Feed: OrangeTomato - AggScore: 91.2

Königssee World Cup - (2011-2012 season)

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After Altenberg, the next race was in Königssee. You'll all recall that Brad and I love....love love love...Königssee. His Europa cup medal, our engagement, my first World Championships...

So obviously I was pretty excited to get back there.

Training was going well, it was nice to to have snow, and the location was amazing, but I was (per usual) struggling with the kreisel, the 360 degree curve. The difficult part is the exit - what happens is that the sled will be too high on the exit and crash down, hitting the right wall. In the past, the hit would combine with the alternating angles of the chicane to flip us on our shoulder, then we'd manage to get back on before Kehlstein (the next curve).

I kept bumping the right wall, but was managing to make it through the chicane somewhat ok. In the race, for the first time in 3 races we actually had two heats! So nice...

...since I finished in 19th the first run! Ouch!


Thankfully, having two runs I had a chance to redeem myself.


Katharine, who had been in 20th, laid down a SMOKING run and moved up an amazing 10-11 places; my run wasn't quite as sweet so you don't see me in the leader box ahead of her, but it was enough of an improvement that (it doesn't show in the video clip below since you'd have to watch the next 5 sleds come down and the drop behind me) I moved up from 19th to 15th!!! Phew!

Overall, two rough Kreisel's but I made it through by the skin of my teeth for a not-great/not-terrible finish, so I was ok with it.

Then came the team event...the next afternoon...story to be continued...

Igls, Austria - visit with Brad!

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Originally, the (unfortunate) plan was that I would leave for Europe for the second half of the World Cup tour, Brad would leave a day later for the second half of the Europa Cup tour, and while we'd be in Europe together we'd be in different parts. Then he'd return home, I'd continue with the North American portion of World Cup, and we simply wouldn't see each other for (gasp!) 8-9 weeks!

But that all changed after the Altenberg World Cup. As we were driving, I learned that one of our coaches was planning on making the 2+ hour drive from our next stop, Königssee, to Igls, where Brad was wrapping up his week. And it was an off day for us...

I hitched a ride.

We left Königssee at 7am, arrived at 9:15am for their 9am race, only to find that, surprise surprise, it was canceled for snow! Hahahahahaha.....can't seem to escape the snow! But it was so nice to see Brad!


Oh well, we grabbed a coffee with the team, and then headed down to the awards ceremony. (Though the second race was canceled, they had held the first race the day before and then turned that race into two one-heat races.)

As is usual in Igls, some excitement ensued.


After the first barrage, Brad was ready...


One of our teammates made a monster ball. To match his monster hat. ;)


It went into the melee but I'm not sure who if anyone it hit, since I was ducking.

The most beaten victim? The wall behind us.


Then, sadly, it was time to hit the road back to Königssee. Only an hour or two, but it was a much needed interruption in our 2+ months apart!

Altenberg World Cup - part 2

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So as I mentioned, I really like the Altenberg track. Challenging, interesting, varied, a mixture of all the tracks elsewhere. Unlike some tracks, there are hardly any points where you go right-left-right-left; instead you have a lot of right-right-right or left-left-left combinations. Tricky.

Our coach gave us a directive, going into the race, that if we didn't perform to a certain standard we would be replaced at the St. Moritz race by newer sliders. (Ultimately, that wasn't the case and no one got replaced, but we didn't know it then.) So, I needed to finish 15th or higher to stay on the team. With my highest finish this season a 16th in La Plagne, I had my work cut out for me. No pressure, right? Positive reinforcement, right? Heh.

Again, the weather decided not to cooperate. Our last day of training was canceled due to snow, and then, after ALL of us had completed our first race run, the jury decided to cancel run 1 and make run 2 our one-heat race. Again, a one-heat race! Never had this many before...

But at least we had a band!


And things clicked for me, to some extent. Curve 4, the notorious sled-eating curve, decided to do battle with me, but it wasn't so bad overall!


Overall, I finished in 14th place. Phew!!! I was STOKED, target achieved! Woot woot!

Back to Europe - Altenberg part 1

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After a quick 12 days at home with Brad (work, dog, house, laundry, a few days of sliding) it was back to Europe. We boarded on New Year's Eve and disembarked New Year's Day...I'm starting to feel at home in airplanes...

The first race was in Altenberg, Germany. I'd only been there once, about 4 years ago, but had fond memories. It's one of those technical, painful-consequences-for-mistakes kind of of tracks, but is the type that I MUCH prefer over tracks like Winterberg! And I did well there in my one and only Europa Cup trip.

