Posted on 23 Oct 07:23 am

More ST WC

World record for Meng Wang of China in the Women’s 500m. It was very impressive, powerful skating.

There was a stain on this record though, there were 3 Chinese skaters on the start line, and one Canadian, Jessica Gregg.

Off the start, Jessica slotted into 3rd place, and then the Chinese skater in 4th clearly bumped Jessica out halfway through the race. It was a professional tap, not enough to make her crash, but enough to take away any chance of winning.

Maybe team skating is part of the deal at the upper levels of the sport, but this unfortunate moment marred some beautiful & powerful skating by Meng.

The most dominant country in the whole meet was obviously Korea. There were 8 final races, with 24 individual medals on the line. Korea won 11 of them.

I wonder who this young fan was cheering for, but the energy he put into his banner shows the deep passion Korea has for short track. Anyone out there read Korean?

Here is one of their outstanding athletes, Si-Bak Sung driving out of the first corner on his way to winning the Men’s 500m. Canada’s best sprinter Charles Hamelin in tow.

These guys are getting so much straightaway compression, they look like long trackers.

There is a lot more going on at a world cup than just races. Here is Bruce Kohen, measuring out a pair of boots before molding a customer. For some reason, I think Bruce looks best in black & white.

Bruce had a good day of business, and started his long trip home with a trunkfull of feet. Well, at least the molds of feet.

National Team Long tracker Paul Dyrud had a busy day chasing blocks. Like many American long trackers, Paul is also an accomplished short track skater & will be racing the America’s cup later this year.

Chasing blocks at an event like this is very intense, as the athletes are doing 8 second laps. You only have a few moments to grab an errant block. How do they do it safely? I asked Anthony Bartell, and he said “Well, just make sure you are smarter than the blocks!”.

In many short track events, the final showdown is the Relays. The Chinese ran away with the Women’s relay early on, but the Men’s relay was a nail biter the whole way.

The Koreans set an intense pace, with the Canadians on them like glue. The USA Yo-yo’ed in and out of contact most of the race.

A world-class short track relay that comes down to the wire is one of the most exciting things you will ever see in sports. It’s like a goal line stand in the Super Bowl, or bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th.

Canada passed into the lead with 10 to go. Then Korea passed them back with 7. Canada took the lead back with 5 laps to go. Korea passed again a half lap later-

& made a small gap on US & Canada. At the bell for 1 lap to go, Ohno passed Hamelin, and the USA took second to Korea.

(amazing compression here through the lactic firestorm at the end of a relay)

All 3 teams were under the previous world record, with Korea setting the new mark. Wow….

Oh yeah, no baby news yet. Jess is still waiting, & waiting.

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Filed under: from home

Posted on 19 Oct 11:21 am

A few ST WC images

World cup level short track is amazingly exciting, so much so, it’s easy to forget as a spectator the effort & stress the athletes experience to give us thrills from the stands.

I was near the waiting area during the 1500m heats, and was struck by the stony, inward focused silence of those awaiting their race, and the audible whimpering & painful coughing from those who had just raced.

Here is a a 1500m semi-final just hitting warp speed, an international traffic jam into a corner. These guys have some serious skillz!

A tiny moment later out of this crowded corner explodes Hamelin of Canada, Germany, Korea, Levielle of the USA, Britain, Hungary, & Russia.

This action is happening so fast & so quick these days, it looks like the UCI refs have an instant replay system (a great idea). The operator here had a dial he was moving back & forth reviewing the contact between two skaters frame by frame. Note the high tech cardboard “hood”

Travis Jayner, calm & focused among the traffic, pulled off one of the most amazing series of rapid-fire passes I have ever seen. Almost last place here 3 laps to go, then through the burning traffic up to second by the finish in his 1500m semi-final.

Jeff Simon won a bronze medal in the men’s 1,500 meters & Kimberly Derrick turned in a Bronze medal performance in the 1000m. She skated super aggressively, leading the amazing Chinese and Korean skaters as often as she could. To my eyes, US women really seem to like skating from the front, & use raw fitness & power as much as they can to blunt the amazing finishing speed of the Koreans & Chinese.

