Broken bones

Bumps and bruises are a regular part of skeleton, but worse things do happen on the track. I got word tonight that two of our sliders in Cesana broke their collars today during training runs for the Intercontinental Cup race. I don't have any details, but I was really disheartened to hear this news about my friends and I hope for their speedy recovery. Both of them are excellent sliders, and they have a lot of competitions that they need to mend up for this season!

Of course, this news also makes me wonder how my own experience will pan out in a little over a week. There is no US coaching for this race, I have received very little support from the USBSF in spite of specific requests for very basic assistance, I am in short supply of training time in Park City to train and test runners, and Cesana is making it clear that it is a track to be reckoned with.

Some good news - I will not be the lone US slider going to Cesana for the EC. Luke Schulz has committed to joining me. I hope he doesn't regret it after hearing about the carnage. He's a good guy, and I am relieved to have a teammate join me for this competition.

In other news, my request for time off from work has been approved. I asked for about four weeks - one each for Cesana, Park City, St Moritz, and Winterberg. The downside is that this will be unpaid time off during a period of huge expenditures. I would be looking for well heeled sponsors if I had a spare moment, but for now I will leave that to serendipity and keep my nose to the grindstone.

Have I mentioned that I work with some really cool people? Accenture has a regular e-newsletter they send out that spotlights people doing cool stuff. My manager took it upon himself to submit my story, and I was selected for inclusion. Apparently I will be the first story to come out of Navitaire. Pretty cool!