Sliding Cancelled

My previous post ended with the news that sliding had been cancelled for a couple days because of the snow and winds that had engulfed the track. So, what do we do now? Of course we could do some indoor training...which we did. Another alternative was to hang out in our rooms at the training center (see picture 1 - Yes, those are the rooms. Yes, there are 3 people in each room. Yes, I'm 30 years old and back in a dorm room). Needless to say, no one was willing to stay inside all day.

Winter sports athletes get some sort of strange high from being cold (I haven't mastered it yet!). So, the most obvious options are....

Picture 2 - A race through 4 feet of snow.

Picture 3 - Build an ice cave in case it gets really bad inside the training center.

Picture 4 - Jump off a pile of plowed snow into a pile of powder snow.

Picture 5 - Figure out how to get out of the powder snow when it's 3 feet deeper than expected and only your head is exposed. Reminder: I'm 6'4"

I love training!

Take Another Ride!!!

This time, you're invited to sit in the passenger seat as this California boy drives to Lake Placid in a blizzard.

An hour before I left, I received this email from a friend: "Are you REALLY going to Lake Placid? They're are blizzard warnings north of the City."

While I did consider staying for 0.45 seconds, I needed to get to Lake Placid to get in as many practice runs in as I could prior to races this weekend. (plus...the thought of driving in a blizzard was a little exciting....remember that whole adrenaline junkie thing I'm plagued with...)


So, Keslie (a skeleton athlete...and photographer extraordinaire...who hitched a ride with me to the City for a couple days) and I hit the road around noon on Wednesday.


Picture 1 - A Target tractor trailer off the highway in the guard-rail. Our response: "Why would anyone do this without 4-wheel drive?"

Picture 2 - A 4-wheel drive Ford Explorer in the guard-rail. Keslie's question to me: "What kind of car are we in?" "A 4-wheel drive Ford Explorer," I answered, as I slowed to 20 MPH from 30 MPH.

Picture 3 - A snow plow clearing the road. Two observations as I looked at this picture later:

(1) Wow, the snow being plowed is about 3 feet taller than my Explorer.

(2) Why was I driving in front of the plow?

Picture 4 - What a pretty wintry landscape as we drive through upstate New York!!!
Todd to Keslie "Where did all the cars go?"
Keslie: .....silence....

Picture 5 - Todd's response.

So, this is how I looked for the 8 hour drive to Lake Placid...a drive that normally takes less then 5 hours. We faced a few more obstacles along the way and found out that the roads we were on were closed shortly after we passed.

All in all an exciting trip. And I was so happy to get to Lake Placid in order to practice for 2 days before races. We were welcomed by fellow teammates and this tid-bit of information: "Sliding has been cancelled for the next two days because of the weather."

Note to self: Always call first!

Take a Ride!

"How hard can it be? All you have to do is jump on a sled and enjoy the ride." I've heard this more than once from people asking me about the sport. While they say they are just kidding, I'm sure there is some level of truth to their inquiry. Fair enough.

So, let me take you on a ride down the ice...Friday's ride down the ice, actually...and all that comes with it!

We'll start from the standing position at the top of the track about a minute before my run...

• To myself: "Ok, Todd, time to relax."


• Man, why am I so cold. Oh yeah, it's because I only have a layer of spandex on and it's frickin' NEGATIVE 4 degrees.


• Ok, visualize the run. Go through the turns and visualize where you want to be.


• Half way through my visualization (should have started sooner) from the track announcer "Track is clear for Todd"


• Deep breath.


• Position sled on ice. Left runner in left grove.


• Hands on sled. Right foot behind sled on starting block, left foot beside sled (think of a 4-point sprinter stance).


• Man it's cold. Suck it up...you chose to do this. Here we go.


• One punch to the left foot to dig spikes in ice.
• Momentum push 1. Breathe.


• Momentum push 2. Breathe.


• Momentum push 3. Breathe.


• Explode off the block. Dig..........dig........dig......dig.....dig....dig...dig..dig.digdigdigdigdigdig. One final big dig.


