Thanksgiving and such...

Hey Everyone!
I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was awesome and full of GREAT food. Mine was both. I was able to get a little break and head down to Mississippi for the week. Paulie's (my boyfriend) family came down, and I was able to enjoy a home cooked meal that I did not have to prepare. IT WAS AWESOME!!!

I was planning on staying for 2 weeks in MS, but I was asked to come up a week early and forerun a race. It's when you slide before the race to test all the timing eyes. But it is great because then I get practice time. Since there is a race this week there is no open sliding times for practice , so if you were up there and not forerunning then you do not get to slide at all. I am excited to get back on the ice!!!!!

About my plans next half. We are still trying to iron out logistics, but we will be up in Park City Jan 4- Feb 26. But we go to Calgary for 2 weeks in the 3rd week in January. I have definitely been praying about how I am going to finance this trip, and God has been so awesome. I just laid it out there to God and asked for his help. and this week I had 2 people out of the blue sponsor me totaling $150. It was really cool how God works, I feel like if I am faithful with my finances, he is faithful with his.(That's the life lesson of today's blog) A

Since I wasn't sliding this last week. I do not have any sliding pictures. Instead I will just load some Paulie's football game. Congrats to him by the way. Southern Miss is going to the Conference Championship WAHOO!

Paulie's sisters. Vanessa and Nicole!!

Vanessa, Mary (Paul's mom) and Nicole

Paulie doin his thang! ( I can never get a good coaching picture)

Skeleton Boo Boo's

Some people think this sport is SUPER dangerous, but I beg to differ. Is it super safe? No, not at all,  ha, 
Yes we do get boo boo's every so often,  yes they can hurt a lot, and YES they are good stories after. So that is what I am deciding to share. These are some photos and video of bumps, bruises, and sometime more that my teammates and I have suffered.

This is Tyler, he actually did this 2 days ago. He flipped and obviously got ice burn but totally tore a bunch of his skin off his shoulder. That's not gunna feel good in the shower.

Austin did his first run on another track and, lets just say the track wasn't that excited to meet him.

                                     This is a video of Corinne and the pics below are the result

the next 3 pics are Corrine and she crashed in the Previous video. These pics do not do ANY justice to how bad she was bruised. She got some good ice burn on her legs

Corrine's Ice burn, but this was taken about 3 days after so it was MUCH worse

This was actually recieved during push Championships. He hit his ankle on the push track sled, and well Lets just say he did not come out victorious

These were his shoes he was wearing on the push track, they were all white, but hey red is a pretty good color for the shoes

This is a bruise/ ice burn I got from fliiping in the previous video.

Rachelle was pushing her sled and realized she left her runner guards on and tried to stop the sled and when she stopped it pulled her arm and dislocated her shoulder, this is her trying to pop her should back in. Shes a BEAST

I don't know why this grosses me out so much but these are Sams wrist and they look like I can see the depths of her soul from the holes.

 This is a painful load I had last year ..Lets just say I might have ruined my chances  for children in the future.

Same Ol' Thang!

Well Hello All!!
Hope everyone is doing GREAT!
Well I have not had much happen since I last updated my blog. I have been practicing everyday and working out. What a life huh! I feel like I am back in college, minus the whole homework thing.
My workouts are much harder now. I am focusing on Next years team trials, so this first block of training is back to higher volume work, but its still heavy.
My roommate and I decided to start a bicep contest. Who can have the biggest percentage gain in size by Dec 9. For those who do not know, isolating your biceps in performance training is completely irrelevant, which makes it funny!  We have luge athletes, bobsled athletes, skeleton athletes, and best of all one of my coaches in the competition. I am pretty PUMPED (no pun intended) for the outcome of this contest, but we have to come up with an AWESOME prize. Stay tuned because I will def let you know the outcome of this important contest. This might determine my future in the sport! haha!

On a different note there is about 8-10 athletes here that are trying to plan our trip in January. Here is what we are thinking. We are going to Park City Utah and sliding that track for 4-5 weeks, then possibly renting an RV and driving it to Calgary, Canada for about 2 weeks and then driving to Vancouver to slide for 1 week. Vancouver is one of the hardest tracks in the world so I am sure 1 week on that track will be enough to take a beating.
This may make us best friends or worst enemies since we would share 1 RV for 3 weeks with 8-10 people. But you gotta do what you gotta do to get better .
These plans would change if we could find inexpensive housing in Calgary and Vancouver. This is where YOU could help. If anyone has ANY contacts in Park City/Salt Lake, Calgary , or Vancouver that would be interested in housing some really cool US Skeleton athletes that would be tremendous. Just e-mail me or call me with the info KristinaKHull@gmail.com or 719-651-3124.

Quick Update! I am going to be back in Mississippi for Thanksgiving. I will be there November 19th for 1 or two weeks, I am excited to see everyone!

I know everyone likes videos much more that reading, so here are a couple videos and pics of sliding the last couple weeks.

This is a video of me sliding Curve 10 (Shady) in Lake Placid. This is the tallest curve on the track. The first time I walked down the track I saw this curve and I said..."Heck NO I am NOT doing this sport." and now its one of my fav curves

 

Here are a few pics from the start the other day.

