News, Chad, Night Skating
Life is good, training is hard, and the taste of fall is in the air. Jeans and sweaters are emerging from closets, and speedskaters all over the world are eagerly anticipating the race season now only a few weeks away.
Also, in Utah, now it’s possible to now to stand outside at noon without the high altitude sun feeling like a propane blowtortch.
Thanks to all who commented on my last post. Maybe I shouldn’t try to write when exhausted, but I have come out of it pretty well, and my fitness & speed are improving every time I step on the ice.
Here are some briefly noted items in the news:
US speedskating found a new allaround coach in Chris Shelly, he arrived today in Salt Lake, and I had a nice chat with him, as we are both Lake Placid folks.
US speedskating is also very close to a major sponsorship agreement with dutch bank DSB. And if that deal goes through, it would solve MANY conflicts. How many bank websites have a speedskater on their home page? This one does.
Speaking of DSB affiliated skaters, Chad Hedrick not only one of the world’s best speedskaters, he also passed the Lilly test extremely well. He is very much a dog person, and was Lilly’s best friend in a few moments. Lilly was quite abused before we got her, and is often frightened of new people, especially men.
For most Homo sapiens, Chad’s accomplishments pre-dispose a positive reaction to him. But for a Canis lupus familiaris, a gold medal means less than a dog biscuit. Lilly can be one finicky dog to impress, but within a few moments of this photo (and a few biscuits), she was sitting on his feet with complete trust.
In other interesting tidbits, I came across this cool video shot from the middle of a huge paceline of older guys doing nighttime endurance skating at the Haarlem oval in the Netherlands. I think they are crusing along relaxedly at 22-23mph
(let me know if this video link gives your browser trouble, or screws up how the blog loads, you can acesss it directly here.)
This video struck me because I was speaking with a teammate of mine about nighttime skating this morning. Although her associations are from the Minnesota Roseville 400m oval and mine from Lake Placid, we agreed that there is a wonderful feeling when the lights come on, and how on certain mild evenings, one can truly feel flight, and simply want to skate forever.
When the session ends, and you step off the ice, it often feels like one is leaving something temporary, beautiful, and magical behind.
We also agreed, when it’s brutally cold or blizzarding, then nighttime skating can be pretty awful, but we prefer to remember the beautiful evenings.
Filed under: from the coffee shop
Skating at night outdoors; oddly enough, it’s one of my fondest memories! When I was waiting out in Utah for the rink to FINALLY open, my family would travel up to Butte every weekend. The ritual drive up after school on Friday was highly anticipated, and sometimes when we arrived at night, we’d head for the rink. The dusky sky was always georgeous, as was the whole ambience of the oval and it’s surroundings. I remember the small group of Montana club skaters would usually show up just before we left for the hotel. With so few of us there, it seemed like a crowd!
We also used to stop in Butte on our way up to Calgary from Salt Lake. I distinctly remember one night when the temp was 17 degrees and I was skating in just a skinsuit and my winter coat, and then we decided to do some timing! Off with the coat for a 300 opener practice start. That’s brisk, baby!
Ah, good stuff….
The 5:00pm - 7:00pm “pack” sessions at the old Olympic Rink in Milwaukee were an absolute blast. Everyone was out there, kids, national team and everything in between. No one got hurt (for the most part) because everyone knew where they were going and what they were doing (except the one time a club coach lined up his kids all the way across the 500m line to practice starts and a national team guy doing a 400m tempo scattered them like bowling pins - a backstretch fistfight ensued with one of the dads. Good times, good times)
Anyway, skating at night like that, with questionable lighting and a particular light going into the far turn always flickering…was great. The energy, the atmosphere - special and unique.
Racing at night was even better. Unless it was 1:00am and you’re last pair skating alone, coachless in the 5000m…and once your race started the starter trudged across the track and into the A-Frame to join the timers in the warmth of the great indoors…and the lap counter only went outside after you passed so he could change the card in prep for next time.
Then it got a little lonely.