Noelle Pikus Pace - Focused: Staying on Track, One Choice at a Time

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

(CIP data on file)

ISBN 978-1-60907-946-8

Printed in Canada

Friesens, Manitoba, Canada

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To my husband, children, parents, family, friends, and fans for allowing me to have so many experiences and believing in me all along the way.

We did it!

Chapter 1

You Always Have a Choice

In the blink of an eye, the dream I had worked toward for so long was shattered. How I chose to react would change everything.

In 2005, I was ranked first in the world in the sport of skeleton. The Olympics were only 114 days away, and I couldnt dream of how things could be any better going into our Olympic trials. Nothing could stand in the way of obtaining my dream of winning an Olympic medal.

* * * * * * * * *

That year, I learned the power that our minds have over how we react to life. I learned that regardless of our circumstances, each moment presents us with decisions to make. It really doesnt matter what question, trial, or success we haveeach traces back to a choice. At any given moment, we can choose to doubt, fear, stress, gloat, worry; to be prideful, angry, depressed, or miserableor we can choose to move forward. We can choose to think positively. We can choose to forgive. We can choose to be a light and to share our talents with our friends, family, strangers, and the world. We can choose to be happy. The choice is always ours, and no oneno one!can take that choice away.

One of my favorite poems is Thinking, by Walter D. Wintle.

As the World Cup leader, everyone expected me to win an Olympic medal. I actually expected me to win a medal, too. I was featured in many top magazines such as Shape, People, and Sports Illustrated and interviewed by some of the biggest names in television, including The Today Show, NBC Nightly News, Prime Time, and many more. I was twenty-two years old with the highest aspirations and the greatest possibilities at my fingertips.

At the time, my husband and I were poor college students dedicating every last penny to supporting our Olympic dream. I would travel around the world with my team for months at a time, and he would encourage me and pick me up when I was down. This was especially needed at the airport. I hated airports. An airport came to represent a place of tears and heartache where my husband and I would hug and kiss good-bye as I left for another competition. Im sure it looked glamoroustraveling around the globe to compete with world-class athletes. But it involved hard work, long days, an incredible amount of stress, and the loneliness of being away from home.

* * * * * * * * *

Training for our U.S. Olympic trials began on October 19th, 2005. It was a sunny day, and the ice was particularly fast. I had just finished my first training run and crossed the finish line. Pleased with the way I executed the track, I dropped my feet on the ice (we dont have brakes!) to slow myself down. One at a time, my teammates joined me at the bottom of the track. We loaded our sleds into the truck, talked about our runs, and headed back up to the top of the track to do it all again.

I was so excited and anxious as I thought about being first in the world and finally becoming an Olympian. My name was called to approach the start of the track for my final training run of the day. I was smiling and joking with the members of the track crew, as I usually did, and moving around as much as possible to try to stay warm in the below-freezing temperatures. Some athletes are extremely intense when they train or compete, which is great, but I love to have fun and enjoy every minute. A few days earlier I had written in my journal, Wow. I have an incredible job. I get to run and jump onto my stomach and go ninety miles an hour down an icy track on the side of a mountain. I absolutely love my job. Seriously, who wouldnt want to do this?

For those who dont know, skeleton is a crazy winter sport in which an athlete sets a sixty-pound cookie-sheet-looking sled down on a track of ice (the same track that bobsleds use) and then sprints as fast as she can, jumps headfirst onto the sled, and maneuvers her way down a mile-long track, reaching speeds of ninety miles per hour with her chin less than an inch off of the ice. Yes, were crazy!

The green light turned on, and I looked forward and took a deep breath as the thirty-second countdown began to tick. I set my sled down on the ice, knowing exactly what I wanted to work on during the next sixty seconds, and began to sprint forward. I sprang onto my sled, tapped my helmet on the ice to ensure I was low enough, pinned my shoulders down, tucked my arms in close to my sides, applied a small amount of pressure to my knees, and pointed my toes to make myself as aerodynamic as possible. I was focused on improving three areas I had struggled with on my previous run, and I was able to successfully fix them. It was a great runthe fastest of the day. I felt satisfied knowing I had accomplished the goals Id set for myself that day.

I crossed the finish line and again set my feet down and stopped at the end of the track, where I unloaded my sled and waited for my teammates to come down. One after another they came to a stop at the loading dock. Five of us had just finished our training runs for the day and were waiting for one last skeleton athlete to come down before we got on the truck. As we were talking about our runs and laughing about mistakes we had made, we heard a loud noise echoing around us. I whipped my head toward the finish line and saw that a 1,400-pound, four-man bobsled was coming toward us at sixty miles per hour... and it wasnt slowing down. My heart felt like it would leap through my chest.