Louise Corcoran NZ Skeleton Racer. Olympic Athlete. Kiwi. Skeleton Slider. Skeleton Sport

3 kiwi sliders qualified for the games.

2010-01-22T20:32:00.003-07:00

Since my last post, I have been back in sunny NZ, soaking up my first true summer since 1999! A NZ Christmas with family was a nice treat following the bitter disapointment of having to return to NZ due to lack of sponsorship and funds, ending my chance of qualifying for these games, in 10 seasons of sliding for NZ this is the first time I have not managed to get the money needed to see the

Calgary Race two, 3rd place, bronze medal on the podium :)

2009-12-20T08:15:00.002-07:00

Calgary race two was much better and I put down a spectacular run, one of those runs that just feel amazing, I was still and did exactly what I wanted to do and was breathing at the right places, felt totally connected with my sled, felt a push out of 8, totally clean out of 8, just loved the run, apparently the announcer was really excited (kiwi), and standing on the podium and getting my medal

Calgary race one 5th place

2009-12-10T21:00:00.003-07:00

Well after having a real arctic blast come through, with temperatures plunging to close to -30, and our first two training sessions cancelled due to the risk of us freezing to our sleds, we finally got to train yesterday in the snow. Today we raced, it was my first time back here since 2007 season, and I get one day training to prepare, not ideal. First run today was a bit messy up the top of the

Now in Frozen Calgary

2009-12-08T10:20:00.003-07:00

My week on ice last week was great, it was such a buzz to be back on my sled, and I was relieved to be in control of my sled from day one, there's always this little fear of getting on your sled at the start of the season and finding that for some mad reason you have totally forgotten how to control it, but that was not a problem, the only hits I took were one out of 6 and 11, when I was

Great day.

2009-12-02T22:59:00.003-07:00

So I changed my runners for this race today, my gut feeling was that the runners I had been using in training and yesterdays race were too sharp, and I was right, with a less than perfect run I went nearly a second faster in my first heat and, more importantly, I clocked the 4th highest speed 124.7kmph, for me I know I'm sliding well when I'm getting good speeds and this was the first good speed

4 days on ice and improving

2009-12-02T11:56:00.004-07:00

I've had 4 days on ice so far, still way way off my best down time, but making progress every day, going faster every day, am more comfortable on my sled everyday. Yesterday got my head down low (I know this as my chin guard ticked on the ice in the straights and I felt my eyes just peeking in the top part of my visor), was clean to 6 with no hits or skids, after 6 however I hit hard and stupidly

I made it just in time.

2009-11-30T13:26:00.004-07:00

I'm in Park City Utah!!So the TV interview worked... I sold my car! But I did not have enough money to make it to my first IC race in Europe so the tickets got cancelled (was very very bummed out). But there was one option left that was much cheaper and still left me with a pathway (a very challenging one) to qualify and compete at the Olympics, that was to go to the Park City AC race that

Interview

2009-11-06T13:19:00.005-07:00

Thanks to Burmuda slider Patrick Singleton, my CGW interview is now on Youtube, check it out, forward it on and help me find another sponsor please! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg5hNYoCBJY

mini sold

2009-11-06T12:29:00.004-07:00

ok, so I've sold my mini, never expected it but my Mum and Bron (step dad) want it!! So theres $6000 towards the season and overnight I got a quote in for all my flights... $6100 which is very expensive, need to pay for them by wednesday, money for the car doesnt come in till Saturday and I still need to find a way to pay for car rental, accomadation, food and training runs.... any good ideas or

and the crowd goes wild

2009-11-04T14:20:00.000-07:00

Heres the crowd goes wild interviewhttp://www.skysport.co.nz/Default.aspx?cid=15153

Road trip complete and The Crowd Goes Wild.

2009-11-03T20:01:00.011-07:00

Well this week has been busy, 7 days ago I arrived in Christchurch and did a loop around the south island collecting my mini from storage and headed back up to Auckland in my 1980 1275gt Mini with my brother Matt as co driver. We did Burkes Pass to Auckland in 33 hours, and we caught up with all 4 parents, 6 siblings and 2 nieces along the way. I was wrecked by the time we rolled in to Auckland.

Burkes Pass

2009-10-28T12:57:00.002-06:00

Had a great day yesterday travelling from Christchurch to Peel Forest to Burkes Pass, got to catchup with family and see my new neice who is 5 weeks old. It is snowing right now here in Burkes Pass! About to head to the mechanics to see how my mini is, is she upto a big road trip?

On a mission.

