Igls, Austria

Well we made it to Austria, after what felt like an incredibly long travel day. I couldn't sleep much on the place and was pretty exhausted the day we got here, good thing we weren't sliding right away.

We slid the past 2 days and its been going well. I'm glad we came here first because Igls is a simple track but hard to pick up speed on (its slow and short). I am competing in Junior World Championships here in about a month and any extra sliding time will be great. You can do very well on this track if you have a good push and find the little extra to give you more speed. We have a second coach to add to our team for second half, his name is Martin and his home track is Igls, I have a feeling I can learn a little something extra from here. I am excited hopefully I can win!

We leave for Italy on Sunday and start our first day of training Monday morning. I am excited but at the same time a little nervous, Torino is a very hard track and if you don't pay complete attention the whole time from what I've heard it could be bad. As long as I do my best that really is all that matters for the first time being there. 

It is so warm here right now, hopefully it gets a little cooler so sliding will be faster but who knows. I am ready to compete again it feels like we have had such a long break from competitions. After the race in Lake Placid I am ready for a real race. I really am loving being on world cup, everyone gets along well, and everyone seems to help with sliding and everything else. I realized today while walking the track that I have learned so much more this season then I would have thought. Its the little things, I have found its easier to talk with the coaches and my teammates about the tracks and lines without feeling like I am wrong. I know to ask more and analyze different aspects of the tracks. 

Well hope everyone is doing well back at home! Eat lots of chicken and drink some soda for me. I eat a lot of bread and butter, and a lot of odd meat.