Journey with Ruben on
the Road to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and Learn the Timeless Principles of Success that
will Help You Succeed More in Life
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February 2009 - Over 90 MPH on the Luge
At 90+ MPH, things happen very quickly. Your
timing needs to be very sharp because if you miss time a steer, you
can easily lose control on the following curve. You can't get behind
the 8 ball in the luge because if you do, you'll be eating ice!
Here are a couple of quick videos shot at the
bottom of the Whistler track - the fastest in the world.
Whistler Men's Start - World Cup
Training
Track Workers getting Whistler Track
Race-ready
The track workers in Whistler are the best in the
world. Whenever there is a new track record, they are as much
responsible as the athlete.
Pascal the Track Worker Making the
Track Fast
Ladies Start at Whistler
Sleds from Ladies Start at the Whistler luge track reach higher
speeds than are reached from Men's Start at most other luge tracks.
Riding up to Ladies Start at the Whistler Track
This is how
we get back up to the top of the track after a luge run.
February 2009 - Relieving Tension before a Luge Run
This is shot at the Men's Start at the Whistler Olympic
luge track. The first day of official training for the World Cup race.
This is the fastest track in the
world. We had just taken a run from Ladies Start and were about to take our
first run from Men's Start. We were all a little nervous about the upcoming
run until something spontaneous happened.
One of the guys was eating an apple.
He took a bite and tossed it to another athlete. The apple flew all around
the start house and by the end, we were all in a better state of mind and we
all ended up having good luge runs.
Calgary Luge and Bobsled Start Training Center
"The Ice House," in Calgary, is a
state of the art luge and bobsled training facility that can be used
year-round. This is where Canadian sliders perfect their starts.
Just like you have to invest in
yourself or invest in your business to get top results, countries that are
serious about getting top results at the Olympics invest in the
infrastructure that will help produce top athletes.
Just last week, Canada had a 4th
place in the ladies luge World Championship in Lake Placid. Coincidence? I
don't think so.
Are you investing in yourself?
Reading the right books, associating with top people? If you aren't,
why not?
February 11th, 2009
Official training for the Calgary Luge World
Cup race started today. We each get 6 luge runs. Your time must be
within 7% of the fastest run on at least two of the six runs to
qualify.
The men's start ramp in Calgary is very steep.
Not too much time to paddle for extra speed.
Fortunately, I was able to qualify on my first two runs.
You Can Help Ruben!
You can help Ruben get to the Olympics by sharing his website with anyone
who hires professional speakers.
Meeting planners, sales managers, medium to high level corporate managers,
heads of organizations or associations, etc.
Send them to Ruben's website where they can watch a video of Ruben's
incredible Olympic story here:
The Men's Start House is where you get ready
for your luge runs. Suit up, do mental luge runs, stretch, and talk
to coaches and other athletes about proper luge lines (especially
when you are having trouble somewhere in the track).
When you first watch this,
it doesn't look like much is going on, but notice, that there are
athletes getting ready, others stretching on the floor, others with
their eyes closed doing mental runs, and you'll see Jonathan Edwards
coaching Michelle Despain Hoeger, from ARG Luge.
The field was divided into
four groups of athletes for this official training. Each group
trains for about 3 hours. This session was from 6:00 PM till 9:30
PM.
Outside temperature was about 10 degrees
Fahrenheit. Very hard
ice. So hard that on my first two runs I was skidding all over the
track. Jonathan sharpened my steels a little for the 3rd run and I
was able to get some better grip.
In this quick sweep of the
Men's Start House you see athletes from Venezuela, India, Slovenia,
Latvia, Argentina, Norway, Romania, and Bulgaria.
This is what the Men's Start house looks like in the
middle of a sliding session then everyone is suited up and sliding.
The Secret Ingredient for Luge
Speed
Lugers sand their steel runners with many
grades of sandpaper. The smoother the steels, the less friction
against the ice. The finishing touch is to polish the steels with
0.25-0.5 micron diamond paste. The same diamond paste jewelers use
to polish gold rings.
You have to be
willing to do whatever it takes...
February 9th 2009
Jonathan Edwards
working on my sled
I’m in Calgary training for my first World Cup race
here in 7 years. 21 years since the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics - my first.
Like usual, everyone asks me if I’m a coach.
Sliding very well, had a personal
best time a couple of days ago. That’s a good thing because the field is
stronger than ever.
Jonathan Edwards, who competed for the US in the 1994
Lillehammer Olympics is coaching me. Having the right coach is crucial if
you want to make quick improvement.
The sport of luge is the only sport
that is timed to the thousandth of a second so everything counts. Just like
in business and in life.
Jonathan spent several hours reshaping the steel
runners on my sled to gain some speed in the race. It’s an art.
Everybody thinks there’s a Silver Bullet
that leads to success. There’s not. You just do whatever it takes for as
long as it takes. Success is the cumulative result of consistently and
persistently doing all you can do.
December 5, 2008
Just finished my
first international race in 6 years. The road to Vancouver 2010 has
officially begun. I have earned one World Cup point which gives me a world
ranking. Not a great one but it's a start.
