Oh the Adventures Keep Coming

Well Well Well.. where do I start?? I have not updated my blog since the end of last season, and I wanted to make sure everyone knows I am still alive!

A lot has happened since last March. First and foremost I am now engaged to my 4 year long boyfriend PAULIE JACKSON!!!  I can honestly say it came as a surprise. Paul actually proposed to me in New York where we were eating dinner with his parents and my dad. It was really sweet. I was so shocked that I didn’t really pay attention to what he said. I just pretty much freaked out! It is a great feeling and we are going to get married May 17^th 2014 here in Oxford MS.

This is right after he asked me... I was a little excited to say the least! 

After I had time to clean up a bit, I made him take a pic with me!

Describes us perfectly!!

The second thing that is going on is Paul and I bought a house!!! We are so excited about this. We are actually building it so we get to pick out everything and make it a dream home. We are hoping to stay here as long as we can!  Building a home is much more involved than we may have thought but it is great. The funniest part so far is when the builder (who is great by the way) walked me through the home as asked where I wanted outlets…ha I was like ummm where they normally go?!  The things you never think of!  But building is such a blessing that just kind of fell into our laps so we are so thankful to have this opportunity

 

Week 1 of our house

Week 2!

                                     

Week 3 (Current picture) With our Free 1/2  bath in the front

The third thing is TRAINING FOR SKELETON. This summers training went really well. I participated in our yearly combine and I had a personal best score as well as set new personal bests in my lifts! I have been balancing work and training pretty well the whole summer. I have been blessed to have great consistent clientele this summer, so I was able to save more this summer than last for the season.  

CLEAN MAX- This is my First "PR" the guy filming did not get the whole Clean but thats ok. 

This is 91kilos (200lbs)

CLEAN MAX - Since I didn't get the whole clean on film I figured I would go for another PR.. I GOT IT!!

95kilos (209 lbs) 

This is our 3 rep max on Squats. 

This is 122. 5 Kilos (270 lbs)

The Forth thing is WAITING…I waited and waited this summer for the official invite to USA Team Trials…and after much anticipation I got the GREAT news that I am officially invited to participate in the 2013/14 US Team Trials that will determine the top contenders for the Olympic Team. I cannot tell you how excited I was to receive the invite since it is what I worked the last 3 years for! So thank you to all your support and thank God for making this a possibility.

Here is how the selection process for the Olympics works. We have team trials and the World Cup team is named (top 2 athletes) . There are 8 races before the Olympics in February. It is the job of the top 2 athletes to keep their spots the whole year, because the athletes under them are racing in circuits as well.  The coaches will then make the decision in January who will be named to the 2014 Olympic Team. Basically if you are the top 2 female athletes you will be named to the team.

I leave October 6 to go back up to Lake Placid. We have 4 races (2 in Lake Placid and 2 in Park City) and by the end of the month the teams will be named. I will make sure to keep everyone updated! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Here is a little feature one of my Clients did on me for her class about me doing skeleton. Check out the skeleton video on this link!

Park City Adventures

This month I have been staying in Park City.  It has been a pretty good stay. I originally came out here early to practice for our Western Regional race, If you finish 1^st at regional’s you get an automatic bid to Olympic Trials in October.  During the weeks before Regional’s I was training really well and I went into the race very confident and ready to win. The ice was great during training BUT THEN race day comes and what else comes with it??? A SNOW STORM!  For those who do not know SNOW MAKES THE ICE SLOOOWWW! The other thing that it makes slow is the start. In Park City your start time is pretty critical to getting a fast down time. Being that it was snowing pretty hard every minute that goes by the track gets slower and slower. I unfortunately was the last person to go which means for the first run I had the slowest ice. I had a pretty good run and thought I was in 1^st and when I looked at the time I was shocked it wasn’t what I thought it would be. I asked what my start time was and it was literally .6 seconds slower than what I push in practice due to the significant amount of snow on the ramp.  .6 seconds in EONS in my sport. My second run felt like the best run I have had yet and the time still did not reflect what I thought it would be. I ended up in 4^th place, which I was totally bummed about. I was not prepared for it, but that’s life.  Since I did not win I now have to depend on a coaches discretions spot to get into Olympic Trials.

