The Home Stretch

Well it has been a very busy past couple of weeks for me competing in the Park City, Utah World Cup and the World Championships in Lake Placid, New York. I am home now and have a week off before I am off again for Canadian Championships in Whistler.

So the last time I wrote I was heading into the Park City WC and looking for a top 6 result. I had been driving well in training all week and was confident I would have a stellar race. I'm not sure if any of you watched this race, but if you did you would know it did not go as smoothly as planned. I actually had a major technical malfunction at the start with my sled. The bar that I use to push the sled at the start collapsed on me and left me essentially running next to the sled, and having to jump in head first! Pushing is the only way to propel the sled and gain momentum at the top of the track, so without that you really have no chance for a good time at the bottom. Needless to say I was not sitting in a good position for a podium finish, but I made sure to have an excellent second run and was able to move up 3 positions into 11th place. Considering the circumstances I was pretty happy with the result and learnt a valuable lesson to always double check your equipment before you end up head first in your sled!

As soon as that race was finished we headed off to Lake Placid to begin preparations for World Champs. I had not been to Lake Placid since my 6th place finish in December 2006, so I was looking forward to returning and seeing what I could accomplish this time around. I was very excited as I would again be teamed up with the same brakelady I used in the Whistler WC; Shelley-Ann Brown. Shelley-Ann and I had raced together in my 2006-2007 season and with her we always had very fast awesome starts. Training had gone well and I was looking for a top 10 result as my last World Championships yeilded a 13th place finish. World Champs takes place over 2 days and combines the times from both runs on each day to crown the victor. After day one I was tied for 11th place with the top Russian sled, but was looking forward to moving up into 10th the next day as I was not too far behind the 10th place team. I felt really good going into day 2, but a slip and tumble (on my part) at the start put me a bit off the pace for 10th place, but with a good enough time to hold my 11th place and bump Russia into 12th. Finally with a blazing final push start (thanks to Shelley-Ann) we were able to hold onto our 11th place standing. Overall I was pretty happy with the standing as I was very close to my goal, and because Shelley-Ann and I had pushed good, and I had driven well.

Now I am off again to Whistler for 2 weeks for Canadian Championships. Last season I was second and this year I'm looking to be the Canadian Champ. Shelley-Ann will again be my brakelady for this race so I know we will have some great push times, and with the extra practice on the track I'm sure we will have a great result.

Also, I received a call yesterday about competing in the final America's Cup of the season back out in Lake Placid. Originally I thought my season would be done after Canadians, but now I have the opportunity to compete in one final race and potentially be crowned the America's Cup Champion for the season.

If anyone was interested in watching the races apparently they have already been taken off the CBC website! I have contacted them in hope of getting my own copy but until then there is not much I can do about that. Sorry :-(

Thanks so much for all of your messages of encouragment. I like to keep them onhand to lift me up before a big race, and pretend you are all there with me. Take care, and I will let you know about Canadian Champs.

Amanda