Finally home, is really all I have to say. The flight back was good but it just always seems so long. I almost didn't want to leave though, I love being in Europe. I will just have to be excited again for next year.
It is really great to be home though. I think I will stay home for about a week or so then head back to Lake Placid and slide some more and workout. Mainly get a job since now I have to start finding a way to save up for next year.
Thats all for now, just wanted to tell everyone I was back in the US!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
9th Place in Konigssee ICC Race
This was the last stop for the ICC tour this season. I finished the race in 9th place. It wasn't exactly what I wanted but I am happy with how things ended.
I had the best first run I had had all week. Again in training I was having problems with bendaway the curvy straight away and kriesel. On the first run I got them both and had my best speed out of kriesel. Run two wasn't as good as I had wanted so I fell back into 9th place.
Its really easy to lose speed out of kriesel and that was what I did for the second run.
It was a good week though I learned about this track which is very important since it is on the schedule for next year as well.
It took me a while to get back into the swing of racing this year, so I am really excited that I finally feel like myself. I am racing well and I am glad to end my European half on a good note.
I had the best first run I had had all week. Again in training I was having problems with bendaway the curvy straight away and kriesel. On the first run I got them both and had my best speed out of kriesel. Run two wasn't as good as I had wanted so I fell back into 9th place.
Its really easy to lose speed out of kriesel and that was what I did for the second run.
It was a good week though I learned about this track which is very important since it is on the schedule for next year as well.
It took me a while to get back into the swing of racing this year, so I am really excited that I finally feel like myself. I am racing well and I am glad to end my European half on a good note.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Days off in Konigssee
We left Igls on Monday and headed for Konigssee, it was a short drive, didn't even take two hours. Its kind of hilarious though because the shortest way to get here is to drive from Austria into Germany back into Austria then finally back into Germany! Cracks me up! You see all the old border stops along the road when there wasn't the EU, I think its cool that they are still up but its almost like they are there to be used again. The drive was beautiful though just like all the others.
We unpacked and decided to hit the indoor water park for a few hours as a team. I think this is the first outing we all did together, and the lone Australian Lucy and her coach came along. It was so much fun just to get out. I wanted to go to the water park last year but no one else wanted to. I was glad to go this year, there was a huge slide that went outside the building and came back in, super fun! It was a good two hours to just let loose and hang out with everyone.
The only sad thing about the water park was that my what I thought was so wonderful water proof Timex watch turned out not to be so water proof. I noticed it was broken before we left the water park. I was really disappointed because I don't function that well without my watch, I love knowing what time it is. This is the second watch that I have had the same exact one because the last one did this as well. Not even a year ago. Although that one fell in the toilet and never dried out. Also very annoying. I'm calling Timex when I get home or at least writing an email. My hairbrush broke this trip too. Well it was actually broken before we left for Europe but I brought it with me anyway. Bad idea its been driving me insane. No one buy conair or Timex they seem to break a lot. I want to review my hairbrush when
I get home as well. haha oh I have a lot to do.
We had the entire day off on Tuesday and decided to go to Salzburg, back to Austria because its only about 20min from Konigssee. It was a fun afternoon. Caleb myself and Greg (from France) did a workout early that morning and we went to Salzburg after lunch.
It is a beautiful city, there is a castle that is the only one that was never overtaken in Europe. We walked halfway up to it, there is normally a tram that goes to the top but it was out of order so you have to take the long road all the way around. It was a long walk so we didn't go all the way. I'll have to do that next year when I come back.
We just walked around, went in the little shops. There was an outdoor market, I got a pretzel because I normally love them but it was one of the worst I have ever had they put too many spices in it.
There was a beautiful church called Dommusik Salzburg, its one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen. And I have seen a lot of churches in my travels. I lit a candle for everyone I was thinking about, and said a small prayer for the whole family. Random, the parking garge was in a mountain. It was crazy instead of having a tunnel it was a parking garge. Our car is a little scary bringing into garages though, its just under 2m tall and most garages are 2m or 2.1m and our antenna hits the roof and scrapes it the entire way, so it always sounds like the top of the car is hitting but its not.