2009-10-27T14:21:00.003-06:00

So I'm still in NZ and my first race is less than a month away, I need to find another sponsor or win lotto or sell my house or sell my car, so I'm trying all of them. Last night I flew to with Jet star to chch (total headache, don't fly jet star 8.30pm flight got us to chch at 2am, heading on a mercy mission to get my mini out of storage in Burkes Pass (near Tekapo, Mt Cook area) and drive

2009-08-05T20:24:00.003-06:00

Have had a great month of training with the last two weeks being massive as I have set new personal records in the gym and on the ice. I have knocked off 0.50s from my timed 3om ice push, and am feeling strong.I have been very busy pursuing different grants, scholarships, sponsors, business arangements, loans, house sales and deals that will hopefully get me the support and money I need very

I'm still here!

2009-07-09T00:03:00.006-06:00

Well, it has been a long time since I updated this blog, which is a pity as I had soooo many followers. A few years ago I landed a dream sponsor, he read about me in the Air New Zealand magazine and contacted me, and sponsored me, he did not want me blogging and so I stopped. He is no longer sponsoring me, but helped me get to where I am now, 3 months out from my first Olympic qualification world

The Olympic countdown is on...

2008-07-27T20:26:00.001-06:00

Time has flown by this off season, I have been very busy since returning to NZ.I arrived back in NZ and before I had even slept in a bed I was at the Lawyers office buying a house!! really, who would have thought I could have found a way to buy a house, I still find it hard to believe my self. I managed to borrow my parents equity and secure a loan, and borrow extra to make renovations, probably

I'm Americas Cup Champion!

2008-04-05T13:37:00.001-06:00

Americas Cup Champion, what a great way to end the season.I'm the first ever Southern Hemisphere athlete to win an overall title in Skeleton.This week has been great preparation for next years World Championships, there are 3 rather difficult corners / transitions in this track for me, they are the exit of 3, the 12-13 transition and the 14 to 17 straightaway, in all 4 of my race runs I got those

Lake Placid race 1

2008-04-04T14:29:00.002-06:00

Day one Americas Cup

2008-04-01T18:42:00.002-06:00

Official training for the last two Americas cup races began today. I did not know who would show for this race as it is at the end of a very (very very) long season, I have been away from home for 6 months now!Germany has sent their top athletes including Olympian Anja Huber, she is the current World Champion and European Champion, she also achieved 10 podium finishes in the last 2 world cup

Can a kiwi win the overall Americas Cup?

2008-03-22T14:49:00.001-06:00

I am now in Lake Placid USA, on Monday the FIBT sliding school begins, then on the following Monday my campaign to be the first Southern Hemisphere athlete to have an overall win in an FIBT race series begins.I am currently sitting in 2nd place in the Americas Cup, we have two races left of a 6 race series, I won 2 of the previous 4 races. These next two races are the last races of the season and

2008-02-10T14:01:00.000-07:00

Ben came 4th in the World Cup final!!! What a fantastic finish to a great World Cup season for him.Ben, Iain, Tionette and myself are all off to Altenberg next weekend.

Winterberg

2008-02-07T09:22:00.000-07:00

I am now in Winterberg Germany, I am forerunning for the World Cup final here, after this I will head to Altenberg for the World Championships.I have been rather poor at updating my blog this season, so to sum it up, I have had my best season ever as far as sliding goes, and probably my 2nd best as far as resutls go (to this point), my sliding has improved and my understanding of what it takes to

I won, again :)

2008-01-20T19:41:00.000-07:00

Well I have had a very busy couple of weeks competing in 2 IC races and 3 Americas cup races.Today in Calgary we had our 3rd day of racing after 3 days of training and I won the Americas Cup Race with my fastest down time of the week. In the IC race held two days ago I finished with my highest points of the season in 8th place, but was disapointed as I did not have very clean runs and my result

I won

2008-01-11T22:16:00.000-07:00

I competed in the first Americas Cup race of the season today in Park City Utah, we had heavy snow -15 degrees celcius and strong winds, it was horrible weather to be sliding in but I put down two great runs on a snowy track. I was .22 behind in the first run but put down my cleanest run in the second heat and finished .08 head of the next closest athlete.I havn't been on the podium yet, the

Park City sliding

2008-01-09T08:55:00.000-07:00

We are now in Park City Utah for the Americas cup and Intercontinental cup races, Iain, Mike, Katharine are also here, with Iain and I racing in the Intercontinental race on Saturday and all of us competing in the Americas cup on Friday.There is a 'Snow Emergency' in Park City, which means there is so much snow that they have no where to put it so they are restricting cars in the village, it is a

