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!