Its always a lot of fun to get out and see things. I am so excited that this trip we haven't just sat around in the hotels. Sightseeing is so amzing and I love enjoying the atmosphere of other countries and just seeing different things. Its one of the best things we could possibly do, it makes the trip not just about slidding and you don't over think the tracks because you are having such a great time doing other things. I slide best when I'm really enjoying myself which is why I think so far this trip has been such a success!
We unpacked and decided to hit the indoor water park for a few hours as a team. I think this is the first outing we all did together, and the lone Australian Lucy and her coach came along. It was so much fun just to get out. I wanted to go to the water park last year but no one else wanted to. I was glad to go this year, there was a huge slide that went outside the building and came back in, super fun! It was a good two hours to just let loose and hang out with everyone.
The only sad thing about the water park was that my what I thought was so wonderful water proof Timex watch turned out not to be so water proof. I noticed it was broken before we left the water park. I was really disappointed because I don't function that well without my watch, I love knowing what time it is. This is the second watch that I have had the same exact one because the last one did this as well. Not even a year ago. Although that one fell in the toilet and never dried out. Also very annoying. I'm calling Timex when I get home or at least writing an email. My hairbrush broke this trip too. Well it was actually broken before we left for Europe but I brought it with me anyway. Bad idea its been driving me insane. No one buy conair or Timex they seem to break a lot. I want to review my hairbrush when
I get home as well. haha oh I have a lot to do.We had the entire day off on Tuesday and decided to go to Salzburg, back to Austria because its only about 20min from Konigssee. It was a fun afternoon. Caleb myself and Greg (from France) did a workout early that morning and we went to Salzburg after lunch.
It is a beautiful city, there is a castle that is the only one that was never overtaken in Europe. We walked halfway up to it, there is normally a tram that goes to the top but it was out of order so you have to take the long road all the way around. It was a long walk so we didn't go all the way. I'll have to do that next year when I come back.We just walked around, went in the little shops. There was an outdoor market, I got a pretzel because I normally love them but it was one of the worst I have ever had they put too many spices in it.
There was a beautiful church called Dommusik Salzburg, its one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen. And I have seen a lot of churches in my travels. I lit a candle for everyone I was thinking about, and said a small prayer for the whole family. Random, the parking garge was in a mountain. It was crazy instead of having a tunnel it was a parking garge. Our car is a little scary bringing into garages though, its just under 2m tall and most garages are 2m or 2.1m and our antenna hits the roof and scrapes it the entire way, so it always sounds like the top of the car is hitting but its not.Its always a lot of fun to get out and see things. I am so excited that this trip we haven't just sat around in the hotels. Sightseeing is so amzing and I love enjoying the atmosphere of other countries and just seeing different things. Its one of the best things we could possibly do, it makes the trip not just about slidding and you don't over think the tracks because you are having such a great time doing other things. I slide best when I'm really enjoying myself which is why I think so far this trip has been such a success!
Monday, February 2, 2009
6th place in Igls ICC Race
I finished in 6th place yesterday for the 7th ICC race of the season! I am really excited. I was in third after the first run, but some of the girls had a really bad first run so I wasn't too sad at how I fell back.
It was such a good race day, the sun finally came out for the first time yesterday which was crazy that it wasn't out all week because Igls is the most beautiful stop on tour and is supposed to always have the best weather. The trees were covered in snow, and standing in the sun was by far the best place to be. The only problem was that it got really windy and all of the snow blew into the track from the trees after a few people had gone. I was 8th off and there was so much snow in the track.
No complaints though, my first run was pretty decent I made a few mistakes and found all the snow. I was really relaxed when I got to the line though which was a good thing. For the second run I was just going to have my best run all week. I pushed a 5.49 my goal was to be under the 5.50 mark which I was and that was the fastest I have ever pushed in Igls I was pretty excited.
My run was great, I might have been driving a little too much in places I didn't need to be, but Kriesel was perfect for the first time all week! I was excited. When I got to the bottom and saw my time, I was
only a little disappointed because I thought it would have been faster. Mr Rettl, Martin Rettl's dad came running up in the outrun to take my sled for me and give me a big hug. He is so sweet he comes to training and our races when we are in Igls, its just like having Martin there to give you a hug and a big smile.
