Zen and the Art of Speedskating

Visible in this picture, my only training partners today:

• A turncable
• A weight vest
• A piece of paper with a gutbusting 3-hour dryland workout written on it.
• A water bottle on its 3rd refill (it started out with Gatorade in it).
• A stopwatch (it’s holding down the paper in the breeze).

Not visible in the picture, but equally important, are a few other important things I try to bring to every workout:

• A good night’s sleep.
• Good recovery habits between the previous workout and this one.
• Delayed gratification temperment, (work hard in June, be strong in December).
• Knowing exactly why dryland workouts are so important.

And most importantly, I brought what a martial artist I respect tremendously, described as “good spirit”.

She swam through some seriously deep oceans of crap, and now runs a thriving dojo. Spirit has everything to do with it.

What is “good spirit” to her? It’s part courageous imagination, part being positive in all types of “bad weather”, and part good ‘ol bushido tradition.

It was hot, I didn’t feel great, my training partners, though reliable, are not great conversation, but good spirit carried me through a hard training day.

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Filed under: from the coffee shop

Yesterday a terrific comment by Canadian National Team skater Rene L’oiseaux appeared on my post “cats & short track”. As few would likely notice this on this older post, I asked Rene if I could repost it here, as it contains some essential truths about training for ALL types of skating, not just his specialty of short track (I especially liked points 3 & 4). I asked him to send me a pic of him skating, and wow, did he ever send me a picture!!!

Here he is, leading Jeffrey Sholten sometime last winter:

And here is his post:

Hi everyone, I’m a short track speed skater for the Canadian National team. I have been skating for the last 15 years. First of all i’m always glad to see people discussing and showing their love and interests for this Ho! so crazy sport.

For sure I agree with the fact that short track doesn’t get enough coverage and recognition. From what I read and hear when I talk to people it seems that the main issue and the reason why is the simple fact that nobody can really have a good idea of how hard and complicated this sport can be.

As this - pretty much new sport - grow older, you need to have lots of qualities

1. You need strategy: to do clean passes, to be sharp for the last laps,
2. You need technology: good blades so you are able to turn and glide, good boots to have better support, blades are set differently for each skaters and for each type of ice (ex. hard or soft) as in Formula 1.
3. Incredible fitness: so you can be as efficient as possible for the entire race
4. Perfect techniques: that will help you glide, turn without losing speed, do better passes, reach higher speed…
5. and all of the above interact with each other and that is what make skaters better than other.

keep on skating

Remi

Remi (he seems to sign his name both Remi and Rene) is a French Canadian living and training at their national training center in Montreal. Did you know that Montreal alone has more skaters than the ENTIRE MEMBERSHIP of US speedskating? He is a fast fish in one tough pond.

He is aware of what is going on in US speedskating right now and wants to start a dialogue here between Canadian and American skaters, so we can learn best practices from each other.

I think it’s a great idea, as there are fundamental differences between our organizational systems. I will kick off the discussion with several observations others have told me:

A top US Coach said some Canadians have told him Canada does an outstanding job developing good skaters from their huge grassroots programs, but they think the Americans do a better job at taking exceptional talents and turning them into gold medal winners.

Someone with dual-Canadian US citizenship once ruminated to me that he thought that there were cultural differences in attitudes of risk, Americans tend to be more aggressive in trying to win or crash trying, he thought many Canadians would rather be a surefooted top ten.

Canada has astonishingly well developed & comprehensive athlete programs in both Montreal and Calgary, what lessons can Salt Lake, Milwaulkee, and Marquette learn from them?

I grew up a 3 hour drive from the Canadian border, but only as an adult have I began to appreciate the fascinating variety of cultural differences, things that reach far deeper than mistaking a Tim Horton’s for Dunkin Doughnuts of the north (their coffee & boston cremes are better). Canada is it’s own thing, and the closer I have looked, the more I appreciate it’s individuality. Even in things that are seemingly simple like speedskating, there are a million ways to approach it.

Oh, and speaking of Canada, it’s worth saying: Peter Doucet is one of my favorite brothers O’ the wheel & blade on the planet. It’s been too long since I have seen that redhead sparkplug of skating soul!! Shouts go out to all my ‘ol toronto inline speed team buddies!!

