Q and A from the internet

From time to time, I'll receive emails and Facebook messages from up and coming Skeleton athletes.  Now, I am not claiming to be one of the top athletes in the world.  Ultimately that is my goal.  But I think I'm receiving inquiries from these athletes because of the social presence that I have.  And up until just recently, I received a great deal of messages and comments from my You Tube channel (we've since taken down most of the videos in an attempt to cater to a wider and more 'professional' audience).  I thought it would be cool to include the question and answers from this last email that I sent out.  I should be doing this more often, so hopefully this is the start of a trend.  What follows is nothing fancy, just some interesting views from a current Skeleton athlete.

Original email inquiry:

"...Chris,

I appreciate you getting back to me so quickly. The main questions I have for you is in regards to how you got into the sport of skeleton, and your observations of how you have progressed being relatively new to the sport. The obvious route to becoming a skeleton athlete takes you through a combine, so I'm also curious as to how you scored initially and how that stacks up with the ideal scores. This will help give me a foundation of where I am and what I would need to work on most before applying for my first combine.

Thanks,
xxxxxxxxx..."

My reply:


"...How I got into the sport:

I basically stumbled upon the USBSF site and filled out an application for try-outs.  I know that they do it a little differently now.  I think that combine events have become a lot more accessible in the past few years.  When I first participated the only option was participating in the combine in Lake Placid.

My observations of how I have progressed:

I had the biggest increase in skill in my first year.  I've since learned that the sport is about 1/3 great athlete, 1/3 great driver and 1/3 equipment (not just decent equipment, but proper equipment for your skill level and weight).  This sport is one of consistency and endurance.  All the tracks are different so it's important to understand that progression takes time.  It's the same with track and field or any other sport for that matter.

My initial combine and comparison:

My upright sprints have consistently been average.  My jumps and throws have consistently been above average (3.10-3.2m for standing long jump and 16+m for the shot toss).  My clean has consistently been high (135kg on this past years combine).  And my squat has been pretty high too (165kg x 3).  Although, my sprints are my worst event I was top 6 in this past year's push championships.  I was about .2 from the lead, so the gap wasn't too big.  The upright sprinting is quite different than the skeleton start. There have been a couple studies done that show a huge correlation between 30m fly time and skeleton sprinting.  I think that's totally bogus.  If you have a heavy squat and a powerful clean then I think that is a bigger predictor-but that is all anecdotal and unsubstantiated.

A safe score that will impress the coaches is a 750 or higher (scoring in the 90th percentile across all 8 tested events)..."

And now, because you were all so patient, some video:

End of the season update

My apologies for the absence and inconsistency lately. With training, travel, work, and school blog writing has taken a back seat. I haven't been doing much professional writing lately either, for many of the same reasons.

Some of you know, others may not, but I was fortunate enough to spend two weeks in Lake Placid from March 17- March 31. And yes, of course I was up there for Skeleton training. Training went quite well. I learned a few things during this trip that will certainly help me going into next season (and subsequent seasons):

1. The equipment I'm using (runners, saddle of my sled) is suitable for a person much smaller, lighter and wider than myself. I currently weigh 206-210lbs and am standing at about 6'2”. The equipment I'm using is better suited for a 175-180lb athlete. So basically that means, new equipment.
2. After having spent two years on the sled and traveling to the most difficult track in the world to train (Whistler, CAN) and then coming back to Lake Placid to train it is extremely apparent that I have become more comfortable with the sled and that I have continued to progress as a driver. I'm starting to “get it”. But I've always been like that, it takes me a while to “get it” but once I begin to understand things come a whole lot easier and more consistently.
3. Be process oriented and not outcome oriented. Focusing on the process and not the end goal. Or rather not focusing on perfection but rather continual refinement.

