Wipeout...

It's hard to believe that I have been in Lake Placid, NY for almost two weeks now. I feel like a college kid again; living in the dorms and spending hours hanging out in the cafeteria joking with freinds. However, the best part is that this is not college. This is the Olympic Training Center and I don't go to class, I bobsled!

In my last post I said that Gods timing is perfect. That has most definitly been proven true over the past week! Due to a short amount of bobsled drivers and a whole lot of brakemen, I have only taken two runs from the top of the mountain this season. Understanding the circumstances I knew I had to make every opportunity count, and glory to God, somehow I did. After the first two weeks of training, I currently have the second fastest start times out of all the U.S. Women this season. I have to give all the credit to God, becase none of this has been by my own ability. Plus, there is still alot of work to be done. I'm just trying to take this day by day, and enjoy every moment.

Wednesday night was pretty wild. I was taking a run with one of the best bobsledders in the world, Elana Meyers. In the first three curves I thought things were going as smooth as a bobsled run can go. Then all of a sudden I realized my head was scraping along the ice. Next the sled was completely upside down, then  we were on our side again and I was just struggling just to try and get back in the sled. Apparently this went on for almost a minute and for about 3/4 of a mile, down a mountain, on ice, at very high speeds, and through lots of gravitaional pressures. It was insane. Elana did a great job of repoisitoning herself so that she could turn around and hold me in the sled. Eventually the sled came to a stop the emergency workers immediately pulled us out and began to make sure we were okay. I just had to lay on the ice for a second and asked, "what was my start time?". All I can say is that this epic crash was definitely worth the start time.

Glory to God we both survived without any major injuries. No concussions, no broken bones, only a burn on my left shoulder. That's right, a burn, the friction of the speed of the ice along my shoulder actually melted my skin. Don't worry folks, the medical staff has been taking great care of it. And after all, its just a part of a day in the life of a bobsledder.




The burn on my left shoulder.




Here is a video from the view of a German bobsled pilot on our track here in Lake Placid. As a brakeman, I don't get to see this view, however Wednesday night I got to experience it.