I still have a hard time grasping the idea that I'm going to compete in the Pan American Games next week.
When I started skating, I knew of the Keystone Speed League. It was where I went to race once a month against really fast kids my age. Dominic Camaioni, Dante Tuscai, Nathan Barry, Chris Semus, Andrew Shatzer. Those were the ones in the beginning when I was young, the one's I always thought, man I'm going to be that fast one day. The ones that were winning heat 1 while I was stuck battling for 4th's in heat 3. (Our league had a system where you earned points every meet and the top 6 in total points for the season were heat 1, then 7-12 heat 2, etc.) Then three years went by and I learned of Regional Championships and shortly after that Indoor National Championships at this point I was just eight years old. I saw even faster skaters. I saw Brent Phillips, Kimani Griffin, JR Celski, Eddy Alvarez, Adam Wullum and I couldn't believe how fast they could move.
Over this time period my goals advanced from simple wishes like wanting to advance to heat 2 in the league. Then to heat 1. Then to being able to keep up for the whole race. After that I wanted to win a race in JO then I wanted to skate regionals and qualify. After that I wanted to get top 5 in the league in standard. Then I wanted to win a race. After that I couldn't wait to make it to my semi's at nationals. Then it was making it to a final. Then it was winning regionals. After that it was placing top 4 in a JO race at nationals. Then I wanted to win the league overall. After that I wanted to make both finals at nationals (only two finals in JO). Then I wanted a medal. Once I got a medal it was time for an individual medal.
Around the same time I first heard of a world team. I practiced outdoor, occasionally, I raced outdoor.. and always lost. Rarely keeping up for more then a mile. But I didn't know anything about a world team. I remember sitting at practice, it was a tough practice, we were getting ready for nationals and were doing lots of races, 300m, 500m, 1000m what seemed back to back almost. Then Jeff was on the phone and it was awesome because he stopped paying attention for a minute to talk and we got a little extra rest. When he got off the phone he told us Steve made another world team. Talking about no other then Steve Carter. I knew Steve because he skated on the same team as I did. He was older and when he came to practice he went way, way, faster then everyone else. That's what I remember Steve as. I remember watching everything he did at practice, at a race. At races, when I was sitting in the reading area with my skates on and all the little kids pick someone to win a race I always picked Steve no matter if it was 500m or 5000m. And I remember thinking, wow, Steve made the world team again what is a world team, you must be the best in order to do that. Then it was back to practice. Steve was the guy when I was getting down on myself at a race my parents went and asked to come talk to me to cheer me up.
After I medaled at nationals it was time to try Outdoor Nationals. When I went to Outdoor Nationals it was all or nothing, my last year of the Freshman division so I wanted to win. That was the goal. That year I saw some great skaters, Darren Kauffman, Chris Creveling, Jordan Malone, Joey Mantia, I couldn't believe what they could do. I saw Darren's 10k points race on track and how he just kind of walked away from the pack and skated half the race.. a points race at that.. half a lap ahead of the field. That's when I learned of the World Team and at that moment I knew that was what I wanted to do. I figured that a lot of people make the team their last year but I wanted to make it my last two years of junior so I would have a greater accomplishment. But I was so young, so the goal was to gain experience in my first junior world class year. That year went so bad the goal the next year was to not embarrass myself. Then it was to make the team, after that it was to break another record at trials. Then it was to medal at worlds individually. (The year after I got my relay medal). My first year on the team was a Pan American year. I knew that year I wanted to make the Pan American team. I knew of all the great skaters who never made one so I figured if I did make one then I would have to be really good. Then I realized how special it would be to make the jump from junior to senior and make the senior team my first year, after all no one in the US had done it for four years.
I don't exactly know the point of this blog but it seems so surreal. I still have a hard time grasping exactly how I've gotten where I am in skating.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
3 days out
We are three days out from the start of racing. Things are starting to look up for us getting used to the track, because at this point it is what it is. Good, but not great. Much better then Colorado still. We are stuck eating terrible food everyday. Think of eating Golden Corral buffet three times a day everyday, yuck. So we resorted to Pizza Hut last night and then McDonalds tonight, neither of which I recommend but when you are stuck eating bad food it becomes instantly awesome.
We practiced three times today on the track which was slightly overwhelming but the workload was split up enough that it wasn't draining or anything. We've been working on going fast on the track because if you don't enter the turn right you end up slipping and the turn spits you out early and you end up at the wall really quick.
The trip hasn't been too bad besides the food and the fact that we do not have a translator which makes life in Korea way more difficult. Team wise, we have been getting along really well together probably the best I've ever seen 30 people get along, but at the same time we skipped three weeks together that we normally have so, it makes getting along a lot easier when you only have to make it two weeks. Even when we joke around the team all gets that it's a joke. The place we are stuck eating at is so bad that we all chant about how bad it is, and make jokes about how bad it is, and talk about what we really would like to eat if we were in the states.
That's pretty much all I have for right now, stay classy America, and of course stay safe if you are on the east coast.
We practiced three times today on the track which was slightly overwhelming but the workload was split up enough that it wasn't draining or anything. We've been working on going fast on the track because if you don't enter the turn right you end up slipping and the turn spits you out early and you end up at the wall really quick.
The trip hasn't been too bad besides the food and the fact that we do not have a translator which makes life in Korea way more difficult. Team wise, we have been getting along really well together probably the best I've ever seen 30 people get along, but at the same time we skipped three weeks together that we normally have so, it makes getting along a lot easier when you only have to make it two weeks. Even when we joke around the team all gets that it's a joke. The place we are stuck eating at is so bad that we all chant about how bad it is, and make jokes about how bad it is, and talk about what we really would like to eat if we were in the states.
That's pretty much all I have for right now, stay classy America, and of course stay safe if you are on the east coast.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Back on the Blog
Well, the easiest way to communicate when you are 13 hours ahead of the east coast is to write.. so I'm blogging. Traveling, well, sucked but oh well we are here now. The weather pretty much sucks, it's Asia so the sun is something I won't see for the next two weeks. Plus we are in the 'rain' season which makes it even better. During our AM training session it drizzled most of the way, not enough to stop us from skating, but enough to be annoying.
