Friends in ALL places

As a reflect back on my many years of sport I constantly see one common theme; the creation of Life long friends.  I still have friends from the many years I did gymnastics.  Friends from high school athletics and of course the friends from my UC Davis Track and Field family.

Over the past few years I have utilized my international bobsled friends as an outlet and sound board throughout each season.  We compete directly against each other week in and week out, but a camaraderie between nations is created. I am confident I will still be connected with many of my friends all over the world once this era of my life comes to an end. 

After spending months on the road it was nice to spend time with my friends Emily, who is Canadian and Hanne, who is Swiss, outside of the sport.  My fathers cousin, Coreen, is the head of the American School in London and she was nice enough to allow us to stay with her and explore everything London has to offer.  We did all the typical tourist things that could be crammed into the five days we spent in London.  London is an incredible city and it would take months to adequately comb through.   

Ironically, two of my teammates from UC Davis, one who I also went to High School with, live in London.  They have traveled all over the world and I have had the opportunity to meet up with them in many different locations.  I was able to have a true English pub experience with them watching the England vs. France rugby game this past weekend.  This was quite an experience and one of my favorite parts of the entire trip.  I honestly can not even tell you what the end score of the game was, but it was so refreshing to be around people who I care for from all aspects of my life.  From High School to UC Davis to Bobsled each part of my life was represented with the people in that pub.  There is one thing for sure, I will have many interesting places to visit when I am done sliding and I more life long friends to add to my phone book.  

Sochi! DA!

After a long season and a World Championships that did not go as planned it is exciting to slide the track and explore the new Olympic venue in Sochi, Russia.  It is crazy to think that the games in Vancouver were already three years ago.  I still vividly remember walking in the Opening Ceremony and all the excitement that came with it.  Afterwards I remember lying in bed wide awake with adrenaline.  I thought about the physical pain, the mental angst and the pure grit that got me to that point.  Not one thing about making the Olympic Team in 2010 was easy for me.  I fought with every piece of my being to earn a spot on that team.  As a laid there I thought of all those times and how very worth it all was for that one moment to walk behind our countries flag.  That is when I decided I wanted to try to have those feelings and that experience one more time in Russia.  So, here I am one year out from the games preparing for the fight to earn a spot in Sochi.

When we first landed in Sochi for our World Cup test event there was group of English speaking volunteers that were very excited to have us here.  They were very helpful and I could just feel the pride bursting out of them.  It is very obvious they are ecstatic to have their country be the location of the next Olympic Games.  As we drove from Sochi up the mountains to the location of the bobsled and alpine venues we were shocked by all the construction.  It feels like a town is being created solely for the Olympics.  There is literally a new hotel or new restaurant sprouting up daily.  I can’t help but to think about what will happen to each of these new establishments once the Olympics have come and gone. 

We have now been sliding the 2014 Olympic track for almost a week and are using every run to learn a little more about each aspect of the track.  Sliding a brand new track anywhere is exhilarating.  It is a combination of utter fear and excitement.  You have no idea what each turn will feel like as put total trust in your drivers experience to get you down safely.  Once the run is complete it feels like something has been accomplished by conquering your fears.  It is probably one of the biggest rushes one can experience. 

Ending the season on this track will help to keep me hungry as I train this summer in hopes of accomplishing another one of my goals of walking behind our flag one more time.

 

Jamie and I at the finish

The movie Cool Runnings playing at the track

 

Creating a True Champion

In the world of sports many lessons are learned that can be paralleled to many phases in ones life.  Some of these lessons are ones that you may not care to learn at the time, but when reflecting back you can see the huge affects they've had.

