Concrete and runners do not mix…..

Did I slide well enough to win the race? Probably not, but the time on my first run of the 3rd selection race was definitely affected by the runner damage I incurred somewhere between corner 9 and 12. My line out of corner 10 was rally nice and the transition from 11-12-13 was as good as I expected – so where did that .3 or .4 seconds go…..? The only explanation I can come up with is runner damage. My right runner was severely damaged and took a furious 10 minutes of sanding after the run just to make it safe to use on the next run (safe – not necessarily fast). Anyway, no excuses, I slide well enough to be 2nd or 3rd but ended up 4th and that result was enough to be 1st over-all in the team selection process. I am very happy with what I learned in Placid at this race and it will certainly help me compete better come February’s World Championships. Still a few corners to work on, but several key areas were cleared up for me this week. Now it is off to Germany for the next 3 weeks – rest and recovery week, Winterberg race #1 on Nov. 28th, and Altenberg race #2 Dec. 5th. Looking forward to kicking some ass……. Here come the Pain Train.

After the crash, bash, and pressure of Whistler it was nice to come back to Calgary and glide down a track I am very familiar with. The energy in the start house was noticeably different and much more relaxed – a nice change! The weather in Calgary was also very nice and it was not only t-shirts for warm-up but shorts too! Not the best for track conditions, but I’m not going to complain after the Spring of cold and rain we had in Calgary. I was lucky enough to not hit any of the concrete patches in the track so my runners survived relatively unscathed – Keith Loach was not as fortunate. Each slider was allowed 12 runs and with the track sliding easier than it has in years I knew it was going to be a close race with that many training runs for such good sliders such as my team mates. And I wasn’t wrong. The track crew did a great job with the ice and we broke into the 56’s (we have only achieved a few 57’s during training). Paul and I were separated by only 1/100th of a second after the first run with Jon close behind about 2/10ths back. That meant it was essentially a one run race. I went before Paul as he ‘had the lead’ so I knew I had to lay down a great run. Half way down I thought I had lost it – a tiny bit late to curve 8 and a small skid out of Kreissel, I thought that was going to be the difference. I tucked in and tried to maximize my bottom portion of the track and squeeze out every 1/100th I could. It was just enough – I beat Paul by 5/100ths of a second on the run and won by a blink of an eye. Jon had a great 2nd run and Paul, Jon, and I were within a few hundredths of each other, but Jon’s first run cost him and he ended up 3rd.

So, with 2 first place finishes in the first 2 selection races I am mathematically on the World Cup team (I cannot finish worse than 3rd in the selection series even if I come last in the Lake Placid race). I struggled up the hill all last year, but I think I am cresting the hill and the Pain train is gathering steam – it’s nice to be back!

We call it ‘Summer Sliding’ – when the weather is beautiful and the ice is on the track it just doesn’t get any better. Warming up in a t-shirt and then throwing on a speed suit and ripping down the track at 135km/hr is a perfect day. Perfect that is until you get to the 4th run of the session and your neck decides that is is too tired to hold your head up anymore. So it went on day one – after a great summer of training it was back onto the ice with the goal to get as many runs as I possible could during our 3 weeks in Whistler. I thought I was in good shape and looked forward to doing the 4 runs at a time like we did last March……. Meanwhile, back in reality…… It seems that we do indeed build a lot of strength in our necks throughout the season and then subsequently lose that strength over the summer. 4 runs was not an option in October. Having my face plastered to the ice from curve 9 to the finish (7 curves later) was not all that enjoyable. Imagine someone standing on the back of your head and trying to drive your car through rush hour in Los Angeles……

Alas, I did survive and even started to get the hang of the track after a couple of weeks. I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t find the flow after my experiences last March. In March I was not sliding well and found myself 1 second behind on most runs. I made good progress over the first 2 weeks and began to slide competitively with the rest of the guys by the third week. Selections came on the 25th and 26th of October (a 4 run race to try and mimic an Olympic style race) and I felt ready to compete well. The first 2 runs were both a 7/10 with a key mistake in each run costing me a few tenths of a second in each run. So, after day 1 I found myself 0.4s behind Jon and just ahead of Paul. I knew I had to slide well on the second day just to stay in second, let alone content for first. The third run (first run day 2) was by far my best and the time showed it. I slide into the 53 seconds for the first time ever and won the heat by about 0.7s as both Jon and Paul had good runs but not their best. My good run and their mediocre runs put me ahead and into the lead for the final run. I managed to just crack into the 53’s again (53.99) and held off both Jon and Paul to claim the first leg of our 3 race selection process. A great start to what I feel is going to be a season of redemption.

