I won! My pushes were far from perfect but I had come out on top in the Rookie Push Championships. The athlete in me was floored, I hadn’t seriously competed in anything athletic in awhile and the adrenaline rush felt refreshing. Once the excitement of the free Under Armour bag wore off reality began to set in. What the heck was I doing out in the middle of the Adirondack Mountains living in a dorm room; sleeping in a crappy twin bed with a roommate 10 years my junior, pushing around a wheeled cart when I had a whole life back at home in Denver? Suddenly I had a pit in my stomach, it was the same pit I had when I decided to apply for grad school on a whim, the same one when I decided it was time to move out of California. That feeling when you know you are about to make an impulsive decision; and while the other two decisions had worked out quite well, I knew this one was on another level of crazy.
I quickly scheduled a meeting with the coaches; the terms National Team and beginning of a quad were thrown around. Quad? What do you mean Quad? What he was getting at was with a successful Sochi Olympics under their belt just a few months prior, the USA bobsled team and all Winter Olympic sports were gearing up for another 4 year block in preparation for the 2018 Games. It was at this point that I begun to understand what I could be signing up for. If I wanted to work towards going to the Olympics it was going to mean quitting my job, selling my stuff and committing to a life of living out of a suitcase for four years of intense training; for the possibility of four minutes of glory. Every step closer I got to possibly making the National team, I would take a step back and think to myself, “You really think you can do this?, You are totally insane!” But it didn’t matter, my head was in the clouds, I had lost all reason, I felt completely out of control.
Between Rookie Push Championships and National Push Championships (rookies and veterans compete against each other) I had a month to get my affairs in order. Though I was still multiple qualifications away from making the team I started gathering everything I would need to brave the cold and survive a bobsled season. Wool socks, cold gear tights, gloves, mouth guard, burn vest and bobsled spikes. The fact that I needed a mouth guard, something called a burn vest and a helmet should have been enough to scare me off. I finally let my boss know what was going on, he was gracious enough to allow me to continue to keep working remotely through the end of the year which was a huge life saver; between flights back and forth to Lake Placid and a whole new wardrobe, my growing interest in bobsledding was getting pretty expensive. I was gaining a new found respect for Olympic athletes; it's true, you never really get a sense of the hard work, financial hardship and the sacrifices they make to compete and represent our country at the highest level.
Before I knew it, it was time to compete again. The format for National Push Championships was the same except this time instead of just competing against rookies I had to test my month of "bobsled experience" against veterans who had competed in the sport for years and won Olympic medals. I tried to convince myself it was no big deal! After the first push I was tied for second behind Lauryn Williams (look her up, she is a living sports legend). I had zero expectations going into this competition but seeing where I placed after my first push revitalized those competitive juices. I started my second push hoping to break the tie and pull into the lead; instead as I took my last step and propelled myself into the sled I felt what seemed like electricity go through my hamstring. Riding the bobsled back into the push house holding my leg I was helped out of the sled and escorted to Sports Med. Having been an athlete for most of my life I had endured my fair share of strains and sprains but this one could not have come at a worse time. Even after having to forfeit my third attempt, I ended up finishing tied for second.
Coming off a successful Olympic Season as the brakeman for Elana Meyers Taylor (Silver medal in the Sochi Olympic Games), Lauryn had planned to take the first half of the upcoming season off which meant I was named to Elena’s sled for the team selection races. I went from never having heard of bobsled to competing with arguably one of the best female pilots in the World with two Olympic appearances and two Olympic medals. How had this become my reality? Between my hamstring and the fear of finally going down the bobsled track for the first time I was full of anxiety. I Googled “what is it like to ride in a bobsled” and nothing but videos of crashes popped up. That didn’t help. I asked some of the veterans what it would feel like; that didn’t help either. I got a variety of responses but the common theme was that it was nothing like a roller coaster and it would be a rough ride at best.
Less than a week after Push Championships we were on our way for our first day of on ice training. With my hamstring still bugging me Elana and I had decided that we would jog the sled off the top instead of trying to get up to full speed. The track announcer read out the start list, we would be the first women’s sled off the hill. The start house was full of rookie brakemen and buzzing with nervous energy. I finished my very short warm-up and began to get my gear on. I went through a checklist three times to make sure I had everything I needed, “ice spikes check, burn vest check, push gloves check, mouth guard check, helmet….. CHECK!” We moved the sled to the line and flipped it into the start groves. The all-clear horn sounded and the 60-second countdown began. I timidly went through Elana’s pre-push ritual with her and we got set into our starting positions. My heart was audibly pounding out of my chest. The next thing I knew we were off running. In a blur she jumped in and I followed suit; trying not to scream, I held on for dear life...
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