Lots to think about here. What do readers here think? after the recent Olympi-gasm, it’s the proper time to think and ruminate. As I write this (in Cocoa cafe in downtown salt lake), national team coach Tom Cushman walked by, stopped & we chatted a bit about these subjects, the 4-year cycle of change is on many people’s mind.

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Filed under: from the coffee shop

Sitting in the coffee shop this morning, swimming my way to alertness-

My motivation is low for much other than drinking coffee. –A half dozen things are muddling their way through my mind, lyrics to old Pink Floyd, the project I am finishing, emailing clients, prototyping a new site, I have some bills that need paying, endless etc etc etc…

I start training again for real today, my break is over, in the past I used to be excited about this, today I am blah blah, blah—-

and then this bird comes zipping along and CRACKS into the windowpane next to my keyboard at high velocity!!!

It spins in the air for a few seconds, a confused ball of wings, and then darts off in another direction at top speed, it NEEDS TO BE SOMEWHERE RIGHT NOW!!!

This bird has goals, and even though it smacked into a window, I admire the intense pursuit of flight across the species line. Like an ant to his task, I will go through the motions of training today, but I don’t feel all that inspired to pursue my goals right now.

To attain a goal, you have to state your goal, and then state the concrete things you need to do to accomplish it. Here is the question I am tossing out to this blog reading crowd:

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR THIS UPCOMING YEAR?

WHAT ARE THE ESSENTIAL THINGS/SKILLS DO YOU NEED TO DO/GET BETTER AT, -TO ACCOMPLISH THESE GOALS?

You do not have to be a skater to answer this question, some of my goals for this upcoming year have nothing to do with skating. I talked with a fellow last night at a dinner party who lost his home to hurricane Katrina, his goals all changed in a few days.

A goal is a goal, but one thing that is true about goals, is that stating them, and then being “process oriented” gives you a better shot at achieving. For example: Last season it was a huge goal of mine to skate a sub 37 second 500m, but I tried hard not to think about that number, instead I obsessed on aspects of skating technique, especially my last 200m, to attain that goal.

Also, imagining your process to reach goals is like creating your flight plan: it’s looking where you are going. Although I admire the drive that bird had, it’s flight plan was not too well thought out. How many people & athletes are like that bird…. trying hard and flying blind….

So now it’s your turn—- So what are your goals?

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Filed under: from the coffee shop

Another blog I read frequently, Last Girl on Earth, has a contest running now, here are the rules:

If you could go anywhere in the world, or beyond…
Where would you go, and why would you go there?

Here is my entry, its weird enough that I think speedskaters all over the world would be interested in joining me for this trip that would make my excursion earlier this year to Europe seem positively TAME by comparison.

I would travel to a small moon near the planet Saturn called Enceladus. Scientists have described it as a huge ball of smooth ice drifting through space. It is smooth because it has very active geysers that are constantly erupting and covering the surface with water. Think of it of it as a place with it’s own massive geothermal Zamboni.

These geysers blast from blue veins crisscrossing the Enceladus surface, and are nicknamed “cold faithfuls” by Scientists. They are so powerful that the icy particles they throw into space create one of Saturn’s Major rings, the “E” ring, actually.

Because of this, Enceladus rides within, and is the source of, one of Saturn’s rings. These geysers are strong enough to slowly erase impact craters from the surface, and create some stunningly beautiful landscape and frozen structures, the whole planet is covered in ice, as it has the highest light reflectivity in the solar system.

This photo is from the Cassini spacecraft. Cassini got so close, (within 109 miles) it had to rotate itself away from the planet at times, to shield its eyes from the icy debris in nearby space. Click on the photo to see a very pretty & larger version.

If one is thinking of a place to visit for scenery, I think it would be pretty hard to beat the view of Saturn & the rings from a thin atmosphere moon WITHIN one of the rings. The stars would be bright, the colors stunning, The frequent eruptions would be fun to watch (from a distance! water-ice volcanoes are technically known as Cryo-Volcanism). The sky would be filled with multicolored Saturn and other rings arcing past, and the sun bright enough to see things pretty well.

What would I do on Enceladus? Now this is where who I am plays nicely into this unique destination.

I would go for a nice long speedskate across the icy surface. On earth I am capable of briefly sustaining 34+ mph on my skates. According to Dutch speedskating scientists, those terrestrial velocities correspond to me fighting 84% air resistance and 16% frictional forces.

