Home In November

Alright, well I spent the past week in Washington State, and nothing against it or the people that live there but i'm glad to be back.

Before I begin I wanted to thank Miguel and Joey for organizing and putting the event together and for inviting me to skate. Everyone was really welcoming and I had a good time. Also Robin Pfander for letting me stay at her house while I was in Washington, that really helped out a lot not having to pay for a hotel room. And also Chad and Jess for giving us a ride to the rink and to get food pretty much everyday that was pretty cool of them. And also everyone for showing up or tuning in to watch. Remember this was an exhibition before the season begins, it was more of a test run and the January event will be even better!

I skated NSC and did alright. Right now I'm still figuring out my equipment which is why I skated on two different boots haha. Falling in the 500m was pretty rough. My left ribs are a little swollen and my right knee is a little purple. Not to mention Chad getting his head smashed into the ground and Ben ending up in the hospital with a bruised pancreas and Joey hurting his wrists. I'm sure it was exciting, but it wasn't exactly what we had in mind.

This I can tell you, the floor was awesome. And because this is my blog and I could careless about being politically correct I will tell you this:
We all skated on the same Hyper Wheels. Before the event we were under the impression that we were going to be skating on the Hyper's from Nationals.. the composite blue hub (not the alum. hub) but that was not the case. We ended up skating on the 2nd generation Koas (the first koas with the six spoke hub) but they seemed to have been sitting awhile because they were off-colored like old wheels. To say the least, they did not perform up to expectations, which is why hyper has two new better wheels, unfortunately they were not for us.

I got a 2nd and a 4th in the 500m and 300m. If you realized, I was originally scheduled to skate the distance events but myself and Justin Stelly were switched because it would have been much more difficult for him to sprint after skating ice for the past 3-4 months. I wasn't exactly impressed with the way I skated but I wasn't that disappointed. I did zero and I mean zip zero speed work before this race so I'm no where near my top end. The one thing I was a little surprised about was my start, for some reason it just wasn't there like normal, it won't happen again.

Well today I went back to work and I also stopped and picked up a variety of fruits and vegetables so that I can start getting the amount that I really need, which is more then the suggested amount. I plan on starting up some small weight/technique work that I wasn't doing before November and trying to get myself in better physical shape then I am now which I think will just give me a little more energy (along with the fruits/vegetables) and make certain things easier for me.

Well that's about it for me. The next time (besides league meets) that anyone will see me is NSC 2 in January.

The Immediate Future

Alright, the immediate future has me flying to Washington State in three days. I will be there Thursday afternoon and I think I'm going to get a chance to skate their practice which will be cool. After that I'm not really sure what I'll be doing until Monday Nov. 9th when I'll be racing a 1000m and a 1600m indoor.

In case you live in a box and haven't heard.. Miguel Jose has started a circuit for speed skating, it is called the National SpeedSkating Circuit (NSC). The purpose of this circuit is to expose the sport that we all know and love to mainstream america. There are 12 total athletes that will be competing in two different categories: Sprints and Distance.

There will be five sprinters who will compete in distances of 300m and 500m the athletes are:
Ben Carey - Current Pro Men's National Champion
Steve Carter - Need I say more? Former bronze world medalist in 300m and possesses one of the best starts. 2003 Pro Men's Champion. Will do things you've never seen on skates.
Joey Mantia - A billion World Titles. Former Pro Men's National Champion in 2004, 2006, and 2007.
Chad Horne - Youngest sprinter but experienced skating other 4 sprinters. Unofficial fastest 500m ever. Not the greatest start (compared to ben, steve, and joey) will have to make passes to win.
Justin Stelly - Always competitive, sick hawk, will throw passes and move up. Again, not the greatest start compared to first three.

Then there will be seven distance athletes who will compete in distances of 1000m and 1600m, they are:
Jeremy Anderson - Skating on his home floor. Oldest athlete at 33, but always in/near the front at the end of races.
Fourth Lacey - Coming back after a six year layoff. Little is known about his current shape but he once was one of the fastest distance skaters.
Terrence Almond - Former silver junior world medalist. Aggressive skater. Always does something exciting at the end of races.
Jarrod Fischer - 2008 Senior Men's National Champion. Came on to the Pro Scene last season, is a great middle distance skater (1500m).
Keith Carroll - Skates in the front of races. Competitive in all distances.
Jake Powers - Junior Men's current National Champion, burst onto Pro Scene last season earning a top placement at virtually every meet he skated.
Justin Mannon - Current 3x junior world medalist. The longer the race the better. Often a last lap/ last minute passer.

Alright there's the rundown! Looking at the athletes it is going to be an awesome experience. You can check out www.pronsc.com for more information. Skaters! The only way we can help this grow is for you to show your support! This is a chance for skaters to make money doing what they love like every other athlete. If you can't make it to Washington on Nov. 9th, then check out the link above on Nov. 9th and watch the live feed. You won't want to miss this and every single spectator helps. Tell everyone you know, whether they skate or not. Tell them to check out what you or your kid does.