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.   

Competition Produces Excellence

I am the second of four girls.  My older sister, Amber, is only thirteen months older then me, so course we were very competitive growing up.  I remember always trying to out do her and live up to all of her accomplishments.  Amber, who is now well sought after high school teacher, is very intelligent and one of the more naturally gifted athletes I have known.  In high school she received high grades and was a stand out athlete, which was often hard for me to live up to.  At the time I didn’t really know it, but reflecting back I realize that she is a major reason I am the athlete I am in today.  I was often discouraged when we were younger and we would race in our backyard.  This was tradition started by my Grandmother when every Christmas my cousins and I would try and beat her in a foot race for a prize!

Luckily I was able to beat my Grandmother, but I am not sure if I was ever able to beat my sister.  This was something very small that continued to push me.  I worked very hard to keep up with her athletic gift.  The work ethic I learned helped me be successful in high school and college athletics and is something I still carry with me in the Bobsled world.  I believe that with hard work anything can be possible… I think it may be time to challenge my sister to a race again!  

An athletes financial woes

The life of an elite athlete is not always as glamorous as it sounds.  It is a life of financial struggle and sacrifice.  I have been very fortunate in the past years to have the support of Amory and In The Arena as well as the support of the Olympic Committee through training center housing.  Not all Olympic athletes are lucky enough to have this kind of support and have to do whatever it takes to find the funding to take their training to the next level.

A friend of mine, Liz, an all around awesome person and incredible discus thrower just recently moved to Portland to work with a high level discus coach.  She placed an honorable 5^th at the Olympic Trials and now is making this move to intensify her training and make a solid push for Rio 2016.  On top of a costly move Liz also needs to pay for her housing, food, training and recovery tools.  One would think that being ranked 5^th in the nation would warrant some kind of financial support, but unfortunately she is still stuck right outside of the money. 

It is incredible to me that most Olympians and Olympic hopefuls live below the poverty line and have to almost beg friends and family to help fund a dream.  Many athletes like Liz look for odd jobs like paper routes, flower delivering and late night shelf stocking that fit in with training and recovery.  It is essentially like trying to be successful at two full time jobs, which is virtually impossible.  This is the major divider of Olympic and professional sports.  One is the pure pursuit of a dream and the other is a paycheck facilitating a dream. 

Back to Work

The leaves are started to change and the weather is beginning to get chilly.  To me this can be related to one thing; the start of bobsled season.  It is always hard to believe that the summer is already gone and we are back in Lake Placid getting ready for another year.  Each year seems to fly by faster then the one before.  Every year that I spend in Colorado the harder it is for me to leave.  I have grown to love Colorado along with the incredible staff at the Olympic Training Center.  It feels that as soon as I finally get use to being in one place for longer than a few weeks it is already time to get on the road and get back to work.  As I said my goodbyes on Friday one of the kitchen staff handed me a sack lunch to bring on the plane with all of my favorite items.  Those are the little things that make me love the family I have gained in Colorado.

I am just as sad to go as I am excited to get the season off and running.  I love the off season training, but it can sometimes be boring not being able to actually get on ice every week and do our sport.  We use the off season to make as many gains physically on the running track and in the weight room that we can.  It is nice when we finally get to hit the ice and show off everything we have gained throughout the summer. 

The season starts with a number of sprint and lifting test along with a single push on the dry land push track to rank each brakeman.  After that is complete we begin to slide on ice and eventually have two team selection races.  All of these tests will be evaluated and the National Team is named.  It can be an intense process, but is a necessary evil to find the best athletes to represent the U.S.A on the World Cup circuit.

After spending the past summer in Colorado Springs training to get bigger, stronger and faster I am finally able to get a chance to perfect my on ice push technique.  I am spending this week in Calgary pushing in an indoor ice house that simulates the start of a bobsled track.  In an hour of time you can push three to four times the amount that you would get in a day of sliding.  It is very beneficial to our training to be able to work on different aspects of our push without having to put our bodies through a run down the bobsled track.  I really enjoy being in Calgary pushing and I always improve while pushing here.  Unfortunately, it is very expensive for us to utilize the ice house and we can spend up to 275 dollars per hour to push in the ice house along with the additional cost of training, room and board.  Luckily my former teammate has allowed me to stay in his spare bedroom to ease my cost and make my training trip possible.  I am excited about my progress and I am looking forward to the start of the season here in a couple of weeks.  

Girls RULE!

Women have come a long way in the Olympic Games since their debut in Paris in 1900.  The 2012 Olympic Games was what seemed to be a coming out party for female athletes.  This was the first Olympic Games women were represented from every country participating and prior to these games three nations had never sent female athletes to an Olympics.  It is great to see the growth of female sports not only in our nation, but internationally as well.  For these women representing nations that had never sent female athletes to an Olympic Games the outcome was not nearly as important as breaking through and being able to represent their country.  These women have paved the way for other female athletes from their countries in the future. 

Because of women in the past breaking through in our own country United States female athletes out numbered and out preformed their male counterparts.  Had the women of the 2012 United States Olympic Team been considered their own nation only China would have racked up more Olympic gold medals and of the 46 gold medals won by the United States 29 of them will be brought home by female athletes.  Well done ladies!  As a female athlete it is hard to not be proud of what these women have accomplished.  My hope is that the women of the 2012 Olympics will continue to be role models for young aspiring female athletes and help to expand the growth of women’s sports in
our nations. 

Opening Ceremony

Emily and Kristi Yamaguchi

As a young girl I intensely watched every Olympic Games.  I remember watching the likes of Kristi Yamaguchi and Bonnie Blair in the winter games and of course the Magnificent Seven gymnast in the Atlanta summer games.  These women inspired my sister and I.  We would skate around in our socks on the hard wood floor and would complete our ‘triple axels’ and our ‘double loops.’  We created beam routines and attempted to emulate different skills each of the gymnasts completed.  Those two weeks every two years were some of the most inspiring for me as a young child. 

Emily and Bonnie Blair

I was a gymnast growing up and every year my gym would have an Olympic Festival where we would get the opportunity to walk in our own Opening Ceremony.  Each group was given a different nations flag.  We created our Olympic garb and represented our select countries as we followed our flag into the gym.  I remember always being somewhat disappointed that my group was never selected to carry the American flag, but was always excited to recreate our version of the Olympics.  Little did I know that close to a decade later I would finally have the opportunity to follow our flag in an actual Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.  As I watched the athletes walk on Friday in the London Olympic Games Opening Ceremony I could not help but remember all the emotions I felt over two years ago in Vancouver. 

Emily at the Vancouver Opening Ceremony

I often get asked what the experience was like and to be honest there are really no words to describe it.  The Olympic movement is something greater than the individuals involved and for me that was the first time I realized that I was a part of something bigger than me.  As I laid in bed after that night I tried to decompress from the excitement, but all that went through my head was ‘that was so worth it.’  Everything that happened up to that point for me was part of my path to the Olympic Games.  None of it was easy, but making an Olympic Team should not be easy.  That was the moment I decided that after Vancouver I would try to fight to earn one more chance to have that same experience

Over the next couple weeks I will be glued to the television watching these Olympic Games just like I did as a child.  Maybe I won’t skate around or complete any gymnastic moves, but I will watch and continue to be inspired by all the athletes fulfilling their dreams to compete in the Olympic Games.