With the minimal atmosphere on Enceladus, and only 1/125 of earth’s gravity, I ought to be able to sprint along at 500+ mph, and easily tour along at 100+. My 28 inch vertical leap on earth would become a become a 280+ foot skyward arc, allowing me to see a great view anytime I wanted, or to leap the fissures, ripples, & craters on the surface with ease.

This would be a tour with a view, and with some extreme sports fun! Scientists say there are five distinct types of terrain on this moon: Fissures, plains, corrugated terrain and several other icy deformations. Some of the most enjoyable athletic moments in my life have been mountain biking the mammoth fossilized sand dunes in Moab, Utah. I think this could be similar, but within the sport that I was born to do.

This moon is only 310 miles around, so I think I could see a significant amount of it fairly quickly, and the Cassini spacecraft pictures of the surface show a playground that could provide years of fun. Ramps, bowls, berms, & gliding among ice walls like the podracer scenes of the first star wars movie.

Here is a black-and-white surface detail of one of the rougher areas, each pixel you see is roughly 37 feet of real life terrain (what magic we can do, that I HAVE this image to show)

Also because of the abundant presence of liquid water, there are likely subsurface oceans, and scientist have seen the chemical building blocks of life present in abundance here, so this particular moon is a terrific candidate for the possibility of extra-terrestrial life. Maybe even the best in our solar system (many point to Jupiter’s moon Europa as another good choice).

Who knows, I might not be the only one skating along the surface, I could blend right in with local life forms, evolved to take advantage of this peculiar environment. The Enceladians could have a speedskating culture that could even rival the Netherlands!

One never knows.

Of course there are small technical problems, such as how to survive the extreme cold of –180 to –203 Celsius, and the lack of good breathable oxygen, and my skates might not glide as well on this extremely cold surface.

But I compete in a prototype of the racing skinsuit Nike spent over a million dollars to develop for the 2002 winter Olympic games. It’s a dreadfully uncomfortable thing to wear, but magically fast compared to normal lycra. Toss a few billion dollars more at the basic design, and I am sure it would be interplanetary worthy. Do a little more research into various steels & other exotic periodic table elements, and I am sure they would find the best bi-metal blade composite and blade dimentions for gliding across Enceladian ice.

As for oxygen, I am a sprinter, and I don’t breathe too well to begin with! Oxygen? schmOxygen!

In Greek mythology, Enceladus was a Titan who was defeated in battle by the God Athena, and buried under Mount Etna, when he tries to break free, his struggles are the source of earthquakes volcanic eruptions.

I think Enceladus might become someday, the top speedskating tourist destination of all time, and for the purpose of this contest, it is my daydream place to go.

Here are some weblinks to this amazing place:

The Cassini spaceprobe raw image diary of its flyby of Enceladus, WOW!

An article about the possibilities of life there

The BBC guide to Enceladus

USA today article about the icy geysers

Boulder strewn surface, fantastic photos

Below is an artists conceptions about what the surface might be like:

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Filed under: from the coffee shop

“Watching a Masters 3,000m race is as much fun as watching paint dry.”

-some dork masquerading as a speedskating official

I believe this was actually said at a US speedskating board meeting, so I could find out who said it, but I don’t want to use this blog as a weapon. Besides, I don’t need to argue with such inanity, it speaks for itself well enough.

However, I invite him to change his opinion by officiating the incredible metric/pack competition at the Masters International. We are the most exciting paint imaginable! I promise it will be the most fun he will ever have at meet..

Here are some pictures (paint?) from the finish of the 40-44 category 500m. This is my proof. From L to R we have Olusegun Sijuwade (with perfect corner exit hip/blade position!), Matt Trimble, Randy Plett (with the good “race face”) & Steve Desotell.

The margin between these 4 at the finish line was .2, with Olu winning it by a skate blade. EVERY SINGLE race this group did had a finish like this one, The pic below is the 800! Almost a dead heat between Trimble & Desotell!

And in that “paint drying” 3k? Steve Desotell & Tom Cole finished within .05 of each other at the line after a very fast race! I have made my point, and I will now climb off my soapbox.

But skating is not just about winning; it’s about persevering for the pure love of this bizarre sport that seems to often reward dedication & devotion.

