New season is upon us...

 "It's not the will to win that matters, everyone has that. It's the will to prepare to win that matters"

 

Bench press with our new Stormtech kit!

It's been a long time between posts... eight months is a long and lonely time to train for a sport you can't practice at home.

But like any bobsledder, all the boys on the team and myself have been doing plenty of work in the gym and on the track in the lead-up to what should be Australia's best season in the sport of bobsled.

Heath Spence doing what he does best... damaging things

Gareth Nichols dominating the squat rack

Lucas Mata deadlifting heavy

There's a real sense of belief among this group, and despite the distance between most of us communication hasn't been an issue. I can't tell you the number of times I'll log-in to Whatsapp after a day at work to find over 50 new messages.

It's a bit of fuel to train harder.

So how do we train? Well as a brakeman, it's simple. Go to the gym, and eat alot. We're really only useful on the ice for about 5 seconds, so we want to make sure that every fraction of that time is spent giving the absolute most into pushing the bobsled.

 We've been hard at it doing plenty of squats, deadlifts, cleans, bench presses and plenty of similar weights and exercises to bulk up and get strong. It's a weird concept, training for months to shave off just small fractions of a second off of a start time.

From all reports there has been significant progress across the board from all corners of Australia and the world with the training group. For myself, that progress took some time to get going.

 A demanding full-time job on top of my complete lack of experience in training as well as a lack of a coach, meant that motivation was hard to find. But as the season has neared, I've put significantly more into it, and despite a few injury setbacks, I'm happy to say that I'm in far better shape than I've ever been.

I've been fortunate in the recent weeks to get some fantastic help from sprint coach Matty B and weights coaching from Dean. They've been phenomenal in quickly picking up technique issues in the gym and on the track. It's amazing to know all the tiny things that go into making you run fast... and in my case all the things I'm not quite getting right just yet!

So now, we're just weeks away from a new season. And I think, before looking too far ahead, it's important to remember how far we've come already. Just a year ago, I'd never met any of the boys on the team. Aside from Heath and Duncan, none of us involved in the World Champs last season had ever even touched a bobsled 12 months ago.

 In early November we begin racing in Utah in the Americas Cup. The following week it's the World Cup at the same venue. The excitement is palpable, after many months working several jobs our pilot, Heath, has already hit the ice in preparation.

The season is just around one final 5-G corner... HERE WE GO. Amp up everyone and let's hear your support! Feel that rythm... feel that rhyme... get on up, it's Aussie bobsled time!!