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7/28/08
I am amazed at how fast summer training goes by. One moment you are putting the sled in the closet and before you know it the season is almost here. Training has been going better than ever and the new approach i spoke of in my update letter is working very well. I feel more balanced and focused from an athletic standpoint with this approach. I am very excited for the push camp in Calgary from August 24th to August 30th. Ill post results at the conclusion.

Governor Schwarzenegger visited the training center about a week ago. It was great to meet him, He called us all real life action heroes which we all got a kick out of! He came to send of the summer Olympic athletes that are here as they get ready to leave for Beijing. It has been great to observe them as they prepare for their greatest stage.

On September 1st I will drive back across the country to Lake Placid. I am so excited to return home and see family and friends. I hope everyone is having a great summer!


4/22/08 Renewal

Here I am back in Chula Vista California soaking up the sun. I love this time of year as I can rest, resume workouts and digest a seasons worth of performance adjusting training strategy and mindset. This past season was a tough season to judge, on a consistency basis I did better both in my starts and my overall results, on a absolute basis I did not have the big results I had one year prior. It would be easy to take this information as negative and feel bad about the year but I dont. In many cases I made huge breakthroughs on tracks finishing in the top 6 on the final day of training, but the results never really came as consistency was a big problem on tracks where I didnt have alot of runs. I am digesting and programming all of the lessons learned this year to automate them so that i dont have as much to worry about on race day. If i really honestly take a look at this last season it was a GREAT season. I have not learned that much in a few years and alot of it was due to the addition of a new driving coach, 2002 silver medalist Martin Rettl. Martin and I competed against one another a few years ago and see sliding very differently, but this perspective helped me in alot of instances, where I was missing pieces of the puzzle. Martin was also a great addition for my mental approach to the sport, he is constantly positive and sees sliding in a way that is comprable to the way I do in regard to results and the love of the sport.

The brightest spot was my first ever US National Championship title as well as an unofficial track record in St MOritz and an unofficial world speed record. There could have been many more great results but they didnt work out and as I mentioned above I am taking the steps to ensure that the lessons I learned and was unable to execute on race day this year will be executed and prepared for next year.

For the summer I will continue to train hard incorporating many of the traditional elements of lifting weights and sprinting with some new concepts to help me fine tune areas that need adjustment. New approaches will be a much more active use of workouts in the actual skeleton start position as well as yoga and ballroom dancing for flexibility and body awareness. There will also be a few push camps in Calgary which are always great learning experiences. On top of training I am looking forward to having my parents to California for the first time in July as well as alot of hours in the Home Depot paint department! And of course there will be some good wine had as well ;) Again I find that balance, even when it keeps you extremely busy, is essential to peak performance!

3/15/08 Letter to my supporters
Thoughts on 2007-2008


I hope this letter finds everyone in good health. I’m currently in Lake Placid after a long season, winding down, spending time with family, working, working out, and testing equipment. As you can see even my wind down time is very relaxing ?. It seems as if winter does not want to let go of Lake Placid this year with snowfall after snowfall. Winter is only a few weeks from ending for me though as I will be headed back out to the San Diego Olympic Training Center around April 10th to resume preparations for next year. With Lake Placid hosting the World Championships next year, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me, and one that I am taking very seriously.
I wanted to give everyone a recap on this season, which on the whole was successful, before my mind drifts too far into the future. The season started strongly with another good performance in team trials despite start issues and sickness in Park City. For the fourth season in a row I made the US World Cup Team. The first half of the world cup season was fairly frustrating as outside factors seemed to plague my races. This season I really took to the Park City track and understood the nuances of that track. Unfortunately during the race I experienced some very bad weather and finished in 16th, which could have been a top 10 if it weren’t for the snow. Unfortunately our sport is laden with things that at the end of the day boil down to luck. Sometimes I wish it was as straightforward as running 100 meters or jumping over a bar, but what fun would that be? After Park City I was off to Lake Placid to try and follow up on my silver medal from last year, but for the first time in my racing life, I encountered some serious problems with runner selection. I raced as well as I could but at the end of the day the runners were the wrong choice. The great thing about this race is that I will not make the same mistake again next year in World Championships when it really matters. This was invaluable experience and would set the tone for the second half of the year.
At the conclusion of the first half of the season, I was required to race off for my world cup spot during US National Championships based on my first half results. I raced and won, claiming my spot on the World Cup team for the second half of the season as well as my first National Championship title. Off to Europe we went for a 2 month stint of racing in Europe. Overall my European results were all better than the year prior, but it seemed I would make very big strides during the week in training and have some issues during the race. My potential wasn’t reached in these races, but with anything, the experience is what mattered. With the assistance of Martin Rettl, the 2002 Olympic Silver Medalist and our new assistant coach, I was able to look outside of my normal point of view and really learn about parts of tracks that I was missing before. I owe Martin for the great job he did this year! Another second half highlight was when I broke the unofficial speed record for skeleton in St Mortiz at 138.888 KMH or 86.3 MPH. It’s cool to think that no other human has gone faster than that in the modern skeleton era.
Looking forward to next year I find myself very excited to keep this great year of learning moving forward into some strong results. Normally I step away from sliding entirely after the end of February, but this year I have felt the need to train through my off month to really embed the lessons learned this year, not to mention extra preparation for World Championships next year. I am sure that the increased understanding of my start and tracks that I gained this year will translate into a complete slider with a little more time and practice. The puzzle is starting to come together and I am excited about that.
I plan on spending the summer in San Diego, training at the US Olympic Training Center, as I feel this well be the best location for me to improve my start. I will also be attending 2 start camps in Calgary this summer, which will make it busier and more financially intensive than my summers normally are as we normally don’t go to Calgary to use the indoor push facility that often.
I have not only been looking forward to next season, but to the future of my career. I have committed 100 percent to myself to slide through the 2010 Olympics, but I am still balancing thoughts of sliding after 2010 with thoughts of moving on toward a career. My sport experience, coupled with my education should provide me with a multitude of paths to take when the time comes. I have been blessed with meeting so many people during my career that can offer advice and opportunity as I move away from sliding. Currently I am trying to research what interests me as much as possible so that I may lay out as many avenues as possible for my next step in life. The most important part, which is still unresolved is the inward search to find what I truly love, so that I can bring to my next endeavor the same passion that I give my sliding career. I suppose when the time comes it wont be a permanent departure from the sport as I can see myself passing the passion on to others through coaching.
Thank you for your support this year, without your generosity and backing I would not be able to bring the best out of myself in life and sport year after year.