The town still has an East-German flavor, with a mixture of old grim architecture and grim clothing with both historic and new architecture and modern stores - it is so far east that you can step into the Czech Republic in about 5 minutes -


- but it's also very charming in its own way. And they LOVE their winter sports!

I had a wonderful morning (when sliding was canceled due to...you guessed it...snow) just walking around.

It was quite an adventure (of which I of course didn't take any photos, what did you expect!) trying to buy a SIM card for my old China phone. Over 10 years old now (ouch!), it was a handy little handset that I used all over China, and could access the cellphone networks in Europe. Cheaper than using my iPhone with roaming fees...

• Training is canceled due to blizzard. Mixed feelings - happy to have a bit of free time but sad to miss the runs, since they are the last possible training runs before the race.
  
• Drop Katie off at the gym to train. I have just over an hour...
  
• Drive to post office at train station. Mail postcards; ask where I can buy a SIM card. Unfortunately, the desk agent speaks English, so I can't practice my German.
  
• Walk to small electronics store down a few quaint streets and a narrow alley.
• Ask clerk (cheerful late-middle-aged woman) if she knows where I can buy a SIM card. Fortunately, she does NOT speak a word of English, so I can exercise my German mental muscles. Hurrah!
  
• Carry on a (halting) conversation about cell phones, the weather, etc., get directions (and a tourist map to help), and buy a present for Brad.
  
• Continue walking down alleys and streets. Find a tiny little cable / phone shop.
  
• Feel confused since it looks like a house or office instead of a store.
  
• Walk in anyway and ask the (cheerful, helpful) woman about prepaid SIM cards.
  
• Realize she also doesn't speak a word of English. Yay! This will be challenging...
• Carry on a (halting) conversation: rates; network; initial cost; per minute rate in Germany and out of Germany (no such thing as a European plan, but can at least get a plan that works - albeit at higher rates - Europe wide); phone number; recharging; expiration / validity; ask her to set up the phone support so it's in English; and manage to get a Germany phone number!
• Wish her a good day and walk back to car.
• Bask in the fact that I just spent an hour running errands without speaking English, and managed just fine!
  
• Pick up Katie.
• Grab lunch (Doner Kabab at the train station, delicious!).
• Go back to hotel.
• Prep for race.
  

What a perfect day!

La Plagne, France World Cup - video

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So in my post about this world cup, I mentioned that I'd given up on getting video. Well, just for the time being I had.

Training run, curves 14-15:


I was decently happy about my first run - just some small mistakes, and then one big one that slowed me down (you probably won't even notice it but it was in Curve 16, just how I drove it):


Run 2, I hoped to fix it....well, I fixed Curve 16 to some extent, but made a couple bigger mistakes elsewhere! You'll notice these...


But overall was ok with the finish. Not the best, but not the worst.

This video was also broadcast (a week delayed on cable) and streamed online by NBC Universal, and online at the IBSF video feed website, and you can visit either to find the entire video of each race. Enjoy!

(PS - you can also vote in a poll on the NBC Universal page to say Skeleton is your favorite sliding sport...hint hint.)

Winterberg, Germany, World Cup 3

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After a relatively solid race in La Plagne, it was time for one of my least favorite tracks: Winterberg, Germany.


Winterberg itself is a cute little town, and since it was the holiday season there was a (tiny) Christmas market to visit. Doesn't this crepe (with Nutella, totally healthy) look amazing?


But the track. Oh, the track. It's one of those tracks where the slightest mistake will completely kill your time - there's no coming back! It's relatively slow - maximum speeds are much lower than elsewhere - and half the curves are uphill so any loss of momentum can't be gained back.

Back in the Saddle...

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It only took about 4 days of down time (we spent 4 days in Lake Placid while our sleds were shipped from Europe to Canada) to get my head back on straight. Seriously, it's amazing how draining it is on tour!

Wake up...breakfast...sled prep...go to track...trackwalk perhaps...warm up...slide...back to hotel...lunch...lay gear out to dry / sort & prepare for next day...repair anything (i.e. torn pieces of shoes from dragging them)...sled work...work out...recovery...dinner (often a 1.5 - 2 hour affair due to European customs)...video review...pack gear back up...Skype Brad hopefully...go to bed.

Do that, or some variation if we slide in the afternoon, for 3-4 days of training.

We rotate whether the men or women race the day after the last day of training, or whether women do. So it's either an off day (while the men race) to leisurely race-prep the sled (a 3-4 hour process) before racing the next day, or a mad rush to get it all done the same day training finishes.

