Expectations

First I want to apologize, over the course of a summer you stop using correct writing format and just start typing. I guess all the email, texting, and myspace got me out of the habit of writing in paragraphs. Hopefully my post will become a little easier on the eyes now that it has been brought to my attention!
This is always a touchy subject for me: Expectations. I don't want to go into too many personal expectations because one it's really early and two things change. But, as team USA I think we should expect to do much better then we did last year. Last year the USA team finished fourth overall in total medals, third in gold medals. But Joey literally won half of our total medals, a number that the rest of us she be ashamed of. Four of the remaining eight medals were won in relays and the last four were won by Brittany (200 and 500 on road) Mariah (300 track) and Bri (10k road). In the last decade the USA team only failed to get 20 medals 4 times and 3 of those four are the last 3 years! 2007, 2006, and 2005. I feel that the USA team is capable of 20 medals.
Last year and 2006 for a matter of fact, the US Junior Men's team has not brought home an individual medal. I believe that out of the six of us this year we can get it done. Last year we had two 4th place finishes, a 6th, four 7th's, and a 9th. All eight of those top 10 finishers came in just 5 races, the 1000m and below. That means in 5 races we have 10 competitors (two per distance for every country) and eight out of the ten were placed in the top ten (the other two placements were an 11 place and a 14th). In the longer distances are best finishes were two 12th places. One in the 20k elim by Kimani and one by Hank in the marathon.
Brittany ended up with two individual medals last year and at least two more 4th place finishes. I feel she can replicate or improve those results. And the Junior women's team looks so strong to me this year but we will have to wait and see how everything goes! Wish us luck in our training and preparation.

Spare Time

Nationals came to an end and for most skaters it's break time. But for 24-32 of us, we are just getting started with our season. Last year it was really easy. I had like 4 days maximum between Indoor Nationals and residency so I went home and just waited really. This year is different. We had 2 weeks in between. If someone went home and literally didn't touch their skates or barely touched their skates then they will have a problem. Two weeks of nothing will kill any core shape an outdoor skater has that will be competing at the top level. This year worlds is much later (like it was in 2006) which for the Junior Team poses a bit of a problem. The Seniors that do work, will have to take off the same amount of time no matter what time frame worlds falls on. But the Junior Team has school and some school are really tough on allowing their students to have days off. In my school I'll be missing the first 14 days of school. My handbook says no student is to miss the first of last 5 and missing 15 days in a semester could lose a student partial credit for the semester. Now because I am enrolled in AP English I have summer reading requirements that I must fulfill before I get to school. I picked up the three books I am entitled to read and respond to. The thing about summer reading is that it is graded and you may be required to take a test or write an essay on the book but while you are reading you have no idea what to truly look for. Every student (or good student) should adapt the way they write essays and take tests to satisfy their teacher that year. But while you read these books you don't even know who your teacher is or even less what they look for so you are basically going in blind. They give a sheet of paper that tells you to respond analytically. So I have to write between 40-44 pages of information between three books making sure it is all analytically. Eckk. Even better is that I went and got all three books, and I picked up a fourth book and so far all I've read is the book of my choice. For some reason I decided to read Lance Armstrong's It's Not About the Bike: The Journey Back to Life. It's an absolute incredible book. In fact, I finished it in two days. I don't know why schools don't ask their students to read a book like this because it is beyond belief.
Two weeks this year. While all of your teammates take their break you have to keep skating because you are considered the best. You must represent the red, white, and blue. That's the hard part. Just skating when no one else is. Everyone is vacationing and breaking but not you, it's the time of the year where everything you've done so far means nothing because none of it will compare to what is to come.