Sincerely,
Caleb Smith



9/27/07 Game Time
I really cant say how much i love Lake Placid when the leaves start to change and Mt Van Hovenberg opens. It is a very special time of year for me that brings out loads of passion for life and what I do. They started icing at the track on monday night, but a high of 87 undid that on tuesday. They are starting again today, which should get us up and running by monday or tuesday. The weather report looks good for now. School is screaming along, giving me no reason to do anything but homework in my free time. Training is also going well and I feel im settling in alot after a very hectic travel month of september. I am astonished at how much of America I have seen this summer, mostly by car. It really gives you an appreciation for it. Our first team trials races are the 24th and 25th of Ocotober. I am shooting for nothing less than a track record in LP and a win. Im so excited! I will keep you posted throughout the month.

9/12/07 That Time of Year is Almost Here
Here in Lake Placid, temperatures are starting to dip into the 30's at night. This means one thing, sliding is right around the corner. So far this month I have had an extremely busy month, balancing school, workouts and friends who I will not get to see during my competitive season. Physically I had a great summer, with the last month being the most difficult, mostly because of travel across the country from San Diego to lake placid, as well as getting settled in to Lake Placid. I have had a few very MINOR injuries in the last few weeks, nothing of major concern as we have ironed out the reasons and imbalances that have caused them. I recently sent out my update so you should be seeing those soon. If you are reading this and are not on my mailing list contact me at lugeboy15@yahoo.com so i can keep you updated! For now more training and enjoyment of my favorite time of the year and place to enjoy it. Lake Placid in the fall. Talk to you soon!

4/07 Training Continues Strongly
These last four weeks have been the first power phase of the summer, and I am happy to say the results were outstanding. I increased my hang clean from 127.5 kg to 135 kg, a personal best, Increased my vertical jump to 29 inches, a personal best by 1.5 inches and dropped my 15m time to 2.30 an all time best and my 30m time to 4.08 also a personal best. During this time I lost 4 pds and decreased my body fat by 2.3% This upcoming week I will be doing some light training and then taking four days off for some vacation up in wine country. I will return on the 14th and continue to train until the 24th. On this date the long drive across the country to New York commences as I will need to get ready for the sliding season! Its amazing how fast the summers fly by.

7/15/07 A Great Start To The Summer
This years training was all about focusing on changing the type of athlete I am from power to speed and so far the transition is going great. In my first 2 months here in san diego I dropped 12 pds of weight, increased my 30m time by .15 , accomplished a personal best in hang snatch at 100 kilograms and gained 7.5 kilos in hang clean at 127.5 kg. So far incorporating more stretching and maintenance has helped, as well as increasing the volume of running relative to the weight workouts and most importantly changing my mindset from power to speed balance and finesse. I have never felt this good in my training and im so excited about where this will lead. You guys are a huge part! Thanks again.