The track is not quite what we've had the past few years but it's not terrible.. as of now. The last few worlds we've been completely spoiled by some of the best/fastest tracks the world probably has to offer. With that being said, skating on them is like skating with glue, sliding was the thing of the past along with tearing wheels up. This year we don't have quite the glue feeling, in fact there is some slipping that has gone on and will continue but that's okay. It will still go pretty easy on the wheels which is a good thing. It has a 'wavy' feel to it. Not quite bumpy but a little wavy. It's still way faster then the track we have in Colorado, plus it's not parabolic like Colorado, which means the fastest line is to skate pretty much low the whole time.
Other then that nothing has really happened for us here. We've spent most of our time on a bus it seems like. All of our meals are 15-20 minutes from our hotel, which just opened for business last night.. when we got here.
The track is not quite what we've had the past few years but it's not terrible.. as of now. The last few worlds we've been completely spoiled by some of the best/fastest tracks the world probably has to offer. With that being said, skating on them is like skating with glue, sliding was the thing of the past along with tearing wheels up. This year we don't have quite the glue feeling, in fact there is some slipping that has gone on and will continue but that's okay. It will still go pretty easy on the wheels which is a good thing. It has a 'wavy' feel to it. Not quite bumpy but a little wavy. It's still way faster then the track we have in Colorado, plus it's not parabolic like Colorado, which means the fastest line is to skate pretty much low the whole time.
Other then that nothing has really happened for us here. We've spent most of our time on a bus it seems like. All of our meals are 15-20 minutes from our hotel, which just opened for business last night.. when we got here.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Time to Roll
Well, apparently its that time of the year again for me. This is the height of my training and I love every minute of racing her at trials, all of the racing in a short period of time. It's a little different this year, when I've already told everyone that I will not be going to worlds, if it was funded and I qualified I would definitely be going but that is not the case and probably won't ever be the case again so, I fear I may have skated my final world championships for inlines.
It's a tough reality because you get into the area of what-if's which is never fun because the fact of the matter is you will never know. Even now I know I've prepared about as well as I could, but in Salt Lake it's just different. I skate straightaways, turns are foreign to me simply because there isn't anywhere sufficient enough to really hammer out an oval track. Sure, I can go somewhere is practice crossing a little, but practicing crossing and sprinting through a turn are two separate entities. I've pretty much only been skating inlines since June, plus a lot of road biking which I enjoy doing.
Basically, I'm here to race hopefully win a handful of medals, go back to salt lake and start all over on the ice. Ideal? No, but you take what you can get. All I can do is train as hard as I can and see where it takes me no matter what the sport is.
It's a tough reality because you get into the area of what-if's which is never fun because the fact of the matter is you will never know. Even now I know I've prepared about as well as I could, but in Salt Lake it's just different. I skate straightaways, turns are foreign to me simply because there isn't anywhere sufficient enough to really hammer out an oval track. Sure, I can go somewhere is practice crossing a little, but practicing crossing and sprinting through a turn are two separate entities. I've pretty much only been skating inlines since June, plus a lot of road biking which I enjoy doing.
Basically, I'm here to race hopefully win a handful of medals, go back to salt lake and start all over on the ice. Ideal? No, but you take what you can get. All I can do is train as hard as I can and see where it takes me no matter what the sport is.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Prayer
First I want to thank everyone for their prayers whether they be directed towards Hayley or Kevin we appreciate every single one of them. Please, continue to pray for Hayley. Please find somewhere in your heart whether you are religious or not to stop and say a prayer. Whether or not you despise myself or my family this is much bigger than that, I beg you to just stop for a second and say a prayer.
For those of you who do not know my Brother Kevin was accepted into Northern Michigan University on a USOEC Scholarship to go to school and skate short track ice. He graduated High School on Saturday and set sail Tuesday for Michigan. The woman my brother cares most about, his girlfriend, who also just graduated this weekend decided to ride along with him so he didn't have to drive by himself. He drove about 11 hours Tuesday before he stopped to sleep. He jumped back on the road around 6am Wednesday morning. Somewhere around 7:30 - 8am Kevin fell asleep behind the wheel of our Chevy Trailblazer. He was driving with the vehicle in cruise control set at the speed limit of 70mph. To the right of the road there is a ditch and then a field of grass. The vehicle hit the ditch and rolled multiple times after that. The vehicle behind them was already on the phone with 911 before the vehicle could stop rolling. Kevin and Hayley were both wearing seat belts, and were both asleep at the point of impact. Once the vehicle stopped rolling both were conscious but Hayley was in obvious and serious pain. At the hospital Hayley was diagnosed with a broken neck and taken into surgery immediately, she did not have feeling in her lower extremities.
After a four hour surgery Hayley is in an ICU room and is awake in stable condition. Tonight they have her on a ventilator for safety, they plan to take the ventilator off tomorrow. The only news on the surgery that we have is that it went 'well'. The Doctor who performed the surgery had already left the hospital for the day when Hayley's mother and my father arrived and the nurse's have very little information to give us. We wont know more until we speak to the doctor and until the swelling around the neck goes down which could take a few days. Hayley's injury is one that is commonly associated with the seat belt when it locks up during impact. Hayley has been sedated all day to keep her as immobile and calm as possible, the also have her arms strapped down on the bed so she stays as still as possible. She has been able to say a few words but it is difficult to speak with the ventilator.
Kevin has a bruised long and a lot of cuts and scratches. Physically he is okay but emotionally he isn't taking the situation very well.
I ask you to put yourself in Hayley's position of uncertainty or in Kevin's emotional position of responsibility and guilt. After doing so I hope you will say a prayer for these two young people that they may make a full recovery. Pray to give them the strength and courage to fight threw this physical and emotional battle. And pray that they can keep a good mind set because a strong mind and a strong outlook can go a long way towards a physical recovery.
