Headfirst Down that Slippery Slope

OH MY GOD! WHAT THE HELL DID I GET MYSELF INTO?!?!?!!!

That's your thought (or at least mine) about halfway down the track on your first skeleton run. There was a solid five-second span during that first run where I just screamed every curse word I knew, and some I didn't, and swore to myself that I would quit this sport as soon as I hit the bottom. However, that was really only a five second span, and even though we only went on half the track, the run lasted about 52 seconds. The other 47 some-odd seconds consisted of me having the biggest adrenaline rush of my life and trying to remember the 9,317 instructions they gave us before we went down.

The one thing above everything else that we have to remember is that we have to relax. This is completely counter-intuitive considering when you do the full run, you have to have a really explosive start to compete in the event. However, as soon as you finish that push start, you have to make your body as close to jello as possible so you can protect yourself. If we tense up, when we hit the walls, our bodies will just ricochet off of them and into the opposite wall. If we are "loose as a goose," then we'll hit the wall, absorb it the impact, and go straight again. Hitting the wall is an inevitability. Everyone does it, there's no such thing as a clean run where you don't hit the wall. So, you really do have to focus on being as relaxed as possible. When your chin, which is an inch off the ice, drags along the ice on hard turns, just relax. When your helmet fogs up or your contacts fall out and you can't see anything, just relax. When you feel your track shoes ripping apart from dragging along the ice, just relax. When you hit a wall so hard, it feels like someone hit your shoulder with a sledgehammer, then poured gasoline on said shoulder and lit it on fire...hey man, just relax. It is most definitely one of the hardest things I've ever tried to do.

They tell you that on your first run, you really don't think of much and the whole memory seems like a blur. Yep, they nailed that one right on the head. I really only remember getting pushed off, hitting the wall 10 feet into my run (that was not my fault but my coach who pushed me...it really calmed my nerves when I hit a wall that early), and then I remember my screams of terror, this one odd straightaway called the Chicane, and then the end. They then tell you that your second run is definitely scarier because you know what you're getting yourself into and you don't know why you're doing this stupid sport again. I have to say, though, that right before my second run I found myself in a serene calm. I was really at ease during my second run until the turn where I hit my shoulder. The third run was just a little bit smoother than the second one since I only had a glancing blow on my shoulder.

It's scary, no doubt about that, but it's also amazing and a once-in-a-lifetime thing to do. Every time I finish my run, I find myself glad that I made it, and then glad that I did it, in that order. I have a healthy and respectful fear of this sport, and I can't wait to do it again. Yesterday, we started from Start 4, which was halfway down the track. Today, we go from Start 3 which is apparently a lot steeper and faster. Friday we go from the start, Start 1, and from there we will reach speeds around 70 mph.

I did get a little personal victory yesterday with my run times. The first run we all did, basically every guy got a 52 or 53 something. I got a 52.25 and was the fastest out of all the guys. The girl, Rachelle, killed us when she clocked in at 51 and change. Steve, the head coach, said he predicted it because testosterone will kill you when you first start this sport, because it gets going and it tenses you up. The second run, I got a 51.20, all the other guys got in the 52's and 53's again, and Rachelle got a 50.90. The third and final run I clocked in at 51.05, the guys clocked in again at 52 or 53, and Rachelle got a 51.27. Granted, the coaches said that they're not necessarily looking for what we can do right away, but how we respond to instructions and coaching with our form during the run. So, I'm not looking too much into it, but it did help my confidence a little when I got a good score. I don't know if it will help me much after I butchered the athleticism test, but I do know it didn't hurt.

We are about to head out to the track to do some runs at Start 3. I'm very excited, to say the least. We have taken some pictures, but I don't even want to try and negotiate the picture uploading on this website until I get back home. More updates to come!