Whew! What a summer…… Managing 2 kids full time when they are not in school is quite a juggling act. Thank God for my wife, Aly. She is super woman for sure. The kids went to 3 different camps – Skateboard Camp, Mountain Bike Camp, and Vacation Bible Camp for Kyle; and Little Tykes Bike Camp, Gymnastics camp, and Vacation Bible Camp for Thomas. On top of that, we went on our first official 2 week family vacation to British Columbia this year. Aly’s family has a reunion every 2 years in Nakusp at her uncle’s place. He has enough land (on the lake – very nice) for the entire family (sometimes up to 80 people) to camp at their place. We roast a pig over a spit on the Sunday and spend time on the lake waterskiing, tubing, and trying to walk the log boom without falling off (easy for a 70 lb kid, not so easy for a 200lb Dad….). Then off to Vernon, Kelowna, and the Shuswaps to visit the rest of Aly’s family and my Mom and Step-dad at the cabin they rent every year. A great way to have some family time on a budget! The weather was the best 2 weeks of the summer ranging from 20 C to 37 C.

Around all of that I did manage to get some training in and am pleased with how I am progressing. It is always hard for me to get to September and feel fit, but look at the push times and want more. All in good time; as they say, the season is still 2 months away….. And I can’t wait. Cross fingers, I will have my runner issue handled this season and finally be back on a level playing field with my team mates and international competitors. First step to make the ‘come back’ official is to make the national team and then it is on to the World Cup circuit to get myself back into the top 3 over-all.

Team selections begin in Whistler on Oct. 27/28, continue in Calgary on Nov. 1, and finish in Lake Placid on Nov. 16. It is a three race selection process and points from each race will be used to determine the World Cup Team (3) and the Intercontinental Team (3 sliders).

This Year’s off-season did not begin in March as per usual – March was filled with trials of the new track in Whistler. I arrived a day after my team mates because I took an extra day of travel to give my 2 kids (Kyle, 7 and Thomas, 5) an easier time of it over the long journey. Calgary to Whistler in one day is about 15 hours and that’s too much for 2 little boys. So, we stopped in Kelowna for an overnight at Grandma and Grandpa Auty’s and everyone was happier. Upon arriving in Whistler we found our way to the home we had very graciously been loaned by one of my ‘behind the scenes supporters’ and it was fantastic for the family. The kids got to sleep in a bunk bed – which is very exciting for 2 boys – and the home had enough space for us all to be comfortable together. Did I mention Grandma Auty also came with us to help out for the first few days of this adventure? Our thanks to Merle for her help getting us settled in and finding our way around Whistler. Aly and the boys quickly discovered the Sport complex and spent almost every day there just up the road from our house. The swimming pool was fantastic for the boys who really enjoyed ‘the vortex’ area and when they weren’t swimming they were skating. They both improved dramatically in their skating skills and Thomas went from having to use a push bar to ripping around the rink on his own. Kyle worked very hard on his ‘hockey stop’ and almost had it mastered by the end of the 2 weeks.

So, what did Dad do while the kids were playing at the sport centre? Well, I went sliding of course! The new track is very impressive and the ice conditions were better than I have ever seen at such a new facility – kudos to the ice crew! We began by taking a few runs from Damen (Ladies) start to get a feel for the track without risking too much right of the start. Even without the top start area and the first 2 corners we still hit 120km/hr! What a fun track. We were not allowed to go any higher on the track until the official ‘Homologation’ (track test for safety), but we didn’t have to wait long as the homologation began only a few days after we took our first runs. Kristan Bromley, Zach Lund, Jon Montgomery, and I were the male Skeleton representatives ‘employed’ to test the track. We quickly found ourselves at the top of the track ready for our first descents. What a rush! The track speeds hit 135km/hr, it is technically challenging, and it is very safe – a perfect combination and an excellent venue for an Olympic race.

After the official homologation the track was given the thumbs up and we were able to take a few more runs from the top after the international sliders left. Certainly not as many as we would have liked, but it was a long season and we all were very tired.

