Tomorrow and Friday I will take to the ice in the first two international competitions of my career and life. I don't think that the thought has fully sunk in just yet, honestly. I have waited, hoped, my entire life for tomorrow. In one sense, it is in fact the culmination of a journey I began when I first saw Skeleton in my apartment my senior year of college and vowed to myself to compete internationally one day. And although the circumstances of my fulfillment of this vow were unforeseen, the goal stands poised to be achieved none the less. To see this day that I have so long dreamed for become a reality is something so overwhelming that I don't think I am even capable of appreciating it in a manner comparable to my anticipation. In that sense then, I am overjoyed even as my jubilance lacks the fervor of my aspiration.
In another sense though, tomorrow will only mark the beginning. If before I felt silly to dream about one day competing internationally, my goals have now only become loftier. My road to the Olympic games begins right now. And if I am unable to appreciate the gravity of tomorrow to past goals, the temerity of my imagination certainly falls short of grasping its meaning for my new one. The dye, so to speak, is cast tomorrow. I doubt that I would ever be able to turn back now. Once you get a taste of the dream, I imagine that it is hard to let go.
Am I nervous? Honestly I'm really not. For the first time in my life I am going into a competition without really expecting much from myself. I'll lay it out there right now that I am not going to get a medal, much less win, either of these competitions. I'm OK with that. The point of them, of this whole season really, is to get some experience and develop my craft. I don't want you to confuse my realism for fatalism. Coming into this season, I have been sliding for 4 seasons and this is my fifth. That sounds like a lot, except when you take into consideration that my first season I got one week on the ice, my second season I got 3 weeks on the ice, my third season 4 weeks, and last year about 8 weeks. This year is only 2 weeks old itself. This is why when people ask me how long I have been sliding my reply is, "Year 5, week 18." Add onto the fact that we get an average of 3 runs per day and 5 days per week and I have taken approximately 270 runs from the top. 270 repetitions is not a lot of practice. When I play poker online I play 2,000 hands in an hour, a baseball player probably takes more than 270 practice swings a day, someone studying for a big exam does way more than 270 practice questions in anticipation.
Once you realize that, it is easy to see why I'm not expecting too much from myself. I'm still learning, and while I don't want to come in DFL (Dead Fucking Last) either, I'm not going to get all bent out of shape for not winning anything, or even for not coming close to winning anything. For now, it is just enough to be here and be competing. The rest will come with patience and hard work. I just need to keep learning and improving with every day.
So this whole week has seen me preparing for my first race. You would be surprised to know how much preparation goes into a race from an equipment standpoint. Yesterday I had to get my sled "FIBT (The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation) Certified" as well as my runners (blades) for the competition. What this means is that a jury inspects my equipment and makes sure that it is in conformity with the allowed technical specifications for race equipment. I always tell people that Skeleton is a lot like Formula 1. A great driver is key to winning a race, but so is a great car. Put Felippe Massa in a Ferrari against anyone else in a Ferrari and he'll win. Put Felippe Massa in a Jeep against anyone driving a Ferrari, and he will lose. You have to have the firepower behind you. Skeleton is no different.
I plan on writing an equipment post at some point, but sufficed to say for right now that things like the way your runners are cut, the material your sled is made out of, the way the padding is done on the sled -- all of these things affect your performance on the ice. As a result, rules are promulgated by the FIBT, which is in charge of all competitions, that all equipment must conform to. So yesterday I went to get my sled and runners certified. OF COURSE this was not without incident.
The biggest problem I had was with the FIBT stamps on my runners (which serve to prove the steel used to forge them is legal). There are two types of stamps: light and dark, and they need to go in a "dark - light - dark" pattern on the runner. Because my set is used, old, and not taken care of properly the "dark" ones had been sanded down so that they looked like "light" ones. This caused a problem. I was not amused.
Those of you who know me well know that this is the type of thing that I have ZERO patience for. I was joking as they were deliberating about whether to allow them into the competition that I was trying to cheat so that I could win the shot of Jack and ten bucks that goes to the winner.
I mean honestly, the runners had the stamp of certification on them from last season! I get that they are just doing their jobs and enforcing the rules so everyone is competing fairly - I really do. The stamps were obviously on the steel though and the set had been certified before. This isn't the World Cup or the Olympics. Anyway, they ultimately decided to let me through with a warning, which I was thankful for. This creates other problems for me in the future, but we can talk about that another time. The sled got through just fine, I just needed to add a little bit of tape on a few spots.
Amen.
The other part of training is of course physical. I have been trying to eat right, get sleep, and drink more water than I usually do. Training at the track goes on at night, starting at 6:30pm Utah time. You get two runs each night for the three days leading up to the competition. It's good to play around with different things each time and try to get a feel for what you think is going to be the fastest on race day. Different driving lines, different driving styles, different equipment settings -- this is the time you have to work on all of these things. It's important to make the most of your time, and to get to know the track a little bit better each and every time. So every run I take, I'm trying to tinker and improve and find the best arrangement for everything for myself that makes me go the fastest.
This post is getting long so I'm going to cut it short here, but I just wanted to share this antic-dote with you -- when I got to the track to train on Monday it was snowing like crazy with the wind whipping around everywhere. What was the music of choice by the track workers to put out over the PA system as they were cleaning the ice? Yep, you guessed it, Bob Marley. Sick. The laugh I got from this was enough to warm you even on the coldest night in your underwear at the top of a mountain.
Nothing like a little Jamaican stoner music before going sledding on a freezing, snowy, raw night in Park City, Utah.
Gotta love this sport.
I'll have one more post before the competition tomorrow! Stay tuned! Wish me luck!
See you at the bottom of the hill-
Bradley
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