Then, it's pack up, load up, move out. Drive to the next destination, already putting the track and its design, curves, steers, character, speed, subtleties out of your mind and focusing all energies on the next track.

Anyway, it's quite exhausting! I find myself at the end of the day wanting to read, to write in my journal, to put up a blog post, but my brain is quite often unable to find focus for anything.

But during my 4 recovery days in Lake Placid, I slept heaps, relaxed a bit, and feel a bit more rested. I also managed to use the greatly improved Internet access (compared to Europe) to upload some videos and photos for you. Coming shortly! :) If you want a preview, my YouTube channel is KGabryszak.

Now we are in Whistler, BC Canada, training for the World Cup race this week. Exciting track, beautiful location, and I'm stoked to be here!

La Plagne, France! World Cup #2

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After Igls, I was DEFINITELY excited to move on to a new track.

Not just the next race, or a new track this season, but a new track completely! The last time La Plagne was on the World Cup tour was possibly a decade ago...meaning that a large portion of the World Cup sliders hadn't been there before. Exciting!

The drive was even exciting! We started off in our VW caravan.


New scenery, since we'd never driven this way...


Stopped at the Geneva airport to pick up Katie Uhlaender (she'd skipped the first race in order to compete in weightlifting, to try to qualify for Olympic Trials in that sport - which she did).


We also passed by Chamonix, famous ski area.


After Geneva, we accidentally split up. Our GPS told us to veer left, while the boys' GPS told them to veer right. Oops! So Annie and I were on our own for the next 2 hours, and it was so pretty! We drove through Annecy, (put in a bid for the Olympics recently) by the lake:


Annecy is a place I'd like to visit now!

Then we saw the mountains, and got a little nervous about all the switchbacks facing us.


After a search for gas (4 stations, 40 minutes, 1 that worked), and the fall of night, we made our way up the mountain.

21 sharp switchbacks later, we found the track, built into a gully deep in the mountains:


A few more switchbacks and we found our hotel and reunited with the team. Phew!
(PS - the garage was a little tight, but the European drivers had no trouble.)


It was beautiful in La Plagne - something we didn't know until a few days later when the clouds finally lifted!



The track was super fun too, more technical and very long. For example, in Park City a fast time for women is 50-51 seconds; in La Plagne it was 1:03 or so, more than 10 seconds longer!

The start was one of the longest that I've ever seen. In Park City I'll take 14-16 steps but in La Plagne I took 20 steps; in Park City the push record is something like 4.94 seconds but in La Plagne it's now 5.35 seconds (Annie broke it in the race!).


This was from a training run:


A few days in, I realized that my balance point had shifted, so I needed to put more weight in the front of my sled. With the coaches gone to the track already, and the weights locked away, I had to improvise.

Hmm. What do I have around that I can use?


After some finagling to fit them in....yeah, that should work.


Hmm. That might be a bit rattly.....ah! Solved. Not quite duct tape, but...I had a pseudo weight plate!


It worked, and that day I was over a second faster per run in training! Phew.

World Cup Race, Saturday 12/10/2011
The day of the race came around, and I was feeling pretty good. My pushes the day before the race were in the 5.70s, and usually I push 0.15-0.20 seconds faster race day.

But then, for some reason when I heard the coaches shouting for me to push, I got off rhythm and loaded off the wrong leg, tweaking my hamstring and pushing slower than I'd hoped. Gah!

Still, the run was overall the best of the week, though I messed up curve 16, dragging a toe the whole way through and bleeding time. Still, I was in 15th place, better than the last race!
INSERT RUN 1 HERE

Getting ready for my second run, I realized my hamstring was super sore and it made me nervous. The PT was awesome and he did what he could; I managed to push a bare 1 hundredth faster which was a triumph since I expected to be slower!

The run was worse at the top - flopped off curve 3 and missed the second steer in curve 6, but at least 16 was better! Bottom of the track was "a dream." I dropped one spot to 16th, which was disappointing, but also great since it was better than Igls! Baby steps.
INSERT RUN 2 HERE

My teammates excelled though - Annie finished in second - her first World Cup medal! - and Katie finished in 3rd. Woohoo! 2 medals!


(I'd post the photos from the award ceremony, but.....my phone died and though we tried everything, the only way to fix it was to restore the phone with a backup from 2 days prior. Yes, I lost everything from the race!)

Odds and Ends
The best part of France was the food. Wine with every dinner (not that the athletes could really imbibe, but a nice touch nonetheless), cheese, amazing bread, desserts to die for. Ok, so really the meals weren't so great, but the starters and finishers, mmmmmmmmmm.