The day was pretty awesome, I am glad to have been on the podium for second half. I am hoping that next week in Konigssee goes well too. We are leaving today, sliding doesn't start till Wednesday so you will have to wait and see what sightseeing I do this time! Instead of medals you get a cup, I love it!
It was such a good race day, the sun finally came out for the first time yesterday which was crazy that it wasn't out all week because Igls is the most beautiful stop on tour and is supposed to always have the best weather. The trees were covered in snow, and standing in the sun was by far the best place to be. The only problem was that it got really windy and all of the snow blew into the track from the trees after a few people had gone. I was 8th off and there was so much snow in the track.
No complaints though, my first run was pretty decent I made a few mistakes and found all the snow. I was really relaxed when I got to the line though which was a good thing. For the second run I was just going to have my best run all week. I pushed a 5.49 my goal was to be under the 5.50 mark which I was and that was the fastest I have ever pushed in Igls I was pretty excited.
My run was great, I might have been driving a little too much in places I didn't need to be, but Kriesel was perfect for the first time all week! I was excited. When I got to the bottom and saw my time, I was
only a little disappointed because I thought it would have been faster. Mr Rettl, Martin Rettl's dad came running up in the outrun to take my sled for me and give me a big hug. He is so sweet he comes to training and our races when we are in Igls, its just like having Martin there to give you a hug and a big smile.The day was pretty awesome, I am glad to have been on the podium for second half. I am hoping that next week in Konigssee goes well too. We are leaving today, sliding doesn't start till Wednesday so you will have to wait and see what sightseeing I do this time! Instead of medals you get a cup, I love it!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
A few days off
We had two days off after the Cesana races and didn’t want to waste them while in Europe. Unfortunately there weren’t too many things that close by that we could go visit. We have a limit on our mileage on the car for the month and we didn’t want to drive too far and go over.
Caleb myself, and Kimber decided to go to wine country are in Italy. We headed towards the Barolo and Barbaresco areas. We figured we could have some good wine and relax for two days and see some pretty awesome Italian cities.
It was a ton of fun; the first day we got there the weather was beautiful and sunny. It was Sunday and in Italy nothing is open on Sundays. It’s a really cool concept but really different being from the US and all. So we basically walked around lonely towns until we found a place to eat. It was random down a side road in one of the towns, but they had amazing food. There were a lot of families eating at about 2:30 or so, we think they must eat supper on Sundays because they were eating the full 4 or 5 course meals. Again another great concept, very family oriented. The three of us on the other hand had just eaten so much for the past week 3 courses for lunch and 5 for dinner we couldn’t bear to eat more than just one, didn’t even have room for dessert. It was amazing food though, that is the best part about Italy.
We went back to the hotel and just hung around for a little while, unpacked and then decided to go walk around the town we were staying in. Again a really nice town, a lot of stores and some were actually open on the Sunday night. This town was a little busier than the small wine towns. Good thing or we would have been extremely bored! We found an amazing pizza place to eat at, it only cost 4.50euro for a pizza, talk about an amazing deal. (I know it sounds like we had just eaten lunch but the night was actually getting late, we do more than eat, time flies by and I don’t know how.) We decided to get pizzas for the next day so we could have then for lunch!
The following day was a pretty gross day out. It started out just rainy and cold and slowly turned into snow. We walked around a town and checked out some of the old buildings. The problem with being tourists in the wintertime is that nothing is really open. We couldn’t see a few of the castles we wanted to but the towns themselves are worth walking through. Caleb found a wine store with really good priced bottles he wanted to buy, so Kimber and I sat there and drank amazing cappuccinos while he read the list and decided. (Another amazing part about Italy would be the to die for cappuccinos). After that we had appointments at local wineries, I’m not going to lie I was a little skeptical I was afraid to be bored. I had the best time at both wineries. The owners and wine makers sit down with you and personally pour their wine for you and talk to you about it, and listen to what you have to see about it. Its crazy the history that goes into all the wine and how many family generations have had their vineyard. On owner was telling us that he thinks this type of wine will die with his generation because the younger ones don’t care enough. I found that to be really sad, I wouldn’t mind coming to Italy and living on a vineyard, it would be like the Parent Trap. That’s a good movie. Speaking of movies if anyone wants to get the Italian wine experience through a movie go watch A Good Year. I saw that one a while and couldn’t stop thinking of it all day.