The long trip home was all that was left for me until I could begin my official off-season. April found me at home a month later than usual so it was a very different feel and reality for me. Spring was almost here (or so we thought until it rained and snowed through most of April and May!!!) and I had to quickly get moving on my household projects and strike a few off the list before my training began sometime in June. April 3rd was a glorious day of 20 degrees so I decided to set out my patio furniture – whoops. Just one week later it snowed about 2 feet – and it didn’t stop for another month at least. The worst spring weather in Calgary for 20 years I think.

The end of my off-season was highlighted at the end of April by my annual ‘Amigo’s’ trip. Way back in high school a group of my friends and I began this annual ‘gathering of the minds’. This year was our 20th anniversary! No matter where we are in the world we all gather together to renew friendship and have a few refreshments once a year. This commitment and the longstanding friendships are some of my proudest accomplishments.

So, then came May……..Training begins – general fitness for a few weeks and then a gradual integration of more weights and sport specific exercises. Yes, it was very hard to get out of bed for the first couple of weeks. It is now June and training continues and the sore muscles continue, but every day I feel faster, stronger, and younger! 20 more months to go……… I can’t wait.

We drove from Winterberg to Altenberg the day after the race in Winterberg. Along the way we stopped at the Adidas factory and the Puma factory to do a bit of shopping. It made for a very long day, but I think my team mates picked up some things they wanted and I got a great pair of shoes for 25 Euro (normally 125 Euro)! I was excited to be able to stay in Altenberg and train for the week off we had between the last World Cup and the World Championships. I know a lot of my team mates were dreading it a bit because Altenberg is not the most interesting place in the world, but for my preparation for the World Championship race I thought it would be ideal. Altenberg is old East Germany and the track and training centre there was originally built in preparation for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. I hear that for about 10 years after the track and training facility were built that none of the town’s people even knew it existed! I really like the indoor sprint track, gymnasium, and weight room facilities – not only are they well enough appointed, but the sense of ‘history’ is amazing.

So, after a week of rest, recovery, way too much pork (the hotel did go way overboard in the pork non-variety at dinner!), and good training preparation the race it was finally time for official training. The hardest corner on the Altenberg track is curve 4 and for me it is no exception. Carrying speed through the exit of the corner, let alone not crashing and flipping over, is very difficult and the sliders that do it well typically end up in the top 6 guaranteed. So, I knew corner 4 was the area to focus on for me. 6 runs of training and each run I took it got a tiny bit better and by the end of training I felt reasonably confident I would be able to get out of corner 4 well enough to have a chance. In the World Champs we d 4 runs so constancy is very important and very difficult to achieve here in Altenberg. Unfortunately, I had yet again begun to get sick and had been fighting a cold for the last 3 days of training. It looked like I would do another race this season while being sick. Oh well, at least I had a lot of practice at it from the other 7 races I did this year while feeling ill!

The first of 2 race days arrived after the typical day off (which I handled much better than in Winterberg!) and my cold was beginning to recede a tiny bit. I was nervous because I really wanted to prove to myself and the world that I belonged in the race and was a contender. Altenberg is usually a place where we can count on very consistent conditions and ‘fair ice’ for almost all the sliders. It turns out this year it was not to be. Having finished 12th over-all in the World rankings this year I was given the 11th place start number (the 11th place competitor could not race because their country was over-quota) and this put me at a serious disadvantage for not only the first run, but for the next 2 runs as well. The ice was quite fast to begin the ace and unfortunately it slowed very quickly as the air temperature caused a lot of frost to build up on the ice surface. The first 3 – 5 sliders had a definite advantage on the rest of the field. I slide reasonably well for the first 2 runs and found myself ranking 6th and 9th on those two runs for a combined 7th place over-all going into day 2.

Day 2 arrived with me feeling a bit better than the day before and my push reflected that. On day one I was 5.38 / 5.39 (0.1s behind Jon Montgomery, my team mate who I use as a ‘barometer’ for my performance) and on day 2 I managed a 5.35 and a 5.33 (0.05s behind Jon). This is definitely my best push performance ever and likely would have put me on a personal best push in Calgary. Run 3 went quite well, but again with my starting position of 7th I was at a small disadvantage from the top 3-5 guys. I had quite a good run and placed 5th in that heat and ranked 5th over-all. Then came the final run of the competition – I knew I had to slide well to stay ahead of Martin Dukurs, but I was confident I could do it. My push was good and my run was good – or so I thought…… This run time was the most puzzling one of my entire career. When I finished the run I pumped my fist and thought ‘yes, definitely good enough to at least hold my spot, well done Jeffrey”, and then I looked up and saw the time. I had dropped 3 spots. What!!?? “Impossible”, I thought, “That was a good run.” I had absolutely no explanation for that time, until I looked at the bottom of my runners. They were shredded. Huge long rough scrapes extended half way down the front round part of both runners. I must have run over something early on in the run and it was like I was trying to slide down on sandpaper. Yet another runner disappointment for the season – nothing wrong with an 8th place finish at World Championships, but I had wanted more and thought I had performed well enough to achieve it. My nemesis for the season – my equipment – let me down again.

