Snowed In!!

  Remember when you were a kid, and you wished for those huge snowfalls that would keep you out of school the next day? Sometimes it would snow a ton, and the following morning you'd look longingly at the snow while listening to the radio and eating your breakfast just hoping that your school would be among closures named.  Every now and then, (maybe once a year) you'd get lucky and school would actually be cancelled.  

Most of the time though, you were pulling on your snowpants and boots trudging through the snow to school, thinking, "at least recess will be super fun today!"

  Well, my childhood dreams of massive snowfalls were fulfilled  and THEN some as I woke up yesterday to find the biggest snowfall I have ever seen outside the window of my bedroom at the Olympic Training centre in Cesana, Italy.  Take a look at THIS!

I spent the day braiding my teammate Jenny's hair with extensions and shoveling snow. It was a day off anyhow and training wasn't supposed to start until the next day.  It snowed almost the entire day but by the time I went to bed it had stopped snowing. Or so i thought!  

Look at it today!

As I write this, the snow is about as tall as I am, which is 173m tall or 5'8, and we are preparing to have a massive nation against nation snowball fight which will probably go down in history as the BEST snowball fight to ever happen in the history of bobsleigh.  I'm talking forts, strategies,  ambushes - the whole nine yards!  Officially right now, it's  us( the Canadians) the Russians, The Latvians, The Brits, The Austrians and Japan (who will probably team up with the Brits 'cause they have  a pretty small team.  Yup,  it's a snowball WAR, not a snowball fight!

I know that I will most likely be sore and very tired tomorrow but I have to take this opportunity to have this snow fun...ten year old Shelley would never forgive me if I didn't :-)

Gotta run! I have snowpants to put on!

Vegetarian Frustrations and Sleep Restoration!

Wa-HOO!! 

I'm sleeping again!  It's not always the best sleep in the world but I'll take it when I get it. Thanks to all of you who emailed me with your concerns and with your well-wishes and suggestions. Being sleepless was really hard and I now can empathize effectively with all of the insomniacs out there in the world. 

I got some really great advice from a brother of mine from my college days and it helped a ton. Thanks again Govinda!  My teammate Helen is a chronic insom

niac, so I did take some medication that she had one night, but I actually didn't sleep 

the whole night through even with that. 

Unfortunately, the drought of sleep left my body's immune system a bit vulnerable and the first morning after I got any real sleep I started to come down with  a nasty bug that has been going around. Ugh!  So, I have been sneezing, coughing and walking around with a congested head for the last few days. On the up side, I have found that Ny-Quil is a GREAT sleep inducer! :-)

Even though Igls, is one of the most beautiful spots that we get to come to on tour, there is one significant downside: The food.

Now, being a vegetarian is a lifestyle that can be challenging at times. Being a vegetarian athlete usually means I find myself in an even more challenging sit

uation. Being a vegetarian athlete in Austria when your hotplate has broken so you can't fend for yourself is downright exasperating!

 This Austrian hotel manager is very proud of the food the hotel s

erves and is notoriously stubborn about the food the hotel serves...and Austrian cuisine is - well, let's just say it's interesting and leave it at that. YIKES!   

So, even though our team manager and coaches told her in advance of the vegetarians on the team she viewed it as though I were a bratty child who, faced with having to eat their vegetables defiantly stomps their feet and says "I HATE Brocc

oli!"

The first night I was able to have a cup of the  first course - soup. And I ate some bread. That's it.

The second day she breezed in to the room after our tomato and

 cheese salad with a plate balanced on her hand perched high above my head.  "De Vegetarianisch meal?"

My teammates pointed to me and I raised my hand, happily an

ticipating my meatless meal.

"Ok, for you," she said and plunked down in front of me - and I"m not kidding - a HUGE plate of french fries.  That's it. Just fries.  I was stunned.  

"You eat zee fries, no?" she asked,  "Um, yeah....I eat the fries, but

..."  I mumbled, still astonished at the sight I was beholding.

