Felix Felicitas
In the new Harry Potter novel, there is a potion called “Felix Felicitas”. It is basically liquid luck; and it imbues the drinker of the potion with feelings of warmth, confidence and limitless possibility, and then reality warps so that everything perfectly goes the way the drinker of this magic juice hopes. In the wizarding world, Felix Felicitas is a banned substance for athletic competition!
I have had the most incredible run of luck in the last 24 hours, I feel like someone spiked my Gatorade with Felix Felicitas. It’s been amazing -here is the list:
1. Google just debuted a new blog-searching tool, so I went there, and typed in “speedskating” to see what comes up. WOW! This blog is the #1 and #3 search result! In the WORLD!! (this changes by the hour! & if you type “speed skating” you get different results)
2. A nice check arrived in the mail for me from one of my web design clients. For more than I expected!! (I need it badly too!)
3. The 2nd place finisher in last years Russian Sprint Championships, Sergei Kornilov, has joined our team. Sergei finally got over his jet lag, & his technical skill & explosive speed is EXACTLY what I need to follow. He is scary fast, and excels at things I am bad at, especially exiting corners at top speed. During one of our sprints today, I am sure I hit a higher velocity than ever before. It had to be a high 25-second lap, absolutely wonderfully scary fast.
4. One of my sponsors from last year, Jay and the good folks at Athlete Octane, contacted me. We spoke on the phone for quite a while, and they want to sponsor me again this year! Athlete Octane is great stuff; it minimizes the damage you suffer during workouts, and creates a physiological climate for improved recovery. It’s also extremely convenient and quite tasty (and for a daily workout supplement, that matters!). Unlike most of the stuff sold at GNC, its completely legal too. I passed the drug test I took last year at US single distance championships, and I am a regular Octane user. (I wasn’t worried about passing, I compete clean, but it’s still a relief!). I mentioned one of my other sponsors, Powercranks, in my previous post. Both of these folks, independently, talked to me within 48 hours of each other & both still like me! What are the chances of that?
the good luck keeps flowing!
5. When I stepped onto the ice for my warmup, just as I was getting up to speed, Jeremy Wotherspoon, skates by, also warming up. I slotted into his draft with no extra effort, and cruised behind the winningest world cup skater ever, for some relaxed, precicse laps.
6. Several of the top US guys, fellows with medals in their pocket, said very nice things about my skating to Boris today.
7. A great old friend from high school emailed me out of the blue. Trevor Exeter is a tremendously talented musician, and has played his cello all around the world! And I am very glad he was not killed by that cement truck in London, (it turned his bicycle into “road tape”).!
8. Warming up for my final workout, I find this Norwegian Kroner on the ground! There are many Norwegians training in utah right now, but how random & lucky is that!
9. Modifying the bend in your skates usually takes lots of careful attention, time, and frequent swearing. I went to modify the bend in my right blade, and Voila! Perfectly changed in about 30 seconds! It handles more predictably at top speed now .
Felix Felicitas is of course, a fictional construct, so maybe there is another truth here, about this run of luck, I would like to believe the following quote:
“The harder I practice, the luckier I get,”
-Gary Player
who hit 18 holes in one during his PGA career.
Filed under: sweat, from the coffee shop
[…] Darth Vader would wear, and the circle in the heel is a “lucky” Norwegian Kroner I found on the ground outside the Utah oval. Bruce says his neighbors is Missouri often call him the “loc […]