Here is someone who truly loves his skating, Tony Marchese (yes, this is boot artisan Paul Marchese’s dad) Racing in the 65 & 69 category, he still hauls! He used to be a professional boxer. He says that in terms of training, speedskating is MUCH harder, and that most of the time, speedskaters work far harder than the boxers he has trained (actually, the precise linguistic terminology he used describing most boxers was “wuss”).

If there is a “bionic skater” award, Tony wins it across all age groups. I had heard about this, so I asked him for the full list. He has faced the knife more times than a turkey on thanksgiving, and the list went something like major heart surgery, 3 shoulder surgeries, gastric blockage surgery, a steel plate with 6 big bolts in his back, then he breaks one of the bolts -so he had to go under the knife AGAIN! Does he make the six million dollar man sound when he skates? Nope, but he has a lot of fun. Tony, did I leave anything out?

Tony has had every possible reason/excuse to “go gently into that good night”, and he still keeps on keeping on & doing what he loves. What is your excuse?

From left to right, in a 500m women’s heat. Cindi Hart, Carla Langenthal, & Karla Cybulsky.

Another Women’s 500m race blasts off the line, from near to far, I think we have Leela Braun, Karri Cox, Alice Hagen, and Melissa Koenig.

Steve Gunther Traveled from Maryland to do this meet, and raced very well. Here he is in the lead of a 500, flanked by Dave Montgomery and Al Harding, but I am not sure who is who of those two. Steve set several age group records at North Americans this past year, and was the happiest man I have seen in a long time! Do Masters records matter? I point to Steve’s smile & satisfaction, yes, it can matter A LOT!

Bob Lawrence has competed several times in the Masters World Games, and shows excellent form here winning a 500m final right in front of fellow fast Canadian Mickey Kupchyk. I got to know Bob during a ferociously cold event in Ottawa several years ago. Bob has had several injuries this year, and is not in his usual stud form. In fact this is only his 3rd time this year on the long track. But the lure of the Masters International drew him to Milwaukee. During the awards ceremony, he said some really nice things on behalf of the 10 Canadians who came to race. He said he will return with many fast friends!!

More Carla, this time in the 3k where they threw several of the women’s categories together. Carla simply took the lead at the start and went fast. Here is Karri Cox trying to stay with her. After 4 laps Carla was alone & metric raced it all the way to the finish.

When people talk about the “fall” into a skating stroke, you can see it here if you draw a line directly down from Carla’s chin, she is leaning into the push, and this moment is when she actually starts her push, so a skate stroke is a lean-push, lean-push (beginners usually start out with this exactly the opposite, pushing into their lean). This happens very subtly on inlines too, but you can’t (or at least I can’t) be nearly as aggressive or powerful with it as you can on ice, or the wheels slip right out from under you.

As for yours truly, I had some great racing with Danny Frederick on Saturday (he was not able to make it on Sunday). Danny is a good fella, and was 6th in the Olympic trials in the 10k. We were extremely closely matched, so it was that perfect blend of searing speed and pack tactics. Danny beat me in the 1000m, I won the 800, and also won the 500m metric race with a new Pettit center personal best of 37.66, and my fastest opening 100m ever, 10.32! yeah!

At the end of everything, they always have a big group 5k. This does not count for anything other than pride, just throw everyone together on the line & have a wild salmon run mass start race with a huge pack. That’s me in the fire truck red skinsuit in the front row.

(thanks to Kathy Stutz for this pic, she also captured some start line goofing around, to see it click here).

Even standing at the start, eventual winner Matt Trimble is shadowing me (he is directly behind me). Matt saved his energy through the whole race, and made a very impressive move right at the bell. After 11 races and 15,500 meters of racing, my fast twitch fibers were completely twitched-out, and I could not match his acceleration.

Its worth mentioning that my fellow Powercranks racing team member Carla Langenthal pulled many of the 5k laps, and was leading the whole pack at a ferocious clip when the bell rang. If Powercranks are useful for two speedskaters as radically different in body/muscle fiber types as “last-lap” Langenthal and “fried after 600m” Love, then they probably are useful for everyone in between, as that is pretty much everyone. (ok, commerical over.. sorry! but they have been great sponsors for myself & Carla, and I want to thank them every opportunity I can)

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Filed under: sweat, from the coffee shop