I wish I had taken a picture so I could show you exactly what I'm talking about.  It's a far cry from a meal of champions that's for sure!  All I could do was laugh!  

I laughed all the way to my room where I promptly mixed the biggest and most satisfying  hemp protein shake I have ever had in my life!

p.s.  I forgot that I promised to send a picture of the new red speedsuits ( which Jay tells me is really not that bad).  So, here are a few!

Igls, Post - Race.

Bittersweet.

 Whoever was behind the creation of this word must've been a genius. It's such a perfectly descriptive word for a nearly indescribable feeling.   I've never attempted to write directly after a race. Not even an email.  Usually, it's because I'm too busy but often it's because I'm afraid that I won't be able to find the right words for how I feel. 

Today, I do - Bittersweet.

First the sweet:  Canada topped the podium once again today and it was wonderful! Helen and Heather were able to solidly claim first prize (and yes- another 2 litre stein for beer!).  I got a chance to sing "O Canada" with my teammates as loudly(even though we were QUITE off-key!) as possible and burst with National pride.

  Kaillie and I didn't fare quite as well as as we missed the prize places ending up in 7th place. My other teammates Lisa and Amanda were 13th, so our '3 sleds in the top 10' streak has ended.  It's strange how perspective changes from one season to the next and one year what is wonderful is the cause of your tears the next year.  

I remember the first year I did track and field in college and I didn't make the big 12 conference team for the indoor season.  I was very sad, but determined to make the team for the outdoor season.  And I did.  The very next indoor season I narrowly missed winning Big 12 championships in the 60m sprint and I was favoured to be an All-American. It would've been laughable to me to not make the Big 12 team.  Not making All-American status (because it was what I was expecting) was disappointing.  What a difference a year makes, eh?

 I guess that was the bitter part.

But it shouldn't be.  7th in the world is nothing to sneeze at.  Ok, it's not the same thing as in a sport like say, track and field or swimming, but still. There aren't too many people in the world able to make that claim... about anything or any sport. I'm grateful for the opportunity to compete, I'm grateful for the things my body enables me to do and the joy that it gives me.  I'm grateful that I get to travel around the world and see things I would probably not ever see if I wasn't bobsledding. I'm grateful for the people that I get to meet and the chance to do something that people rarely get to do.  That supercedes any disappointment in my finish, and it is enough for me today. 

Tomorrow is another story....

Snow Days!

Hi all!

If you weren't able to watch the last race or see the results I'll update yo

u briefly.

After a bit of trouble in the first run because of some faulty brakes in the sled Helen and Jenny managed to end up fourth on a very difficult track. Kaillie and Amanda were 8th and Lisa and Sabrina were 9th. Once again a very strong showing from the Canadian women!  

This week we are in Igls (It sounds like "eagles"), Austria.   

Besides St.Mortiz, this is probably one of the prettiest places that we get to see on tour.  The mountains are absolutely breathtaking and there are some of the most beautiful sunsets and sunrises (yeah, we got to see those thanks to 6:00am wake-ups this w

eek) that you've ever imagined.  I'm not a big fan of winter..but the snow here gives the landscape and the horizon this ethereal quality that probably couldn't exist in the summer. I'll try to take a picture and include it in the next post

We've been experiencing a LOT of snow this year in Europe. Sometimes it's a pain in

 the neck (like when you're trying to drive your two-ton sled truck up an incli

ne without snow

 chains on the tires!), but most of the time it's a ton of fun to play in.  

