From Lake Placid to Land of 10,000 Lakes

 Tony Benshoof lives out of his suitcase about four months a year and about three more are spent training in Lake Placid, hundreds of miles from his Midwest hometown.

 So when summer comes, the veteran USA luger can't wait to get back home to White Bear Lake, Minn.

 "I'm a Minnesota guy and I always will be," the 33-year-old slider said. "That's where my friends and family are and I love it."

 When the luge season ends in March, Benshoof leaves Lake Placid for the Twin Cities' suburb and does his best to stay there as much as possible until the season starts back up in September. That amounts to about three-quarters of his offseason, since he heads back to Lake Placid for about one week per month to practice starts and work out with the team.

 "I've always been an athlete that's all about balance," Benshoof said. "And my family and girlfriend-and I work all summer long-all that part of my life is in Minnesota. That's where I spend the majority of my time."

 He sounds more relaxed and upbeat while talking about his hometown than he does about anything else, which says something for the two-time Olympian with a U.S.-record 25 international medals and the Guinness World Record for "fastest luge speed. He placed 12^th in the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City and was fourth in 2006 in Torino. Perhaps in Vancouver, he finally will make it to the medal stand.

 His love of luge is almost equal to his love of the the Land of 10,000 Lakes. He likes that he can have the small-town feel of downtown White Bear Lake and the big-town feel of Minneapolis and St. Paul all in one afternoon.

 "I love that I can drive 30 minutes north and be in the middle of nowhere or 30 minutes south and be in Minneapolis," he said.

 In the summer, Benshoof works odd jobs in the area, including some graphic design work with his company, Gravity Graphics.

 "I picked it up over the years and I fell in love with it," he said. "It's really just a hobby that I make a few bucks on every once in a while."

 He also works with his dad, a general contractor, occasionally helping out on construction projects. One or two nights a week he even bartends in nearby Hugo, Minn. Running around behind the bar is actually a good workout, he insists, but most people don't know that the man serving their drinks is shooting for a third trip to the Olympics.

 I don't advertise it, but they figure it out through the grapevine," he said. "I try not to talk about it too much, but I think a lot of the customers are excited to hear the stories and throw an extra tip at somebody who is going to the Olympics-hopefully going to the Olympics!"

 And then of course there are the bountiful Minnesota lakes, a resource Benshoof definitely enjoys. He gets his water skiing fix on White Bear Lake-his parents' house has access to the lake.

 "I'm a big water skier," he said. "I enjoy spending summer days on the lake, water skiing whenever I can."

 For a change of pace, he'll head a couple hours north to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, about 1 million acres of forest and lakes with more than 2,000 camp sites.

 "That's always been a lot of fun for me," Benshoof said of water skiing and camping. "That's where my free time is spent."

 Of course being an Olympic athlete doesn't permit too much free time, even in the offseason. The summer of 2009 is no exception for Benshoof. Besides this being the summer before an Olympics, Benshoof is also coming off a season riddled by a back injury and surgery.

 Going into last season, a bulging disc in his back prevented Benshoof from touching his right toe. Nevertheless, he thought he could endure it and continued training.

 After an up-and-down early part of the season, his back finally blew out during one of the last races before Christmas. Without surgery he would risk permanent nerve damage, but with surgery there was still a chance he might never slide again.

 Ultimately, Benshoof chose surgery to repair his herniated disc last December. Initially, he couldn't walk.

 "I did a month of nothing but rehab, four and a half to five hours every day,'' Benshoof said. "I really busted my hump to get back on the sled. I set a pretty lofty goal to get back on a sled in a month, and I did."

 Not only did he return to the sled, but also he found himself winning again.

 Benshoof won his seventh national championship in March to become the most successful men's athlete in USA Luge history.

 "It felt good because I hadn't had a good race since the surgery," he said. "My teammate was sliding really well all week. Winning it, it's not like I got lucky. I raced well; he raced well, and I beat him fair and square. There was a long string from 2000 to 2006 where I won every year in a row. It was nice to know that I can still do it."

 Benshoof says he is still only at about 90 percent healthy right now but that he hopes to get back to 100 percent by mid-summer. He is working on a fitness program designed by Chris Thorpe, a two-time Olympic luge medalist who is now a physical trainer.

 "And by next fall I am hoping to be better then I ever was," Benshoof said.

 There is a good chance that if Benshoof qualifies for the 2010 Olympics that the Games might mark the end of his competitive career.  

 When that time comes, Benshoof isn't sure what he will do after 20 years on a luge sled, but he definitely knows where he wants to be.

 "I know I will figure something out," he said, "in Minnesota."

 Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc. Chrös McDougall is a freelance contributor for teamusa.org. This story was not subject to the approval of the United States Olympic Committee or any National Governing Bodies.

For more on Tony, check out his Team USA blog and personal photo gallery!