Winterberg IC

2007-12-15T07:48:00.000-07:00

We raced today, I had two personal best down times and finished 10th overall, Lindsay Alcock set a new track record.Iain Roberts was in 6th place after run one and finished 8th after the second run, his best ever result.Ben raced in Lake Placid finishing 7th, and Tionette finished 18th.Katharine has been fore-running and got lots of run in here in Winterberg.I am now waiting to hear from the

New Track Record in Konigssee

2007-12-12T02:52:00.000-07:00

I set a new track record in Konigssee and reached 107kmph. The season so far been a very big learning curve, with Tim on board as my coach he has been putting me through my re-education, and has been successfully weeding out bad habits I had mastered over the last 8 years. At the first race of the season, the EC in Igls, it seems like I made more progress in 2 weeks there than in 4 years

Europa Cup training

2007-11-20T08:58:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to say that I am in Austria, official training began today for the European Cup race, I am sliding well, today I beat all the women and most of the men and had the highest speed of the second run (higher than all the men) and I set a new personal record yesterday with a 55.93 and 108kmph (I was sliding 57’s in the world cup here last year), not only is my down time improving but

2007-11-10T07:17:00.000-07:00

Well the selection races are over, I am off to Intercontinental Cup and European Cup races in Europe.Race one was very close in Lake Placid, Tionette was .2 of a second faster in run one, but in run two I beat her, but with the times totaled she was .07 of a second ahead and won.Here in Calgary I was ahead in training but Tionette was very fast on race day and was again .2 of a second ahead after

World Cup selection races, official training

2007-10-30T21:06:00.000-06:00

Today was day 2 of Official Training for New Zealand selection races, I had a few days off prior to official training, so I am feeling great and well rested. My runs today and yesterday were very good, I got some great split times... and highlighted areas of the track that need some work. Tionette and I have 2 more days of training then we race each other on Friday. Combined time from two

the last two weeks

2007-10-30T20:09:00.000-06:00

The last two weeks have been eventful. The weather here in Lake Placid was generally very nice, but not the best for sliding, we had several days that reached 25 degree Celsius, great for the garden barbecue and camp fire area but not very good for the ice on the track. They have managed to keep ice on the track for all but 2 days, which is bloody impressive considering this summer heat.Tim, my

2007-10-16T18:27:00.000-06:00

Training is going very good, I am enjoying the track and have great control of my sled, still have not been told what date our World Cup selection race is, but as Tionette and I are both here sliding now it should be soon.Here is a pic of me training in the gym yesterday.

Sliding time

2007-10-12T22:59:00.000-06:00

I am now back in Lake Placid. I have had 3 days of training, and all is going well.

Some words of wisdom

2007-07-03T02:50:00.000-06:00

Every one should read this.

Sponsors to help me get to Europe are hard to come by, but sponsors for my wee mini, well thats a different story :)

2007-07-02T16:30:00.000-06:00

I have been excited all weekend about my flight today, but this morning I woke up to a claggy foggy day with very poor visibility, so no flying, and no flight for a couple of mates who were going to fill the two spare seats in the R44 for the lesson, hope we can reschedule, I would love to take them for a flight. Instead I went for a sprint session and an easy run around the lake edge, with

Flying the 44

2007-06-28T19:15:00.001-06:00

I got to have my first flight in the R44, it is a bigger more powerful 4 seater. It feels like a real helicopter compared to the tiny little R22 (which is way smaller than my mini 1275 gt). I love the R44, we got to go and play in the low flying area, flying 50ft off the ground at 120knots, thats like 200kmph, ahhhhhh, it was soooooo cool. It was one powerful wicked machine. I have another

My blog works!!!!!

2007-06-28T17:59:00.000-06:00

after months of contacting blogger, searching their help pages, and scratching my head as to why my blog would not work, I deleted the longest html link on my side board, and it looks like it worked!!!!!

it's snowing

2007-06-23T22:20:00.000-06:00

Winter arrived, we had 15cm of snow in the garden yesterday, the pass to Christchurch is still closed, there is crazy heavy snow fall in the south, a tornado hit Invercargill and the supermarket has run out of bread!!! I’m keeping warm by the fire, and keeping the mini off the road tucked up safely in the garage, luckily the gym is walking (or slipping and skidding) distance from home. P.S.

2007-06-20T22:23:00.000-06:00

Well I have had a very busy week, I have been flying lots; 2 flights a day when weather allows, and weights and sprints in between. Working on sponsorship and fundraising, and planning for the race season, studying for my Basic Gas Turbine exam and trying to avoid the cold out side (which is impossible when your at 2000ft agl, it is -3 degrees, flying with the doors off and you need to stick you

trainings good, flyings good and exam passed.