Oh, and on an outing to the grocery store, I found a bit of home away from home, an old sports shop:


Then it was off again - World Cup #3 awaited us in Winterberg, Germany.

World Cup - 1st half recap

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Moonshadows in Moab

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(Wow - just found this draft from last year! 2010, slightly less busy schedule and definitely got more biking in, heh!)

Saturday June 26th, three friends and I drove down to Moab, to do this crazy road ride. It went from just off the main road into town, up to Dead Horse Point and back.

If you've never driven up to Dead Horse, you really should. It's phenomenal, the views are stunning, so totally worth the drive.

If you have been there, and have been to Moab in the summertime heat, then the following will mean a lot to you:

• The ride was low enough that we had to ride UP that first scary steep switchback
• It was June
• We were going around sunset

The ride was a total of about 44 miles, out and back, and we wanted to stay long enough to watch sunset over the desert, and then the moon rise a half hour later. We'd brought bike lights so we could ride back down. It was my first time night riding....and was phenomenal! Well worth the miserable beginning in the miserable heat.

I won't bore you with the ride details, except to say that I made it up the steep climb without stopping, and got my heart rate up to 198 at one point. And didn't die. And that it was one of the most fun road rides I've ever done. Great ladies, great scenery, great organization, great sunset, great ride.

But here are some pics! And, for those of you that have never been, they are pics that are dark enough to not spoil TOO much the great surprise that is the view when you go for the first time. Hint hint.









Moonrise:


The next morning, the four of us did a recovery ride, and passed this burn site. The black and green contrast drew my attention.




PS - all of the night shots were taken with.....my old iPhone 3G. The 2 year old crappier version - I'm so proud!

Igls World Cup & Team Race

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As I mentioned in the last post, I didn't take a lot of photos at the Igls track since you've seen it so many times. :)

It was the first World Cup though, and I was excited to be back on a track I knew.

But it didn't turn out as I'd hoped. All week I struggled, overdriving the track and unable to find the speed and rhythm necessary to place well. Igls is one of those tracks that I don't usually gel with: easy to get down but difficult to get down quickly! A single mistake near the top of the track followed by a perfect run will still be slow.

WOMEN'S WORLD CUP RACE - Friday 12/2/2011
By the time race day came around, however, I felt as prepared as possible. I put aside my doubts (in my head I watched them slide away from me on a skeleton sled actually!) and went out 100%.

My first run, the top was almost perfect, except for a push time that was identical to last year's PB (personal best - I was hoping to be faster), then I missed the timing in curve 11 and nearly flipped out of curve 12, and flew about crazily. Oops! Still, the down time was somehow enough to be in 18th place!

Phew. Second run, time to redeem myself.

Nope - the run was better, but it was slow. What does that mean? It means that I steered too hard, didn't let the sled run, didn't allow it to find it's speed. I dropped two places to 20th, but learned a lot. Oh, and I took two more steps on the push trying to be faster and instead was 0.12 slower. Oops again!


TEAM RACE, Saturday 12/3/2011
But the next day, in the team race, I pushed faster and slid better (still messy, but...better). Usually I feel a lot of pressure in the team race - I have a men's bobsled team, a male skeleton athlete, and a women's bobsled team racing with me, and my mistakes cost the team as a whole.

Thankfully, my run was solid. Not as fast as the top women, but better than my own race runs! Pushed a new PB (woot, finally!), and while I still lost time on the other team, managed to at least hold our team's position rather than drop us in the ranks of the race.


We had a great team too - lots of fun! For some reason, we thought it would be funny if one of us pretended to start a chainsaw and mow everyone down, and for some reason, I ended up being the one to do it. We died laughing, but it looks horrible! And without the chainsaw-starting-motion, it just looks and sounds like a machine gun. Still, funny!

Hahahahah...in ten years someone will blackmail us with this!


POST RACE ENTERTAINMENT
Remember year before last, the Krampus post from Königssee? Well, this year we had to leave for France the day before the Igls version, but the Krampus were still out in force for practice. We had a hilarious time!

Some of the bobsledders enjoyed the challenge...watch them plan where to run through the crown of Krampus:


But the Krampus were more than up for it...(pay attention to 0:31 in and watch the Krampus - admire his agility!)


By the way, those bells rang every 15 minutes with just a few chimes, and every hour for several minutes, like you hear behind the scenes here. Awesome - we always knew what time it was!