As a teen I had to make many choices and each would change the way my athletic path turned as I forged ahead.  I was faced with having to decide if I wanted to move forward and commit myself to competitive gymnastics or if I wanted to continue on with other sports and hobbies.  I remember being terrified. I enjoyed everything about training for gymnastics, but the thought of competing in front of a judge and a crowd was something that did not interest me. My coach told me I would have to compete in meets if I wanted to learn new skills and move up levels. I faced the same problem when I briefly joined the swim team.  I worked hard at every practice and did every workout I was suppose to, yet never had a desire to compete in a meet.  Once I was able to harness my fears I truly enjoyed the competitions.  I was always a head case before competing.  I questioned every piece of my routines and was worried about how I would perform, but the thrill of competing and the desire to win kept me coming back for more.

As I reflect back I see how I have grown as an athlete and I often see how at 29 years old I still have some qualities of that scared teenager. As far as I have come as an athlete and a person there are still many things I need to learn and to improve to be the absolute best I can be physically and mentally. The choices I have made in my life have led me to be an Olympian.   I have worked very hard to earn everything in my bobsled career, but it can often be hard to take a step back and appreciate those accomplishments during the disappointments. 

I have to learn to go back to basics and tap into all the things I love about competing and continue to search for ways to continue to fight to be the best I can possibly be.  My will to win can often overshadow the goals I have achieved.  As I move forward and face other challenges I am able to use the experiences I have had winning and losing to create my new path.  No one enjoys defeat, but I am convinced some of the most valuable lessons can be learned during those times.  In my opinion a true champion is shown not when they are on the podium, but how they pick themselves up and continue to fight to win after they’ve been beat.  I hope that as I move forward in athletics and in life I can dig deep and show that I portray the qualities of a true champion.

Unconditional Love

I believe that each individual loves in a different way and that how we love is learned from the people we are surrounded by.  I for one feel lucky that I have some of the most caring people as parents.  I have watched my mom over the years take her vow to my father ‘in sickness and in health’ very seriously.  As my father struggled with continual medical problems stemming from a fall off a ladder and broken leg my mother was with him every step of the way.  She was with him through the 11 successive surgeries and the many complications that followed.  I have watched her love with no restriction and without question take it upon herself to nurse him back to health just as I am sure my father did when she was recovering from breast cancer years ago.

I again experienced this kind of love recently with my grandmother.  We moved my maternal grandmother to Chico after my grandfather passed about seven years ago.  She was never fond of the idea of moving, but we finally convinced her it was in her best interest.  At the time my siblings and I were not incredibly close with her.   We only saw her on rare visits, but fortunately we were able to get to know her once she moved closer to us.  My mother and my grandmother had somewhat of a strained relationship, but my mother did what she could to care for her mother as best she knew, once again with no hesitation.  Recently, she would spend her days going over to her mother’s house to help her with daily activities like eating and showering. 

I remember my father and my grandmother struggled to agree with each other when I was growing up.  They attempted to bond over the small things they had in common like drinking their black coffee and having similar political views.  I know they may have had their issues, but it was touching to watch my father doing all he could to fight for my grandmother, in her final days, to have the best medical care possible.  He never once stopped to think about the times they may not have seen eye to eye but instead showed his love by fighting for her to get everything she needed. 

Sometimes people can make it hard for us to love them and sometimes it is hard to understand how people show their love.  Each individual is different.  As we continue to go through my grandmothers personal affects we are shown the ways she loved us.  She kept nearly every letter any of us had ever written her and spent the few extra dollars she had donating to the Olympic Committee in support of my dreams. 

As I get older and continue to learn about myself and the people around me I feel fortunate that I learned how to love from my parents.  I can only hope that when put in similar situations I am able to love as unconditionally as they have. 

College didn't teach me everything

Over the years I have used my Exercise Biology degree from the University of California, Davis in various unorthodox ways. I use it daily in my bobsled training to get bigger, faster and stronger. Or at least this is how I justify the investment to my parents.  There are, however, many times I wonder about all the things I did not learn in college.  Some times I look around and wonder what the heck I am doing and what in the world would have prepared me for my life now.  Most would think I am talking about sliding down and icy mountain at 80 plus miles per hour on a daily basis, but what I am really talking about is the before, after and everything in between.

