Conclusion of Team Trials

Our four race team trials series has concluded and we are now into our season. Team trials were a very mixed experience for me. I had problems in Lake Placid which is usually my stronghold and slid well in park city which is normally more of a challenge for me. My first race in Lake Placid was a solid 3rd place, but was followed by a freak 5th place after I made a very big mistake in curve 4, which cost me a half second on my first run. I placed in 4th both races in park city, which numerically is not the position I want, but I was very close to the fastest sleds, more so than in the past, as these two races were incredibly close. On a more positive note all of my summer training has paid off big time. I am the fastest I have ever been, as I set a personal best in Park City on the start at 4.87. I am currently staying on the west coast until I leave for the intercontinental cup on november 19th, which starts in Winterberg Germany. I will be doing some sliding and alot of physical preparation for the Intercontinetal cup. With both the world cup and intercontinental cup teams named, the next step in the selection process begins. We will have 7 international races before the jan 20 date when the Olympic team is named. On this date the points that everyone has earned will be added up and the top 2 or 3 ( depending on how we perform as a team) will go to the olympics. Im headed up to Whistler to the Olympic track on the 3rd of November to get a good look at the track to prepare for later in the season. I hope all is well with everyone.

Caleb

Olympic trials start in 2 days

Its been a great week and change of sliding here in Lake Placid. Tomorrow is the last official training session before the races on Wednesday and Thursday. Last week was dominated by wet weather around 50 degrees which is not conducive to fast ice. As a result we had a pretty slow track until Sunday when the weather cleared and dropped down to 30 degrees. On Sunday the track sped up almost 4 seconds which made sliding alot more fun! Kudos to the track crew at Mt Van Hoevenberg for getting the track in such great shape and dealing with all the bad weather!

My training in the last week has been very methodical. I have been testing alot of equipment and working on the track a section at a time. It came together fairly well today, but I still need to fix the middle section of the track tomorrow, before Wednesdays race. My starts have been very fast so far. So fast that they have been consistently faster than what I pushed in the race last year! That is a result of a great summer of training and preparation.

Occasionally I will think about all the years I have been training for this moment. Its been a beautiful experience no matter how it turns out. I am trying to keep that out of my mind to decrease the pressure on me. I generally handle high pressure situations very well and this week will be no different. I have a plan and a series of steps that will lead to success, they key is to execute and dont get in your own way!

“I can't control my destiny, I trust my soul, my only goal is just to be. There's only now, there's only here. Give in to love or live in fear. No other path, no other way. No day but today.”

One Last Weekend

Here we are, headed into the final weekend before sliding starts. I stopped by the track today to see how the icing of the track was going. Ive never seen it look so good so early. The track easilly has an inch to an inch and a half of ice and looked mostly bump free. It was beautiful being up on Mt Van Hoevenberg, with millions of different shades of yellow, red and orange that coat the mountain side this time of year. I was feeling the excitement of a child as I walked up and down the track. I am going to spend this weekend reflecting, preparing the final equipment changes that I need, and getting some rest before the 3 week marathon of sliding hits us on Monday. Ill keep you posted as soon as we get on ice. I am going to enjoy a few glasses of wine this weekend as well. I have a 2004 Turley Moore Vineyard Zinfandel on tap for this weekend as well as a Vajra Moscato d'Asti. Ill post on those when I have them. Ciao!

An Unplanned Personal Best

Today I woke up with no intention of testing my cleans, but it was just one of those days where I felt good. I had 6 sets of 2 reps in clean on the program. I came in at 120kgs, did 3 sets at 120 then went 122.5, 125, 130. After the 5th set I looked at Jason and said im going for it. I felt good, had some good motivation and let it fly. I nailed 140 kg on my 14th rep over 120 kg's. which means my real max is probably 142.5-145 if I was fresher. Either way its a huge personal best and thats why we work so hard. Its all about making yourself the best you can be. Im excited for sliding. Ive prepared myself as best I can, now all I have to do is let it happen! P.S. Snow in Lake Placid today!

This weekend was truly special. I flew out to Joe's with Duncan, Delphine and Cornelia Winter for the final wine hurrah of the summer. Before we took off on Saturday morning I attended my godson and nephews baptism. Hes so cute! Following the baptism I met Duncan at the Lake Clear airport where I waited patiently for his piper to drop down onto the runway from the clouds. I have never been in a small plane before and before I knew it I was in the copilot position. I actually flew for a good hour and half between the two days. As we shot down the runway in Lake Clear duncan surprised me by telling me to pull back on the yoke and before I knew it I had the plane in the air. As we gained altitude I looked down on the mountains I grew up in, it was a truly new, peaceful and exciting experience. It was as if I was being taken back to childhood, when a new experience fills you with so much wonder and excitement that you barely can contain yourself. I really seemed to forget about all my problems when I was behind the controls. It was liberating, peaceful and enlightening. I asked a couple hundred questions of Duncan about the controls and their purposes. I learned alot about flying and now I understand what the addiction is all about! I would love to own a small private plane in the future. AMAZING.

The legendary hospitality of Joe Gallo came through once again. Dinner was amazing, calamari with a plum sauce and filets over grilled portabella, roasted red peppers, seared sea scallops and a blue cheese and herb sauce. The wines were even more amazing. 1990 pichon longueville baron, 2004 Richebourg, and 1999 la Mouline to name a few. Between the Richebourg and the Mouline, I sat entranced in my wine glasses for the entire evening. These wines commanded respect and were truly rare experiences. I have never seen a wine change so much over the course of the night as the Richebourg did. The scents were so haunting, ethereal and primal. It was a beautiful experience. I scored the wine 98 pts. The Mouline was out of this world. I maintain that the LaLa wines made bu guigal in cote rotie are the greatest wines in the world. The Mouline was so graceful and elegant compared to the Landonne which I have had in the past and tends to be more brooding. One common thread between the two was the way the wines carry themselves. They are some of the most intensely flavored wines I have come across but they carry themselves with such amazing balance that they almost come off as weightless. They are truly special and I count myself lucky to have experienced the Mouline and Landonne. I scored the Mouline 99pts and scored the 1998 Landonne 100 pts when I had it last christmas. La Turque is the only one of the LaLa's I have yet to try.

Back at it tomorrow. Things are really gearing up and the season is upon us. I will keep you all posted in the weeks to come as sliding and team selection races continue.

4 weeks out

Its amazing how fast the season comes along, we are two weeks away from sliding and 4 weeks from our first team selection races. The leaves have begun to change in lake placid. For me there is no better time of year. It is not only beautiful but represents a very exciting time for me as it is time to put all of the hours of hard summer training into effect on the ice. A week ago we had our second push camp in calgary and it went great. I pushed another personal best and solidified my start technique. My biggest gains this summer have come from flexibility, biomechanical work and a lot of work in sports medicine to really understand my body and what I need to get myself to be my best. A big thanks to peter toohey and jason hartman for all the help they gave me with my physical preparation. I'm currently waiting in jfk airport for my flight to albany.I went out west to visit a friend and clear my mind. I'm ready for this fall. The combie test is tomorrow (physical testing) ill report back w results!

GREAT week in Calgary

What an amazing push camp in Calgary. It went exactly as planned. I am really excited to return in september. I pushed almost a tenth faster than I did last year. I executed my plan and had almost none of the typical problems I have had in the past. I feel like im on the edge of a whole new world. Thanks to everyone who has stood behind me. Now lets make this thing happen. Back to LP on Monday for 3 more week of training before returning to calgary.