Friday, November 23, 2012

4-Man Race Tomorrow

Good Morning/Afternoon Everyone

I will be racing in the 4-Man Race tomorrow Nov 24th. The race begins at 9am West Coast time, you can view the video at http://www.youtube.com/user/bobskeletv Please subscribe to this channel to keep up with all my World Cup Races. I'm looking forward to helping out Team America Bobsled_SuperForce succeed

Sincerely

Jesse

www.jessebeckom3.com

Twitter @jessbeck3

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Let the Season Begin!

Although I will not be racing this week please tune in to Watch Team America Bobsled force in action during the First World Cup of the Season!! Subscribe to this YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/bobskeletv

There is also and App for your I-pod or I-pad just download the "Live+" from Digotel Sarl. After you download the app just tap a video channel and then one of the videos in it. When you watch a live video you can scroll back the stream at any time to watch a key moment again. Tomorrow November 9th the Women's 2-Man Race begins at 9:04 am EST, the Men's 2-Man Race begins at 1:04 pm EST. On Saturday the Men's 4-Man Race starts at 9am EST

Please check out the Article that was done on me in the Des Moines, Iowa Register
 
God Bless and Enjoy!

Friday, November 2, 2012

Happy Day After Halloween!!


Happy Almost Halloween everyone!!!

Well, at times I really don’t make things easy for myself! One of these years it’s going to be such a smooth road for me I won’t believe it! Lol Unfortunately however, that will not be this year!

 In the beginning there was darkness that covered the earth until a great light appeared. Sorry another flash back! Lol

Here is the real beginning. This year I decided to head up to Lake Placid 3wks early then our testing date so I could get acclimated to the environment, get some practice runs on the sprint track we would be testing on; along with getting some extra pushes in at the push track!

Just to refresh everyone’s memory, at the beginning of each season the whole teams participates in combine testing and push championships. These tests are designed to test general overall fitness as well as rank brakemen. Our combine testing includes three field events and two lifting events. The field invents include a 60m sprint with timing eyes at the 15m, 30m, 45m, and 60m mark with a maximum 100 points awarded at each timing eye split, then there’s a standing long jump,  and shot toss. After that we head into the weight room where the men have to squat a maximum of 200 kilos for a set of three in order to receive 100 points. The last event is a one rep maximum 150 kilo clean in order to receive 100 points. . Following the combine test a few days later we have our Push Championships for Men and Women Drivers, then Men and Women Brakemen.

 
Let The Testing Begin

After a great summer of training I was well prepared heading into testing and confident in the numbers I would put up!  The day of the combine I was felt relaxed and focused on the goal at hand. As I entered the sprint event, an event where for whatever reason I always seem to be more nervous than not. However, this time around I was feeling pretty confident since my coach had me running through the timing eyes most of the summer. I did not know it then (pretty sure he did though) it allowed me to be more comfortable and prepared for that moment of testing. Going into the sprint I had planned run only one sprint out of the 3 available. I and the majority of the veterans on the team had all pretty much decided to run only one. This was done to not only minimize the possibility of a fluke injury but also to have fresher legs heading into Push Championships at the end of the week.  Just as I had done all summer I stepped to the line took a calming breath and took off running. After running my sprint to my delight I had run my personal best in testing a 2.07 at the fifteen meter eyen and a 3.64 at the 30 meter eye!!  I was pretty exciting going into the next event which was the standing long jump where I also jumped my personal best of 3.10 meters on my first jump, I took three jumps there but they were all pretty much the same distance as the first. We then moved on to the shot toss where last year I throw 17.1 meters and had been throwing between 16.9m and 17.3 through the summer. I stepped up for my first throw and threw a 17m on the head, I then gathered for my second throw and it went 17.6m I was pretty excited  because once again it was a personal best for me! I had another throw but it only went 17.4.