The behind the scenes work for a bobsled brakeman is definitely not glamorous.  We are responsible for much of the sled work and for transporting the sled to and from the track each day of training.  Never did I think my life would consist of driving a manual sled truck in the snowy French Alps. Or did I think that learning how to put chains on would be imperative in transporting sleds in the bobsled world. I often wonder if the snow chain course was in the UCD course manual next to the tractor driving class I always meant to take but never got the chance too.

Fortunately, I have a father that required his girls to first pass the "Azevedo driving test" before we were able to actually get our drivers license. This test included being fully proficient in driving a stick shift vehicle up and down the windy 20 mile road to Paradise, California which has been incredibly useful.  The test, however failed to include the snow and every detail that is involved with it.  Being from California this was never something that I have had to be familiar with, but in bobsled it is something that I constantly deal with.  Over the last 7 years I have been forced to learn the ins and outs of driving in the snow, but still every now and again the California driver in me comes out and we have to push the truck out of a snow bank…. 

When I move on with my life and am done with bobsled I am confident that I will be able to accomplish any thing life throws at me.  I have learned that it may be scary at first, but with practice and the willingness to learn anything is possible.  Heck, I may even be able to teach the snow chain 101 course at UCD. 

Believe it or not this was actually not my doing!  At least we all know how to push!

You're only cheating yourself..

Recently there have been a number of international bobsled athletes testing positive for banned substances.  It is hard to ever envision how one can convince themselves that taking a performance enhancing drug is first physically safe and second fair to the rest of their competition that chooses to compete clean.  I guess the lure of competing at the Olympic Games somehow allows athletes to forget personal morals and to cheat.  I have heard the argument before that athletes feel that in certain sports all athletes use performance enhancing drugs and it is a matter of who has the better drugs.  To me, I don’t believe this to be a valid argument, but instead an excuse and an attempt to justify cheating.

A friend of mine once did a survey where she asked people would you rather win and Olympic gold medal on drugs knowing you would never be caught or have a million dollars given to you?  Surprisingly most people answered they would rather win a gold medal.  It was shocking the lengths that people were willing to go for an Olympic medal.  To me, an Olympic experience or even an Olympic medal is not worth living my life knowing that I have played unfairly or have cheated.  I want to win knowing that I did it 100 percent out of blood, sweat and tears.  Even if that day does not end up happening for me I know that I am going to leave this sport with my morals in tact. 

Stop and smell the roses

As an athlete I am constantly striving for more.  I always want to run faster or to lift heavier so that I am able to perform at the highest possible level.  I think that is what pushes me to be great, but can also be considered one of my greatest downfalls.  It is important as an athlete to not only push yourself, but also equally important to appreciate each and every road block and the gains made along the way. This is something that is easy for me to say to other athletes, but a lot harder for me to put in practice. 

When I first started sliding I remember feeling very insecure about how weak and small I was compared to the other athletes.  I remember being in Germany and having to share a squat rack with the Canadian women and being mortified when I had to ask them to take off  weight so that I could work in with them.  I had always considered myself a pretty decent athlete.  I had a successful college track and field career, but this sport was a whole new beast for me.  I went home after that day in the weight room and I cried my eyes out. I felt so inadequate and knew that I had a long road in front of me if I was going to have a chance of becoming an Olympian.  I vowed that day that I would never feel that way in the weight room again.  I guess I have not really stopped to appreciate those days back in 2007 when I was a quiet, scared, 23 year old girl taking on what felt like an intangible dream.  I have come a long way since those days.  I am now known more for my strength and have transformed my body to a more ideal shape for a bobsled push athlete.  Of course our sport is constantly evolving and growing and I am always pushing myself to be the best I am capable of, but as I mature as an athlete and a person I am learning to reflect on the path that has gotten me to this point.  It is a path full of bumps, bruises, tears and a whole hell of a lot of hard work, but one that I would never change.