Whistler training week

We just wrapped up our week long training in Whistler. It is mandatory that every athlete be offered 18 runs of training within the Olympic season. I spent most of the week at the track. When we weren't sliding ourselves, I spent much of the time watching the other countries slide trying to get a better understanding for the flow of the track. You can learn as much from watching people slide as you can from being on the sled yourself, sometimes more because you are able to really see where the natural pressures in the track are, and can see when an athlete is steering. When you are on the sled sliding it is more important to relax with your run and kinda take things as they come, absorbing every curve. The unique thing about luge is that you will never have two runs that are exactly identical, even being 1 inch lefter into a curve will change the where and how much you have to steer. The best sliders are able to adapt quickly and fix a problem before it can become a real problem (crashing). Overall I am very happy with the way the week went for myself. I really feel that I have a great understanding of how the track works and how to negotiate it. It took me a few days to get comfortable on the track and begin to drive consistent lines, but by the end of the week I was really focusing on relaxing, and becoming more comfortable and confident with every run. The track is very fast in Whistler my top speed was just under 87 MPH's it is really such a rush to slide there. While the speeds are very high, the track is so smooth, when you drive it right it feels like a sort of dance in a way. Everything just flows together, ALMOST effortless.
We are heading to Calgary now for the first world cup. I really feel as though I am ready for the competition's to begin. Although it was a slow start to the season and I missed some early runs because of my knee surgery, I feel as though I really optimized the time/runs I did have on the track and feel as though all my summer preparation and training is falling into place.