Well, what a year. Very very frustrating, difficult, and without many rewards, but I think when I look back in a year or two I may find that it was the key to my success. All of my equipment problems from the beginning of the season stuck with me for the entire race schedule and by the end of the year I had bent all of my runners except one pair. I was very fortunate to have such a stockpile of runners in the basement, but at the end of the day I did end up ruining 7 pairs of runners and effectively costing myself about $7000 in unrecoverable equipment expenses.

I can’t wait to apply all the learning’s from this season to next season and get the train back on the tracks. In the immortal words of Jack Nicklaus, “my clubs aren’t rusty and I’m not done.”

It was very exciting to be back on the World Cup circuit for the final race of the season in Winterberg, Germany. I have won there twice in the past so I was feeling some confidence going in even though I had not raced at that level with those competitors for more than 14 months. I pulled out the pair of runners I won on a few years ago in my last race here. After the first training run I remembered why they had been retired to the basement – they were bending! I knew they would be better than the other set I had with me so I straightened them as much as I could and used my other set for the remaining training runs. In the race I knew I would lose some rock on the first run but hoped they would hold out enough for me to compete. Training went well with some good but not stellar training times.

This was the first time all year I would have a day off between the last training day and the race – I did not handle it well! On the World Cup Circuit this day off is a normal occurrence, but I had not experienced it for 14 months and I was very rusty. I did my normal race preparation the night after training and a bit more during our day off, but I found myself with most of the day off with ‘nothing to do’. Having been fighting off yet another cold for the past few days I decided to lay really low and maximize my time in bed – the more energy the better right? Wrong. My nervous system crashed and then I compounded the mistake the next morning by going for a track walk (our race was in the late afternoon / evening) during the Women’s race. Subconsciously I was so excited to be back in the World Cup that I didn’t consider what a track walk might do to my adrenaline and nervous system. As I walked down the track I could feel my heart rate rising much like it does during warm-up and right before the race begins. Uh oh. My nervous system went up like a rocket and an hour later I was as flat as a pancake – and my race wasn’t for 4 more hours!

The race came along and I did everything I could to try and fire myself up at the start, but to no avail. It was my worst pushing performance of the year by far and this is the track where I needed it the most! However, I did have a very good first run and found myself in 5th place – a nice start to my ‘first race back’. I started the race in 12th position so I knew going in my chances were very small for a podium result (Winterberg ice deteriorates very quickly and if you are not in the top 2/3rds of the first seed you have basically no chance to win the race). Being in 5th spot though I felt as if a podium was well within reach if I could just nail my second run.

I did improve my push on the second run, but I got kicked left out of the groove very abruptly and I did not react fast enough to minimize the damage and by the exit of the 1st corner my race was essentially over. I fought my way down, but I did not perform well and the net result was an 11th place finish. Very disappointing for me to be sure. Lessons learned and packing to be done – we were leaving the next day for Altenberg, Germany and the World championships.

Canadian championships arrived and we found ourselves on a very fast track. The weather was perfect for great times and was it ever a great race. Admittedly I did not slide my best, but Paul got within 1/10th of my track record! His best time of the weekend was 55.83 (only the second man ever under 56 seconds) and then Jon and I were both in the 56.0’s. The track was cut very easy and this made it into a ‘pushers’ track. After I calculated the drive times (from corner 4 to the finish – this eliminates the push advantage and shows who is driving the best), I found I had actually won 2 runs and tied 2 runs. So, in the 2 days where I rated my driving as average, I was still able to compete in the driving department. A good sign that I am on my way back to form and a nice boost in confidence. I ended up in third position and while I was not happy with that result, it was a good stepping stone.