2007-06-20T19:04:00.000-06:00

Training is going great, and I have found a new sponsor, Getstrength.com the makers of the front squat harness, well they also make a back squat bar that I can use with out stressing out my shoulders, it is brilliant and they have given me one, THANK YOU. Flying is just awesome. I passed my Nav exam, that's all my compulsory exams done. I'm now starting my sling training and soon I'll be flying

Training, exams and my new wee Niece.

2007-06-13T18:36:00.000-06:00

I’m back up in Christchurch to sit my navigation exam, it went well, I am confident that I passed but I used every minute of time to get through it, which worries me as I was told that by others who sat it recently that there was heaps of time left at the end, I have to wait 10 days for the results. I also came up here to catch up with my trainer Ashley, I’ve been following his program for 5

Air borne adventures

2007-05-28T18:27:00.000-06:00

My flying is going great with two flights a day, I hope to take my brother for a flight next week, he’ll be my first real passenger!I got to go exploring in the helicopter, my instructor circled all the little huts in the shotover/skippers/mototapu area and sent me and another instructor out to find them, I haven’t flown navigating off a tramping topographical map before, there is a lot more

Back in Wanaka

2007-05-20T18:22:00.000-06:00

I'm well into my new program, and now back in Wanaka and training is going great, the weight of my dead lifts, bench press and clean pulls are still limited by my right shoulder, but that is to be expected with surgery only 12 months ago, but the weights are going up and the box jumps and knees to feet jumps are getting easier, and the Turkish Get Ups are amazing for my shoulders. My front squat

A new trainer and a new program gets me moving forward.

2007-05-10T18:14:00.000-06:00

I have a new trainer, Ashley Jones, he has been great and he is use to working with athletes who have shoulder issues. YAY. He has also arranged equipment support for me from www.speedpowerstability.com, THANK YOU!

Front Squat Harness

2007-04-10T18:03:00.000-06:00

My first 12 weeks back in NZ were spent recovering from the injuries/illness I picked up on tour and sitting my 6 commercial pilots licence exams.I knew that in order to get the amount of study required done I had to find a way to keep my head in the books every single day. I also needed to pay off my two credit cards that where fuller than they had ever been. Amazingly I found a way to do all

Food Poisoning

2007-02-03T01:32:00.000-07:00

The world championships was horrible, I got food poisoning. It really sucked, I spent 5 days lingering near by the closest WC, and only managed to do half of the official training, then on the first race day I got too sick and too weak and ended up in the local hospital 4 kg lighter. I was in hospital on a drip for 5 days. They think it may have been salmonella, but I'll have the test results

Ben and I are at the World Champs

2007-01-24T01:53:00.000-07:00

Ok,so lets go back a week or two, training was going absolutely brilliant in Igls, I was flying I was loving the sliding, and going faster than I was last year and I felt like I was getting back to where I was the season before ( which was the main aim of this season, to get the shoulders working properly after surgery and find the fast form I had before I busted them), I was confident of a good

My Brother Guy is getting married today.

2007-01-14T03:46:00.000-07:00

The story of Guy and Dani (read at the wedding by several cousins, in pantomime style)Once upon a time, many years ago, Guy and his buddy were driving out toLincoln Univercity, probably late for a class, with music cranked and dreamingof foreign women... They thought they were hallucinating when twobeautiful foreign girls laden with backpacks appeared on the oppositeside of the road trying to

2007-01-14T03:25:00.000-07:00

In the end I could not justify the amount of money it was going to cost for me to go to Japan. Instead I stayed in Igls Austria and trained. Which was definately the right decision. I have had over 30 runs here on this track and I have regained the fast feeling on my sled that I had a few years ago. My high speeds are very good and my down times, while not as fast as I was before I busted the

Happy New Year and Merry Christmas

2007-01-03T04:47:00.000-07:00

I am still in Igls training, and all is going very very well. with three days training on the track, I then fore-ran the Austrian championships and went faster than I did in last years world cup race here where I finished 17th. So it looks like I am getting back to where I used to be. My shoulders are not too bad, they get stronger every day, and I now have no trouble caryying my sled around, I

Christmas Eve

2006-12-24T07:19:00.000-07:00

Hello everyoneMerry Christmas. I am in St Anton Austria with my Brother and Sister inlaw, Ben and Karen, they are running a Chalet here in the alps for the winter and I have come here to have my first christmas with kiwi family since 1999!!!I went and checked out the track in Igls today, it is looking great with brand new very nice start and finish buildings.My plan is to get as much sliding in

