Zen and the Art of Speedskating

Posted on 05 Sep 11:19 pm

Self Portrait with 405lbs

Olympic trials are 47 days away, and I am feeling stronger in the gym than I have been in about 3 years. Now the challenge is to turn strength into explosive pressure into the ice. Being strong unfortunately does not mean you can skate a corner worth a damm, but it’s a start.

I’ve hidden my technical flaws for a long time behind raw power, and only skated a qualifying time for Olympic trials in the 500m so far, I’ll have several chances to qualify for the 1,000m in October.

Wish me luck. I -should- be able to do it.

I’ve spent so many words here trying to describe why speedskaters do this insane sport. If I only knew the worlds to express how I felt for a few reps today in the weight room today: It’s a lovely thing, when lots of hard training starts to come together, your race season is about to begin, and hope is in the heart.

Filed under: from home

7 Responses to “Self Portrait with 405lbs”

CG, on September 6th, 2009 at 4:26 am Said:

The heck with squats.

Work on your core muscles!
Kelly P, on September 6th, 2009 at 6:59 am Said:

We can’t break free of the love-hate relationship with the ice; yet as skaters, our love far outweighs the hate!
Get the word “should” outta there and replace with “will”.
Van, on September 6th, 2009 at 9:05 am Said:

I *do* in fact wish you luck, but you probably won’t need as much as you think. Maybe the laws of “karma” will get ‘er done. If you skate a qualifying time, you’ll have more stuff to document on your blog. The universe owes you for all the awesome blogging you’ve done for speedskaters everywhere.
Michael Porter, on September 7th, 2009 at 11:04 pm Said:

Andrew, guys like you provide lots of motivation for weekend skaters like me to get out and work harder. I’ve done more dryland in the last three weeks than I have in the past two years.

Good luck, alot of us are rooting for you!
Andrew Love- 405lbs, Kids & Skating – Speed Skate World- By Peter Doucet- Online Since 1999, on September 8th, 2009 at 12:37 pm Said:

[…] Self Portrait with 405lbs […]
Oliver, on September 10th, 2009 at 2:17 pm Said:

Hey Andrew

Learn how to skate
Much success, not luck! Because with luck you are depending on randomness, with succes on your strenght and skills!

Regards from Germany looking forward to your video from the trials. It will surely give me motivation to try twice as hard!

Oliver
andrew, on September 10th, 2009 at 2:29 pm Said:

thanks Michael & Kelly.. and recent commenter Oliver, I agree… i should learn how to fundamentally skate..

and if you ever saw me skate in person, what you would see is lots of straightaway power, and deeply flawed corners.

And welcome to the comments, it always blows me away to get all these international readers…

I might be barred from shooting any video at the Trials, we shall see..