• Load onto sled: shoulders first, then torso, then legs (perhaps a little similar to Parkhill's worm?!)


• Ever so slightly move forward into correct position on sled.


• Try to do the above in a little over 5 seconds.


• Into curve one....relax, relax, relax. Melt into sled.


• Still cold.


• Head down, eyes up.


• Here comes curve two.


• Relax. Melt into sled.


• Breathe.


• Into curve three. Out of curve three. Relax! Bam! Into the left wall (this happens almost every time regardless of slider and skill). Relax...even though your body is pissed off!


• No power slide. Good job. Relax.


• Into curve four. The pressure and speed really begins.


• Into curve five followed shortly by curve six.


• Breathe out. Melt into sled.


• Curve seven - left. Curve eight - right. Curve nine - left.


• Get aligned for big curve ten. Enter curve ten on the left to middle-left.


• Ut oh...entered curve ten on the right. Hmmm...wonder what will happen?


• Oh yeah, Keslie's taking pictures. Fix your form (See pictures above).


• Out of curve ten...SLAM! Ouch! Oh...that's what happens when you don't enter curve ten correctly.


• SLAM again...other side, but manage to enter curve 11 in "roughly" the correct spot (pun intended).


• Here comes curve 12...a nemesis for all sliders and where my sled somehow got in front of me last week. It's too bad, I always liked the number 12.


• With shock, enter and exit curve 12 unscathed.


• What was that? Oh, curve 13...that was fine.


• Curve 14...a long curve and a 2.8 second opportunity to reposition/regain composure and most of all RELAX.


• Out of curve 14 into the Chicane....the straight-away which sometimes is anything but straight. However, for me, today...I thread the needle!


• Into curve 17 on the middle-right to right.


• Head down. Relax.


• Out of curve 17. Into 18. SLAM? What the???? I am NOT suppose to be slamming into anything. Ut oh....


• Back up into 18...again not suppose to happen. Fly off the end of 18. It feels like I'm airborne, not sure if I actually am....never suppose to happen.


• SLAM...my head is the first to hit curve 19. Helmet strap digs into skin under chin (see picture 3).


• Out of curve 19.


• Ok, time for this to end. Why are there stars? It's the middle of the day? Must be because I hit an ice wall with my head at 60 mph.


• And, into the outrun....the slow down begins. The run ends, but the familiar pains begin.


• Whew...made it and man was that fun. All smiles, despite the rough ride.
  
• Oh yeah, still cold.

And that's 60 seconds or less (hopefully) in the life of Todd, the skeleton athlete. A little different from jumping on a snow disc at age 4. The above is by NO means a guide for the track...anything but! However, at this point in my development, this is what I'm thinking and doing...whether it's correct or not.

Hope you enjoyed the ride!

WELCOME TO MY SLOG!

With much encouragment from family and friends, I offically publish this SLOG (Skeleton Blog...thanks Jess!). I invite you to join this unique adventure and look forward to your comments, questions and suggestions. I hope to post new entries once or twice a week...probably on the weekends.

Start reading from the bottom for the chronological story. All previous posts will give you the background of this journey.

Enjoy!

Development Training Week 2: “I guarantee it will be a rough ride”

Up until now, I had been sliding on a school sled made of steel. These sleds are able to take a beating and provide a relatively safe ride for new sliders. I had always had good runs...many of which were rough, but I never felt like I was going to lose my sled.

This week, I began sliding on my new racing sled...a used Parker sled that I had bought from a national team athlete that’s about my size. Racing sleds are made from fiberglass and much more flexible and responsive to movement from the slider. Additionally, I had new runners on the sled that I had bought from another national team athlete.

Steve helped me get the sled together and made sure I understood that the ride was going to be quite different from all my previous rides. His comment was “Do you have padding, because I guarantee this is going to be a rough ride.” Quite a statement as a new slider is about to go down a run...but I appreciated the warning.

