Questions with the Master
I spent years low-walking up the mountainside, following the path grooved by thousands of speedskaters before me…. Then one day I found the Master, in a 400m oval mountaintop monastery wreathed in Inzell-worthy mist tasting faintly of sweat.
He was meditating calmly in his wool suit, battered Vikings gleaming through the fog as he skated effortless turns with eyes closed. The ice was milk-perfect & he was smooth as black cat, ageless power in every stride….
His wind-burned face turned to me, and as his eyes opened…… I gasped in shock…
They were the color of medals earned far, far above gold.
I don’t know what nationality he was- Grizzled Norwegian? Japanese? 1900’s Hudson River speed demon? a Dutch veteran of a hundred Elfstendentochts?
Time was as short as my low-walk ravaged breathing…. My sweat-soaked weight vest fell to the ground along with my pride. Dizzy & about to collapse, humble as the rawest beginner, I asked questions that have been on my mind for years:
Q: Master, how do I skate faster?
A: To know how to skate, you must first know how to skate.
Q: Why do I have to do dryland?
A: Doing what you dislike with determination & focus helps you find grace doing what you love.
Q: I need to skate fast 25 or 26 second laps this year to achieve my goals, what if I can’t?
A: Ten thousand things happen inside your body every moment when skating, the clock is not one of them.
Q: Master, should I skate more inline? Short track??
A: Always drive from stable hips.
Q: Master, how do I find sponsors? This sport is so hard, so expensive..
A: If a sleeping bear cannot feel the wind through his fur, is it still blowing?
Q: Master, what is the sound of one skate clapping?
A: The skater’s lifetime…
Then he was gone, the rink was gone, the mountain disappeared like a hypoxic hallucination…..
I had not dropped my weight vest after all, it still burned my shoulders & quads like 1500m last lap painful ambition.
But I felt light.. it was light… Pain was clarity, and I started my 3rd set of dryland jumps, lower, and more powerful than I have ever been…
Filed under: from the coffee shop
Love the Cat/skate picture.
I’ll have to post a clip from some old Elfsteden… Then people can actually appreciate the enormity (not only in size, but history) of the event.
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