Team Trial Results and Plans

Hey All!

Team Trials are over... I can finally breath... My first USA Team Trials. Ever... I keep pinching myself thinking I just participated in US Team Trials for a sport. I am living at the Olympic Training Center... I am seriously living out my dreams right now. I forget this sometimes because I get wrapped up in everything else, but I am so blessed right now. As for my results in the races, I did not finish how I had hoped. The Womens' field is pretty close after the first few spots, so since I definatley did not slide the way I wanted to I got beat.  But I am trying to take the right perspective out of it. I am pissed at myself
 for not showing up when it counted, but I am literally just learning this sport so I am going to practice my booty off and work as hard as I can to make sure this DOES NOT happen again. I will be training in Lake Placid through December. I am going back to Mississippi on the 19th for 2 weeks because we will not have mush ice time until December 5.    In January is when the fun begins. A big group of us are going to go to Park City, Utah and slide that track for about a month and hopefully then go up to Calgary, Canada and slide for 2-3 weeks. If I can get enough financing to make this happen I know this will make me a much better slider since all track are completely different.  Park City and Calgary do not have training centers so we have to pay for housing, food, track fees, and transportation. I am going to have to become very creative to raise some Dollar Dollars... If any one has some great ideas for fundraisers let me know !!

Here are some pics of my sled. I was pretty proud of the cover. I designed it and Photoshop and had it printed on a yoga mat. It turned out just how I thought it would. I am a fan .

 

I am happy to say I have not gotten beat up on the track this year like I did EVERYDAY last year. I have only crushed my head once. I am pretty sure I was concussed since I was thinking how bad my next run was going to be, when in actuality that was my  last run. and then I had to plug my ears the truck ride up to the top because it was too loud for me to handle. But oh well Im alive.. I did get a small black eye as well. Don't ask how you get a black eye with a full face mask helmet. I don't know either, but I did.

 On another note

 This is a video of team trials for Bobsled. This is the 2010 Olympic Gold Medalist and his team pushing. THEY ARE BEAST MODE. 

Other than that I do not have much more. I appreciate everyone's kind words and support during team trials. I am excited to continue to learn this sport. Its tough, BUT AWESOME! I just have to keep remembering the goal is 2014.  I just need experience and runs on different tracks. God Bless!

Team Trials Races 1 and 2 (out of 4)

We had team trials the past two days. They were delayed twice due to weather. But  we ended up having pretty good ice. It was about 1 to 2 seconds slow, which is pretty good for this time of year.
But Here is the rundown.
I took 14th in race 1 and 11th by .01 seconds in race 2. My goal is to be in the top 10, which obviously did not happen. I was not happy with the way I slid. I know I have only been sliding for about 4 months total but it is still hard for me to not accomplish my goal. BUT I have 2 more races next week to break into the top 10 .
Here are the positives. I pushed (the start of the race) personal best times Race 1- 5.55 and Race 2-  5.52. This is AWESOME for me. Last year I was struggling to push 5.80. Another reason I am pumped about my push is, I thought 5.5's would be a career goal for me. Needless to say I am VERY happy about this. All my summer training has paid off. and to push in the 5.5's at Lake Placid is very competitive at all levels. I am going to have to change my career goal to a 5.3.

As I mentioned previously I am not too happy about the results thus far. BUT I know God has plans for me here. I work as hard as I can and humbling myself to encourage all the other girls. I have 2 more races to be where I want to be this year and I have to remember the end goal is 2014.
 I put on a shirt today and the saying on the back is " In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps"  Proverbs 16:9. and I thanked God for that little message and reminder because I am striving for a big goal and though I have laid out a logical way to get there, that may not be His way. He could have the same goal for me but a different way of getting there.

I will keep yall updated on next weeks races. PLEASE be praying for me in this journey. It's REALLY tough, but BEYOND INCREDIBLE..

Oh and shout out to my boyfriend Paulie. Southern Miss beat SMU the other day.(he is the Football Strength and Conditioning coach)  They are 6-1 now. BEAST MODE!!

Week 1 on the "Ice"

So here is how my schedule was supposed to be set up this week...
Get in On October 9th and Get on the ice on October 10th - Now.
Well This is What Happened this week...
Day 1- Monday
    I am Half peeing my pants getting ready to go down the track out of anxiety... BUT then I walked outside and was like hmmm... I think I am warm...No wait...I think I am really warm.. Then I came to realize I am Hot... The Temp was mid 70's .. And if you do the math  its hard to keep ice on a track when it is 70 degrees outside. So needless to say sliding was cancelled.
Day 2-Tuesday
  I was under the impression that sliding was canceled. And I was RIGHT! So this is what we did...Tanned...After we worked out of course

 Day 3 Wed-
It was Hot AGAIN.. So we didnt slide..By this time my nerves were settled and I was JUST PRAYING that the weather would allow us to slide!