As for my next adventure I am headed back up to Lake Placid to finish out the season with US Nationals. We get 4 runs on the track before we have a 4 heat race. So I have to adapt to the track FAST to compete with everyone who has been there training for weeks. I am excited for the race and ready to focus. There is an added bonus to that race though, my boyfriend and his family are going to come watch. It is always nice to see familiar faces and since I haven’t seen Paul for about 10 weeks I am ready to see him.

I will be returning home to Oxford Mississippi on March 15^th to start my summer training and get ready for next season. I will be going back to Snap to personal train so if you wanted to train with me this summer let me know and we will set it up so we can get you closer to your own goals. I look forward to seeing all my friends in Oxford!

3 COOL THINGS I HAVE DONE THIS LAST MONTH!

1. Seeing Shaun White on the half pipe. Needless to say he is a beast!

2.  I got to push a bobsled for the first time. It was not as bad as I thought it would be, but I definitely picked the right sport. It is fun to push the sled, It is not fun to sit in the back.

3.I Skeleton Surfed, We had a snowstorm come in and the track was extremely slow so I decided to surf down the start ramp

Whistler and On

WELL I LIVED!!!!

I slid on what is considered to be one of the WORLDS toughest tracks!!  WHISTLER!!! 

Sliding Whistler is the definition of an adrenaline RUSH!

Check out my teammate Laurie Bausch's Run in Whistler. It's a "helmet camera" so is puts into perspective how fast the track is. AND don't be fooled by the camera angle. We definitely do not see that far in front of us. We see about 6 feet at a time!
Laurie's Run on Whistler Track (click on link to see her run)

The track is definitely the hardest and fastest track I have slid yet.  I hit 82 MPH there. I have only slid on 4 tracks but after this week my coach said, THERE IS NO FEARING ANY TRACK NOW THAT YOU HAVE SLID WHISTLER.

Whistler was home of the 2010 Olympics, This is the track many of the sliders I am competing with  were watching on TV last Olympics and saying, man I think I can do that. Now we are literally sliding the track where our dreams first started.  Gives me chills.  A lesson to take there is you NEVER know what you will be doing in 3 years. Or at least if you are me and are running all over the place before “real life” sets in.

What did I take from Whistler?

Besides bruised ribs and an extra 3 inches of swelling on my hip ?

I learned that you have to ALWAYS be focused. There is no room for error on this track. If you miss a steer there YOU PAY FOR IT!  If you come off a curve wrong there, YOU FLY OFF! I wish I had all the video of us, it is probably pretty entertaining, Although I have been unable to sleep on my left side due to "bumping into walls."

This was one of the best experiences of my life! I also believe I am a better slider because of it as well. I cannot wait to get back on tracks I drive well and create as much speed as possible! 

The good video I have of the track would not transfer onto my computer consequently I only have video from the FIRST RUN when we were not even going from the top. We still hit 79 mph starting from curve 3. WHICH IS NUTS! But here is a quick clip from the day. I am probably only going 45-50mph here (curve 6) 

Here are some of the pictures of Whistler and the Olympic Village there!

Olympic Rings in the Whistler Village

Rings at night! Super COOL!

WE ALL LIVED!! This was after our first runs from the top! All in one piece!

View from the track. You can see the track to the left

Another view at night in the village! You can see some of the ski slopes

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

The team trying to stay warm with some Starbucks

I have been training in Lake Placid this month. It is always great to get back to familiarity. It’s been a good month of sliding and it has been COLD! We actually had 2 days cancelled this week because it was too cold which is ironic since we practice on ice. 

Check out the video below to see how cold it got! A little Science experiment for you!

I am going out to Park City tomorrow. I have a regional race (USA Athletes only) on Feb 9th there! A win guarantees a spot in next years Olympic/ Team trials. Needless to say I am preparing for that race in order to perform my best. Thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and encouragement! 

Team Trials and On!

So Let’s try and catch you up to my sliding life!

We had team trials last month. I had some ups and some downs, but the good thing is I was chosen to race on the Americas Cup circuit. This year is definitely a different year in terms of our racing tactics across all the circuits. Let me try and explain this as simply as I can. In theory there are 6 spots for TEAM USA  (3 for World Cup and 3 for Intercontinental Cup) The top 3 sleds go to the Olympics. But there are only 4 Nations in the World that are allotted 3 spots on each circuit, and how you perform on the circuits deciphers if you get 1, 2, or 3 sleds. Well the US women’s team lost 2 sleds last season. Now we have to gain those sleds back before the Olympics so we are able to show up with full quota, Because of this they have shifted people all around in order to give us our best shot to get our sleds back. This means we have to split A LOT of races this year and move athletes all around. Many of the athletes will not get every race. Though this may not be fun at this moment it is crucial in earning our sleds back.

