Zen and the Art of Speedskating

Eva Rodansky and I were talking in Salt Lake last week; I was peppering her with questions about Boris’ training program, about intensities, weight training methods, length of taper, all of the details of training.

Ultimately, we both looked at each other and just agreed that one simply has to trust in a coach, and that as athletes, our job is to be “putty in their hands” and allow the coach to physically and technically shape us. As athletes, we are inseparable from the internal fires and stubborn drives that make us mentally tough, and because we are inseparable from those drives, we are frequently unable to have clear perspective to guide our own training. Also, because of our youth, we don’t have the wisdom that comes from 20+ years of competition.

Of course, I am not just putty, I am silly putty!! Picking up physical & emotional impressions wherever I can! And this is true of many skaters. Skating is such a technical sport, and since there are so many ways to explain & teach the “feel & practice” of skating, skaters who work with the same coach will start to resemble each other in their technical habits. In fact when I first worked with my current coaches, Rex Abertson and Boris Leikin, upon observing my style, Rex said to me “I bet that your first coach was Canadian!” he was right, Patrick Kelly, 2 time Canadian Olympic team member, was the first coach to ever spend time working with me.

I have a lot more to say about this, but I lifted weights this morning and now I have to go out and ride my bike easy for an hour or two, and time is short today… but I will say this, Boris believes I can make great gains in my performance from better flexibility, I was skeptical at first, but last week he showed me exactly how to do certain skate position specific stretches, and gosh! Like the hard trying ball of silly putty that I am, I have been doing them every day, and in the last 2 days, whoooosh!!! Its like my hamstrings are suddenly an inch longer, and I can extend my leg completely in the skate position!!

Go figure…. Coaches! Hah!!!!

Filed under: sweat, from home