The first two realizations are easy, the last one is a bombshell though. Somewhere about the middle of this last trip I began to focus less on the outcome (fast downtimes) and more on the process (tinkering with equipment set-ups, working on small goals throughout, stressing less about the downtime). And my performance during the latter part of my trip was much more fulfilling and enjoyable. I'll certainly maintain this paradigm from here on out.

I'm glad to be home for the next few months. I've got some serious/drastic strength training programs that I'm working on right now. So hopefully the work I put into it in the off-season will give me that competitive advantage come competitive season. We've got lots of great opportunities for those of you in the local are to come out and show your support, so check back. We should have a fund-raising dinner in the next month, so please keep your eyes peeled.

Lake Placid- Beware of Crocodiles.

Day one of sliding is in the books.  The view from the top of the track was beautiful this afternoon.  We were able to get a couple good runs in.  It felt good to be on the track after such a long hiatus.  I'm looking forward to the rest of this and next week.  My body is already beat up a little bit (sore neck, bruises on the arms) but man is it exhilarating!  I'm extremely fortunate to have some amazing people in my life.  Thanks to my 'team' for securing the funding for this trip!  

Downtimes (with about a 50% effort push start)

Run 1: 57.33

Run 2: 56.58

Lets hope for 55's later this week, if the weather is good.

View from the top of the track.

And the beat keeps running...

I'm driving in the car most nights, thinking about what I want to write, but then when it comes time to write, my mind draws a blank. I'm generally pretty zonked out by the time I get back into Vancouver. I didn't realize that the travel would be so much. 1.5hrs each way doesn't seem like such a bad idea. In hindsight maybe next year, I ought to see what my options are staying in Whistler.

With that being said, sliding has been going well. I know that I had promised some awesome video, but sadly we have not been able to edit everything. In addition to that, I had not anticipated how alone I was going to be on these trips. I'm sure once I get back to NC I'll comb through the raw video and put something together.  Most of it is taking into the camera during traffic, but nonetheless it's funny stuff.

As far as the trip, it really has not been that exciting. I'm back in graduate school right now, so a lot of my free time is spent reading and researching for school. I recently took some of what I was studying and put it to good use. I wrote a guest blog for the Athletic Lab, which can be found here. It's a bit academic but you should get the idea.  So that's the main reason for why I haven't been too terribly active on here or even on twitter or facebook for that matter.

I am working with a coach here in Whistler, who is probably one of the best coaches I've ever worked with. Originally from Latvia, he really knows his stuff. After discussing some of the lines, we decided to go back to square one; meaning that I'm relearning how to drive. Up until this point, I've only been giving about 50% input into the sled. We've discussed maximizing the sled, and the result is a lot smoother of a trip down the track.

Honestly, Whistler-the fastest track in the world, is probably not the best place to re-learn how to drive, but it's not like I can hop in a car and drive down the street to the other bobsled track in Whistler. I'm actually pretty excited to get back up to Lake Placid later this season. I'm curious to see how the sled will react on a familiar track with the new driving style.

As far as logistics of toting and using a camera, it's near impossible. At Lake Placid we usually have about 20-30 mins in between runs. So there is just enough downtime for us to break out the camera and take some film. However here in Whistler it's impossible. Generally we start on time and then as soon as we get back up to the top of the track, it's a 2 minute warning and we're back to sliding again. It's not unrealistic to get 4 runs in, in under an hour at this track. However, my brain is pretty fried after the third run. Not to mention I've been getting terrible sleep these past few weeks. I forgot how much sliding wreaks havoc on your body functions. Sleeping is near impossible and recovery from training sessions takes a lot longer. I actually noticed a decrement in my dry-land training last week. I was barely able to eek out even a moderate weight in squats and power cleans...

With that being said, I still can't wait to get back home and train at a real gym.  So, financially it might not make sense. I've considered staying down in Cary for a couple months and then flying back up to Lake Placid to finish out the season on that track. I should be able to get a good couple or three weeks of sliding in before the track officially closes for the season. That might make more sense to do that rather than compete.