Park City Training- Curves 10-11

Park City Training - Curves 4 to 5

I was awarded a race in Calgary a couple weeks ago. Now for those who do not know, this is where I BUSTED my nose last year and that was pretty bloody to say the least. BUT this year I would have to say I BEAT the track instead of it beating me!!

My Helmet LAST YEAR after busting my face in Calgary

My Old Helmet and my NEW SHINY AWESOME HELMET

Old Helmet..BOOOOO

NEW HELMET! YEAAHHHHHH!!
THANKS SOOOO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED ME TO BUY THIS HELMET!!!!!!!!
It really DOES make a difference!!!

The race had sliders from Russia, Spain, Japan, Korea, Canada, Australia, and some other countries. In regards to the race I place 14^th. Usually I wouldn’t be happy with that, BUT this race was extremely competitive.  There were World Cup sliders in the race as well as ICC sliders. And since it was Canada’s home track, those girls had some INCREDIBLE times. So I can’t really complain. I had 2 BIG PR’s on race day with a start PR as well.  One of my coaches say “Everything is practice until an Olympic Year anyway.”

Calgary - Curves 4-5

Calgary- Curves 8-9-10

As of my next adventure, I AM GOING UP TO WHISTLER FOR TRAINING!  Why am I so excited you ask? Well Whistler was home to the last Olympics. It’s considered one of the most difficult tracks in the world!! It combines extremely HIGH speeds (80-90 miles an hour) with technically difficult driving. Normally you don’t combine both these elements on a track, BUT WHISTLER DOES!  What does this mean for me?? Well I will probably have some pretty awesome pictures of bruises to post (hopefully that’s it). I can’t wait to slide the track, I feel if I conquer that track, then there isn’t much to fear on other tracks.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving  with their friends and family!!

I have been meaning to update my blog for the last month, We just had team trials and I have been running around like a crazy person. I am going to send a blog about the results in the next couple days but I wanted to send out this one first. It is a quick overview on some of the cool things that were happening over at the training center over the last month.

We have some new Bobsled pushers in this year . We have 3 track and field athletes here. 1.Hyleas Fountain (Silver medalist from Beijing Olympics in the Heptatholon)  2. Tiana Madison ( 4th in London 100m, and a part of the GOLD MEDAL world record 4x100m relay in London) 3. Lolo Jones (everyone knows who she is)
It's pretty amazing to be literally training with the best in the WORLD. I watch them run (like a creeper) and I am AMAZED on their efficiency. It's beautiful to watch.  They are so fast!!
  There is another new bobsled recruit in, Aja,  she is a 5 time All American Shot Putter. She is a MONSTER. She won push champs, she cleaned 100 kilos like it was a toy, and squatted 130 kilos 3x's like she was just warming up. She's not the only one to do that either.  PRETTY IMPRESSIVE! These girls are monsters. USA Bobsled is going to KILL people at the start this year. 

I know that this post has mainly been about bobsled but thats ok, because now I am going to post a bunch of bobsled videos that are fun to watch! I have more but they all wouldn't upload!

                                          

Aja Broad Jumping 3.10 meters

Elana Squatting 130kilos (286lbs) 3x

Steve #1 Mens Bobsled Pusher (World Push Champion) @ Push Champs

Hyleas Sprinting 45 meters

                                       

                                         
                                                          Aja Pushing @ Push Champs

Combine and National Push Champs 2012

I got up to Lake Placid On September 16th and I have been staying at the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center. It's always a blessing to stay here because food and housing is free. GOTTA LOVE THAT! 

