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CNNSI.com GROUP
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So excited I could hardly sleep
Jen Davidson, 29, is one of the top brakemen in the world. The Utah native has paired with driver Jean Racine for the past three seasons to form a powerful bobsled team. For more on Davidson and Racine see bobsledgirl.com. The two-time World Cup champions are in the process of training for the 2002 Salt Lake Games. Check out Davidson's diary on CNNSI.com as she prepares for the Games.
September 8, 2001
I compete in a sport that I can only actually practice five months a year. Which means the other six months a year that I'm training, I have do things that are similar -- at best, to what I do in the winter. Bobsledders train a lot like track and field athletes during the summertime. We sprint and lift weights. But there's not a lot that we can do that actually simulates pushing the sled on ice. Until this year ... The Canadian Olympic Park is the home to the newly completed Ice House. It is an indoor ice start facility for the sports of bobsled, luge and skeleton. It is the only facility of it's kind in North America. We are able to take our race bobsled on it's runners and practice our starts and loads and get 50-meter start times -- just like we do on a full length bobsled track. In one week's time at the Ice House, we can get in the equivalent of about four weeks worth of pushing during the winter when we're only able to take 2-3 hits per day. In the past, U.S. athletes have trained in Lake Placid, New York on the only push track in the country. There we have a sled on wheels and rails like a train car. This summer, a lot of bobsled athletes have traveled back and forth to Canada to train at the Ice House. Jean and I will spend most of this month in Canada. The Dutch and Irish teams have also spent time here. This facility will really change the way North American sliders are able to train in the off season. The night before my first time back on the ice felt like Christmas Eve. I was so excited I could hardly sleep. Pushing a sled is so fun to me. I could hardly wait to do it again. The last time I pushed was at our World Cup in February on the Olympic track. The one thing that is difficult to prepare for is the cobwebs that accumulate on any skill that hasn't been performed in six months. I expected that my first hit would feel as great as my last. Never mind that my last hit was at a race event and a personal record push. So I've had to work out the kinks, find my technique, and be a little patient over the past few days as I've regained my form. I'm just so thankful that we're able to get on the ice a full six weeks earlier than we have in previous years. It makes me even more anxious to get in the sled and let Jean drive me at 85 mph to the bottom. It's a feeling like none other. And it's less than one month away.
153 Days to Go!
-- Jen
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