Park City World Cup

2006-12-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

I arrived and my luggage didn't, -25 celcius and snowy out side and I only have jeans a t-shirt and a light jacket and street shoes. The airline said they would get my bags to me as soon as possible but did not know when that would be. AAAAHHHH, luckily I have good travel insurance and once my bags are missing for 12 hours or more, they will let me buy emergency clothing, a nice warm new jacket

Calgary World Cup

2006-12-10T20:05:00.000-07:00

Calgary World CupIt was a last minute decision for me to go to Calgary, I originally intended to spend the week in Lake Placid getting comfortable on my sled as a lack of money meant I did not get the preseason training in that I had hoped for and I did not want to show up at a world cup race having not even had 10 runs on the sled, getting a good result is hard enough, trying when other

Licence to Fly

2006-10-25T02:34:00.000-06:00

Today I got my Helicopter Pilots Licence ;)

Still in NZ but hopefully for not too much longer.

2006-10-20T18:08:00.000-06:00

I am still in Wanaka, but I had some great news today:Press Release: Legendary cross country running and ski coach, Bernie Gardner, coach to New York State's best young runners and skiers is helping me get to the Lake Placid World Cup.THANK YOU Bernie!!I have tickets booked and paid for that have me departing on the 31st of October, the cheapest round the world ticket $4600, it's not ideal, it

2006-10-13T15:15:00.000-06:00

Just spoke to Peter (dutch athlete) in Lake Placid, they have found an apartment in town for only $US200 per month each, which is a bloody cheap, and wireless internet works there too. He said the ice is good and that I have to get over there. I Have re booked my tickets and am going to have to commit to paying for them, they need to be paid for on Monday, but committing $4000 to tickets with out

I'm on the wrong side of the world.

2006-10-12T16:17:00.000-06:00

Ben and Peter are in Lake Placid. I need to be there too. I am still negotiating sponsorship with several companies, if they come to the party then I'll be away asap, if not, then i'll keep looking.Getting to the Olympics last year took everything I owned and help from friends and family from all over the world, it was a HUGE $$$ effort. So $$$ wise me and my network of supporters have nothing

one month out till ice time (hopefully)

2006-09-29T23:28:00.000-06:00

Well Hello!!!! It has been a while since I blogged, and a lot has happened in that time. My shoulders are healing very well, and I rarely find them limiting me in my day to day activities now. My athletic training and shoulder rehab is going well, but has been held back a bit with some 'shin spints' flaring up. My flying has been bloody awesome, today I flew to Queenstown, I have about 45 hours

Shoulders get a wake up call.

2006-07-20T01:34:00.000-06:00

Wanaka turned on one of it's stunning perfect winter days today, clear clear blue skies, tall snowy mountains, lots of sunshine and a crisp bite to the air. I love this place. My shoulders are getting better, my physio here thinks I am not progressing as fast as I should, so she pushed me pretty hard in our last session, which wasn't fun, but with lots of rehab and time spent in the gym everyday

iceland

2006-07-18T00:56:00.000-06:00

My brother and his wife are working in Iceland on a glacier, they are also waiting to hear if they got the jobs they went to Europe to be interviewed for... working for the Brittish Antarctic Survey, they have a blog too, www.thekarenandbenshow.blogspot.com check it out.Visit the Snow Farm, my major sponsor. contact meCheck out my current world rankings and results, see the Eurosport or Speed

Learning to hover

2006-07-15T18:32:00.000-06:00

I arrived in Wanaka late Friday night, all was going well on the drive from Christchurch untill I was decending the last pass into Wanaka, and my exhaust fell off. I spent over $1000 on my car last week, including having a brand new exhaust system. It was just before dusk, I was in the middle of nowhere and there was no mobile phone coverage, I was feeling like a real damsel in distress, untill

2006-07-12T05:38:00.000-06:00

It has been a long time since I blogged, before the Olympics even! Things got pretty hectic before the games and blogging fell off my list of priorities. But I did write email updates that I sent out to friends and family during the Olympics, so i will put them up in the next few weeks.Since the Olympics I have been living in Blenheim at my Mothers place, and I have had six trips up to Tauranga

-22 and sun shine in St Moritz

2006-01-19T01:34:00.000-07:00

Well official training was full of the highs and lows that seem to be a theme this season for me. I did a track walk with a bobsled coach at the start of the week, and because bobsledders and skeleton sliders drive very differently the language used in the track walk could not be the same, instead we talked about where the pressure needs to be in the corner (rather than where to steer and how to

back blogging again.