His promise did not disappoint. I got on the sled just fine, but immediately coming out of turn one the sled went into a power-slide...basically it fishtailed. And that began the roughest pin-ball ride down the track I’d ever had. At one point I was on my side sliding through the turns. At another point the sled was entirely in front of me and I was desperately trying to pull myself back on. It was a jarring experience, but all I could do was laugh at the bottom. I had made it down in one piece...albeit one very bruised piece. From my chin to my ankle, the sides of my body turned various shades of black and blue...and some bruises were green which I can’t explain. Must be a skeleton thing.

The 2nd run went somewhat better, but 2 rides that rough were about all my body could take for one day. Back at it tomorrow.

Tomorrow came a little too soon for my bruised body, but the rides were better...still more rough than anything I’d experienced previously, but better nonetheless.

It was good for me to get on the racing sled early in training so that I can work to get more comfortable with it.

While two days of sliding isn’t enough per week...this week, I was happy to only have two days. Now, I recover!

"Welcome to Winter Sports"

From mid December though mid January, I spent time researching skeleton equipment, buying skeleton equipment, buying cold weather gear, continuing sprinting lessons at Velocity, trying to find a way to raise funds and doing everything I could to get prepared for training.

Unlike most of the development athletes, I would not be full time. Because of the work arrangement, I would train and slide part-time in Lake Placid and train in New York part time (no sliding, obviously). While this may have put me at a disadvantage, it was the only option if I wanted to keep my job...which I do!

On Wednesday, Jan 24, I began the now familiar drive to Lake Placid. So many thoughts were running through my head. Would I have enough training time? Would I have enough sliding time? What goals should I be setting for myself? How far can I push myself? All good questions...none of which could be answered.

I had also found out that there would be no sliding on Saturday and Sunday. My overall training plan had included at least one day per weekend of sliding in order to make the part-time option work. With that, I would only have, at most, 2 days of sliding per week. Could this even work? This was another challenge I simply needed to deal with....

I arrived on Wednesday to a few familiar faces that I’d come to know through the push camp and driving school. It was good to be back at the Olympic Training Center.

Then Thursday came...

Sliding was cancelled. It was -26 degrees at the top of the track....yes, that was NEGATIVE 26. This California boy had no comprehension of that temperature. There was a good chance that sliding on Friday would be cancelled as well....which meant that I would have driven 5 hours for my first week of sliding which consisted of no sliding. One coach commented “Welcome to winter sports.”

Luckily, it warmed up on Friday to a balmy.....-20 degrees. Yes, that’s still negative. Apparently, we were ok to slide today. I got three runs in before it was time to de-thaw my fingers.

On the drive back to New York, I looked at the familiar bruises on my arms and smiled. Those bruises meant I was sliding again and this unexpected adventure was continuing.

Breaking the news

It’s so much fun to tell people that I’m on the U.S. Skeleton Development Team and hear their reaction. Remember, I never played sports in high school (see previous post “Yeah, I know how to sprint” for explanation).

From my family: “You’re on the team? Unbelievable! Of our two sons, we never thought YOU’D be the one to train for the Olympics.” It’s not as insulting as it sounds because I agree with them entirely. My brother was always the athlete, playing every sport he could (except Skeleton) as a child, but focusing on basketball in high school. As with everything, my family is incredibly supportive and I can’t thank them enough.

Oh, and a special thanks to my cousin Angie, our family's graphic artist, for providing the art above.

From my high school friends: “Yeah right. We still don’t believe you.” Again, I should be insulted, but I’m not. I don’t blame them for this given my lack of sports history. Perhaps they should come see for themselves. Yes, that was an invitation! If coming to see me in NYC is not enough of a draw, perhaps seeing me in a speed suit flying down the ice will be.

From my business school friends: “Amazing. What can we do to help? Can we organize a fundraiser? What will your campaign be? We need a marketing plan? How can we get you on a Wheaties box? Will the Today Show do a special?” In typical Darden MBA style, my friends have been incredibly supportive. They don’t know exactly what to do, but whatever it is must have a committee and organization. Again, I appreciate the support so much.