Since I have been here I have participated in my yearly combine that I must take in order to meet one of the qualifications for housing at Lake Placid. It is a test of 8 events ( 15m sprint, 30m sprint, 45m sprint, 30m fly, broad jump, granny toss shot put, 3 rep max squat, 1 rep max clean) with a possible score of 800. The minimum score you can get is 650. This year I had a personal best score of 734. I am pretty happy with that since it is in the top 5 scores this year on the female side. I wanted to run .04 faster on my sprints, but I did run faster than last year so thats all I can ask for.  I have been battling a back problem so this year in the weight room I did not try and max out like I had in previous years. I stuck with a weight I knew I could hit without the possibility of aggravating my back. Although I did let ego get in the way and I thought I would try and Power Clean my life goal (90 kilos/ 198lbs) I did not want to full clean it so I could save my legs for Push Champs, but I figured ehh what the heck I'll try and power clean it. I missed...dangit...

82.5 Kilos power clean (182 lbs) @ Combine

90kilo (198lbs) Power Clean Attempt (sort of turned into a full clean thing) @ Combine

107.5 kilo squat for 3 reps (237 lbs) @ Combine 

Today we had US Skeleton Push Championships. We push on a push track that  reminds me of a roller coaster. The sensation is a bit different than pushing on ice but it gives a good idea who is pushing the fastest. This year I took 6th place out of 17 girls. I set 2 Personal Records on the push track so I can't really ask for too much more. I am excited to work on the track for 2 more weeks before we start training on ice for National Team Trials. I think by that time I should be back in the swing of things with my push because it is feeling a bit rusty

                                        One of my practice pushes from this week of training

For the next 2 weeks I will be living at a church in town due to the fact bobsled athletes are coming in for 2 weeks to do their push championships and a combine so they will be taking up much of the bed space in the Olympic Training Center which limits housing for the rest of us. I am just excited that the church is housing us for free. There will be about 6 Skeleton athletes that will be staying there. I am very thankful for that. 

I am excited and blessed to be up here right now. I cannot wait for team trials and to see what this season has in store for me. I know I worked as hard as I could this summer to get better so I am ready for whatever is thrown my way. I truly appreciate all the support, I can't thank everyone enough!!!

LIVE to WORK

Hey All

Well I first need to start off by professing how bad I have been this summer at updating my blog for that I say sorry to some and your welcome to others. Hopefully most take the apology!

SO what have I been doing the last couple months.. I bet you can’t guess!!!

I have been training, working, and well…training  more. I bet that takes many of you by surprise!

 Work has been going great. God really made the switch between jobs workout for the better x 10!  My Clientele this summer has been so great and consistent. Those that work in the personal training business know that consistency is hard to come by. But my schedule works out perfect with my own training and I truly enjoy working with every client I train.

My own training has been going well… There are always bumps and bruises you have to fight through but God willing I will be going up this season pretty healthy. Right now I am lifting 4x a week, sprinting & plyometrics 3x a week, and doing  strides &  extra core work 2x a week. Sunday is my off day. I am excited for the combine to see if I have gotten faster this summer.  I would like to run .07 seconds faster on my sprints at this years combine and I definitely believe it is possible.

                                        

                                       Here is a couple videos of training

Sled Pulls

Front Squats 176lbs x 5 reps (about 6 weeks ago)

Using my makeshift land sled (my dad made)  to get some push training in 

I have had some big fluctuations in weight this summer, which for me is not normal. For Skeleton I ideally want to weigh as much as I can without losing speed so I am fine with putting on weight.  At one point this summer, I weighed in at the lowest I have weighed in 11+ years (147lbs) due to a Kidney infection. I looked fragile and gross. Not a good look for me! It took about 3 months and A LOT of protein shakes to get the weight back and a bit more! I am happy to say I am consistently weighing around 162 and am ready for the season at that weight.

My weigh in when I was sick! WAY too low for me..

I am headed up to Lake Placid on next Sunday, which maybe the longest travel day in the history of man… On that Saturday Ole Miss plays Texas and game time is at 8:30 pm. Which means we will not get home till 2am. My flight leaves at 6:40 out of Memphis which means I will take an hour taxi ride at 4am to Memphis land in Albany at 2pm after 2 layovers, wait 5 hours for a shuttle, then drive 2 hours to Lake Placid and arrive around 10pm. CAN’T Wait!!! This is why I am going a week earlier than last year because took the combine after a day of travel day like that.. my body was not having that!

In other news, Paulie and I are doing great. I am really excited for him because they won the first 2
games of the season at Ole Miss. The coaches and athletes are working their butts off to make the team successful so I am pumped for them.

Ole Miss Vs UTEP

Paulie and me after the game!

Thanks for reading!! Let me know how You are doing! I love updates!

Have a great one!!