Subject to change

It's our third evening here and we've yet to slide. I bet you're surprised but there is so much to do before we and our sleds are ready to take to the ice. In the two days we've had so far a big learning point is that in skeleton everything is 'subject to change'. Here's what we have been doing so far...

First up, we've have been getting very very well looked after. The hotel and the staff are incredible - nothing is too much to ask. The rooms, food and service is some of the best I've experienced. Certainly on a training camp. I think it can only go downhill from here though.

The view from the window of the hotel - picture credit to Ellie Furneaux

So we've been eating well. Good for me as apparently it would be good if I can get up to 'around' 74 kg! Ahh! I also took a trip out to the track yesterday with Woody our coach and Carrie our team manager to check on our track bookings. Here is where we hit the first speed bump ... there is an Europa Cup competition on next week as well as para bobsleigh and skeleton. Plus something call Wok sliding (unless Woody is pulling my leg?!). It all equates to a BUSY track. And we are bottom of the priority list. So our training sessions are all 'subject to change'. Track walks (when you walk down the actual ice track) are also tentative as the forecast is snow and the track is predominantly uncovered. Two things we cannot control - the track schedule and the weather. All adds to the challenge of the sport (because it isn't challenging enough apparently).

Then came Sled Friday as it shall now be known. A whole day spent in the sled room. Since Lillehammer some of our sleds have been used by different sliders (namely the boys). Naughty Zak (sorry Zak) truly wrecked my saddle bolts - rounding them off so that they couldn't be removed normally! So Woody to the rescue he drills and basically burns away (singing some of my padding in the process) the bolts and my saddle is removable once more :) Now for weekly maintenance which involves greasing the parts where the runner attaches (remove the runner first) and checking all the nuts and bolts that holds the lot together. Then I need to put it back together and attach my saddle in my settings bolt it in and check it. It's not right. It's not tight enough and I need to cut away the padding and shorten the saddle. Ball ache but necessary. Then comes the taping. When you insert the padding around the steel and cover the whole lot in tape - so much taping but Patrick the Europa Cup GB coach is a master and taught us how to tape faster and neater (saviour). So you can see there's a lot of sled mechanics and general fussing to contend with. And I am not one for tools and mechanics, but it is very necessary for safety and performance. Next onto 'balance points' and 'footprints'. Basically checking your position on the sled and individualising it. I could see the light....

Oh no. I'd only gone and put my runners back in the wrong way :( devastated. It's 15 min to dinner and I want dinner! Ha! But Ellie helped my strip back the sled (all that time taping) and switch the runners. To be honest they fitted a lot better that way! Then we retape and head to dinner which is steak and JP with sour cream sauce mmmm. 

Marcus, Maddie and Tim doing sled work

Today has been more about the track. We are sliding on the Igls track which I have been told numerous times is much easier/safer/better on your body than Lillehammer. Famous last words eh? To be honest after walking up and down the outside of the track (our track walk was cancelled because of the snow) it does seem less aggressive than Lillehammer. It does have a Kreisel (a corner that is greater than 270 degrees) though which looks incredible. It also has a high speed labyrinth (sequence of short corners) which should be exciting. We have also been warned that there is a chance of flipping on your sled out of 9 - so an update on that to come! We are now ready to slide. Each of us has a plan that we started to form on the way down the track (how and when to steer/not to steer). This was further reinforced by a video analysis session this evening. So it is now a case of getting down the track and working out what is working, what is not and where to tweak/add to that plan. It is hard to visualise when you haven't felt the track but we will go through the track in our minds a lot between now and 2:30 pm tomorrow. That way we should be able to execute the plans we have made even at the high speeds we will be moving. 

Earlier in the day we all learnt the very basics of runner maintenance. Sliding damages the runners - scratches, dents etc. and we need them smooth so out comes the sandpaper and you sand them down. I learnt all about different grades of paper today - high is fine, low is coarse and the best technique to polish! Get your whole body into it - clean with acetone, whack the paper to remove shavings. It's a completely different world. 

Polishing 'David's runners'

A morning's work

This evening we have packed our bags, done some mobility, massage and core, eaten a delicious dinner (cake included), and most excitingly tried on race suits! They are not our race suits just some older ones so it is safe to say they are not the best fitting! But it gave us some laughs in our rooms this evening :) they certainly are not the most flattering and we all have the fear of having see though bottoms but I guess that will be the least of our worries when we are on the starting block about to push off (that's right from the top, walking/running first run). 

It's here. It's real. But I am really looking forward to it - can't wait to get on that track.