2006-01-15T10:24:00.000-07:00

Well it is time I started blogging again, there have been many different reasons why I havent been keeping this diary upto date over the last few months, sorry if you missed it.Kelly and I are now in Switzerland staying at Hotel laudinella where the US team and Peter from holland are as well, Peter did not get his top 15 he needed int he last race, he is half way there to qualifying, hopefully

Race day with my new Speedo skeleton suit

2005-11-19T19:52:00.000-07:00

On the start line with coach Tim Nardiello Waiting for the green light with cameras on me. and I am off... Visit the Snow Farm, my major sponsor. contact meCheck out my current world rankings and results, see the Eurosport or Speed Channel broadcast schedule.

A day of Harry Potter

2005-11-19T09:01:00.000-07:00

Today Iain and I are going to see Harry Potter at the movies, Jack (my coach's son) saw it last night and said it was good. Iain only just discovered Harry Potter and has been reading the books non stop this last month after years of laughing at people who read the books, now he is hooked.I ate something a bit dodgy the night before the race and all yesterday afternoon, last night and this

Lake Placid World Cup

2005-11-18T21:48:00.000-07:00

Today I raced in the 2nd world cup of the season here in Lake Placid New York. Training this week has been great, my first run on the first day back was a new personal best time (unfortunately I didn’t beat it today). The weather here this week has been crazy ranging from 16 degrees with sunshine on the last day of training, blustering snow showers that caused heat one of the men’s race

2005-11-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day of official training. When I woke up I went out side to see how many layers of clothing would be needed for the cold day at the track, and found that a singlet would do, it was 16 degrees outside!!!!! When Kel and I got to the track we did a track walk, and when it is real warm the track is usually very frosty, but it was too warm for the frost to grow, the track was one

sliding fast again

2005-11-13T19:50:00.000-07:00

So today was the first day of official training, my ribs were feeling good and breathing is perfect, the 3 days with no training was exactly what I needed. As usualy Kelly Peter and I were the first there at the track, we get there early so we can do a track walk and not be rushed to get through our warm up. I was a bit nervous about not wearing the chest brace, but i dont want to go slow here

2005-11-13T09:59:00.000-07:00

Didn't get to slide yesterday, which was for best really, I have caught a cold, and it was good that I had a full day off with no training or travelling. Today after training I am moving into the Golden Arrow hotel with Peter Van Wees, it works out the same price as the Hostel and we wont end up sharing a room with strangers, just a bit more comfortable and there is a hot tub and swimming pool as

calgary photos

2005-11-12T20:00:00.000-07:00

Ryan Davenport, my sled builder, making me a new saddle the plastic rib brack Jeff Pain made for me that protected my ribs all week. On the start line with my coach, waiting for the track to be call clear and green light.and I am off with tv cameras filming. me Visit the Snow Farm, my major sponsor. contact meCheck out my current world rankings and results, see the Eurosport or Speed Channel

2005-11-12T11:39:00.000-07:00

Wednesday and Thursday the first world cup of the season was held at Canada Olympic Park. A Chinook was rolling in over the mountains, which meant that the days were warming up, we had a high of 11 degrees and the ice temperature was a very warm 0 degrees at the start of the race. I had a very challenging week, when I first arrived the out run (the section of the

2005-11-06T11:07:00.000-07:00

I havent had very good internet access lately, so I have alot to tell about here in Calgary.When I got here I had my sled builder Ryan Davenport replace the saddle on my sled, I wasnt totally happy with the way it felt, and to go fast you must be comfortable.My training has been disapointing so far this week, I havent had any particular issues in any corners but just havent been going fast yet.

A fast run to finish on.

2005-10-29T06:19:00.000-06:00

So last night, Kelly, Peter and I foreran the US race, I had a 2 hour sleep after the first training session and woke up about 15 minutes before we had to leave for the track for the last session, and I was real sleepy, I thought about scratching the runs as I was still only half awake when I got to the track. But good warm up and skipping session out in the cold snowy car park did a good job of

another day training.

2005-10-28T11:11:00.000-06:00

Just got back from training. I wasnt in a good headspace for training today, the ice was fast and I have shead all my extra padding that I have been wearing since my crash, and I was nervous today. I knew i wasnt going to crash but i wasnt finding it easy to relax and focus. My runs were faster but I am not back to where I was before the crash (58.77), must relax if i want to go fast. I did a

A tough day at the office for Kel and me...