Due to the media hurricane that follows Apolo everywhere, his fall in the 1000m final attracted much mention. It must feel strange for him at times, being the calm eye in a howling media hurricane. Does he ever wonder, as the Beatles did occasionally, if he is only one out there who has not lost his mind?

Here is his fall, frame by frame. I can’t tell if he hit a rut, if the ice blew away under the pressure, or he booted out.

He hit the wall so hard that professional camera equipment that was resting on the top of it flew everywhere.

What I admire about Apolo’s skating in the World Cup on this day, is not something you will read about in the papers.

His skates were messed up by his impact with the wall. Anthony Lobello told me that in the locker rooms, they were “wailing on his blades with a hammer,” trying to make them skateable before the 5,000m relay semi-final.

Deep into that race, Apolo was obviously struggling with broken equipment he could not trust, he was out of balance & unable to get his best push. You could see it on his face.

The German & British teams were breathing down his neck. Along with Anthony, Jeff & Travis, he still had the determination to hang on & qualify for the relay finals (kudos to Anthony who gave a brilliant relay tag to Apolo, to move the US from 3rd to 2nd at a crucial moment). Jeff looked absolutely freaky strong, & the finals tomorrow will be awesome. Korea, USA, Canada & a surprising Russia.

Ok, I gotta run/ride, I need to get in my own workout before another day in the stands.

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Filed under: from the coffee shop

Posted on 17 Oct 01:05 pm

World Cup today

This is an image from last year’s Salt Lake City World Cup. The quiet before a start can be as deafening as the incredible noise once the gun goes off, and a crowd favorite takes the lead.


There were large crowds, from many demographic groups & age ranges, cheering loudly. For the athletes, these moments are what can define them in eyes & hearts, their own & others.


Short track is so unpredictable; every split second is an invitation to mayhem. I admire these athletes. To dare to defy gravity & physics, and win anyway, is amazing.


And even if you end up headfirst into the wall, the courage it takes to do this sport is as admirable. Especially when you know the odds.

I once saw a bumper sticker on a battered pickup that said:

Eight seconds in the ring is worth a lifetime in the stands

And that is what these athletes are facing; endless gutbusting hard work for a chance, for a few tiny moments when all eyes turn to this wild, icy bullride undertaken with machetes strapped to the feet.


So the world cup is happening today, and I am stuck at my desk at work (blogging on my lunch hour, in case any of my managers read this). Can you tell I wish I was there.

Short track is like daily life, surprising & unexpected mayhem, and courage courage courage!!!

Long track is like the arc of years, work your heart out & improve by little bits here & there, with the final measure being you vs. yourself.

A healthy diet of both is good for the body & soul.

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Filed under: News

Posted on 17 Oct 12:11 pm

Jess & Electric Stim

Jessica’s due date has come & gone, like most new moms, she is late. Or maybe the baby is already taking after the procrastinating dad.

Jess is standing in the middle of a particularly fertile Zucchini plant that has taken over our garden. She is at that final, waddling stage, where she is just ready for it to be over.

I keep trying to write a letter to my kid before they are here. There is so much to say while the slate is still blank. But I start & stall, overwhelmed.

Skating is simpler, and physical therapy is even simpler.

Here is my new best friend, the electric stim machine. The two cords are going to patches on my back, sending electrical impulses clawing their way into my muscles. If you have ever experienced electric stim, what do you think it feels like?


My thought was millions of espresso fed aphids wearing tiny demolition charges wriggling joyously through muscle fibers.

There is a switch on the machine that says “Biphasic Russian.” Having suffered greatly and improved greatly under Russian designed dryland programs, I was both sad & relieved when I found that we were not using this setting.

Also, here I am on a fascinating bit of WWI German technology, A Pilates reformer. The board I am sitting on has springs in it, Except for the arm swing, they wanted me to do what I am doing here. It made me really sore. Kevin Semans & his whole staff at the Sports Medicine Center of Utah are awesome. Thanks guys!


The first couple of days with this injury were quite painful. But it has gotten dramatically better, faster than I hoped it would. So I should be back to full power more quickly than expected. I did not hurt any nerves or joints. It’s just a flesh wound.

