Colorado Springs

It's been a while since I blogged, but in that time we had a team camp out in Colorado Springs, Colorado. During that time- all the bobsled and skeleton athletes come together to have an annual board meeting and to do some team bonding activities, including a Gala- which is an award's ceremony and a chance for everyone to get dressed up. The picture above is from that event. Although it can be nice to see everyone, it brings the reality that the season is almost here. Time to buckle down and get to work!

Hang Clean- 82.5kg

Part of our testing is an exercise called a power clean. This exercise is designed to develop power, and it's important to do this exercise quickly and explosively to maximize all potential gains. Here, I am doing a hang clean (a power clean is the same exercise done starting from the floor vs a hang clean which is completed by starting just above the knee). Our testing maxes out at 100kg, which is the weight needed to get 100 points on our testing scale. Here I am doing 82.5kg for a set of three. My goal is to get 100kg from a power clean by September when we test.

Lex Gillette

Lex is my friend that I met here in the training center in Chula Vista.  He is a blind paralympian and is the current American record holder for the long jump for totally blind athletes.  Not only is Lex athletically gifted, he is also very musically gifted.  Listen for yourself- he's awesome!

Bobsled 101

As bobsled is not popular in the south- and really not anywhere in the states- most people don't really know what the sport actually is.  I usually get asked if it's like the movie, Cool Runnings, and have even been asked if I'm on the Jamaican team (Cool Runnings will give you a rough idea of what we do- but it is fiction and no- I'm not on the Jamaican team).  Anyways, bobsled traditionally has two disciplines, 2-man and 4-man.  Only men compete in both disciplines, while women only have 2-man.  There's many reasons why this is- but I'll save those reasons for another post.  In a 4-man sled, you have 3 brakemen and one driver.  The 3 brakemen are actually two side pushers and a brakeman (the person who sits in the back and pulls the brakes at the end- usually the last person in the sled and in 4 man- the one who feels the most pressure).  In a 2-man sled, which again is the only discipline in which women compete, there is just a driver and a brakeman.  The brakeman is responsible for the initial velocity- pushing the sled at the top of the hill to get as much speed as possible to start the run.  Brakeman are judged on 'start times' or the time from the first timing eye to the 50m mark.  Start times vary per track- with some tracks having start times around 5.20s (Whistler) while others have start times sometimes in the 6.00s (St. Moritz).  The U.S. team has some of the fastest push times, and as a brakeman, you make the Olympic team by pushing fast (and by being able to play the game- something I'm not very good at and another topic for a later post).  The driver, the person in the front of the sled, is responsible for making sure the sled makes it down on all 4 runners (the blades that are on the ice- they're not sharp but actually curved) and for making it down as fast as possible.  Drivers or pilots drive the sled onto and off of curves in order to reach the bottom the fastest.  Our sport is a sport where time is critical, and races can be won or lost by hundredths of a second.  For World Cup races, the fastest time after two combined runs is the winner, while in the Olympics it's the fastest time after four combined runs is the gold medalist.   There's more to bobsled- but I think we've covered the basics for now.  

Training Diet

I had a comment asking what my diet was like.  I constantly have to be aware of what I eat.  In bobsled, we have to make weight as a team.  The maximum weight is 340kg (748lbs), which includes the sled and the brakeman and driver and all our gear.  Our sled alone weighs anywhere from 176kg or 387lbs (USA 2 sled) to 184kg or 405lbs (USA 1 sled) and we have some of the heaviest sled's in the world!  The Germans use sleds that are minimum weight (170kg or 374lbs) which allows them to be have heavier brakemen and drivers.  Unfortunately, we don't have that luxury in the U.S.  I am the heaviest brakeman- my in season weight ranging anywhere from 80-82kg (176-180lbs) and my out of season weight (and my current weight) at about 84Kg (185 lbs).  Ideally, I would be 80kg and am working to get down there.  Although I have my ups and downs and diet mistakes (I had to try IN-N-OUT for the first time and it was delicious), I am starting to find a diet that will allow me to make weight and allow me to keep it off.  Before I've tried all types of diets- mostly eliminating carbs- which worked temporarily- but I was never able to keep the weight off- it always came right back.  Now I've learned that carbs are not the enemy!!!  It's all about eating the right types of carbs at the right time.  My coach described it like this: if you divide your plate into thirds, there should be 1/3 good carbs, 1/3 good fats, and 1/3 lean protein.  Now each meal I focus on having exactly that.  Good carbs are carbs that are low glycemic carbs, foods like whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, etc.  These are important because they provide energy, and when you workout as much as I do, you need the energy.  Often as power athletes, we overload on the protein- but really this isn't an efficient way of giving your body the energy it needs (although protein can be converted into glucose, the only substance the brain can actually use, it is much harder on our bodies and not efficient).  Good fats are things like nuts, peanut butter, avocados, and even butter- yes butter!!!  I'm not saying to overload on the butter- but definitely butter over other spreads.  Lean proteins are things like chicken, lean beef cuts, turkey, and fish.  I personally don't try to count every single calorie, but I do write down what I eat and try to eat balanced meals with plenty of vegetables.  If you have to eat high sugary foods, the best time to eat them is right after a workout- your body will use them the best.   As for me though, I'm trying to avoid them, but as you can imagine- that's much easier said than done!  If your trying to loose weight, it's important to remember- this is not something you do overnight!  You didn't put on the weight overnight and you're not going to take it off overnight!  So give yourself some time to lose the weight.  You're better off losing gradually then losing all at once and gaining it all back.  One last tip- STAY HYDRATED!  People often think they are hungry when they're just thirsty.  I drink as much water as possible (and tea).  Water is your friend :)  Your body does so much for you, the least we can do is give it the proper fuel it needs.

WCWS

The WCWS has been on the last week or so and is still continuing over the next (hopefully) 2 nights.  Although I've been out of softball for two years now, and haven't even picked up a ball in a while, I can't help myself and find myself addicted to the game and watching every single inning possible!  My training partner, Jamia Jackson (Mia), was even nice enough  do our med ball exercises in the field house by the track so I could watch UGA in the first round.  I've watched as much as I can and I can tell you the games have been super exciting!  Makes me miss playing though...I did love the game and played it for 13 years of my life- I still love the game!  Sometimes I wish I was still playing but I know if I were I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now- training for the Olympics in bobsled- which I love.  Maybe in the future there will be a way to do both, we'll see, but for now I'm a relegated to the duties of a fan...in which case I say GO GATORS!!!!  :)

New Training Cycle!

My coach, Dan Pfaff, writes my running and lifting and plans each part of my training weekly.  Every 3 weeks, I start a new training cycle, adding some things, changing some things, and if I'm lucky- taking out some things.  I just started my second training cycle with Dan- which still includes 2-a-days (running in the morning and lifting in the afternoon) every day but Thursday (just running Thursday morning) and Sunday is an active rest day.  My last cycle was 2-a-days every day, which as you can imagine, can get very exhausting!   Not only do some of the exercises change, but also the intensity and volume.  The training season is divided into several different cycles, the first of which- I'm currently on it- is General Prep- which prepares you for the more intense workouts to come.  These workouts contain a lot of conditioning type exercises, such as up-backs (which I have tomorrow- Yikes!) where you run 70m at about 80% intensity and then turn right around and run back- sounds a lot easier than it is trust!  The workouts I have are very challenging and kicking my butt- just what I need.  Just finished my second day on my new training cycle and I'm exhausted!  Time to rest up for more work in the morning!