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!