2005-10-27T16:11:00.000-06:00

Sliding was cancelled yesterday after we had over a foot of snow at the track and branched had fallen over the track and the the roads needed to be cleared. So instead I had a productive day in the gym, went and drank coffee with Kelly got some lunch stuff, and soaked in the Dutch Bobsled teams hot tub with Kel. My shoulder is feeling and looking much better, and I have been feeling the 'old'

some pictures from today

2005-10-23T21:52:00.000-06:00

Unloading the truck at the end of the day.Everyone riding the truck down after a days trainingsnow ball fight, aussies vs High peaks hostel athletesWe got the the track, the gate were shut and the training on hold, time for a snow ball fight...Visit the Snow Farm, my major sponsor. contact meCheck out my current world rankings and results, see the Eurosport or Speed Channel broadcast schedule.

another day off

2005-10-23T21:47:00.000-06:00

Yesterday Thomas, Jan, and Michelle from the New Zealand Olympic Committee and Ross the president of the NZ skeleton association came to visit us all, they went down to the track and saw the Canadian selection race that was on, and we all went out to dinner and had a good evening talking about the next 3 months leading up to the Olympic. It snowed 4 inches overnight, and no one was

Shoulder joints OK, and a good nights sleep.

2005-10-22T09:48:00.000-06:00

Kim Hardy, my room mate, an aussie slider, helped me dress the burns on my shoulder and elbows last night. My thighs and bum, (which have ice burns on them, but the skin was not broken) have become one of my biggest concerns, they have swelled up, and gone solid like wood. I always wanted big solid quads, but would prefer the muscular ones not these swollen bruised ice burned ones. It has been

Clocked at 107kmph off my sled.

2005-10-21T09:38:00.001-06:00

What a day, where do I start, today it finally stopped raining, it has been raining for over a week now, but this morning it was below freezing and clear skies, that means a fast track, I was so excited. The international training has started here, so we are in nation groups and flipping the start order each day so today we were off last, and I was last in the NZ order, the track was very

drug testing

2005-10-21T09:35:00.000-06:00

What a day in the kiwi camp, yesterday, we slid at 2pm, and as I was walking back from town in the morning there was a man and a woman standing in the car park with a clipboard, name tags and looking very keen to talk to me… turns out that the New Zealand anti doping agency had arranged for the Canadian anti doping agency to come down from Montreal to ‘out of competition test’ us. Just

Bobsled hits skeleton athletes in Calgary.

2005-10-20T09:21:00.000-06:00

The kiwi team have had an eventful day today but right now all our thoughts are with the US team in Calgary and particularly Noelle Pikus-Pace, the world cup points leader from last season.We just heard that during their training session while waiting at the end of the out run for a truck to pick them up (5 US women were waiting) a 4 man Bobsled, with a rookie pilot and rookie breakman took a run

Back to the two handed push

2005-10-19T09:23:00.000-06:00

Well sliding has been going great, I am getting the feeling for it all back again, and my push is just amazing!!!! I have been very worried lately as my push seemed to have become so so slow and terrible that I was starting to think in a very negative way about the season ahead .When performing my best last season, my push was still around the 4th or 5th slowest on tour, so with my times over

2005-10-19T06:49:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was the 8th day in a row of rain, it is as if we are training in Winterberg Germany. Peter, Kelly and I were pilot sleds for the womens bobsled race again, i too two good runs, no major mistakes a few great corners. Visit the Snow Farm, my major sponsor. contact meCheck out my current world rankings and results, see the Eurosport or Speed Channel broadcast schedule.

2005-10-16T11:10:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was a good day on ice, Kelly, Peter and I foreran the US team trails race 2, I took two runs, could have had 3, but i had a heavy weights session in the gym in the morning so by the time my third run came around I was lying down in the start house ready for a snooze, Kelly took my third run for me. 3 days ago my new Uvex helmet arrived, I had started to worry that it was not

US team trials.

2005-10-14T16:51:00.000-06:00

Today Kelly Peter and I foreran the US Olympic trails. It has been raining hard all day but the track here is all undercover so you don't get wet until you exit the finish curve. I had 3 good runs, but we were asked not to push just take a few steps and get on so my times were not as good as they could have been. I am a bit bruised and bumped from the last few days of sliding, the track is very

training

2005-10-11T13:12:00.000-06:00

So we slid last yesterday, a double session, we were on ice at 3pm forerunning for the US national team selection races, right now they have a week of official training, then we slid with the US Bobsled team. All up we got 4 runs in, but it was a long day at the track we got there at 2pm and did not get home untill 10pm, and grabbed a pizza on the way home, not the best food for an athlete, but

ice

2005-10-09T21:02:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I took the first runs of the season, first run since the 28th of February! I was a little nervous because I had changed my saddle, moved it in a bit so it was a snugger fit, but I landed in it fine and took off down the track. The first 2 corners where a blur, my eyes were not used to the speed, I bumped my way around corner 3 and shot into corner 4, then the speed really kicked in,

sled work

2005-10-04T19:47:00.001-06:00

So today I worked on my sled, my beautiful very expesive and fast sled that the Snow Farm sponsored me with. I am a bit leaner now than I was when I was orriginally measured for it two years ago, so I rattle around in the saddle a bit now, so we moved the saddle in by an inch and a half, this envolved taking the saddle off the sled, which is easy enough, but i did not want to destroy the great