For those of you who do not know my Brother Kevin was accepted into Northern Michigan University on a USOEC Scholarship to go to school and skate short track ice. He graduated High School on Saturday and set sail Tuesday for Michigan. The woman my brother cares most about, his girlfriend, who also just graduated this weekend decided to ride along with him so he didn't have to drive by himself. He drove about 11 hours Tuesday before he stopped to sleep. He jumped back on the road around 6am Wednesday morning. Somewhere around 7:30 - 8am Kevin fell asleep behind the wheel of our Chevy Trailblazer. He was driving with the vehicle in cruise control set at the speed limit of 70mph. To the right of the road there is a ditch and then a field of grass. The vehicle hit the ditch and rolled multiple times after that. The vehicle behind them was already on the phone with 911 before the vehicle could stop rolling. Kevin and Hayley were both wearing seat belts, and were both asleep at the point of impact. Once the vehicle stopped rolling both were conscious but Hayley was in obvious and serious pain. At the hospital Hayley was diagnosed with a broken neck and taken into surgery immediately, she did not have feeling in her lower extremities.
After a four hour surgery Hayley is in an ICU room and is awake in stable condition. Tonight they have her on a ventilator for safety, they plan to take the ventilator off tomorrow. The only news on the surgery that we have is that it went 'well'. The Doctor who performed the surgery had already left the hospital for the day when Hayley's mother and my father arrived and the nurse's have very little information to give us. We wont know more until we speak to the doctor and until the swelling around the neck goes down which could take a few days. Hayley's injury is one that is commonly associated with the seat belt when it locks up during impact. Hayley has been sedated all day to keep her as immobile and calm as possible, the also have her arms strapped down on the bed so she stays as still as possible. She has been able to say a few words but it is difficult to speak with the ventilator.
Kevin has a bruised long and a lot of cuts and scratches. Physically he is okay but emotionally he isn't taking the situation very well.
I ask you to put yourself in Hayley's position of uncertainty or in Kevin's emotional position of responsibility and guilt. After doing so I hope you will say a prayer for these two young people that they may make a full recovery. Pray to give them the strength and courage to fight threw this physical and emotional battle. And pray that they can keep a good mind set because a strong mind and a strong outlook can go a long way towards a physical recovery.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Long Time No Write
Alright sorry for the long blogging absence. Lots to cover today so let's just jump into some of the stuff.
Before I talk about right now I need to talk about August, mostly because it effects right now. So we all know that the dates for trials have finally been set in stone. We also know that as of right now there may not be any funding for the Junior or Senior world teams. This directly effects me for multiple reasons. The first is obviously I will have to pay to go to worlds which I thought I finished doing when I became a Senior. The second is that I have to pay to go to worlds that there is not a residency training program which means that there is even less for a coach to choose who gets to race. This is a big deal because I don't want to go to a worlds and not get a chance to race especially if I am paying.
I'm 20 years old but I'm still the little kid. When you look at the names Joey Mantia, Justin Stelly, Will Bowen, Michael Cheek, Harry Vogel, and Keith Carroll you don't think of me having the same skill set or ability mostly because of my physical appearance, not my results. Coaches are just like normal people, and for the most part if anyone has to pick two of those six athletes for a given race they overlook my name because I may not have the starpower that some of the other names carry even though I qualified for last years team before four of them.
So what basically what I am saying is that there has to be a significant reason for me to pay to go to worlds. The simple idea of being able to say I went to Worlds isn't enough anymore. So based on the amount that we are expected to pay and the way trials pans on there is a possibility I will deny the 2011 World Team if I were to qualify, which is my full intentions.
So to the next part, this will not affect my training but it does make me think. I will not be skating pretty much any ice after Indoor Nationals until either after Outdoor Nationals or after Worlds whatever one is my last. This is my decision because short track and inline are very different and I will still be participating in a lot of the workouts that are off the ice and I will be able to skate at least twice a day heading into trials. With that being said I expect the first American Cup race of the ice season to be my worst race of the year even though it holds a significant amount of weight because I am focusing on inlines and will only have about a month back on the ice before the AmCup race. If I end up not going to worlds then it will be a little bit more frustrating because of how much I am putting off the ice training in August to fully focus on my inlines.
So right now we are focusing on a lot of technique, we are planning out the schedule until after worlds in terms of training. All of my training is set up to have me peak for worlds so that should be pretty awesome. I am patiently trying to get through the summer training for ice while waiting for my custom Marchese to be ready which should be around late July or early August. I've been on a few rides now and I've realized I'm actually not as bad as I thought I would be on the bike which is awesome. I haven't started my interval work for worlds yet but it is going to be coming shortly. I plan on training straight through indoor nationals mostly because it isn't a priority to me. I am looking more forward to the Chicago marathon after indoor nationals then I am for IDN.
Before I talk about right now I need to talk about August, mostly because it effects right now. So we all know that the dates for trials have finally been set in stone. We also know that as of right now there may not be any funding for the Junior or Senior world teams. This directly effects me for multiple reasons. The first is obviously I will have to pay to go to worlds which I thought I finished doing when I became a Senior. The second is that I have to pay to go to worlds that there is not a residency training program which means that there is even less for a coach to choose who gets to race. This is a big deal because I don't want to go to a worlds and not get a chance to race especially if I am paying.
I'm 20 years old but I'm still the little kid. When you look at the names Joey Mantia, Justin Stelly, Will Bowen, Michael Cheek, Harry Vogel, and Keith Carroll you don't think of me having the same skill set or ability mostly because of my physical appearance, not my results. Coaches are just like normal people, and for the most part if anyone has to pick two of those six athletes for a given race they overlook my name because I may not have the starpower that some of the other names carry even though I qualified for last years team before four of them.
So what basically what I am saying is that there has to be a significant reason for me to pay to go to worlds. The simple idea of being able to say I went to Worlds isn't enough anymore. So based on the amount that we are expected to pay and the way trials pans on there is a possibility I will deny the 2011 World Team if I were to qualify, which is my full intentions.
So to the next part, this will not affect my training but it does make me think. I will not be skating pretty much any ice after Indoor Nationals until either after Outdoor Nationals or after Worlds whatever one is my last. This is my decision because short track and inline are very different and I will still be participating in a lot of the workouts that are off the ice and I will be able to skate at least twice a day heading into trials. With that being said I expect the first American Cup race of the ice season to be my worst race of the year even though it holds a significant amount of weight because I am focusing on inlines and will only have about a month back on the ice before the AmCup race. If I end up not going to worlds then it will be a little bit more frustrating because of how much I am putting off the ice training in August to fully focus on my inlines.
