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.