Indoor Nationals

Indoor Nationals. It's the time of year that almost everyone has prepared for. It's the reason that most allow sweat, hot dim roller rinks, brush-burns, and spandex to control our summer. And all for the chance to be a National Champion. First off I love Lincoln. I have since I first went in 2000. For me it's like indoor speed skating heaven it's always the fastest floor. Back when records were more important then medals it was easy: Lincoln meant a chance to set a record, anywhere else was a long shot. This year records dropped like flies. I have one giant reason for this the wheels are getting so much bigger. Honestly, 110m is big. The top speeds on these things are just ridiculous not to mention the grueling long race for every age group has started to feel a little shorter with so much roll. Don't get me wrong, the athletes that broke records were top-class well trained and earned those records but it would be nice to look back at all the records from 80mm wheels and know what the current record holders could do. It's kind of a knock because when a record falls it seems that someone is always saying but they were on XXmm wheels back then. The racing was a lot more exciting for me this year then it has been in the past. I just think it could really hinder the excitement next year for a few reasons. I don't think we are going to have Sophomore Men going out from the gun to break records next year, even if they are the same ones because they may realize that the floor most likely will not be comparable in speed to Lincoln. When Andrew and Jonathon were having their Record fight (if i can call it that) it was exciting. If you don't appreciate someone who sprints off from the gun, runs a 45.0 opening 500 all out and by the end of the race is just completely blown and struggling to finish the race with a 47.0 closer then you don't appreciate the struggling. It's exciting because you sit there and watch the clock and watch the skater and you see them put their head down and just keep fighting to finish. It turns into a one man grind-it-out to the finish race even though they are going to win that win still won't be good enough.
My top performance:
Ricky Blas - Ricky was second year Junior this year at Nationals and really skated phenomenal. Last year Ricky skated great and barely missed the podium which was a ridiculous improvement from what he had accomplished in 2006 and then this year he topped that. 2nd place Junior Men, 3rd place Senior 2 man.

The Rest of the World Team

Senior Men:
Overall I think the senior men's team is definitely stronger then it was last year. Joey is still Joey and whatever area he is focusing on this year I would expect him to win almost every gold in that area. Last year I believe he focused on the shorter distances and out of 5 races 1000m and below he won 4 golds which is pretty impressive. Cheeks looks better this year to me especially because of the 110's. They look natural on his feet and it wasn't like last year where he skated 110's indoor then 100's for ODN residency and worlds. Josh looks so much strong this year to me then he did last year and that's a good thing considering that he won a relay gold last year. Sebastian skated good and made his fifth straight world team. I don't have any experiences with Dane but he is really well-rounded which obviously will help us out. And Harry is just something else. I love watching him skate because it looks like he is putting everything into every push. It sucks not having Jonathon on the team because he is funny and can lighten the mood at residency not to mention how strong he is in the distance but if we had to lose Jonathon I think Harry has some of the same skating qualities. Harry has a good sprint like Jonathon and he is well-rounded as well which will be great.
Senior Women:
Senior women is stronger or at least as strong as they were last year in my opinion. If Brittany wouldn't have skated then I think we would have been in trouble but her coming out really boosted this team. Sara skated great again but she definitely looked stronger this year. Emily is still really strong so she is definitely good to have on the team. Chelsea skated so good at ODN that she is definitely a strong person to have on the team. Erin skated good in the distance after all of the ice she did this year and the more she skates on her inlines the better she will get on them this year.
Junior Ladies:
Junior Ladies is easily way stronger then last year in my opinion. You have two individual medalist returning from last year in Bri and Mariah. Alex who skated really good in the middle distances at worlds and was apart of the bronze medal relay team. Erin who beat the silver world medalist in the 300m distance which always shows good signs for the USA in the 300m having those two. Sophie who reminds me a lot of Bri in her ability to just keep going in the distance races which will be really cool if the two of them get paired together. And Melanie who skated much better in my opinion then she did last year when you look at it overall.
All of our teams are stronger this year I think and I especially think the Junior Ladies team will turn some heads because they just seem like such a strong group. that I think she is really good for the senior women's team. Katelyn didn't get hurt this year and finally made the team after she was strong enough the past two years so she will be good especially because she went to residency as an alternate last year so she knows what to expect. And Erin skated good in the long races after all of the ice this year and the more time she spends on her