So right now we are focusing on a lot of technique, we are planning out the schedule until after worlds in terms of training. All of my training is set up to have me peak for worlds so that should be pretty awesome. I am patiently trying to get through the summer training for ice while waiting for my custom Marchese to be ready which should be around late July or early August. I've been on a few rides now and I've realized I'm actually not as bad as I thought I would be on the bike which is awesome. I haven't started my interval work for worlds yet but it is going to be coming shortly. I plan on training straight through indoor nationals mostly because it isn't a priority to me. I am looking more forward to the Chicago marathon after indoor nationals then I am for IDN.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Why I do it
I took two complete weeks off after ice nationals. Exactly two weeks, I didn't do any workouts. My ice and inline skates were both in pieces. It was the longest break I've taken in at least two years, and I think the longest break I've actually taken since I broke my collarbone in 2006 but I can't be sure about that one so.. at least two years. That is a stupid, stupid thing on my part, if I wasn't so young that would probably have destroyed me.
It was one of the hardest two weeks of my life. At first everything started to hurt. My knees normally have a lot of pain but when I'm not doing anything I thought they would stop hurting. It got to the point when I was just laying in bed they were throbbing with a pulse. Then my back started to hurt, my back never hurts. I couldn't understand, I started to have pain in all these places that I never did. Then I started to realize that I workout so much, when I take time off.. I don't have a lot of things to do. The second week I just sat around for a lot of the time wondering what I should be doing.
Now I'm starting to work out again and it feels good. I won't take any time off for at least the next 11 months. Anyway, this time of the year it's pretty easy to motivate myself. I have this image that runs through my head all of the time. It's me, at Trials, and I'm not skating well and I just look back and realize there were so many days I should have done more, or should have skated better. Then I just tell myself I won't let that be me, I'll train harder now because that can't be me. The fear or idea of failure kills me: it frightens me. Once you fail, you can't go back and fix anything.. it's over. Don't get me wrong, if I'm at my best and I fail, then I'll take it. But failure for lack of preparation is unacceptable.
It was one of the hardest two weeks of my life. At first everything started to hurt. My knees normally have a lot of pain but when I'm not doing anything I thought they would stop hurting. It got to the point when I was just laying in bed they were throbbing with a pulse. Then my back started to hurt, my back never hurts. I couldn't understand, I started to have pain in all these places that I never did. Then I started to realize that I workout so much, when I take time off.. I don't have a lot of things to do. The second week I just sat around for a lot of the time wondering what I should be doing.
Now I'm starting to work out again and it feels good. I won't take any time off for at least the next 11 months. Anyway, this time of the year it's pretty easy to motivate myself. I have this image that runs through my head all of the time. It's me, at Trials, and I'm not skating well and I just look back and realize there were so many days I should have done more, or should have skated better. Then I just tell myself I won't let that be me, I'll train harder now because that can't be me. The fear or idea of failure kills me: it frightens me. Once you fail, you can't go back and fix anything.. it's over. Don't get me wrong, if I'm at my best and I fail, then I'll take it. But failure for lack of preparation is unacceptable.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Proving Ground
I'm excited for my next few months. All of my workouts are on my own until May, then it's back to team training: offseason summer training for ice and inline training for the rest of the inline season. I can't wait until I race next time, but really I can't wait for my first outdoor race. Since November, every time I've raced on my inlines it's been unprepared. If you ask those who witnessed it in person, they would probably tell you it wasn't that bad. But, for me it was terrible, at least to my own standards. Not again.
I feel like I'm back down a few steps, like I almost have to prove something again. First, I have to convince and prove to myself that it was the comfort issue and not me. I have and will continue to be my biggest critic. The next goal is to prove I can still do this indoor stuff, no matter how much I hate it. This might be a harder goal, specifically because I will still not be training indoor.
I'm excited for the upcoming months for a lot of reasons. First, my last residency went nothing like I thought it did which is not a good thing. Every practice here will be residency in itself, because of the talent level we have.. Just in the WHIP program. That doesn't include those who will probably skate with us too. If I am going to be training with the best, I can't imagine myself not gaining a lot of strong workouts and a lot of confidence from this.
My absolute number one goal is world team trials right now. It will remain that way, until trials are over. Last year I skated my best overall at trials then I ever had before. Maybe not my best in a certain discipline but overall definitely. This year I want my trials to be a lot better and even more well-rounded. Trials will be my proving ground (for myself) both mentally and physically so that's something I'm looking forward to.
I'm especially looking forward to racing back home sometime soon. I have regionals May 14th and 15th but that isn't really what I'm looking forward to. I can't wait to race in one of the Eastern Seaboard Series race this season, I don't know when they are going to be yet but I hope to make at least one of them. Before, when I was always at every single one (the only time I missed one was for residency and worlds) I was just another guy, I didn't bring out the best in everyone. But the person that showed up to that one, Like Cheex last year, everyone wants to skate well when someone from out of town comes.. that will be me. I can't wait to bring out the best in everyone and see what they have. When you go to everyone of the races and you know you are going to be fast enough every time you stop getting excited and then there is no adrenaline there. It will be nice to show up to one, have that adrenaline and want to be there and race. Then I'll be able to show everyone what I have, something the rarely see if they don't go to trials.
I feel like I'm back down a few steps, like I almost have to prove something again. First, I have to convince and prove to myself that it was the comfort issue and not me. I have and will continue to be my biggest critic. The next goal is to prove I can still do this indoor stuff, no matter how much I hate it. This might be a harder goal, specifically because I will still not be training indoor.
I'm excited for the upcoming months for a lot of reasons. First, my last residency went nothing like I thought it did which is not a good thing. Every practice here will be residency in itself, because of the talent level we have.. Just in the WHIP program. That doesn't include those who will probably skate with us too. If I am going to be training with the best, I can't imagine myself not gaining a lot of strong workouts and a lot of confidence from this.