My race run was clean and my lines
were good, but my time was slow because my steel runners are sharp. Sharp
steels give you a lot of traction but the tradeoff is slow speed.
In the past, I
have always slid with sharp steels because since I have taken only about
1/10th as many luge runs as everyone else in the circuit, I never had the
experience to slide with more rounded steels.
However, since I feel better than
ever on the sled, I have decided to slowly round my steels as the season
progresses so I can start getting better times.
The trick is to progress very slowly
because since rounded steels have less grip, they are very unforgiving.
The
adventure is about to get more exciting!
Successful people are willing to do what
unsuccessful people are not willing to do. Go for YOUR Gold!
December 3, 2008
This is shot from
the bottom of the Sigulda track. You can see the men's start tower behind me
on top of the hill.
Training is going well. We race this weekend.
Dreams do come true if you
believe and are willing to do the work.
December 2008
This is the view of the bottom of the track down in the
valley. It is shot from up in men's start. When you are at men's you can
look below and see where you will end up...
Courage is not the absence of fear.
Courage is acting in spite of your fear. Do what you fear and the fear will
disappear.
December 2008
Men's start in Sigulda sits on top of a 6 story building
that sits on top of a hill. The finish is at the bottom of the hill. A great
setting for a luge track.
Take action. Bold Action. Jump and the
net will appear. If you get into the action habit, every day in every way
you'll be getting better and better, closer and closer to your dreams and
goals.
December 2008
Customer service in Latvia leaves a little to be
desired. Here's my Hertz rental car.
The car is just fine. It was getting
to it that was the tricky part. It was parked three blocks away from the
terminal.
I lugged my baggage on slushy roads for 3 blocks, dusted the snow off of it,
and when I climbed inside, realized it was a standard! To drive in the ice!
I had not
driven a standard in 10 years but luckily it came back like riding a bike -
or for that matter, like riding a luge.
Do the best you can do with the resources
you have right now. If you wait until everything is perfect, you will never
accomplish much. Done is better than perfect.
December 2008(14 months before the
Olympics)
I'm arriving in Riga, the capital of
Latvia, where I'll be training for 2 weeks and then competing in the Sigulda
World Cup race, my first luge competition in over 6 years.
The adventure is
really starting to happen.
How badly you want something will
determine what makes you quit. If you want something bad enough, NOTHING
will make you quit. As long as you don't quit you've still got a chance...
November 2008
This is shot at the outrun of the Whistler track. The
outrun is where you break after the end of the run.
It's early morning and there are
clouds covering the valley below.
The veggies are starting to take
effect. Notice my face is not round like Charlie Brown's anymore.
Heck, when you
compete in a sport where the uniform is a skin-tight spandex suit, you sure
don't want to look like the Michelin Man!
Take action. Bold Action. Jump and the
net will appear. If you get into the action habit, every day in every way
you'll be getting better and better, closer and closer to your dreams and
goals.
November 2008
(15 months before the Olympics)
Since February, I have
gotten my old sled rebuilt, I've purchased all new gear, I've arranged for
training all over the world, and done a lot of behind the scenes work to get
back in the game.
At first, the old guard in the International Luge
Federation refused to give me any support because they felt that
after a 6 year break, and because of my age, I was no longer safe on the
ice.
Isn't
that always the case? There are always people out there that don't believe
in your dream as much as you do.
I could have quit before I got
started but I decided to pay for everything out of my own pocket, and PROVE
to them that I am better than ever.
This is a
picture of the new Olympic track in Whistler, two hours north of Vancouver.
The fastest track in the world.
Everyone in the international
circuit spent 10 days learning the track. Even the Olympic gold medalist
crashed. That's how tough it is.
I was not the fastest by a long
shot, but I never crashed.
The people in the International Luge Federation started
to take notice. And they rewarded my results with 50 vouchers I can use so
that I don't have to pay for my next 50 training runs. (which at $40 each,
can add up really quickly).
By the way, the American Team never doubted me. From
day one they were very encouraging, they rebuilt my old sled, and are
helping me with coaching.
So who do you think I want to
hang around? No brainer...
Believe in yourself and
take massive action regardless of what anybody else says. Build a
dream team made up of people who support your dream.
February 2008
(24 months before the Olympics)
20
years after competing in the 1988 Calgary Olympics I got the itch to luge
again, so I went to Salt Lake City and took a few runs.
I slid so well that I decided to get back
into the international circuit and make a run for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
This
picture is shot in the cafeteria of the old Olympic Village in Salt Lake City.
I'm all excited to be there because of the memories and because I'm realizing
that this is the beginning of a new dream.
In this picture I'm about 20 lbs
heavier than when I competed in the Olympics so I have a lot of work to do.
But when the
dream is big enough, the facts don't count. Time to start eating more veggies
and less dessert.
Find a dream that takes your breath away and be willing to pay
the price to make your dream a reality.
You Can Help Ruben!
You can help Ruben get to the Olympics by sharing his website with anyone
who hires professional speakers.
Meeting planners, sales managers, medium to high level corporate managers,
heads of organizations or associations, etc.
Send them to Ruben's website where they can watch a video of Ruben's
incredible Olympic story here:
