The Joy of Failure - Part I

Naturally, everyone wants to be #1. But more often than not, this is not going to happen. As I've mentioned before, winning is not about beating others but rather about not losing to yourself. You control whether you win or lose.

While I never won a single race this season, I still could have been victorious. Yet, I defeated myself in so many ways. Even when I thought I'd figured it out, my performances proved that I was way off the mark. They say that life is 10% about how you act and 90% about how you react. With that said, you can allow yourself to err or fail. What's most important is how you come back from a mistake or poor performance. This season I allowed myself to be a failure. I did not rebound well from poor performances. One poor performance does not make you a failure, it makes you human. A series of poor performances, on the other hand, is inexcusable.

Out of all the negativity and frustration, I was finally and I mean FINALLY able to find the joy in failure. Unfortunately, I discovered it after my season was over; I should say - I didn't allow myself to discover it until my season was over! While I will expect to have future seasons to utilize this knowledge, life is short and time can not afford to be wasted. Make mistakes and learn from them quickly.

When I finally began to escape this funk and see how severely my mentality was hindering my performance, I began to see the benefits that failure could offer me. With the right attitude failure can spark motivation and reinforce the desire to improve. Success does not always have this affect; it can create complacency, a sense of entitlement, or overconfidence. Failure reminds you to keep seeking out information, to try new approaches, methods or philosophies and keep an open mind. To rebound from failure you must be kind to yourself. It is a skill that requires practice and refining.

While my first international racing season is ultimately complete, I have a solid month of time left here at the Olympic Training Center, and a lot left to prove to myself. In my remaining time here, I will get back to the basics - strengthening my foundation and slowly building myself back up from there.

Relaxation: A Visualization of Victory

Today is our first full day back in Calgary. After a brief workout in the hotel led by Coach Becca Sorenson, we did an exercise on relaxation and focus. The object of the exercise was to focus on the moment and achieve total relaxation of the body and mind. During this time, I felt it and I captured it; what it really means and feels like to have total relaxation - the empowerment and the freedom to achieve what you want to.

When I am relaxed, I see my concerns, frustrations and pains burst out of my body like fireworks, exploding then disintegrating to the ground; never to be pieced back together in their original form. They are no longer a part of me. I see myself standing atop the highest mountain peering down over the world. I am weightless, undefeatable and I have no fear.

Negative thoughts may return to me but I will not own them, I will let them go. I may make a mistake, I may lose a race but I will NOT defeat myself. I will always be in control, I will have no fear, I will always strive to be better than my best and this is how I win.

The 'Key' To Success

Simply put the greatest 'key' to success on race day is holding on to your keys and not locking them in your car. That is precisely what happened to me on the morning of the Lake Placid America's Cup Race #4 (Day 1 of 2 Races). I tossed my equipment bag in the back seat of my SUV and threw my keys up to the front seat. In the process, I must have bumped the key pad and locked the doors because once I shut the back door I no longer had access into my car. Crap!

It was 7:45, the race started at 9:00am and I was third off. I had to act quick. I immediately called Triple A, who told me someone would be arriving in 30 minutes to unlock my car. That would not give me enough time to get my sled into the parc ferme, the area at the start of the track where all competitive sleds are stored prior to a race. Once the parc ferme closes, athletes are no longer permitted to work on their sleds. I prepared my sled at the Olympic Training Center and sent it along with another group of athletes who placed it in the parc ferme for me. Meanwhile, I waited for Triple A to arrive and began preparing a back-up plan in the event they were not punctual. As mentioned above, my equipment bag was locked in my car with my keys, meaning my helmet, brush spikes, speed suit, gloves, and mouth guard were all out of my possession.

By 8:30 I was acting on Plan B - getting driven to the track by bobsled coach, Mike Kohn. Arriving at the track 15 minutes later, I hurried to gather pieces of equipment from athletes piloting and competing in the race. I got everything together in the knick of time but was not at my optimal performance level. It showed in my first run, which set me back into last place. In the second heat, I bettered the first by well over a second, bumping me up three places and finishing 7th in the pack. Even with two solid runs, a 6th place finish or higher would have been difficult to achieve. On Day 2, I finished with a better combined down time, but landed in the same position - 7th.

I owe a huge thank you to my USA teammates and coaches for their flexibility and assistance in getting me to the race equipped and on time! Teamwork really does have a place in individual sports!