From my employer: “You want to do what?” An understandable reaction! After a number of weeks and a number of discussions, my boss and company agreed to support me in this adventure...something I still can’t comprehend and something for which I am so grateful. They are allowing me to work from Lake Placid two days per week for the Development Season (8 weeks). There is enough down time in between sliding and training to allow for this. Again, I so appreciate the support of my company, my boss and my colleagues.

Skeleton Driving School - November 2006

In total, 7 of us from the August push camp were invited back. We were joined by another 5 or 6 athletes for the Skeleton Driving School – a week long camp to learn more about the sport, the sled and how to get down the track.

The first couple days we spent building up to start one...remember, out of 12, only 2 of us had been down the ice track before. Then, because of the weather, we spent more time at the push track and in the gym...again, more evaluation for the coaches. It ended up being a strange week because of our friend “El Nino.” It was mid November in Lake Placid and we were unable to slide for 2 of the days because the track was too warm....even with a refrigeration system.

After the weather hiatus, we got back on the ice. But unfortunately, we couldn’t put our push practice...into practice, because none of us had brush spikes (like track spikes but over 200 very small spikes to grip the ice for the sprint at the top). This was a new rule that the track organization put into effect 3 weeks earlier. This rule meant we could only be pushed by our coaches from the top.

Regardless, we got a few “runs” from the top and started to get used to the track. All in all it was a strange week because of the weather and the uncertainty of how we were being evaluated.

The week ended with another conversation, but this was a little less formal. I was in the start house waiting to get my last run in...

Steve: Are you coming back in January?
Todd: (with surprise and not really understanding what he was asking) You tell me?
Steve: (also with surprise at my reaction) Uh...yeah...we want you to come back?
Todd: (still puzzled) for the U.S. Skeleton Development Team?
Steve: (puzzled by my reaction)Yes.
Todd: (With my first thought going to work) Uh...I don’t know. I have no idea how this would work with my job.
Steve: OK, well let’s talk later.
Todd: Ok.
Todd to internal Todd: What the hell just happened? I think I was asked to be on the Olympic Skeleton Development Team and I showed no excitement whatsoever. What’s wrong with me?

After the awkwardness of the exchange, I went out to the track to take another run. It was this minute down the track going 60+ MPH that the excitement really sunk in. Yes, I was indeed being asked to be on the Development Team...and all I could do was smile all the way down the run...even when I was slamming into the side of the track. It took some time to comprehend that I...this older, larger, non-athlete...was being asked to train on an Olympic development team. Even as I write this, it's hard to imagine.

I felt it was necessary to pull Steve aside and tell him how excited I truly was, but that I just need to figure it out with work. He completely understood and offered to help me out in any way he could.

Athlete Testing; "Are you surprised?"

Part of the Push Camp included the 4 item test that the Federation uses to evaluate skeleton athletes.

1) 30 meter sprint from standing
2) 30 meter sprint fly-in
3) Vertical jump
4) 5 hop (5 consecutive long jumps)

As expected, given my height and lack of formal training, my sprinting was not at the same level as the others. However, my long legs (that I curse on airplanes and in cars) proved useful in the jumping tests. All in all, out of 10 athletes, I ranked 5th after the tests...a rank I was proud of and did not expect after seeing the performance of the other athletes.

We spent the rest of the weekend at the outdoor push track. Essentially, it’s a sled on wheels, on a track. It’s meant to mimic the start on the actual track and does a fairly good job for sliding beginners. We learned how to push one day, with the coaching of Steve and Orvie, and participated in the “Push Championship” the next day. This would be another evaluative tool.

Again, no one knew what to expect since we’d just learned how to push the day before. We’d get critiqued by Orvie on the track and, later in the day, we watched video of our pushes. Quite comical, but very useful in figuring out the push...one of the most crucial elements to this sport.

We made it through our two “championship” heats and Steve read the rankings. 1st place is read, 2nd place is read, 3rd place – Todd Whiting. What? He must be joking. Turns out it was true. Apparently I can push a sled.

