On July 25, 2011 Jeret Peterson, or as everyone knew him, Speedy, decided there was nothing in his life for which to live. Not his friends and family, not the laundry list of life accomplishments including an Olympic silver medal. Speedy’s Olympic story was one of overcoming diversity and hardships in his life. He was very open about his struggles with addiction as well as depression and had admitted to thoughts of suicide in his past.


I did not know Speedy during this dark time, but had heard stories of a struggling young man searching for hope in a world that felt like it had none. It seemed like miles away from the man I remember. I remember watching him, along with all of America, during the 2010 Olympics overcome everything that had happened in his past to win an Olympic silver medal. I remember how happy he was and how excited we all were for him. He did it. He landed his infamous and incredibly difficult trick the ‘hurricane.’ But once the Olympic flame went out America moved on to the next up and coming sporting event and stories like Speedys were forgotten.

Life after the Olympics is something that is not talked about much. It is an interesting transition for athletes going from such a high at the games to feeling like you are at a low. Many athletes experience some form of a depression once the Olympics are over. For us, we have prepared for years if not our whole lives for those two weeks. Once it is over it is difficult to figure out the next direction your life will go. I have often heard people say, ‘if I make an Olympic team I will be happy,’ but the reality is the Olympics will not change who you are and will not change how you feel long term. I only hope that in the future the tragic loss of 2010 Olympic Silver Medalist Jeret Peterson will help put programs into place to help Olympians move on with life after sport.

Garden of the Gods

Last week we headed to the Garden of the Gods, one of the more historic and beautiful sites here in Colorado Springs.  This was one of my first field trips with the Boys and Girls Club and I loved seeing how excited the kids were to hop on the bus and go on an adventure. I was put in charge of a group of 12 kids.  I had not anticipated how difficult it would be to keep my group together and behaving while we exploring the Garden of the Gods.  My friend, Taylor, a highly intelligent 11 year old girl who goes hiking with her mom each weekend was in my group.  Taylor was literally our tour guide and showed my group and I all around the beautiful red rocks while she eloquently explained to us where the land came from and how it came to adopt it’s name.  My favorite time was when the kids found a huge rock or essential a cave hidden and they figured out they could manipulate their little bodies all the way though the rock.  They would have stayed there all day going back and forth had I not made us trudge ahead.  I had an amazing, exhausting time at the Garden of the Gods and hope to continue going on more field trips in the future!

Sliding for hope

The USA Bobsled and Skeleton Federation recently announced a partnership with the Susan G Komen Foundation.  Please check the recently launched website http://www.slidingforhope.com/ to make a donation and get a name placed on the Susan G. Komen sled (the boob-sled) for the this upcoming season.  I am honored to say that my mother, Wendy, will be the first individual placed on this sled.  Thank you to my federation and to the Susan G Komen foundation for allowing me to be apart of something incredibly special.  Check out the below article and video for more information.

http://www.youtube.com/user/abirdbobsled#p/a/u/2/ziHPDconLwE

http://bobsled.teamusa.org/news/2011/06/13/sliding-for-hope-with-susan-g-komen-for-the-cure/42808?ngb_id=23

There's more to life than bobsled...

It has been an incredibly busy past two weeks. Last weekend I went home for my Chico High School 10 year reunion. I made the mistake in high school of running for Class President and therefore was put in charge of making sure our reunion happened. It was a great success and I think every one of my classmates that attended thoroughly enjoyed themselves. I have since put in my Class President resignation and I am hopeful that someone will pick up the next ten year term.

After my reunion I headed back to Colorado Springs for our yearly National Team camp.  This is a time when our entire national team gets together to ‘bond’ without the stress of competition. This year I was able to bring a few of my teammates to the Boys and Girls club. I was excited and thankful that my teammates were willing to make time in our busy camp schedule to put the kids through a mini bobsled tryout. There were four different stations for the kids to rotate through including vertical jump, broad jump, ‘shot toss’ and a bobsled push station which included scooters for the kids to push each other. I know the kids really appreciated meeting Olympic bobsledders and even seeing a gold medal!




Bobsledders in the making!



I ended up skipping out on the finale of camp because my older sister, Amber, got married Saturday. I was thrilled to be apart of the wedding as the maid of honor. It was surreal to watch my big sister walk down the isle. She looked absolutely gorgeous and I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house. I come from a family of four girls, so we are excited to welcome a new brother into our family!



It’s been a crazy, fun, exciting exhausting few weeks, so I am looking forward to getting back into my training rhythm and continue to move forward towards my next bobsled season.

 

A day in my life..

The life of an athlete is filled with hard work, complications, joy and freedom. Our ‘work days’ are very different then typical Americans work day, but for us it is very normal. Our lives revolve around meals, workouts, massages and sports medicine. My day starts at 8:30 when I go down to the Olympic Training Center cafeteria and get my 2 egg scramble with ham, mushrooms, spinach, and pepperjack cheese made perfectly by my favorite chef, Flower. After breakfast I head down to start our first workout, which includes hill sprints and explosive starts. I then go to sports medicine and recover to prepare for our next lifting workout later in the afternoon. Our recovery includes stretching, icing, and using noramtec pants, which essential attempts to squish the lactic acid out of your legs. After sports medicine I work my way back to the cafeteria have lunch and head to my room for a quick nap before workout number two. The next workout is in the weight room and consists of anything from squats to Olympic lifts which usually take close to two hours. At the end of the day I head to the recovery center here at the Olympic Training Center and use the cold tub and hot tub to help my body recover so that I can perform for the next days workouts.


My job is unorthodox and does not have the pay that a 9-5 job has, but it allows me to spend my days working towards a huge goal and dream. I think sometimes we may take the things we are giving and allowed to do for granted. I am pretty lucky to have the opportunity to live at the Olympic Training Center where everyday I wake up and see the Olympic rings and motto all around me. It surprises me how fast I adapt to my surroundings and how eating breakfast next to Michael Phelps or training daily with a gold medalist turns normal. A day in my life is anything, but ‘normal’ and I am very lucky to support of the USOC to help me reach my goals.

Back to Colorado

I have finally made my way back to the Tutt Boys and Girls club in Colorado Springs.  It was a great first week filled with some familiar faces and a lot of new ones.  It was very exciting to walk back into the club and a get a huge hug from one of my regular art students last year, Shyann.  Shyann was a big help last year putting together assignments as well as cleaning up the art room after class was over.  She was incredibly excited to see me and was already talking about all the new ideas she has come up with for this coming summer.  There has been a change in leadership at the Tutt Boys and Girls Club, but it seems Miss Michelle has many fun things planned for summer camp and is very willing to listen to any ideas I may have or have seen work in the past.  It should be fun filled summer and I am really looking forward to being back.     

Autism Speaks

Yesterday, Bree and I had the opportunity to be apart of the Autism Speaks Walk in Denver.  The walk is an event that helps Autism Speaks raise money for Autism research with the hope of coming up with better treatment options and eventually a cure.  Autism is a developmental brain disorder that now affects 1 in every 110 children.  The USA Bobsled and Skeleton has teamed up with Autism Speaks in the hopes of raising awareness by wrapping one of our sleds in the puzzle piece logo.  I can only imagine how difficult daily life can be for the families touched by autism and I was truly inspired by how loving and patient each parent was with their children.  I hope our partnership with Autism Speaks will in some small way help all those affected.