I had a renewed appreciation that day for time and being able to use it to mentally and physically to prepare myself for a race instead of settling personal problems. I learned the value of relaxation, if you do not have it, your performance (down time) will tell you (and the bruises on your body will too). Skeleton is a sport of subtleties and inches. The slightest movements can set your sled into a skid and being a few inches off your intended line can add hundredths and tenths of seconds off your time. You cannot kid yourself about the importance of even the most minor details. Control as many variables as you can in this sport and you will lay the framework for success.

A Day of Rest

It's been two weeks since I've had an entire day off from training but I'm not ready to take a break. With so much work to be done, and little progress made in my push starts how can I feel content easing off? Taking days of rest is one of the hardest things to get myself to do, especially in the Olympic Training Center environment where training facilities are a short walk away and someone is always training! The lesssons of 'less is more' and 'rest makes you stronger' are hard to confide in when there is so much progress to be made. To many athletes, rest makes us feel lazy and unless we're constantly working out we feel that we're not working 'hard'. 'Working hard' is a core value for every athlete, and NO athlete wants to be perceived as not doing it. But working hard often leads to overtraining which is counterproductive to any athlete's performance. I hate to accept it and acknowledge this truth but my current approach is not yielding results. Many teammates remind me that there is plenty of ways to get better outside of physical training (e.g. sled work, studying track notes, researching equipment, etc.). There are plenty of resources within the Olympic Training Center (OTC) to utilize. One thing is for certain in this sport, there is ALWAYS work to be done; that will never change. So that is what I will set out to do on my day off; become a better athlete in ways that don't involve physical training.

Last Week Before America's Cup Races #4 and #5

The second half of the season is underway and it certainly has started off quick. We're just wrapping up the final week of unofficial training before the Lake Placid America's Cup Races on the 13th and 14th of January. Throughout the week I've been testing different sleds and runners in attempts to be more competitive for the races. This task has proven to be more complicated and stressful than I anticipated. The transition to different equipment has not quick and smooth. As the week closes I think I have narrowed down my decision, on a sled at least. My goal was to have my equipment set before the start of Official Training next Monday to provide myself the peace of mind for good training runs. Many athletes test runners in official training to determine the most appropriate set for the predicted weather forecast and ice conditions on race day. So I will not be too concerned if I have not finalized a decision on runners prior to Monday, but another day more may create some anxiety. I have doubts as to whether or not I will adapt in the short period of time but I am hoping to close in on my personal record (pr) as the race approaches.

Happy New Years!

Happy New Years Everyone!
For most people, January 1 means the start of a new year. But for skeleton athletes, January 1 also symbolizes the start of the second half of the season; which, for me, kicks off right away! I'll return to Lake Placid, NY tomorrow or Monday to resume training for the upcoming America's Cup races which are less than two weeks away. My most anticipated races of the season are just around the corner and the anxiety, pressure and excitement are beginning to set in.

I will admit, I woke up this morning feeling not quite like my usual self. I felt defeated and insecure over a variety of issues beyond skeleton (and my potentially longest bout away from home.) And unfortunately, I could not hide it well. My New Year's funk was apparent to Paul DeSimone, owner of Gym Warriors in Peabody, MA during my workout that day. He recognized that my mind was distracted and he let me know that this was not acceptable! He reminded me of the opportunities I have with skeleton and how important every day is to my overall goals. No day is to be wasted! I definitely needed this kick in the butt! "Always be better than your best," he said, "Always be better than your best."

The first of the year is meant for evaluating the previous year and its resolutions and setting new ones for the year in progress. I am very pleased with my commitment to last year's resolutions and am eager to get started on my new ones. One of my New Year's Resolution that I hope to fulfill this year pertains to you and keeping you informed! I am aiming to write a blog at least once a week and update my website at least twice a week. I know so many of you have asked for updates, photos and videos, etc. and I am really endeavoring to give this to you! Please hold me accountable if I start to slip on my goals or if you have input on how I can make things better! I only have one perspective here and constantly need feedback...like that from Pauly D in the gym!

Thanks everyone for staying tuned it! Best wishes on your New Year's Resolutions! Check out the website http://www.headphirst.com/ and email me with your input cdipietro1@gmail.com!

-Corinne D.

Hey!

Hey everyone, I just created my first blog site! I don't know what I'm doing!