My absolute number one goal is world team trials right now. It will remain that way, until trials are over. Last year I skated my best overall at trials then I ever had before. Maybe not my best in a certain discipline but overall definitely. This year I want my trials to be a lot better and even more well-rounded. Trials will be my proving ground (for myself) both mentally and physically so that's something I'm looking forward to.
I'm especially looking forward to racing back home sometime soon. I have regionals May 14th and 15th but that isn't really what I'm looking forward to. I can't wait to race in one of the Eastern Seaboard Series race this season, I don't know when they are going to be yet but I hope to make at least one of them. Before, when I was always at every single one (the only time I missed one was for residency and worlds) I was just another guy, I didn't bring out the best in everyone. But the person that showed up to that one, Like Cheex last year, everyone wants to skate well when someone from out of town comes.. that will be me. I can't wait to bring out the best in everyone and see what they have. When you go to everyone of the races and you know you are going to be fast enough every time you stop getting excited and then there is no adrenaline there. It will be nice to show up to one, have that adrenaline and want to be there and race. Then I'll be able to show everyone what I have, something the rarely see if they don't go to trials.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Home Sweet Home
Back in Salt Lake after Ice Nationals. Quite an experience. I had to skate my age group because of qualification requirements to skate the Am Cup final and I wasn't in Salt Lake soon enough to skate some of the other Am Cup races. We had 9 skaters in total in the 'intermediate division' six of us ended up earning points in at least two distances, 4 of those six are inline skaters.. just for some perspective.
This season in short track they have a few new rules which makes things a little different for us because we don't know all the rules yet and then there are the new rules. In the two previous races I skated this season I did not get disqualified in a single race, that includes heats semi's finals whatever. At nationals I had four distances.. I ended up being disqualified in two of them. The first one is on me I get that. But from the explanation I received the second one was still on me, but because I fell down. If I had stayed on my feet I wouldn't have ended up committing a foul or whatever you want to call it. The other two races, the 500m and the 3000m I won.
The basis for the season which for me started in November after worlds, was to try and get as much of the technique down as possible and to gain experience. We got some of the technique down this season and still have a long, long way to go on that aspect.. at least until I'll be satisfied with the way I skate. We gained a good amount of experience this season but, obviously the more we race and practice the more experience we are going to get. But next season the goal is to improve technically a lot but also to qualify for seniors and for the am cup final. I think the racing and the mistakes made this season will set us up well for next season.
Now I am here in Salt Lake and the ice season is over. I am on my own in terms of what kind of training I decide to do from now until May 2nd, when the team will begin our summer training for the next ice season and our organized inline practices for the inline season. Right now it is March 15th, so I think the next two weeks I'm going to take it a little easy. I'm not going to do to much but am still going to be on my skates. One thing that I have to take into consideration is that I haven't taken any time off at all since I got back from China in 2009. If I don't at least slow down for a little I could end up running into trouble down the road, I'm just going to play it safe and cut out all the extra stuff I've been doing for the next two weeks besides the skating time. Once April gets here it's going to be a pretty tough stretch so I want to make sure I'm prepared for that.
This season in short track they have a few new rules which makes things a little different for us because we don't know all the rules yet and then there are the new rules. In the two previous races I skated this season I did not get disqualified in a single race, that includes heats semi's finals whatever. At nationals I had four distances.. I ended up being disqualified in two of them. The first one is on me I get that. But from the explanation I received the second one was still on me, but because I fell down. If I had stayed on my feet I wouldn't have ended up committing a foul or whatever you want to call it. The other two races, the 500m and the 3000m I won.
The basis for the season which for me started in November after worlds, was to try and get as much of the technique down as possible and to gain experience. We got some of the technique down this season and still have a long, long way to go on that aspect.. at least until I'll be satisfied with the way I skate. We gained a good amount of experience this season but, obviously the more we race and practice the more experience we are going to get. But next season the goal is to improve technically a lot but also to qualify for seniors and for the am cup final. I think the racing and the mistakes made this season will set us up well for next season.
Now I am here in Salt Lake and the ice season is over. I am on my own in terms of what kind of training I decide to do from now until May 2nd, when the team will begin our summer training for the next ice season and our organized inline practices for the inline season. Right now it is March 15th, so I think the next two weeks I'm going to take it a little easy. I'm not going to do to much but am still going to be on my skates. One thing that I have to take into consideration is that I haven't taken any time off at all since I got back from China in 2009. If I don't at least slow down for a little I could end up running into trouble down the road, I'm just going to play it safe and cut out all the extra stuff I've been doing for the next two weeks besides the skating time. Once April gets here it's going to be a pretty tough stretch so I want to make sure I'm prepared for that.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Catching Up
It's been a while since I blogged so I guess it's that time. A lot has happened in the last month. My training has pretty much been the same though. I was in Midland, Michigan for the American Cup III race for ice. The American Cup races are pretty much used to qualify people for the the finale and to crown the American Cup Champion who automatically ends up on the National Team the following season if they choose to. With this being my first American Cup race of the season I had to chance of qualifying for the finale or being crowned champion, but that didn't make it any less of an experience.
The first race I skated was the 1500m and the strategy was pretty simple, sit in the pack and wait for everyone to die. The thing about short track is that for the most part until you get to an international level it is a sprinters sport. Every race becomes pretty much a 5 lap or less race at the end, so it's more of a positioning fight for the rest of it. The beginning of 1500m are so slow, it's kind of funny almost, yet a lot of skaters can't manage to have the legs for a 1500m. Anyway, the strategy was good.. I made the semi-finals and fell down with like 3 to go which was disappointing because it looked like I was going to make the A final. I managed to win the B final.
The next race was a 500m. The thing about short track is that for the start if you don't have the inside your chances of winning the start are dramatically decreased.. kind of like nira. But when you have a really good start, you can make up at least a few spots. I was starting in lane 4 of 5. I got off the line and at the point where I was about to start my turn I was ahead of everyone. Some people do this weird thing where they like to go right to turn sharper left I don't know, I've never been one of those people. But I planted my left after running the start and crossed over while the kid to my left decided to go right some more to turn left, and kicked my blade. I thought I had a strip in my blade because I couldn't skate the race. I got off the ice and realized a piece of my blade broke off. I finished the meet on a pair of blades from another skater, which is pretty weird because they have different bends and rocks for every skater. I didn't skate bad the next day but it would have been a lot better with my own blades. I finished 10th overall for the race.
