joints feel as sore as normal, no extra damage done there, just superficial scrapes bumps and bruises, my legs still work fine, I have full range of motion, it does not hurt to lunge or squat or stretch, they are just swollen and big, I want to slide tomorrow so I need the swelling to go down today. All the other little bumps and bruises are showing up today, my ankles, knees, my left thumb, and my jaw (I am glad I had my new helmet on, it kept me safe, but it has some big scratches now and has lot some paint, but it did it’s job). I’ll add some pictures as the bruising gets more and more impressive. The good thing is that I can laugh at myself, I look pretty hilarious with 5 bags of ice shoved down my running tights, like an American footballer with a size 10 upper body.

The New Zealand Winter Olympic team Chef de Mission, Thomas Hupert and the games team manager, Michelle and the President of the New Zealand Skeleton Association, Ross all arrive in town today to see what our sport is all about prior to the games, so I’ll be looking lovely all beaten up showcasing our sport for them.

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Clocked at 107kmph off my sled.

What a day, where do I start, today it finally stopped raining, it has been raining for over a week now, but this morning it was below freezing and clear skies, that means a fast track, I was so excited. The international training has started here, so we are in nation groups and flipping the start order each day so today we were off last, and I was last in the NZ order, the track was very fast, Ben did a 58 second down time and Kel pushed a personal best on her first run, finally breaking out of the six second club into the 5 second club, this one hand push is working so well for her, the time spent training here over the US summer with the US team on their push track, ice rink and treadmill has certainly paid off for Kelly. So I pushed off, the two hand push does not feel natural yet, but I can really feel that I am using my legs and pushing hard rather than running along side the sled which is how my one hand push felt last week. The run was pretty rough, I bumped out of 1, and skidded into 3, I took the hit out of 3 and flopped onto 9, I hit left out of 10 and right before 13, the exit of 14 was good, but I skidded out at the end of the chicanes going into 17, I got 18 perfect for once and had a smooth transition onto 19, but did need to drag a toe to avoid hitting the wall at the finish eye, so I thought is was a bumpy run that would be slow, I let out a yell of delight when I saw my time as I whooshed past the clock in the out run, a personal best down time, 58.77, and a personal best push of 5.82, very nice. Kellys second run was hilarious, she stepped on her sled just before she loaded, landed across her sled, he ribis hitting the saddle at a 90 degrees angle from where she should have been, she wriggled in, and the sled spun 180 degrees, so her feet were heading down the track then she spun 180 degrees back and headed down the track having spun a full circle! The Australian camera guy got it on film and I will try to add it to my website eventually.

Second run, I was keen to go even faster, the run was going good, but in 14 I think I steered a bit harder and later than I usually do, and I did something I never though possible in corner 14, I hit the short wall in side the corner, which sent my flying into the left wall at the exit, I flipped onto my back but managed to flip back onto my runners immediately, then I hit the right chicane in the chicanes straight (a 100m straight section of track, totally flat) and flipped over again, I managed to roll over again but I was off my sled, I had hold of it with one hand but it was way out in front on me, as I was about to go into corner 17 a big sweeping left hander I made a decision to let go, I don’t know if it was a wise decision but I didn’t think I could hang onto it, or if I did I thought I might flip out of 17 again, a split second decision. I stopped half way around corner 17. I was very very shaken up and crying instantly, shaking like a leaf. I have come off my sled before and had some bad injuries, but I was hurting more than ever before this time and the worst pain was coming from my left shoulder, the one which I damaged on a trampoline in April, the one that I have had two cortisone injections in, the one I take painkillers for 3 times a day, the one I have postponed surgery on until after the Olympics. I thought the game was over for me. I thought I had ruined my left should even more and that I would be heading home. I got up very quickly as I thought my sled might come zooming back towards me the wrong way down the track ( I was at the low point in the track) and I didn’t want to get hit by it, I walked back up 17 towards the chicanes straight away, where there are usually people watching, here in Lake Placid they do not have a camera system so someone has to find the athlete when we crash, they do not know where you are, so I knew there would be someone coming to find me. There was no one along the straight, and I walked right the way up it until there is a boardwalk where I could get out, it was probably not even a 1 minute walk but it was a bloody lonely one minute when your hurting, shaking, in shock, I had also hit my head and just wanted to see someone who could help. Two track walkers came running around the corner, they would have seen my sled come across the finish line with out anyone on it and then started looking for me. The ambulance pulled up a minute later. I was really a wreck, crying hyperventilating, shaking and shivering. The pain I could feel made me think I had ruined my shoulder and that I was on my way home, no world cup, no Olympics, no shot at a medal, game over, that is what was upsetting me most.

But once the medic helped me peal off my speed suit, we saw that the shoulder pain was in fact a big ice burn, about the size of my hand red raw and bleeding. I have always wondered how these new speedo speed suits would hold up in a crash, they are so so tight, I thought they might just rip right off, but I have only a few tiny holes, I am lucky I was wearing my icebreaker merino wool top underneath, it has quite a few holes in the shoulders and elbows now but I am sure the ice burn would be so much worse if I had not been wearing it.

We did not dress the burn decided to leave it uncovered to let it heal quickly, the medic gave me her mobile number if I needed any thing more, as going to a medical center here will cost hundreds of dollars. Even though the kiwi team hasn’t got trainers, coaches, physio… the huge support crew that follows most of the successful nations, we manage well and look after each other, and I have a whole team of athletes helping me get sorted getting out of my race gear and getting ice, food, changed, comfortable, painkillers and dressings, they were all wonderful.

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