Altenberg - Day 4

Uggggg - day 4 was / is a mess!

It snowed:


And everything was pretty:


When you could actually see anything. This is the visibility at our hotel:


And at the track:


Warming up at the track:


Cassie goofing off and warming up:


Looks like the levity helped her push:


Anyway, the fog was a nightmare; we literally couldn't see from one corner to the next. Luckily, I'd had two blind runs earlier this week when my helmet fogged up, but it was still sketchy. I was super tense, and that of course leads to lots of skidding. As a result, my first run was pretty crappy and I finished 11th out of the women.

Then, joy of joy, we all got to sit around for almost two hours waiting for our second runs - today they did all women, then all men, then all women second run, then all men second run.

There were over 30 men, equaling about a 45-55 minute wait, plus the 9 forerunners, PLUS they placed a half-hour hold on the track and did a FULL SPRITZ!!! (For those non-skeletoners out there, that means they sprayed a fresh coat of water the whole way down the track, which then freezes smoothly, and makes the ice much faster.) The spritz was nice, but waiting so long between runs made me crazy (not to mention hungry).

A shot of the start house, everyone sitting dejectedly. Actually, this is only half of the group, the rest are in the room behind me. Did I mention it's cold in there?


The spritz not only made the ice faster, but it also made the corners steer differently, and threw off everyone's timing since things were happening much faster than they were accustomed to. The result: carnage.

• The slight majority had such rough runs that their second runs were actually SLOWER than their first, on faster ice. Oops.
• Lots of bumps and bruises and burns, and several cuts.
• Lots of gasping and cheering as we watched the TV, as so many would nearly crash then make it back onto their sleds, or would hit so hard we could see ice chunks flying.
  
• Luckily, only one full crash, out of kriesel, and she was ok. On the TV, we got to watch her sled slide back and forth in the low point of the track until it came to a stop and was safe for a track worker to fetch it.

My second run
As one of only two sliders without any Europa Cup points (more on that later) I was the last woman to slide today. After all the crashing and carnage, and the depressingly fast times thrown down by two or three of the German women (they beat some of the better men even), I headed to the start with my heart pounding and seeing stars. I bent down and whispered to the track "I know you are fast now, and I'd like you to please take me on a fast run." I also whispered encouragement to my sled.

(If you think I'm crazy, well, 90% of this sport is mental and I'm willing to do what it takes to get my head in the right place.)

Then I breathed deeply in and out, and beep! Loaded my sled, and sank into it. Somehow, I felt relaxed, was patient and didn't rush any of my steers, and my only really bad moment was hitting the wall, not immediately out of kriesel but about halfway between kriesel and 11, on the right side so hard my left elbow hurt (no idea, don't ask). Finally, though, had a good top of the track, and for the first time cleaned turns 9 and 14 which had been slapping me into mud pies all week. I came up the outrun and saw my time: 1:03.29, 6th! (By the way, that's an Altenberg PR by about a full second, wink.)

Phew! I'll take a 6th here any day. Now, if I can just hold it together for TWO good runs in the first race tomorrow, that'll be sweet. Now I'm off to polish my runners and make sure my baby, er, sled, is ready to go. Cheers!

PS - It's not "10:37am," it's around 7pm German time right now, and it's been a LONG day...