After that I went to Roanoke and pretty much had a pretty miserable time. The floor wasn't bad in terms of the coating. But I had only skated on a 90 ft wide floor since a little after nationals so skating on the 80ft in Roanoke plus knowing it has never been a good place for me racing didn't help. Skating in Roanoke made me remember why I've always favored outdoor skating. Indoor once you get to a certain skill level there are two things that happen: 1. You can't reach top speed anymore and 2. If you are a smart skater or an experienced skater you can keep everyone behind you with ease because there aren't any passing lanes.
Next week I leave for ice nationals, because I didn't qualify for the American Cup Finale I will be skating my age group, which has only about 7 other skaters because the rest are in the finale. It should be okay though. I have decided to skip the March NSC event. I am in Wisconsin until Monday and having no time on my inlines and going to a race just seems like a bad idea right now. But, once nationals is over I'll be spending a lot of time on my inlines so I'll be ready to go the rest of the year.
The first race I skated was the 1500m and the strategy was pretty simple, sit in the pack and wait for everyone to die. The thing about short track is that for the most part until you get to an international level it is a sprinters sport. Every race becomes pretty much a 5 lap or less race at the end, so it's more of a positioning fight for the rest of it. The beginning of 1500m are so slow, it's kind of funny almost, yet a lot of skaters can't manage to have the legs for a 1500m. Anyway, the strategy was good.. I made the semi-finals and fell down with like 3 to go which was disappointing because it looked like I was going to make the A final. I managed to win the B final.
The next race was a 500m. The thing about short track is that for the start if you don't have the inside your chances of winning the start are dramatically decreased.. kind of like nira. But when you have a really good start, you can make up at least a few spots. I was starting in lane 4 of 5. I got off the line and at the point where I was about to start my turn I was ahead of everyone. Some people do this weird thing where they like to go right to turn sharper left I don't know, I've never been one of those people. But I planted my left after running the start and crossed over while the kid to my left decided to go right some more to turn left, and kicked my blade. I thought I had a strip in my blade because I couldn't skate the race. I got off the ice and realized a piece of my blade broke off. I finished the meet on a pair of blades from another skater, which is pretty weird because they have different bends and rocks for every skater. I didn't skate bad the next day but it would have been a lot better with my own blades. I finished 10th overall for the race.
After that I went to Roanoke and pretty much had a pretty miserable time. The floor wasn't bad in terms of the coating. But I had only skated on a 90 ft wide floor since a little after nationals so skating on the 80ft in Roanoke plus knowing it has never been a good place for me racing didn't help. Skating in Roanoke made me remember why I've always favored outdoor skating. Indoor once you get to a certain skill level there are two things that happen: 1. You can't reach top speed anymore and 2. If you are a smart skater or an experienced skater you can keep everyone behind you with ease because there aren't any passing lanes.
Next week I leave for ice nationals, because I didn't qualify for the American Cup Finale I will be skating my age group, which has only about 7 other skaters because the rest are in the finale. It should be okay though. I have decided to skip the March NSC event. I am in Wisconsin until Monday and having no time on my inlines and going to a race just seems like a bad idea right now. But, once nationals is over I'll be spending a lot of time on my inlines so I'll be ready to go the rest of the year.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Passion and Obsession
By definition Passion can be defined in many different ways. For the sake of listing them all, we will focus on just one.
Passion: A strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object, or concept.
When I first started skating I liked it. Then the more I did it I started to love everything about it. Now a days, I am devoted to skating. Skating defines me as a person. When I was in High School there would be times, mostly due to extreme procrastination, that I would end up needing to finish a project at the last minute, the only problem is I often had practice on those nights. Practice won every single time. I would worry about the project when I got done practice, usually not getting to bed until the wee hours of the morning. I always believed missing one practice would be more detrimental to me in the long run then getting a B instead of an A on a project. In school, I always thought I had a semester to define my grade. In skating, I had 'now' to define my ability.. over and over again.
I'm passionate about skating. I love everything about skating. I love watching young children skate, mostly because they are in it for the fun and it's so pure. I love everything about the sport, the fact you can do it anywhere, all you need is your skates and a road. There are roads all over the world. One of the big reasons I never take time off, never have an off-season is because I don't want to. Even when I won't be competing for a long time I never lose the desire to lace up my skates and just go. For me, there's nothing more pure then the feeling of your wheels on the pavement, as you just cruise knowing every bit of speed is generated solely from you. I love skating for what it is, before the competition.
Obsession, much like Passion can be defined in numerous ways. But for the same reasons, lets narrow it down to just one:
Obsession: The domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc.
When I first started to become passionate about skating I started to let it take over my train of thought. I would dream skating. I would wake up, skating on my mind. I'd sit in school writing all of my papers about skating. Or imitating myself on a slide board to the point someone would point out that I am making circles with my feet as I stand. I day dream, no matter what I was doing.. about skating. I would lay in bed, trying to sleep, distracted about skating.
I was passionate about skating, but that's not what I found myself obsessing about. I started obsessing on how I could get better at it. I started to dissect my every move on skates because if I broke everything down, I could find my flaws, and fix them one by one. This, is what has caused people to call me to analytical, that I think about it too much. I let the idea of becoming better at what I was passionate about dominate my every move. I let the concept that I could do it better drive me to obsess over skating.
I have an extreme obsession with skating, I can't stop thinking about how I can be better. I visualize my next practice, my next workout over and over again before it ever happens. When it comes time to race, I've already seen the race play 1,000 times, minimum.
When I was young I found something I was passionate about, I followed and found something I could obsess over that could drive me as a human being. Something that could drive me as a person.
Passion: A strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object, or concept.