For all of us, the camp ended with a conversation. Steve sat each of us down, reviewed the results and indicated whether we would be invited back for Skeleton Driving School in November.

My conversation went like this:

Steve: The bad news is that this is an expensive sport.
Todd: Yeah
Steve: The good news is that we want you to come back in November.
Todd: (sigh of relief, with anxiety thrown in) Wow. Really?
Steve: Yeah, you certainly earned it with your testing rank of 5th and your push rank of 3rd.
Todd: Are you surprised?
Steve: Yes, I am to be honest.
Todd: Me too.

Skeleton Push Camp – August 2006

Remember what Steve said after the Fantasy Camp in March? “Keep in touch.” So, I did...perhaps a little more than he expected. My telephone greetings (persistence) went from “Hey Steve, this is Todd Whiting” to “Hey Steve, this is Todd” to “ Hey Steve....Hey Todd” in a matter of weeks. And finally, they scheduled a Skeleton Push Camp for August and I was invited back....perhaps just so I would stop calling.

Not knowing exactly what to expect, I made the 5 hour drive back to Lake Placid for the 4 day weekend. I walked into the brief orientation, looked around at my fellow campers and made a few observations. 1) They were all about 5 inches shorter than me, 2) I’m guessing they were all 30-40 lbs lighter than me, and 3) again guessing at this point, but they were all 3-10 years younger than me. My internal response to these observations was “What the hell am I doing here?”

Steve and Orvie were back to run the camp and asked us to fill out a form...typical stuff like name, age, height weight and then came “Please detail your Athlete Resume.” Do you all remember from previous posts my athlete resume? Correct, I DON’T HAVE ONE. As I look around and see the others listing athletic accomplishment after accomplishment, I get up with my blank resume and hand it to Steve and Orvie. They give me an understandable chuckle...I give them a knowing smile and I sit back down. My internal response: “What the hell am I doing here?”

(Pictures above are of the track and track walk in August)

"Yeah, I know how to sprint!"

So, I’m back from Fantasy Camp. What do I do now? How can I prepare for a sport that only has two places in the U.S. to practice and those two places close down for 5 months every year? Not knowing if I would actually ever slide again, I decided to work on skills that would be good in this sport...or good for me even if I never went any further. I found a friend and sprint coach in Patrick, one of my fellow Fantasy Campers that lives in New York City. He started with a simple question: "Do you know how to sprint?" I replied, "Yeah...you mean running fast?" With a simple chuckle from Patrick, I knew I actually had NO idea how to sprint.

He, being a college track and field star, gave me the basics on sprinting. Those that know me, know that I was never able to play sports in high school because I grew too fast and had extra cartilage in my knees. So, I wasn’t exactly the best sprinter and I owe a lot to Patrick for his patience as he taught a large 30 year old man how to truly sprint.

Also, thanks to the national team athletes in Lake Placid, I met Kim (another national team athlete) and began training at her gym, Velocity Sports Performance (http://www.velocitysp.com/nyc/index.html ) in Manhattan. It’s a unique gym for athletes looking to work on speed, power and agility. They cater to high school and college athletes...and do NOT typically cater to 30 year olds looking to capture any athleticism they have left. Regardless, both Kim and Marco at Velocity were willing to take on the challenge of helping me on my quest to get back to Lake Placid.

So, from March to August, I learned how to technically sprint at Velocity and put those skills into practice with Patrick. Patrick and I would meet once or twice a week on one of the piers along the West Side Highway. It was quite challenging actually...not the sprinting, but trying to sprint around the unique characters that we’d encounter at 6:15am on the piers of Manhattan.

Huge thanks to Patrick, Marco and Kim for their coaching and continued support.

Skeleton Fantasy Camp - March 2006

Unable to convince any friends that this was a good idea, I was left to make the 5 hour drive (4 1/2 if I’m driving) to Lake Placid so that I could hurl myself down an ice chute at speeds of 70-75 miles an hour...which is only fitting since 73 MPH was the speed I was going when I got a speeding ticket on the way up.

