Ice

Well, another week down. I've gotten consistently faster every week on the ice. Every week my 1000m gets about 2 seconds faster (at least thus far) so I am hoping that will continue for a little while. I am still focusing 100% on my technique because I still have a lot of work to do. A few things are coming easier but there are always more things I find to work on and that I need to fix.

So far one thing that is taking some time to get use to is that everyone doesn't have the same goals as I do which is weird. It makes perfect sense though, everyone who skates inlines doesn't have the goal of winning a gold medal at worlds. So it's similar that everyone here does not have the same goal as making the Olympics and winning Olympic Medals. It's still hard some times. I see people slack off a little, or stop a drill a few minutes early and I just think to myself what are they thinking? Then I realize.. maybe that don't have the same goals as I do.

There are times I am doing drills that aren't specifically on the ice or are on my own at some point I think, if I stop a few minutes early no one will know. Then immediately I tell myself the only person I am hurting is myself and that I will always know. That I have big goals and that if running those extra few minutes will get me there then I'll do it every time.

People tell me I am worrying too much about the little things, that I should relax because it's only my 3rd week on the ice or whatever it is. They say you're doing great for being new and you're doing better then the last one. None of these things are acceptable to me. I feel like if you aren't paying attention to what you are doing, not trying to figure out what you are doing wrong and how you can fix it then why are you doing something? If improvement is not the goal then what is? I ask questions because I have a lot to learn, I have a lot to fix. I change this little thing or that thing and see how it looks and feels so I can do it better. I won't relax because the goal is still a long ways away. They tell me I am trying to fix everything overnight but what is the other option? Wait until tomorrow? If I try to fix everything tonight then it stays fresh in my mind, next time I get on the ice I still remember where I left off at and eventually I will fix some of the technical issues I have and move on to the next one.

Ice 1 Week Down

Actually it's been a little over a week but whose counting? It's definitely a different experience. I've skated ice before but it's different now focusing on it and skating 6 days a week on ice instead of once every two weeks.

It's a challenge everyday I get onto the ice that's for sure. Every practice on the ice I get frustrated in the beginning and by the end I feel as if I've made progress. One of my problems right now is that I am faster then I should be at this point. I have a lot of technical flaws but I can go pretty fast which you might not think is a problem but it's much harder correcting yourself at higher speeds but it's a problem I'm willing to have. Right now nothing is really natural. I have 100 things going through my head at the same time at every moment I'm on the ice because I'm trying to skate correctly and I have so many little things to think about that I actually have to tell myself to skate sometimes. And if you didn't know, as of right now I am skating short track.

A few things I am currently reminding myself to do on the ice constantly so that it becomes natural is:
-Lead with your left hip
-Keep your hips parallel to the ice
-Keep your right shoulder down
-Keep your shoulders parallel to the ice
-Pinch the right side of your torso making a C shape
-Relax your shoulders
-Chest down and back rounded
-Sit back on your heels
-Stop twisting to turn
-Hard right into the turn
-Glide on every step

My first three days it seems easier to correct myself because I was going much slower. But now I'm going a lot faster, between my 2nd and 5th days on the ice I dropped my lap time half a second which is a decent amount. It's not incredible but its respectable right now, although not pretty.

My speed right now allows me to keep up with skaters that are much better technically then I am which makes it a little difficult when we do technique drills because I am not very good at them yet.

What A Journey

The funny thing about packing is it seems so natural. I've packed a thousand times for various amounts of time and for various reasons and packing seems easy. Unpacking is when things get different. Unpacking is when I usually realize where I am or what's truly going on. This time was no different.

Packing for Utah was easy, everything goes in the box. Everything goes in the vehicles. When I got here and started unpacking that's when I realized this is home now, I may not be packing back up for a while. It's a strange feeling.

For me though, there is no bigger motivation right now. Other than the fact that I have so much work to do. It's the fact that although I am skating 100% for me and to achieve my goals, I have to achieve them for everyone else as well. I left a family behind: my father, my brother, my sisters, my grandmother who cried when I left and said she hopes to be here when I make the Olympics. My niece and my nephew who probably wont remember their uncle the next time they see me.

I left a team behind: a group of skaters that took their cue from me. If I hate a drill, they hate a drill. If I quit in a drill, it becomes okay for them to quit. When I show up to practice and work hard, they want to work hard. There is no better feeling then skating well and having a group of skaters want to train hard so one day they can get to where you are. At the same time, there is no worse feeling then skating poorly and letting a group of kids or people down that expect more from you. I left a team behind: a coach that has got me here, in Salt Lake City having the opportunity to train at a world class facility and train everyday, with my goals and sights set on the Games.

You might think that is pressure, but it's not it's perfect. Coming out here might help me in everything. I get that edge back. When I was young I didn't train as much but every practice I went to (4 indoor practices a week) it was 120% per drill because when I showed up to practice someone else was faster then me, and I never liked that. Right now, there are a lot of people faster then me so I have a long way to go.

When I arrive at my final destination (figuratively) it will be the most successful feeling endurable I'm sure of it. Then, and only then, can the move be considered a success. Then everyone I left behind can share that moment with me.

The Next Episode

Worlds is over and I am glad to be home. This worlds was my least enjoyable yet, and for more than just a few reasons. Overwhelming, the fact that I pretty much didn't race weighed down my entire experience. The coaching staff made the race decisions and they decided to leave me out which if it was in the best interest of the team then I'll take it there is nothing I can do about it now so I just chalk it up as an experience and move on.

Now that I am home I have until Thursday to get all of my stuff sorted through and packed so I can run off to Salt Lake City. I'll be happy to start my ice experience and to have the opportunity to use a great facility everyday. I didn't lift any weights this past year but I think I am changing that before the month is over. I have a lot of mental notes on what I need to do to improve so I'm a little excited to put the wheels in motion.

I'll be trying to blog every once in a while with how I am doing on the ice. I'll be skating both short track and long track at least for the time being. This ice season I just want to try and get as much of the technique right as I can. I don't care if I go ridiculously slow all season I would much rather get the technique down first because then going fast will be the easy part. Going back and trying to fix technique after you have already established a style of skating is extremely difficult so we are going to try and avoid that scenario.

Next up for me is my move to Utah of course, and then NSC trials the next week after that. I haven't skated indoor since the NSC finale but I think I'll be okay.