2005-09-29T08:56:00.000-06:00

Another day here in Lake Placid, I still couldn't go to the gym at the OTC, tomorrow I am going to sign up at the comercial gym in town (minimum sign up of 1 month) as it could take a week to get my OTC pass processed, I helped out with Tims new house he is building on the back of the section, staining the batons for the outside of the house, a few hours a day earns me my keep, pretty good really

sprint training

2005-09-28T20:02:00.000-06:00

I had good sprint session this morning in the blazing sunshine, by body was loving the vitamin d, I went down to the running track here in Lake Placid it is very old, and not in suitable conditions for and races but good enough for my 30m sprints, the US national Luge squad where there being tested, lugers sprint train as well, that is something I didn't know. The track is where the opening

2005-09-27T17:56:00.000-06:00

fI just got a camera a couple of days before I left Wanaka, unbelievably, I have raced 5 seasons, travelled all over the world, and not owned a camera! I figured that I would just kick myself in the future if I had no photos to show off all my adventures, so this blog will now have lots of pictures to help tell the stories, this one is of beautiful Lake Wanaka, just a couple minutes walk from

In Lake Placid

2005-09-27T11:46:00.000-06:00

This is the first of my ‘on tour’ updates, if you’ve been added to my mail list and want to be removed or know of someone who would like to get regular updates of my progress then just drop me a line.Finally the time of the year has come for me to pack my bags and hit the road again. This will be my 6th season racing, proudly wearing the silver fern while zooming down the track at

Another stunning day up on the snow farm

2005-08-16T19:35:00.000-06:00

Just got back from the snow farm where I was training in the proving ground ice shed, Garrick was helping me cut the ice and filming again, it was a good session, and I am worn out now.Yesterday I had a pilates session and a Plyo session and in the evening I was the guest speaker at the Wanaka Rotary Club. They hold their meetings at Te Tawara a great local restaurant, the dinner was delicious,

A great day training

2005-08-15T19:19:00.000-06:00

I picked up the Academy of Sport timing eyes this morning from the gym, and at 9.30 Garrick and I headed up to the Snow Farm to train in the proving grounds ice shed. Wanaka and the surrounding Southern Alps are looking unbelievalby stunning right now, with the fresh snow and perfect weather it was a great drive up onto the Pisa range where the snow farm is located, the view looks out over Mt

Good training this morning

2005-08-14T20:46:00.000-06:00

I had a good training session this morning with Jon, a strength session, followed by 11 minutes in the ice bath, my legs were sooooo cold, but they feel good for it now. It also looks like the New Zealand selection criteria for the women's skeleton team for the for the up coming Winter Olympics is nearly finished, I cant wait to have it all documented and set so we all know exactly what is

Healthy again :)

2005-08-13T15:18:00.000-06:00

I got home from my mums two days ago. I have had two sessions in the gym, I am still pretty weak, but thankfully my chest infection is gone and I can get back into training. I tried squats yesterday, I haven't been able to do squats since I injured my shoulder, Jon had come up with a way I can hold the bar across my shoulders holding rope rather than holding on to the bar, which means I can avoid

I've been a bit crook lately

2005-08-10T03:48:00.000-06:00

I am in Blenheim visiting my parents right now, I have been sick since last tuesday, a bad chest infection, bronchitis, and apparently a touch of pneumonia, not fun, and not really the best state to be in when you need to be training hard. Since I was so crook I decided to use some of my airpoints to visit my Mum and be looked after. It took two 18 seater plane rides to get here! Tomorrow I fly

busy week

2005-08-04T14:54:00.000-06:00

I just picked up the car this morning, the fern on the roof looks awesome. I had a tv interview up the snow farm yesterday with Kelly Swanson Roe from tv3 for sports tonight, it is probably on in about 2 weeks, it was a real good day on the ice, and they got some great shots, and the footage will be re edited for Freeze tv which goes out to over 100 million in Europe!! The auction Julianne Brae (

Rule Change

2005-07-28T01:09:00.000-06:00

I have had a busy day today, had a strength session this morning, did a PB Leg Press 172kg, but since this camp in Calgary I am even more aware that I need to get so much stronger. I got my sponsored Merrell shoes, feels like Christmas, two new pairs of shoes. Went and did a huge food shop, something I love doing because when I spent 5 months over seas I can never find the food I really want to