The day after Canadians I was off to Park City – one of my favorite tracks. I really have a good feel for the track in Park City and was looking forward to a great week. The day I arrived in Park City, however, found me sick as a dog – sore throat and a chest on fire. I could not go outside for even a few minutes and breathe in the cold air without a massively painful coughing fit. So, I was forced to do what I could with the situation in front of me. To qualify for the race I only needed 2 training runs, but I felt that I would need at least 4 (of a total 6) to gain the knowledge I would need about the cut of the ice. I suffered through the first day of training and got my first 2 runs completed. The second day of training was in a raging snow storm and after a 1 hour delay at the track I pulled the plug and decided it was better for me to be at the hotel in bed than sliding down a very inconsistent track in such poor weather. The third day of training I crawled out of bed and got my last 2 runs in aided by a lot of Advil Cold and Sinus medication (by now my nose had started to run like a tap as well).

I went out and bought myself a kettle and spent every spare moment in the hotel with my head under a towel breathing in steam. With all that and yet another season of ‘24’ under my belt I was just barely alive enough to race on Friday in the America’s Cup race.

The weather was still poor, but conditions were managed well by the jury and everyone had a fair chance. I raced better than I had in Calgary the weekend prior and managed to find myself in first place after the first run. Entering the second run in the lead is something I have not experienced for quite a while and I welcomed the challenge. The second run was a bit messy, but it was good enough and I ended up winning the race by .75 seconds. The most valuable learning of the day was remembering how to handle the ‘second run jitters’. I didn’t do it that well, but I learned a lot.

Saturday was the second race of the weekend for me (the Inter-continental Cup race this time) and by now I felt a little bit more human and was able to breathe in the cold air without coughing myself into oblivion. I had my best run of the week on the first run and found myself .25 seconds in front of my team mate Kelly Forbes and .5 seconds in front of the third place slider. With Kelly being a little bit closer that the second place slider from yesterday, I was challenged by an even greater case of the second run jitters. I handled it much better than the previous day and ended up winning the race by .5 seconds over Kelly.

After Park City it was back to Calgary for the next 2 races. The lingering effects of the cold I had were still hanging on so I continued to rest as much as I could and gobble down my vitamins. Training in Calgary did not go as well as I had hoped because of my low energy and the fact that the track had slowed down 3 – 4 seconds so I had to re-learn the line only a week and half after learning the fast line on fast ice! My first run in race one (Inter-continental Cup) was horrible. I found myself in 4th place .21 seconds out of first. I really needed to get my act together – another great chance to remember what it is like in the World Cup to chase the leader. My second run was stellar (a full .6 seconds better than my first run!!), and I ended up in first by .3 seconds. Winning the race was fantastic and gave me the amazing honor of getting to be drug tested. Peeing in front of someone with my pants around my knees is one of those uncomfortable situations we athletes have to endure in order to compete for ourselves and our country. Oh well!!

The America’s Cup race followed the next day and this time I did have a good first run, but only found myself .1 seconds ahead of the German slider, Halilovich. This was a great chance for me to experience a World Cup type second run pressure situation – a very small lead and only one mistake away from second place. Finally, I was able to achieve a solid second run and I ended up winning the race by .5 seconds. And yet again, I got to pee in a bottle!

So, the net result of the last 3 weekends is 12 race runs, 2 colds, about a 100,000mg of vitamin ‘C’, a 3rd place at Canadian Champs, 4 race wins, and 550 World ranking points. I now have 7 world point races under my belt and after completing the World Cup in Winterberg on Feb. 8th , I will have my maximum point races for the year. This should put me high in the second seed for World Championships in Altenberg, Germany and give me as good a chance as anyone to win the big race!

I finally landed back in Calgary Dec. 17th at 4am. What a fun 25 hrs of travel that was! The snow storm in the East cost us 3 hours in delays, but we made it home safely so that is the most important thing.

After my disappointing selection process and non-selection to the World Cup Team it was up to me to dig deep and prove I belonged in the World Cup and not on the Inter-Continental Cup circuit. I raced 3 times in Europe (Torino, Konigssee, and Winterberg) and placed 2nd, 7th, and 2nd. These results have landed me at 13th over-all in the World thus far (World Cup, IC Cup, Europa Cup, and America’s cup are all joined in a single ranking list this year).

The first race was a major challenge as I came down with stomach flu the night before the race. I got up in the morning with massive stomach cramps and the need to be very close to a washroom. I ate a few bites of breakfast, packed a few extra pairs of underwear (which thank-fully I never did have to use…!), and went to the race. My warm-up was as much as I could muster and my pushes were actually quite good. I pushed the same as I did at the Olympics in the first run (4.83) and on the second run I bested that by a full 1/10th. I had a few skids on the first run and was sitting in 7th place, but I laid down a very good second run (best of the heat) and pulled myself back into 2nd place. 3 days in bed after the race and I was on the road to recovery. I watched the entire first season of ‘24’ in 2 days.