Day 4 Thurs-
I awoke to tremendous news. WE GOT TO  SLIDE.  Before we slid we took bets to see what our first downtime would be and whoever guessed closest won. Well we were all guessing slow times since it was still about 55 degrees outside. (a fast time for girls is 57ish) So I guessed 1:03.97....The first sled went down and they slid 1:14. THATS SOOOO SLOW.  Well I lost that bet. But I didn't complain because I kind of wanted slower ice for the first day back. When I went down it really wasn't too scary. I was a very bumpy ride due to water build ups on the ice, but other than that I LOVED IT! and I was ready for the Next Day of sliding.
Day 5 Fri-
I awake to pouring rain.. Which means CANCELLED SLIDING.. AHHHHH I am getting anxious here, they told us we may slide tomorrow (not gunna happen) But I am hopeful.

    Our team trials is next Thursday and Friday. We will get 4 days total of practice before then. AWESOME ha. But what can you do? We are all in the same boat and I am just excited to start sliding again this year.


  I would really like to thank all of my sponsors That have contributed . I appreciate everyone! Yall are amazing and God totally has blessed me!!
  I am still fund raising. I have $648 left to pay off on  equipment I have bought and I need to raise money for travel expenses. If you  or anyone you know are interested in sponsoring me I would really appreciate it. Just get ahold of me and I will give you the details. KristinaKHull@gmail.com or 719-651-3124.

God Bless-
Kristina

Getting Ready to Go

6 Days until I get back on the ice.
My Feelings ..... Excited...Anxious...Nervous...READY!
I have not been on the ice since March, needless to say I am ready to get back. On October 10th everyone will be experiencing the same emotions.. I am not going to lie, I will probably feel like I am going 100mph the first few days. After that I am hoping the it will all slow down again.
It's funny because I am here in Mississippi where it is 80degrees and I am sure When I head back to Lake Placid I am going to be able to see my breath all day. Drastic change to say the least.
I am also in the process of packing my life into 1 bag. That's right you heard it.. A women , is going to pack for 4 months into 1 BAG. I would say i deserve a medal just for that.

I have been trying to replay the Lake Placid track over and over in my head, I also watch video to time up my driving. This is the video I use of the lake Placid track to make mental run throughs... This is a Helmet cam from an actual Skeleton Athlete. I know it seems like we don't see much from this view...and its TRUE. This view is actually a lot more than what we see because our face is dragging on the ice half the time, so we see about 6 feet in front of us.

I also found some video of a couple of my runs last year so you can kind of see how the sport works

I think that's enough video for now! haha I am excited about US Team Trials which will be occurring on October 20 as well October26. From there I will know if and what circuit I will be racing. The Olympic team is not chosen until the Olympic year so I still have time to develop as an athlete.

Last thing! I am still looking for sponsors for this year.It's 100% tax deductible!  If you are interested please let me know and I will give you detailed information. The quick version on how to donate is as follows.

Make check out to : Utah Skeleton and Bobsled Association
Send to:  Utah Skeleton and Bobsled Association
              P.O. Box 581131
              Salt Lake City, UT  84158
INCLUDE: Kristina Hull Skeleton Support on memo line

And a note with YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS

I appreciate the support and encouragement from everyone! I am blessed!

My Very First Blog!

Oh how momentous is this occasion! I am starting my very first blog. I am not much of a writter, but I am going to try to be somewhat consistent on updating this page.

So here is the newest info in my life!

I was in Lake Placid the last few weeks participating in a yearly combine I have to do and in National Push Championships.

     The combine is a general test to see our athletic potential for the sport. Most people do not start Skeleton until later on in life, so this test is a way to weed people out by testing Power, Strength, and Speed. To qualify for funding you must score a 600 out of 800.  This year I scores around 710.

Here is a break down of the US Skeleton combine. There is a 45 meter sprint and at every 15m there is a timing eye, so you get a 15m, 30m,45m, and a 30m fly time all in 1 sprint. I also have to broad jump, throw a shot put granny style, 1 rep max out on power cleans and 3 rep max out on squats. 

SO of course I love the combine. I think if there was a sport where you had to just compete in combines I would be all over it. I did pretty well in my combine, my sprints were a few hundredths slower this year, but I know I am faster. That sounds weird, but sprinting can vary day to day, and I know I did enough this summer where it transferred over.

You might be asking yourself... "What is National Push Championships?"  Since we do not have ice on the track, we push a sled that is on a track to see how fast our start time is. It is pretty relevant to how we will start on ice.  Here is my second push at Push Championships so you better understand how it works.

This is a side view from practice

 I took 5th at Push Champs (out of 14) and I was excited about that. I PR'd (Personal Record) on both of my starts so who can't be happy about that. I think all my hard work this summer , and my faith that God has me where I am at for a reason is going to lead to great things this season. I am going to work as hard as I can and focus only on myself and what God wants from me and what happens...happens. I am super excited for Team Trials on October 20 and October 26.  I move to Lake Placid for a few months on October 9th for a few months. I am ready to compete again. I know the first day back I may poo in my pants, but it will slow back down (i hope) haha. Thanks for the constant support. I am truly blessed to live the life I do.