After 4+ hours and just outside of Lake Placid, my ipod shuffled me the gift of John William’s “The Olympic Spirit.” It was an amazing experience to drive into the Olympic Training Center with the snow coming down and this song playing. It’s an unexpected ritual that I continue every time I go up to Lake Placid.

I checked in and began meeting my fellow campers. My first assumption (that I might be the oldest one there) was entirely wrong, as I was joined by adventure seekers from ages 34 to 52. It was an obscure, but fun group....some with whom I still keep in touch. (see picture 1 above)

The camp was led by Steve Peters, and coached by Orvie Garrett, the current Olympic Coach. We were also joined by national team athletes Courtney, Keslie and Marci. Being coached by, and learning from, this group of people was the best part of the camp. Their willingness to share their sport with our motley crew was an amazing experience and so much appreciated.

So, here we are...Thursday...the first day of camp, on our way to the track for our first slide. Armed with about 9 minutes of instruction, we sprint and jump on the sled flying perilously down the track. (Read: we lay down on the sled, Steve slooooooowly pushes us to get us moving and we cruise down the track from Start 5, the last 20% of the track).

The weekend progresses and we learn more about the sport, practice indoors (picture 2 above) on a piece of wood with rollerblade wheels, an eventually move our way up the track to Start 4, then 3.

On Saturday night, our last night of sliding, we are told that “we’re ready” to tackle Start 1...the top of the track. Again with the snow coming down, each of us take off like lightning from the starting block. The only problem is that, with one exception, none of us have track spikes. So, as much as we wanted to take off like lightning, we looked more like grandpa.

Even still, I remember that first run as being one of the most thrilling minutes of my life. (pictures 3, 4)

At one point in the weekend, I talked with Steve about future possibilities of continuing in the sport. The challenges that I faced were my age (29) and size (6’4”, 215 lbs.). He did mention that the gold and silver medalist from Torino were my size and in their late 30s, so it wasn’t impossible. He told me to keep in touch and if there was room at a Skeleton Push Camp he’d let me know. I’m not sure if he meant it or not, but I was I was sure to take him up on his offer.

"Well, you haven't met me!"

In February of 2002, America was re-exposed to the little known sport of skeleton as it was brought back to the Olympic Games after a 52 year hiatus. Not only did it come back, but for the Americans, in came back in the form of two gold medals (Jim Shea and Tristan Gale) and one silver (Lea Ann Parsley).

Along with the rest of America, it was Jim Shea’s (pictured) gold medal run (http://www.nbcolympics.com/skeleton/index.html) that first exposed me to the sport. Being someone who drives a car around turns like I’m on skeleton sled anyway, I knew this sport was for me. However, with only 2 tracks in the U.S. (Lake Placid, NY and Park City, UT) and business school looming, I was left to only imagine what it would be like to pull 4 Gs down an icy track.

2002 came and went....so did 2003, 2004 and 2005. Now, in 2006 I was armed with a MBA and just happen to be working for the company that broadcasts the Olympics. Building up to February 2006 in Torino, I remembered that thrilling sport that I once thought would fun and I remembered that one of the tracks was in New York. And, I was now living in New York...something that never would have happened 4 years ago.

Next stop....the website of the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation (http://www.usbsf.com/). After some searching, I find information for the 2006 Skeleton Fantasy Camp. I called and talked to Steve Peters, National Events Manager. I got the details and he told me something I will never forget (although, he probably did) “We’ve never had an athlete come out of a Fantasy Camp.” My answer “Well, you haven’t met me yet!”

The Dream Begins

My dream of becoming a skeleton athlete began at the age of 4 when my mom would take my brother and I to the California snow. Ok, there is one truth and one lie in that sentence. The truth: Every winter we would drive up Angeles Crest Highway in La Canada-Flintridge after the first snow, find the closest mountain (read: mound), grab our multi-colored snow discs and slide away.

However, it would be another 22 years before I first saw skeleton in the 2002 Olympics and another 4 years after that before I would take my first run.

So, Mom, I blame you for first exposing me to the thrill of speed on ice. And by blame you, I mean thank you.