Ironically enough we went back to the same pizza place for dinner, we couldn’t help ourselves! I think we all fell asleep at 9:30, what an exhausting day, but a ton of fun and a great way to refresh our minds!
Caleb myself, and Kimber decided to go to wine country are in Italy. We headed towards the Barolo and Barbaresco areas. We figured we could have some good wine and relax for two days and see some pretty awesome Italian cities.
It was a ton of fun; the first day we got there the weather was beautiful and sunny. It was Sunday and in Italy nothing is open on Sundays. It’s a really cool concept but really different being from the US and all. So we basically walked around lonely towns until we found a place to eat. It was random down a side road in one of the towns, but they had amazing food. There were a lot of families eating at about 2:30 or so, we think they must eat supper on Sundays because they were eating the full 4 or 5 course meals. Again another great concept, very family oriented. The three of us on the other hand had just eaten so much for the past week 3 courses for lunch and 5 for dinner we couldn’t bear to eat more than just one, didn’t even have room for dessert. It was amazing food though, that is the best part about Italy.
We went back to the hotel and just hung around for a little while, unpacked and then decided to go walk around the town we were staying in. Again a really nice town, a lot of stores and some were actually open on the Sunday night. This town was a little busier than the small wine towns. Good thing or we would have been extremely bored! We found an amazing pizza place to eat at, it only cost 4.50euro for a pizza, talk about an amazing deal. (I know it sounds like we had just eaten lunch but the night was actually getting late, we do more than eat, time flies by and I don’t know how.) We decided to get pizzas for the next day so we could have then for lunch!
The following day was a pretty gross day out. It started out just rainy and cold and slowly turned into snow. We walked around a town and checked out some of the old buildings. The problem with being tourists in the wintertime is that nothing is really open. We couldn’t see a few of the castles we wanted to but the towns themselves are worth walking through. Caleb found a wine store with really good priced bottles he wanted to buy, so Kimber and I sat there and drank amazing cappuccinos while he read the list and decided. (Another amazing part about Italy would be the to die for cappuccinos). After that we had appointments at local wineries, I’m not going to lie I was a little skeptical I was afraid to be bored. I had the best time at both wineries. The owners and wine makers sit down with you and personally pour their wine for you and talk to you about it, and listen to what you have to see about it. Its crazy the history that goes into all the wine and how many family generations have had their vineyard. On owner was telling us that he thinks this type of wine will die with his generation because the younger ones don’t care enough. I found that to be really sad, I wouldn’t mind coming to Italy and living on a vineyard, it would be like the Parent Trap. That’s a good movie. Speaking of movies if anyone wants to get the Italian wine experience through a movie go watch A Good Year. I saw that one a while and couldn’t stop thinking of it all day.
Ironically enough we went back to the same pizza place for dinner, we couldn’t help ourselves! I think we all fell asleep at 9:30, what an exhausting day, but a ton of fun and a great way to refresh our minds!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
12th and 7th in Cesana ICC races 5 and 6
Let me first start by saying Cesana is the track from the 2006 Olympic Games in Torino. They built the track about an hour and a half north of Torino because of the colder weather. They tend to do this a lot for the sliding sports. When we have races here we stay about 20 min past the track up the mountain in Sestriere. Its a nice town, small ski town with hotels all over and people walking in ski boots.
The first race in Cesana was Friday (yesterday) I finished 12th. I had been having problems with track all week, I wasn't understanding it and couldn't go fast or have good runs. I figured for the race I was just going to let it happen and see if I could make something click. That wasn't too much the case yesterday I had two decent runs that weren't very fast, and with some mistakes here and then that added up to big mistakes. I wasn't dissapointed at all since I have only been here once before which was last year.
The race was crazy though its still snowing, on top of the 7ft they got in late December it won't stop. I think we got over a foot of snow yesterday. This morning when I woke up it was snowing again. The track is almost completely covered, everything but the start. You don't see any snow in the track only when you load the sled and continue into corner 1.