With the completion of the field events it was now time to head into the weight room for the strength part of the combine (the easiest part for me). It’s also the reason why  I wish it was worth more points, you know just to even the points out a bit to help the powerful guys out a bit kind of how the sprint awards a ton of points to the guys with a track and field background. And no…..I’m not trying to get more points for my strong points…Ok maybe I am! Lol

As I mentioned earlier, in order to get the maximum amount of points for the lift you have to squat 200 kilos for a set of 3 (100pts possible), and clean 150 kilos one time (100pts possible); I quickly finished those two lifts, spotted a few teammates on their squats then immediately went to stretch out in the training room. It was a great day all around for me with record best in the field testing raising my combine score of 718 last year to 755 this year!! And although I was pleased with my performance my main goal was to make sure I carried this momentum over to Push Championship which was two days away.

In preparations for Push Championships I spent the next two at the push track practicing my initial hit on the sled; and my first few drive steps and pushing over the crest. Looking back on things I have to admit I did not feel as comfortable as I know I should have felt going into Push Champs, but I figured it was just a little nervous tension like I usually get.

 Push Champs

After what felt like an eternity the day of Push Champs was finally here! In keeping with the trend of bad Lake Placid weather during testing it was a chilly rainy day. The rain in the forecast caused me and the majority of the team to warm-up in the gymnasium. While we warmed up in the gymnasium the rain passed and with about thirty minutes left before the start of the competition we headed over to the push track to finish warming up. My warm up went well like any other day and I was ready to rock on the push track!

Really quick the way it works is that each brakeman/push athlete has three pushes and an a optional fourth push but, if on your first three pushes you have not pushed from a certain position you must push from that position on your fourth push.  The first push for everyone is from the brakes than their best side push (left or right), and then the third push is usually from whatever position side or brakes the athlete pushing feels they can improve in to jump up in ranking.

 From the race draw that was done the previous night I went of 7th in the order. I stepped on to the start block but for some reason I was not zoned out nor losing my mind and pumped with adrenaline like normal; regardless I got into my start position and began
pushing.  While I was pushing I thought I was in a good position but when I loaded into the sled it did not feel that powerful step off the ground and into the sled. I pushed from the left side, then from the brakes again. But to my dismay I was sitting in 11th position .06 out of the top 4 from the side and brakes, which is where I was last season. Before my fourth push I asked consulted with some of my friends that were there watching what they had saw. They told me that I was too far bent over the sled and I needed to get up and run! I was pretty frustrated because it was a rookie mistake and I was extremely upset that I had made it. Because for whatever the reason I could not feel that I was in a bad pushing position as I normally would. On my forth push I went from the right side of the sled which is usually my weakest side, and being that it was my fourth push I did not know what to expect.  Just from changing my pushing position I was only a hundredth or so off my time from the left side of the sled (my best side).  For all practical purposes I should have been a lot slower but it was the difference in body position that made up the gap proving how bad my body position was on my first three pushes.
 
After push championships the drivers began picking their teams and although I had raced as USA 2 in the previous season and at World Championships my driver decided to go with someone else heading into National Team Trials. So to make a long story short I worked with one of my teammates on technique which helped to get me out to the slump I had fallen in. I immediately saw the difference in practice once we began to push on Ice, which I was able duplicate in our National Team Trial. I ended up pushing with USA 3 driver Corey Butner for 2-man where we finished in Second Place. Then in 4-man I ended up pushing for USA 5 driver Cody Basque and pushing him to the fastest time he has ever had in his life, taking third in the race and helping him move up to USA 4!
The following morning the National Team was named and I am happy to say that I was named to the Team. As of right not it is looking as if I am an alternate and may not be racing as of yet, well that is unless I have an opportunity to win a race-off against a teammate and move up. I have to admit it is a humbling experience losing my rank and funding as well, but I am confident in my God given abilities and hopefully soon I will be back in the position on the team where I belong. Because if it’s one thing I know is that God has a plan and however things happen through the highs and the lows in the end it will be to his glory and I trust to my benefit!
My Goal is to be on the 2014 Olympic Team and I will Grind it out however I have to through the good times and the less than good times! 
God Bless
P.S if you know someone looking to sponsor and World Class Athlete please forward them to the sponsorship section of my web-site or have them e-mail me to figure out a personalized sponsorship deal. I'm looking to garnish $5-$6K to get me through the season.
 
Jesse B