Zen and the Art of Speedskating

The revolving planets of life, work & childcare finally aligned and I am finally back on the ice & skating short track on my battered pair of SS Boots I call the “disco snails”.

They are the boots in my header image above. Short or long track, they just put my foot into the right spot..

When you are away from speedskating, you wonder, exactly what is it that you miss? The brutal training? the people you bond with going though it?

These national team folks are working insanely hard doing explosive lateral hops, the black vests you see them wearing are full of lead weights. Ouch.

Or do we like speedskating because it’s an escape from “normal” life into something so wonderfully abnormal?

Or is it the simple feeling that skating is. That feeling of flight. That sensation that is just so different than a bicycle, or skiing, or running.

It’s so much harder to attain, so fleeting and so incredibly right when you just nail it. Caleb Eaton is the skater here.

I am far, far, from nailing it. Summer training makes you tough as nails, and patiently working on technique and psychological preparation is the carefully crafted hammer.

Race day is when you swing and drive that sucker through the board with one fantastic WHACK.

After a summer of just lifting and bike racing, my body is pleasantly shocked by the stress of short track. Although I need to become a “skater” athletically again, I felt at home from the moment I stepped onto the ice. National team member Pat Meek was coaching the evening session, and I asked him “how do I look”.

He smiled and said, “Well Andrew, I can tell you have been lifting, because I can see the power in the stroke, you just need to figure out exactly what to do with it”.

Sigh, the story of my life.

Pat is looking crazy fit, and under the stress of summer trainng, his legs have become ridiculously huge even by my warped standards. He has quite the tan line going too.

Here is my first fun poll of the year, pick as many answers as you want.

Have suggestions for more terms? leave them in a comment, and I will add them.

Filed under: from home