Zen and the Art of Speedskating

I am very tired, body & soul, my brother has been blogging about this race weekend like a crazy man, and provides some interesting perspectives. I am so thankful for him, even if he picks on me (it’s payback for our youth, and I deserve it).

Here are some statistics & thoughts on how the Can-Am races went for me, as compared to the previous 3 times I have competed in Calgary.

The pic below is me blasting off the line in my second 500, you can even see the upper hip flexors in my right leg bulging through my skinsuit, as I drive that right leg forward, thanks Powercranks!!!

Top Blade Training Camp, Summer 2002
500: 41.26

Can-Am 2003
500: - 38.84 - 39.19 - 38.69
1000: - 1:19.1 - 1:18.17

Can-Am 2004
500: - 37.79 - 37.5 - 37.41
1000: - 1:18.2 - 1:17.02

Can-Am 2005 (the last 2 days)
500: - 37.40 - 37.33
1000: - 1:16.08 - 1:15.36

There is a definite curve of improvement here, yet I am sad with these results, unsure of so many things. I had desperately hoped to break into the 36’s in the 500m, I almost expected it, continuing my traditional Can-Am 1+ second 500m improvement. But the ice was slower than at previous Can-Am’s, and more importantly, my corner technique was more Herman Munster than Ninja Puma. Olympic trials are 33 days from today, and I need to chop almost a second off the 500 (and that is a lot) if I want to reach my goals.

I am certainly happy with the 1000m improvements, and I think that yesterday’s 1:15.36 is the best 1000 I have ever skated. My personal best is only .1 faster, and that was on a scary fast ice day in Salt Lake.

In the pic here, a few moments after my 1000, as I am leg-locked, heaving and retching to myself through a haze of lactic acidosis, I let my brother behind the video camera know how truly satisfied I am.

But my 1000m will never be truly OUTSTANDING vs the big dogs who gallop 1000’s between 1:07 and 1:12. Whereas I think hidden within my unrealized technique, genetics, & individual psychology, there is a scary good 500 lurking, I just need to keep focused, & let the speed come to me.

The odd sport that is the subject of this blog completes me in fundamental ways (I am sure many of the skating gypsies who read this know what I mean). Even the challenges, uncertainties, ups and downs, I would rather strive & lose than couch surf. I would rather be wise from a soul filling failure than happy and unvaryingly empty.

I wish I could truly record what skating feels like, post that here in a format you all could replay in your kinesthetic/proprioceptive cerebrums. Although I love cycling, and the feeling of going for a long ride on a hot day is wonderful, I never forget that I am straddling a gangly, cabled, clicking machine. But skates disappear, and I am simple, free, a creature of pure flight & focus.

Find the thing you have a knack for, something you are good at, something you love, and something where “work” is a joy. Find this thing, and throw your entire soul into it; good things will happen. From my juncture of 34 years old, feet in several worlds, this seems to be the key to living a happy life.

I am not sure if it matters what the pursuit itself is. The list of possibilities is endless. I think in my own skating obsession I might be getting close to the maximum of speed that my body can do, it fills me with a feeling like riding an elevator traveling too fast, and waiting for the jarring crash or U-turn slingshot back the other way.

Thanks for reading, writing this made me feel a lot better. I was riding that elevator violently up and down all yesterday.

Filed under: on the road, sweat