Konigssee is a track I wish had never been built. I really do not like it there. It is not all that difficult except for at 2 points in the track. A mistake in one of these two points and the race is gone. I don’t like tracks where mistakes are so ‘all or nothing’ – I think a mistake should have the opportunity to be fixed if the driver has enough skill and in Konigssee mistakes in the straight or in the Kreissel are not fixable (for a safe decent yes, but not for time). Anyway, I managed to come 7th and I was only 3/100ths out of 5th. My third best result ever at that track. My push was again quite good with a personal best of 4.76 (4.83 previous PB).

Winterberg is a track at which I have won the past 2 World Cups I have competed in there so I was expecting big things. Since I was there last (3 years ago) they have changed the start area and added a corner to the top of the track. The start now gives us a bit more velocity into (the old) corner 1 and I was very surprised how much effect the extra 5km/hr changed the entire track. At least half the corners required relearning and new plans of attack. I was not having much success in training with poor speeds and poor finish times. Each day I did feel a little bit more comfortable on the track again, but the time still did not seem to be there. One other hurdle was put in front of me in Winterberg as I slightly sprained the S.I. joint in my back on the Tuesday after we arrived. That gave me 3 days to ‘recover’ before race day. So, my physical preparation before this race was not what I wanted and my push did suffer a tiny bit. After carefully studying the training videos from the last day of training I felt that on race day I had a very good plan and with all I had faced that week and in the weeks prior I made it my main goal to have a ‘proud’ feeling after the race. This required me to trust my driving plan (even though I had not practiced it and the race would be the first time I was to try a few different steers in some very key corners), and perform well even with the obstacles facing me. My first run found me in 3rd place. The new steers I had planned and calculated had worked but my timing of them was slightly off. The second run was very well executed and I was 2nd on that run (1/100th off the best time and 2/10ths off the track record) which netted me a 2nd place result. I felt proud of myself and am excited to have another chance at that track in the future with my new knowledge of the ‘new’ Winterberg track.

I am now back in Calgary until the New Year and I am looking forward to chasing out the last remnants of this back sprain (95% gone now) and re-engaging in my training plan for the few weeks before my next race. Canadian Championships are on Jan. 5 & 6 and are a 4 run race this year to help us prepare for the Olympic and World Championship race formats.

Christmas will be an exciting time with the kids and I am looking forward to hanging with family and eating some Turkey!

…are the things that drive me every day. I have proven myself on the world stage in the past years over-coming pressure and Mother Nature to become both a World Champion and Olympic Medalist. Vancouver is next.

Why I do what I do – I have chosen Skeleton as my vehicle towards self realization and exploration, and as a way of sharing hwo I am with the world or as my way of giving back or contribution. With each situation I face in Skeleton I learn more about myself and learn who my authentic self is. I want to see how good I can be at something. How far can I go? How far can I push myself? I believe if I am happy, challenging myself, and expanding who I am that I will be a better person, partner, father, and role model. Essentially, the happier I am the better experience I will have with those around me. Not to mention I absolutely love sliding and cannot imagine doing another sport I enjoy so much (except maybe golf!).

How – I achieve all my goals by focusing on performance. If I perform perfectly and / or at my absolute best then I will achieve the results I want. If my best does not win me the race on that day then there is nothing I can do about it because I cannot control my competitors. I am very careful when setting goals because I think they are merely the first step in the process. I like to make decisions related to achieving the goal. Seventeen years ago I made the decision to go to the Olympics and in 2006 I went to the Olympics in a Sport I had never even heard of at that time. My decision was so strong and my belief in that decision so powerful that all the events that needed to occur did, either by a ‘force of nature’ or my actions. Achieving what I decide to do is made easier because each small choice I make along the way is guided by my decision. There have been so many things along the way that tried to pull me off track, but my long term vision was so clear due to my decision that if I did get off course, it was only by a small amount and for a very short time.
To sum up: have a goal, make the decision, make each choice along the way only as it directly relates to and effects the end decision / destination, and achieve.

Take responsibility for everything you do. I am responsible for all my failures and all my victories. Be 100% accountable.