When I first started skating I liked it. Then the more I did it I started to love everything about it. Now a days, I am devoted to skating. Skating defines me as a person. When I was in High School there would be times, mostly due to extreme procrastination, that I would end up needing to finish a project at the last minute, the only problem is I often had practice on those nights. Practice won every single time. I would worry about the project when I got done practice, usually not getting to bed until the wee hours of the morning. I always believed missing one practice would be more detrimental to me in the long run then getting a B instead of an A on a project. In school, I always thought I had a semester to define my grade. In skating, I had 'now' to define my ability.. over and over again.
I'm passionate about skating. I love everything about skating. I love watching young children skate, mostly because they are in it for the fun and it's so pure. I love everything about the sport, the fact you can do it anywhere, all you need is your skates and a road. There are roads all over the world. One of the big reasons I never take time off, never have an off-season is because I don't want to. Even when I won't be competing for a long time I never lose the desire to lace up my skates and just go. For me, there's nothing more pure then the feeling of your wheels on the pavement, as you just cruise knowing every bit of speed is generated solely from you. I love skating for what it is, before the competition.
Obsession, much like Passion can be defined in numerous ways. But for the same reasons, lets narrow it down to just one:
Obsession: The domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc.
When I first started to become passionate about skating I started to let it take over my train of thought. I would dream skating. I would wake up, skating on my mind. I'd sit in school writing all of my papers about skating. Or imitating myself on a slide board to the point someone would point out that I am making circles with my feet as I stand. I day dream, no matter what I was doing.. about skating. I would lay in bed, trying to sleep, distracted about skating.
I was passionate about skating, but that's not what I found myself obsessing about. I started obsessing on how I could get better at it. I started to dissect my every move on skates because if I broke everything down, I could find my flaws, and fix them one by one. This, is what has caused people to call me to analytical, that I think about it too much. I let the idea of becoming better at what I was passionate about dominate my every move. I let the concept that I could do it better drive me to obsess over skating.
I have an extreme obsession with skating, I can't stop thinking about how I can be better. I visualize my next practice, my next workout over and over again before it ever happens. When it comes time to race, I've already seen the race play 1,000 times, minimum.
When I was young I found something I was passionate about, I followed and found something I could obsess over that could drive me as a human being. Something that could drive me as a person.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
One Moment
I believe everyone has a moment. Something that has contributed to who they are today. Mine was a simple moment. Something I new before it was ever told to me, but actually hearing it for the first time changed me as an athlete.
In 2006 I went to Outdoor Nationals with absolutely no expectations. I just hoped I wasn't going to embarrass myself. The year before I did absolutely terrible so I was just about petrified. The first day racing started we were in the car, Jeff, my Mom, and me. When we parked at the velodrome and shut the car off Jeff started doing something weird, shaking and jumping around like he was a kid at a candy store or something. He stopped and said, I had to get that out so when you win a medal I can stay calm like I expected it to happen. I swallowed a rock instantly. I had won plenty of medals before, but I was a second year junior world class skater. The year before I got destroyed to the point I had to ask Jeff why I didn't improve like I should have. He told me that it takes time.
I skated the first race, the 300m and sure enough I won my first junior medal a bronze in the time of 27.376. I thought Jeff could read the future or something. I never had a more pure level of excitement and satisfaction as the moments after that 300m. It was just a bronze medal, but I improved two and a half seconds from the year before. But this is not the moment that changed me, not yet.
After that my expectations changed, I went from not wanting to be embarrassed to wanting to make the Junior World team that very year. My goal had always been to make it twice, in 2007 and 2008 but everything changed after that moment. The rest of the meet went okay, I won a silver medal in the 200m for my second medal. Then it happened..
The final race for the competition was the 500m on road (other than the marathon that did not account for making the world team, only the marathon team.) I was still in the running for the final spot on the world team. It was between two other guys and myself. I knew exactly what I had to do, If I won I was most likely on the team. If I got second and the other two guys finished specifically in third and fourth (one needing to be third the other fourth) I still would have made the team.
I told Jeff I still had a shot and exactly what I needed to do. I told him how I could still get second and make it. He told me win and your in. Everything came down to this moment if you win you're in. I was 16 and I wasn't ready for that, I knew everything he told me already, but actually hearing it from someone else is another story. I lost..
I was extremely disappointed in myself. I couldn't believe I blew it, that I had a shot and completely blew it. After that everything started changing. I became more confident in myself, which is probably how I became who I am.. just confidence. That year I went to nationals and won. But first, I finished second in the first final and another coach I respected, who coached my coach years ago pulled me to the side. He told me straight plain and simple, you skated like shit. I said, you know I got second right? He said yeah, just win next time.. you're faster. I won.
The following year I went to Outdoor Nationals with one goal, making the world team. I was just coming off of an injury that held me out for a few weeks. I had one month of quality training before trials. Sure enough, the last race was the 500m on road. Jeff wasn't there this time, I called him before my semi. I told him what he told me one year before, If I win I'm in. All I have to do is win. My semi was stacked, but if I won I was in. I won that semi, set the national record and because of who else made the final I managed to make that world team. Leading up to that race I played the previous year in my head a million times. If I just won I was in. It was simple, no sugar coating just win. My moment was simple. I just had to win, and I lost. I beat myself up over it, and decided it wouldn't happen again.
In 2006 I went to Outdoor Nationals with absolutely no expectations. I just hoped I wasn't going to embarrass myself. The year before I did absolutely terrible so I was just about petrified. The first day racing started we were in the car, Jeff, my Mom, and me. When we parked at the velodrome and shut the car off Jeff started doing something weird, shaking and jumping around like he was a kid at a candy store or something. He stopped and said, I had to get that out so when you win a medal I can stay calm like I expected it to happen. I swallowed a rock instantly. I had won plenty of medals before, but I was a second year junior world class skater. The year before I got destroyed to the point I had to ask Jeff why I didn't improve like I should have. He told me that it takes time.
I skated the first race, the 300m and sure enough I won my first junior medal a bronze in the time of 27.376. I thought Jeff could read the future or something. I never had a more pure level of excitement and satisfaction as the moments after that 300m. It was just a bronze medal, but I improved two and a half seconds from the year before. But this is not the moment that changed me, not yet.
