Today was a great day and a huge weight off my shoulders because I won US Nationals!   It has been 2 years since I have held the title and it feels great!  Over the course of my career, I have had the privilege of being named National Champion 7 times but this time is special.   It is special because of the recent back surgery I underwent on Dec 26^th of 2008.   The injury was the result of over 20 years of sliding and doing Luge starts.   I had a severely herniated L5-S1 disk that was pushing against my nerve roots so much that surgery was a necessity to avoid permanent nerve damage.   I had an MRI on Dec 21^st and by the 26^th I was on the operating table.

The 2^nd half of the season (post surgery) was a huge struggle as I tried to balance my physical rehab with becoming competitive on the sled again.   I spent the entire month of January in Lake Placid doing 4-5 hours of rehab work 6 days a week.  After the major rehab work, I thought I was my old self again...but some very disappointing results at the Lake Placid Worlds and the Calgary world cup proved that my mind and my back were still in 2 different places.   My back's strength started coming around during the last world cup of the season, which was held in Vancouver, BC - Where the 2010 Olympics will be held.

Given the struggle I went through this season, it was no secret that I was not favored to win the National title.  In fact, even I didn't think I had much of a chance after reviewing the week's training times where Bengt Walden and Chris Mazdzer were well in front of me on a consistent basis.   But as the old saying goes, "anything can happen on race day!"   It was a race that had all the elements of a great luge race...great weather, good competition and Lake Placid - a track that is notorious for white knuckle rides from the top of the track. 

On the first run, I had a major mistake out of curve 3, which is unusual for me.  I have always been very solid on the top of the track but after that mistake, I knew I would really have to lay back, keep my feet extra high and go "blind" on a few curves to make up for the mistake.   I didn't make up enough time to have the fastest time but Chris, Bengt, Robbie Herebin and I were all within  .15 of a second.   

I knew I would have to push my back extra hard on the 2^nd run's start to get some extra speed at the top.   I had my fastest start of the week and came away with the win. Track conditions were very difficult - bumpy, very hard ice, and cold weather. Everyone made mistakes today and I was no exception...I just made the least.  

I am not happy because I won the National Title (ok, maybe a little!) but I am happy because I am starting to feel like my old self again...and that will give me the extra motivation this summer that I'll need to be stronger than ever as the 2010 games gets closer to reality. :)

I am now packing and getting ready to head back to Minnesota where I live.  It's a 20-hour drive I do twice a year and I am not looking forward to it!   But my time will be short lived since I will be flying back out in a few weeks to do some steel (runner) testing on my sled.   This is an important time to get the sled fine-tuned and running as fast as possible so that next fall I can hit the ground running.  

I'll keep you posted on how it all goes.   Next week I'll talk about Whistler...and the thrill of breaking the speed record!

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