Zen and the Art of Speedskating

Posted on 03 Mar 01:50 pm

Masters Worlds, Day 3

WHAM!!!

5am, I am awake with a start, a coiled spring of nervous energy thrumming in my mind & muscles. I am ready to race NOW!

Sleeping is useless. Dwelling on the upcoming race will burn me out emotionally.

So I wander the halls of the hotel, laptop in hand, and look for a place to write (and I wrote much of day 1 & 2).

Arriving at the rink, the final women’s races are in full throttle. The cheers are louder, more intense. You can tell it’s crunch time.

This is Norwegian Ingunn Sandø working as hard as she can in the 3k. This is the time when all that hard training is suddenly worth it.

I think one of the hardest age categories to be in, is the middle women’s categories. Because there are so few “peers” skating to measure yourself against. Training & racing in your local area must often feel loney & disconnected.

This makes Master’s worlds an exceptionally important event for women.

Italian Silvia Tassara represented Italy strongly throughout the whole competition. She is so full of life & joy, you hear voices from many countries cheering Sylvia as she flies around the track. She reaches all of us with her spirit.

I wonder if wind-tunnel tests could show an optimal way for an individual like Sylvia to arrange her hair for maximum aerodynamic benefit.

It’s my turn soon. I feel good. I take Pat Meek’s warmup advice and do 3 steady, long, sweaty efforts on bike & skates to make sure my body is “woken up” after 2 tiring days of racing.

It’s like a dream going to the startline, I’m on autopilot, not here,

Execute, flow, find my rythmn quickly as the laps build, confidently… I am breathing hard, but controlled, smooth, smooth, build the turns, sit low, drive with the heels. Listen to the splits, don’t get excited, execute.

My teammates are shouting times of the Finn, Vesa Isoviita, chasing me, he is catching me in the standings, making up seconds, but not enough seconds.

4 laps to go, I try to build the turns and the legs are screaming like ocean waves crashing far away.

I awake from the dream, and there is only 100m left. I sit as low as I can, drive with my knees, and hope I don’t collapse.

I cross the line knowing I’ve held onto second place in the overall standings. Body & mind crushed into a joyous pulp.

After the races, I talked with Vesa, he narrowly beat me last year in Calgary. Vesa knew from this website I had been working on my distance skating, and I have followed his times online this year as well. I had pictured myself chasing him as I was doing long slideboard workouts..

Both of us trained hard to be at our best today. I have a feeling will race together again. Train hard my friend!

In every race Jim Cornell did at master’s worlds, he was in 7th place. It gave him 5th overall in his category. In his 5k he was paired with Dutch powerhouse Danny Witkamp. Danny won this pair, but Jim’s solid racing put him ahead in the final standings.

Tom “Hard-Cole”, his 4th race, and his 4th personal best. Awesome. He lurked behind his Norwegian pair for a whole 5k, and then turned in 3 blistering final laps to pass him. Here he is at the bell lap, narrow body position & riding the flat of his blade incredibly well.

But then comes Marty Haire vs. Jan Duif. They have gotten to know each other here, wish each other sincere luck, and then step to the line. Those of us in the crowd agreed that our “Haires” were standing on end as it began.

3 times Marty used his power to surge into the lead. 3 times Jan fought back with the heart of a champion.

But with 4th acceleration was too much for Jan. Marty said afterwards this was his greatest moment as a lifelong athlete, and far and away the most unbelievably, astonishingly painful.

Both skaters did HUGE personal bests. Jan said that he came within a second of his 5k time from last year’s crazy fast Calgary ice. A massive sea-level PB for him.