Track Trials - Recap

Track is over. Before I talk about the racing..

All year long we train for this. We skate outside when it's below freezing. We train outside and sometimes it starts flurrying or snowing. We keep going. We train when we are happy, sad, pissed off, tired, sore, and hurt. We train when we are fast and when we are slow. Somehow, we never stop training even when everyone close by does.

I get that out of the way, because when I am finally racing for what I've been training for all year it's hard to allow yourself to fail. If you trust who trains you, and that you trained your hardest then how can you not succeed?

Alright five races in the books.. here we go.

300m
So the practice right before the 300m I discovered a bend in both of my frames. I'm not talking about the frame being completely bent but if you know anything about ice blades you know they are bent a little to make turning easier, well my right frame was bent just like that. And the left was bent the wrong way. So I didn't tell that many people because if I skated bad I didn't want it as an excuse. The 300m I went fifth out of the field. I think my start was pretty bad. My first turn was pretty good and my first straight was so-so. My opener was really bad a 9.88 which I think was still third best but for me that is not good. I hadn't ran that slow since 2006 I believe in an opening 100m. My second turn was good but not what I expected. My third turn was better then I thought it would be but still have plenty to fix. I finished in 26.19 which gave me fourth overall. Not what I was looking for but it gave me eight points so I took them and didn't say anything.

1000m
The 1000m is always a little nerve racking for me, at least the heat. It goes by time so you always need to have a fast race. In my heat we started off with I think the slowest first lap of the four heats which is really bad if we want to qualify for the next round. After that I took a strong pull, Ryan Weiderhold took a strong pull, and then with two to go I just started sprinting. I ended up winning the heat which automatically qualified me for the semi but we ran the fastest heat which was really good as a heat. The 1000m is one of the few times you really work together with your opposition.
In the semi-final we had a pretty fast group of guys. I took the first lead and led a fast first lap because I wanted to get off to a good start time-wise. Next Jarret Paul took a lead, then Chad Horne, Then Cheex took off with two to go with me right behind him. Joey passed by both of us and then Harry came along side Cheex at the finish. Luckily, we ran a really fast time so that Joey, Cheex, Harry, and I all qualified from our semi for the final.
The final had a really strong field. Probably one of the best 1000m fields I've raced in at trials before. I decided that I wanted to be in the front because it was going to be too hard to get around everyone. With a little over two laps to go Harry made a break on the outside and luckily I saw it really early so I just started sprinting. With 1 lap to go I was still in first place and so much was running through my head. Down the back stretch Joey passed me and then Will passed me as well. Coming out of the last turn Stelly and I had a drag race to the line for third and somehow I ended up beating him at the line.

10k Points
The points race I wanted to do really good in because I thought that was a race I needed to so I could have good standing and also prove that I can race everything. For the most part I had a bad race. I took a gamble waiting for someone to make a break on the pack so I could go with them and grab a few points on a breakaway but it never happened. With about 6 to go the pack started splitting up. I had to go after the leaders because I needed points really bad (only two at that point). I caught the four leaders and rested for a lap or two. With 3 to go I made a break to go after a point, unfortunately Joey and I caught skates and it caused him to go down. It didn't cause him a placement luckily. I picked up 1 point with two to go. Then Hank, made a break with one and a half to go. I waited until one lap to go and then I took off. We came across the line 1,2 which gave me two more points and allowed me to finish fifth overall in the race. I would have liked top 4 but I can't complain with finishing in the top 5.

500
This year there are a lot of fast guys so I was pretty sure the 500 was going to be a tough race. My heat wasn't too bad and they took 3 to qualify so I used it as a warm up and went a lot harder then I had to but it got me loosened up for the quarterfinals. The quarters I made it through without too much trouble and then I was off to the semi's. My semi was pretty tough with Joey, Chad, and Ben in it. I got to the lead but didn't want to go to early so I waited for a little bit. Joey made a break on the outside and Chad was following him. Luckily, when they got around me I was able to go back under Chad in the turn keeping me in second place with 1 lap to go. In the last turn we got tangled up a little bit and then we had to sprint to the line and this time I managed to get Chad at the line. Last year it was the opposite and he ended up getting me at the line.
The final was Joey, Harry, Will, and me. Not exactly a super easy field if you ask me. After a few false starts we got underway with Joey in the front, followed by Harry, Will, then me. I knew if I was going to get by anyone I was going to have to do it in the turn because my straightaways are not quite as good as theirs. With one lap to go Will went a little low to get by Harry and I saw an opportunity to go low, skip the hump, and just sprint down the straightaway. it worked to my advantage because when Harry and Will got a little tangled up it gave me a clean shot at 2nd place. In the last turn I entered high and crossed straight down to the red line because in the last turn the most important thing is to protect the inside so if someone has to pass me they have to skate a longer distance to do it. Harry came in low on the turn and at the apex we met pretty hard. Someone I managed to recuperate quickly and then Will and I raced to the line for 2nd and 3rd. I managed to squeak out 2nd in the 500m which was pretty cool for me.

15k Elim
So the final race was the elim. I wanted to get top 5 in the elim because I would have a really good shot at being in second place overall (behind Joey) if I managed to do that. The race wasn't that fast which probably worked to my advantage. I stayed on the outside of the pack the majority of the race because It's easier for me to pick up speed out there. With about 11 or 12 skaters left on the track I found myself in the back sprinting around people for a while to not get eliminated. With about 8 skaters left I found myself in much better position being able to rest a little longer. With two laps to go we were down to just 5 skaters and I was already one of them. Joey made a break early then I thought he would and Hank went after him. Stelly and I got tangled up briefly with 1 to go and then in the last turn Stelly slipped really bad giving me an opportunity to pass him for 3rd place. I earned my first long race medal at Outdoor Nationals in the 7 years I've been out there.