After that my expectations changed, I went from not wanting to be embarrassed to wanting to make the Junior World team that very year. My goal had always been to make it twice, in 2007 and 2008 but everything changed after that moment. The rest of the meet went okay, I won a silver medal in the 200m for my second medal. Then it happened..
The final race for the competition was the 500m on road (other than the marathon that did not account for making the world team, only the marathon team.) I was still in the running for the final spot on the world team. It was between two other guys and myself. I knew exactly what I had to do, If I won I was most likely on the team. If I got second and the other two guys finished specifically in third and fourth (one needing to be third the other fourth) I still would have made the team.
I told Jeff I still had a shot and exactly what I needed to do. I told him how I could still get second and make it. He told me win and your in. Everything came down to this moment if you win you're in. I was 16 and I wasn't ready for that, I knew everything he told me already, but actually hearing it from someone else is another story. I lost..
I was extremely disappointed in myself. I couldn't believe I blew it, that I had a shot and completely blew it. After that everything started changing. I became more confident in myself, which is probably how I became who I am.. just confidence. That year I went to nationals and won. But first, I finished second in the first final and another coach I respected, who coached my coach years ago pulled me to the side. He told me straight plain and simple, you skated like shit. I said, you know I got second right? He said yeah, just win next time.. you're faster. I won.
The following year I went to Outdoor Nationals with one goal, making the world team. I was just coming off of an injury that held me out for a few weeks. I had one month of quality training before trials. Sure enough, the last race was the 500m on road. Jeff wasn't there this time, I called him before my semi. I told him what he told me one year before, If I win I'm in. All I have to do is win. My semi was stacked, but if I won I was in. I won that semi, set the national record and because of who else made the final I managed to make that world team. Leading up to that race I played the previous year in my head a million times. If I just won I was in. It was simple, no sugar coating just win. My moment was simple. I just had to win, and I lost. I beat myself up over it, and decided it wouldn't happen again.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Where I Stand
Well, I've got a lot of stuff going on and that's pretty much how I like to live anyway. I leave a little later today for the first installment of the National SpeedSkating Circuit's (NSC) second season. I'm not quite sure, but this could possibly be the best overall shape I've ever been in this time of the year. I'm a little heavier then I want to be but that will come off in a month or two like it does every year. Normally I am focused 100% on my inline technique and figuring out how to make myself better for the summer. This year however, I have been in Salt Lake City training on the ice. I am still focusing on my ice technique but I also am training with a lot of intensity so I can skate well on the ice. I officially do not have an off-season, but I don't really think I need one anyway.
Year's ago I told myself I'll never show up to a race out of shape. Well, I'm definitely not showing up to a race out of shape. But, I haven't spent much time on my inlines the last few months.. The snow and ice makes it a lot more difficult to get time on my skates (outdoor). So I'm going into this race with the unknown, something I try to avoid at all costs.. but that's the price I have to pay right now. Roanoke I will be much more prepared for.
In other news I have a ridiculous itch to be on my inlines right now. I've learned so many different things being on the ice and I can't wait to have the opportunity to see what I can incorporate into my inline technique to make me better. I'm excited to get some long skates back in outdoor and prepare for an awesome summer of training and racing. This summer will be a little weird for me, training with skaters of the highest caliber on inlines.. It will be like having a residency training session everyday which will be good for all of us.
Well that's it for now, the only thing I have to say is practice perfection even if you may never reach it! Remember every drill you sit out, you get that much further away from your goals.
Year's ago I told myself I'll never show up to a race out of shape. Well, I'm definitely not showing up to a race out of shape. But, I haven't spent much time on my inlines the last few months.. The snow and ice makes it a lot more difficult to get time on my skates (outdoor). So I'm going into this race with the unknown, something I try to avoid at all costs.. but that's the price I have to pay right now. Roanoke I will be much more prepared for.
In other news I have a ridiculous itch to be on my inlines right now. I've learned so many different things being on the ice and I can't wait to have the opportunity to see what I can incorporate into my inline technique to make me better. I'm excited to get some long skates back in outdoor and prepare for an awesome summer of training and racing. This summer will be a little weird for me, training with skaters of the highest caliber on inlines.. It will be like having a residency training session everyday which will be good for all of us.
Well that's it for now, the only thing I have to say is practice perfection even if you may never reach it! Remember every drill you sit out, you get that much further away from your goals.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Upcoming Events
Alright, well I haven't written in a while, sorry about that. I've been training pretty hard and still trying to get the technique right while training like I've been doing this for awhile. It manages to exhaust me mentally and physically most of the time. I'm getting a lot better and more comfortable everyday I am on the ice out here. I'm already capable of skating some high 8 second laps which is pretty cool.
Anyway, I have a few races coming up in the next few months both inline races and Ice races:
January 24th - NSC Season 2- Monday Night Mayhem
February 12th-13th - American Cup III (Ice)
February 17th-20th - NSC Season 2 - East Coast Carnage & Blue Ridge Challenge
March 11th-13th - American Cup Final/Nationals (Ice)
March 17th - NSC Season 2 - Thursday Night Throwdown
That is as far as my schedule goes at this time. I expect World Team Trials/ODN to be in late June or somewhere in that ballpark because the dates of Worlds is much earlier (last week of August, first week of September) Indoor Nationals is in early July. I'll have regionals in May this year. Other than that, I want to try and skate a few marathons this season and I would like to skate a few Eastern Seaboard Series races but everything will depend on when all of the races are.
Anyway, I have a few races coming up in the next few months both inline races and Ice races:
January 24th - NSC Season 2- Monday Night Mayhem
February 12th-13th - American Cup III (Ice)
February 17th-20th - NSC Season 2 - East Coast Carnage & Blue Ridge Challenge
March 11th-13th - American Cup Final/Nationals (Ice)
March 17th - NSC Season 2 - Thursday Night Throwdown
That is as far as my schedule goes at this time. I expect World Team Trials/ODN to be in late June or somewhere in that ballpark because the dates of Worlds is much earlier (last week of August, first week of September) Indoor Nationals is in early July. I'll have regionals in May this year. Other than that, I want to try and skate a few marathons this season and I would like to skate a few Eastern Seaboard Series races but everything will depend on when all of the races are.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)