The Canadians are officially the BEST snowball fight instigators on the World Cup Bobsleigh circuit!  One such frenzied snowball fight broke out after the race in Altenberg last week.  It probably started innocently enough with one person casually lobbing an ill-packed snowball at another person's leg or somethin

g. But did it ever escalate in a hurry. Suddenly there were strategies and gameplans!  We were trying to leave the track in our van but we were having too much fun and someone piped up that we

 should do one last drive by on the Austrians and Americans. The plan was to load up our van with snowballs and - well drive by the other teams open the side door, pelt them with snowballs then shut the door and drive off as undisputed victors of the world cup snowball fight championships! Well, it was a good plan anyhow. But someone got pulled out of the car and then we stopped the van and when we went to drive off one smart baseball playing American (who shall remain nameless until he gets his just comeuppance - that's right I said it! Comeuppance!) opened the trunk/bac

k door of the van.  WHAMMO!  Snowballs were EVERYWHERE and there was absolutely NO where to go!  Needless to say we were wet for about 2 hours and I can sense another snowball fight in the near future!  

We also took advantage of the great sleep to create...Gustav.   Wearer of many hats!  

  

Season

Hi all!

 Well, it's that time of the year again...time to start pushing sleds and running fast behind them! Yup, the World CupBobsleigh Season 2008-2009 has commenced.

It's been a whirlwind beginning to the start of the season as, for the first time ever, the team selections were held inWhistler, the site of the 2010 Olympic Games. The individuals vying for a spot on the World Cup circuit travelled to Whistler and spent three long weeks training on the unofficially fastest track in the world.  And when I say fast, I mean FAST!  The women's sleds were seeing speeds of 142-143km/h!  If you got caught doing that on the highway, you would get a ticket AND lose points!

 We had two, two-heat races and when the dust settled, I am happy to say that my team made the World Cup Team. We won the first race and placed 2nd by a very small margin in the second contest. Kaillie and I were also able to set a new start record. We'll see if we can keep it and/or improve upon it at this year's world cup event.

With the World Cup team announced, we made a short pitstop in Calgary where I was able to do a couple of public speaking engagements for RBC, for whom I have recently been named as an ambassador and RBC Olympian. (I'll attach my RBC headshot)

  What does this mean? Well, for me it means next year I won't have to work three jobs during the off-season while trying to train!! (smile).  But seriously, it's a really great program that enables me to have the flexibility I need to train and compete while simultaneously allowing me to make a difference ( I hope!) in my community and gain valuable work experience. I'm also hoping to be able to help them develop an ESL curriculum for their "RBC After School" program.

The team then went on to spend a week of training in Lake Placid, New York before heading to Toronto (my home town) for an all-out media blitz!   It was fun and exhausting doing Breakfast Televesion, A media attended official Visa Team announcement, A featurette with TSN/Sportsnet, and several sit-down interviews with CTV, FAN 590, and others. To put it in perspective, my day began at 5:30am and I didn't stop moving until I sat down in the airport at about 5:00pm! 

We arrived in Frankfurt, Germany with no problems and then drove for about 6 hours to the town of Altenberg, Germany.  The Altenberg track is thought to be one of the most difficult tracks for pilots to navigate successfully and so the Canadian team is taking advantage of open international training to get some much needed practice runs on the track, especially seeing as we'll be back here in two weeks for the real deal! 

Sliding starts tomorrow and I'm a little bit nervous (crashing is ALWAYS a threat on this track!) but also confident that the nerves will die down and that I'll be ok. Thankfully, God has kept me safe this far crashing or not!

  I'm planning on keeping a blog this year...I think it will be a bit more fun and perhaps a bit easier than sending out update emails.  This way, I can upload all the pictures and send links and any other fun things I think up!  So, hopefully from now on I'll just be sending an email to let you know that I've updated the blog.  If you'd rather not receive these emails, just reply and let me know. Don't worry, I promise I will not be offended in the LEAST! 

'til next time!

God Bless,

Shelley-Ann

 

World Cup Race number #1...Winterberg, Germany

So, the first World Cup race has come and gone and it was a GREAT day for the Canadian Women's team in terms of results as for the first time EVER on a German track a Canadian sled (well, actually a non-German sled) won!  The Canada 1 sled of Helen Uppertonand Jenny Ciochetti were able to beat 9-time winner on the Winterberg track Sandra Kiriasis of Germany.  Kaillie and I  were able to stay on the World Cup podium placing 6th.  Amanda Moreley(my best friend) and Lisa Szabon placed 8th putting all three Canadian sleds in the top 10!  GO CANADA!!!!   We made a pact to sing  "O, Canada" as loud as we could during the anthem ceremony... it's so refreshing to hear your anthem played 5000 miles away from home.  Well, not everyone sang that loudly but I wasn't letting the chance pass me by!