And I ended up getting caught in the middle with the conflict....my price for this blurry picture:


Was this:


Which, by the way, are still visible over a week later. Ouch, those whips aren't fake!

But it was a great time, and a very unique custom, and a good way to end a disappointing week of racing on a positive fun note.

Then it was off to France!

Thanksgiving / Europa Cup

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The first World Cup of the 2011-2012 season was in Igls, Austria. Admittedly, I didn't take a lot of photos there because I've posted about it a few times now, have a lot of photos, and you've seen the whole place by now!

But the preparation....and Thanksgiving...

Brad left first, for the Europa Cup tour. His first race was the week of Thanksgiving, and I didn't leave for Europe until just after Thanksgiving. Packing, Jean Luc really REALLY didn't want us to go. He tried to get us to pack him.



Then he tried to stall us by laying on Brad's clothes.



When that failed, he and I took Brad to the airport, sad! But we could watch his progress online. :)



And once he got there, use Facetime on our iPhones to talk, almost as good as in person!


(Ok, not nearly as good, but better than just voices.)

And so Thanksgiving came and went. Brad had some version of turkey in Germany, (Königssee, our favorite place) at his hotel, and I was one my own for dinner in the USA.

With him gone, my family in Alaska, and his family in Germany visiting friends, I went to two Thanksgiving dinners with friends! First time in the USA for the holiday in years....

So I cooked a lot...which I love...and while I remembered to take photos of the process, I forgot to take photos of the finished products! Oops.

Cornbread with real corn:



A little pan of candied yams - make that a little yams with my candied, oops:



And of course green bean casserole. With almonds:



Two dishes of each, one for each dinner. So fun!

One of the dinners involved deep fried turkey - my first experience with it.



Very cool.



Even cooler was the redneck wine glass my friend had.



After Thanksgiving I cleaned the house from my cooking mess, packed up, dropped Jean Luc off at doggy daycare - he didn't even notice when I left, and made my own guilt free way to Europe.

While I was checking in at the airport, I got a text message from Königssee. A single word: "Third." Brad's first medal, and on a German track to boot. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

I was so excited that I wanted to scream and shout and jump up and down....but seeing as I was at the airport, I didn't want to get tackled by security. Instead I cheered under my breath, did a few fist pumps, and continued through security. :)

Here he is in Königssee after the award ceremony. So awesome! Our favorite place and even better now!


The awesome part of my own trip was Munich. After we landed, I left my luggage with the team and hopped a train from the airport to the city, and spent the day with Brad! And got to see his parents, since they were traveling in Germany and had met up with him too (as shown in the above picture).





All too soon it was time to take another train to Innsbruck, Austria.



Waved and kissed goodbye to Brad through the window and it was off to the first world cup of the season in Igls, Austria!

USANA video - in 中文 (Chinese - Mandarin)

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你们好 - 我的中文有点差。。。对不起！但是, 希望你们还会喜欢!

Heheheheheheh...I'm a little (lot) rusty but that was fun!

Thanksgiving - turning it up to 11!

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In honor of the holiday, here are 11 things I'm thankful for. (Why 11? It's our favorite number and has brought us a lot of love, happiness, and luck. Let's turn it up to 11!)

11. The opportunity to grow up in rural Alaska, one of the most beautiful and unique places in the world, and have experiences there that shaped my whole life.










10. The chance to now live in another of the prettiest places (Park City, Utah), with so many opportunities for community and outdoor activities to boot!






9. A home of my own with my family.


8. The opportunities available to us here - education, choice, freedom - and a mind to take those opportunities.


7. My health and the things I can do with a healthy body.








(And to be a girl - I can enjoy pink and frills AND be tough at the same time!)


6. The opportunity to represent the USA on the international stage, challenge myself to be the best I can be, and to compete against the world's best athletes!




And along with that, to make friends from all over and travel the world to do so!




5. Friends that do things like throw surprise birthday parties, cheer at races, and make me feel loved!




4. Kind of the same as #5, but....an amazing group of girlfriends that give me all the support I could ask for and more.




3. The best four-legged furry son in the world!




(Who is also a 60 lb lapdog.)


2. A loving family, and that we were able to (almost all - missing Katrina and her family) be together in one place this summer.

Parents included:




The 6 superkids, L to R: Adam (20), Matthew (17), Jeanette (26), Joe (28), Kimber (31), Danielle (bride, 22)


1. The best partner / fiance / 'husband' in the universe: Brad Stewart! Over 7 years since the fateful September day we met, and it's been the best trip to get from there to here! And better every day...

USANA video / Get to know Kimber

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