Zen and the Art of Speedskating

(I originally wrote this in august, and never got around to publishing it. I am going through that new dad-sleep-deprivation cycle right now, & my creativity is a bit low, I figured why not publish this now?)

Train in a group? or train alone?

what is best? it’s an age old question with many strong arguments on either side.

This is Salt Lake inliner Eric Lineback, skating up Big Cottonwood canyon, on the way to the aptly named Solitude ski resort. Thanks to Kim Kraan for the photo.

On the flip side of this, both in substance skated on, elevation gain, velocity, and companionship, here is the US sprint national team. Jen Rodriguez leads Chris Needham, visiting Japanese skater & former 500m WR holder Joji Kato, Mike Blumel, and the rest.

Train along or in a group? It’s the age old question.

You need people to push you, but other times you’ve got to be tough, and face those nasty training days on your own. Especially in long track, it’s a solo sport, and there are many athletes who are great group trainers, but wilt alone in their lane at lonely velocity.

Speaking of Japanese skaters, like the immensely talented Joji, (who I saw do a perfect Michael Jackson moonwalk on his short track blades) there are several Japanese skaters in Salt Lake right now, including the mutiple olympic medalist Hiroyasu Shimizu.

Contrary to popular stereotype, at the rink I’ve see Shimizu training on his own, and the Americans training in groups.

Individuality seems to be culturally relative term, and I find Japanese culture facinating in it’s relation to it. The same day as I took these pictures, I read this wild NYT article about the Japanese phenomenon of the hikikomori (wikipedia link).

Painting with only the broadest cultural brush, it seems that Americans “run away” from physical places and situations, and Japanese tend to “run inward” to express that same feeling.

Maybe a well balanced individual (and athlete?) can move effortlessly between social and solitary forms of life and training. Yeah, this is just speedskating, just a sport, but it’s more than that.

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