Race day number 2 I finished 7th today. I am so excited. My first run was amazing the best I had all week. I made one major mistake I hit the wall before the first corner which is slow. So I was hoping to improve my second run. I was in 6th place after my first run. My second run was not as pretty as my first I made a lot of mistakes that just add up once you get to the lower part of the track. I fell back one spot, at least I didn't fall back more than that.
At first I was a little disappointed because I hate falling back in races, it is my goal to not do that this season. I realized that for the second time on this track I can't complain too much. I was able to put things together in the second race and I learned a lot about how to drive on this track. I am very excited that I finished 7th and am growing to like this track because if you had asked me in the beginning of the week if I like sliding here I would have said no.
If only someone would go play in the snow with me that would be perfect. I don't think anyone wants to get cold though. So I might have to go jump in the snow piles by myself since I have never seen this much snow in my entire life!
Thats all for now, have to start packing for our next stop we have a few days off so I will keep everyone updated on what we decide to do!
The first race in Cesana was Friday (yesterday) I finished 12th. I had been having problems with track all week, I wasn't understanding it and couldn't go fast or have good runs. I figured for the race I was just going to let it happen and see if I could make something click. That wasn't too much the case yesterday I had two decent runs that weren't very fast, and with some mistakes here and then that added up to big mistakes. I wasn't dissapointed at all since I have only been here once before which was last year.
The race was crazy though its still snowing, on top of the 7ft they got in late December it won't stop. I think we got over a foot of snow yesterday. This morning when I woke up it was snowing again. The track is almost completely covered, everything but the start. You don't see any snow in the track only when you load the sled and continue into corner 1.
Race day number 2 I finished 7th today. I am so excited. My first run was amazing the best I had all week. I made one major mistake I hit the wall before the first corner which is slow. So I was hoping to improve my second run. I was in 6th place after my first run. My second run was not as pretty as my first I made a lot of mistakes that just add up once you get to the lower part of the track. I fell back one spot, at least I didn't fall back more than that.
At first I was a little disappointed because I hate falling back in races, it is my goal to not do that this season. I realized that for the second time on this track I can't complain too much. I was able to put things together in the second race and I learned a lot about how to drive on this track. I am very excited that I finished 7th and am growing to like this track because if you had asked me in the beginning of the week if I like sliding here I would have said no.
If only someone would go play in the snow with me that would be perfect. I don't think anyone wants to get cold though. So I might have to go jump in the snow piles by myself since I have never seen this much snow in my entire life!
Thats all for now, have to start packing for our next stop we have a few days off so I will keep everyone updated on what we decide to do!
Friday, January 23, 2009
After that a pitt stop in Venice, Italy
After leaving Cortina and heading for Cesana, we decided that we would stop for a few hours in Venice since it was only about an hour away. It was complete spur of the moment and we didn't have long time to spend there before needing to get to the hotel in Cesana.Unfortunately the weather wasn't very nice, it started out just being really foggy I kept hoping the sun would come out but it didn't. We parked and walked across the main bridge. It is such a cool city. I thought it was so weird just being right next to the canal the whole time. If we had more time it would have been so much fun to take a boat tour, but we were cutting it close.
We walked around and stopped in some of the Vencian Glass shops. The glass is beautiful, made right there in Venice. They make amazing things, dishes, decorations, jewelry. Everything and anything really, at a decent price I was very surprised. I wanted to buy the entire place, but I thought it would be best if I didn't.
We had lunch at an Italian place, it was cute and I had the best pasta ever. Raviolis with pumpkin sauce they were amazing! The waiter was telling us about the flood they had a few weeks prior. They got about a foot of water in the building. I think its crazy that the city floods but still looks as beautiful as it does! There is graffiti all over the place which is very surprising. You would think the city would clean it up.
If anyone is every looking for a place to vacation go to Venice, but wait till it gets warm because it started raining pretty bad which was not fun. Everyone walks around with umbrellas though and I really thought I was going to get poked in the eye with one. Luckily none of us did.
Really if anyone ever wants to go bring me with you please!! Thats really all I have though, since we didn't get to spend any time there. I'm just glad I got to see Venice once in case thats the only time I ever get to go.
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