One of the funniest things about making the podium or better yet, the top three at these European contests is what your prize winnings are.  Winterberg, for the past few years has given a set of rims to the winners! Yes, you read correctly, a set of RIMS!!!  There is also, usually a glass or stein of beer given to the top three. And not any ordinary stein either, this thing is hold 2 litres of beer - you need two hands to hold it for sure!  This is normal for Europeans i suppose, but we North Americans always get a kick out of the fact that it seems perfectly acceptable to offer the mass amounts of alcohol to elite athletes....directly after they've finished competing! LOL!  This year in winterberg (besides the rims) the podium places ( 1 through 6) received what I thought at first was a cool and funky vase, but I found out after a few minutes is actually a VERY expensive and avant-garde wine decanter - that I will never use because unfortunately I don't enjoy wine in the least.  But I will probably make someone very happy because re-gifting is a beautiful thing! :-)  

As always, the first week on tour brings with it our annual Adidas haul (YESSSS!) which we are very happy about but always takes a looong time to finalize. Especially this year because we received probably twice as much as I ever have in any previous year.  Ask any of my friends about something that I dread doing- and they will undoubtedly tell you -shopping.  I hate shopping SO MUCH!  It's not that I don't like clothes...I am still a regular girl after all....it's just the shopping for it that gets to me. The trying on, the fittings, the inevitable disappointment when you cant find your size (which happens often when you're built- well- like a bobsledder!), the walking up and down and then for me, the thought that plagues me as I near the check-out counter: "Do I really need this?"  So, needless to say I don't shop a whole lot.  When the adidas gear comes in, the hallway of whatever hotel we're in explodes into a scene from some kind of bargain basement shop with clothes everywhere and flailing limbs rifling through piles and a crush of bodies in various states of deshabille while voices can be heard shouting back and forth,  "Does that fit you? What size did you get? Ooh, that looks sooo good on you!  Hey, I didn't get that hat!"  And so on, and so forth.   It's my worst nightmare.  So, I try to collect my bag and avoid the scene like the plague...but this year the biggest drama was provided not by the common clothes but by our racing gear.   In previous years, Canada has worn a basic black with fading red sleeves and legs.  I admit to thinking we were one of the better looking teams out there...NOT any more!  Bright Red suits that look like something Santa Claus might have in his closet greeted us this year....and when we squeeze our bodies into them....they turn pink in certain areas - like our bottoms!  We had a great laugh about them and the fact that we probably wouldn't be very intimidating looking like elves from Santa's Workshop but we wore them anyway...at least we could all look like that together!

 We are in Altenberg, Germany at the moment and the 2-man races are tomorrow,(December 6th) and the 4-man race is on the 7th.  I have this week off of racing and instead Amanda will be racing with Kaillie. Wish them luck!  

I'm actually really happy that I'm not racing this week as I've been suffering from the worst case of insomnia I've ever had. I haven't been able to sleep for about a week and a half now and I have no idea when sleep will be returning...hopeuflly it's soon.  Yesterday I went to the German drugstore to try and find something that could help me sleep, but we have to be so careful about what we take - even seemingly innocent looking things can be banned -that I didn't end up taking it. I felt like crying when the sun shone through my window at 6:30 this morning and I realized I hadn't slept a wink.   If you're a praying person, please pray for sleep for me!

I'll be back on the track next week when we head to Igls, Austria.  If you want to watch the races they are streamed live  atwww.cbcsports.ca . 

Til next time, 

thanks for your love, support and well-wishes.

Shelley-Ann

p.s.  I've attached a pic of the decanter and our now infamous santa suits!