In the physical therapy room, I saw many people who were coming back from truly horrific injuries & surgeries. I feel blessed & thankful for my health and durable nature, or is that durable nurture? or both?

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Filed under: baby stuff

Posted on 12 Oct 09:58 pm

Let’s Get it Started!!!

The racing season is ON!!! And with it comes my first video creation of the season.

A number of very fast Japanese skaters have been training at the Utah Olympic oval, and they were racing these weekends; it’s a joy to watch them skate. Oh yeah, the US national team is in here too. They are also pretty darn good.

It’s pretty easy to tell the American skaters from the Japanese. Americans seem to wear solid color skinsuits with nothing on them. The Japanese wear a kaleidoscope of interesting suits & often have things called SPONSORS printed on them. Hmmmm….

Click here for the high quality quicktime, or here is a link to the high quality Youtube

or just click below to get the standard quality YouTube going.

There was racing this Saturday out at the Utah Oval, and because of my back I missed it, But I should be on the ice again within a week or two. I’ve been sick as well, & that couldn’t have happened at a better time, as I want to get all the crappy karma out of the way now!

This is going to be a great year.

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Filed under: Audio/Video

Posted on 09 Oct 09:50 am

Injury & Pilates

Pictured below, the new Short Track-specific rink they put up for next week’s world cup.

The unique pad system keeps the athletes safe. It’s some extremely fast, nice ice. The best I have ever skated for short track.

I should have been skating at this moment. In fact, 20 minutes before this shot, I was having a lovely morning skate, But while crossing hard through a turn, with a lot of pressure on my left foot at the apex, something gave way in my back.

It felt like I had been shot where rotational muscles attach to the top of the left hip.

There is a big difference between “injuries” & “owies” and It’s crucial for athletes to know the difference between the two. This was obviously bad news, I left the ice immediately.

When I have been hurt before, it always happens during a rest week, & during moments when I am feeling fantastic… This injury ran true to that pattern, weird…

Getting in and out of my car was a slo-motion wobbly challenge with a red-hot iron poker stuck into my hip. Sitting in my office chair at work and rotating to my left while reaching for a coffee cup was very painful. Uh oh.

At my doctor’s office the very next morning; the verdict? Good & bad. I did not do anything cosmically bad to myself, no nerve damage or ligament tears, but a good chunk of rehab is in order for a few weeks.

I got a prescription from my extremely knowlegable doctor (who is an elite athlete himself) for painkillers, core-centric physical therapy, and a pilates class!! Whoo!

I want to be back on the ice in 2 or 3 weeks. But with Jess due any day now, a little break is not a bad thing. It’s funny how many skaters were kidding me, about how I can’t get hurt now, I need to be able to carry around a baby, and change diapers!

Gotta be at the top of my game for those upcoming challenges…

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Filed under: from home

Posted on 06 Oct 10:53 am

1000m analysis

For speedskating around in the sweet mud of the Grass-roots, YouTube is awesome!

I raced a 1000m this weekend, and by the time I was home, Don Nelson had emailed me a link to a youtube of my race! real time & slow-mo, whooo!

(I am still working on my own long video from the last two weekends of racing)

I like what Don calls his YouTube account, speedskatinganalyst.

This was my first 1000m of the year, & since I’ve been bike racing a ton and only skating once a week, this was a race to make mistakes in, and refine physical & psychological execution.

Here is my analysis of what I see, it was a typical early season messy race.

Start: good off the line, snappy for my lack of snap-work. I make a serious mistake not holding the turn on the blocks & sitting back deeper. It costs me time. There is no room to lose time in a sprint! 17.99 opening 200m. It “felt” faster than that time.

First lap: Felt fast, knees together (I skate like a bowlegged old cowboy when I don’t work on this daily), and I get a good draft from my pair, world cup skater Roger Schnieder of Switzerland. My hips are not as strong as I would like them to be in the turns. 27.35 lap, a fast lap for an 18 opener. So I developed more speed in the first 200m than my time suggested.

Last Lap: Ouch! I completely blow up, , and skate position goes to pieces in the final turn, 30.97 lap time. It’s embarrassing to slow down this much & look this bad. The last turn is painful to watch, and painful to do as well.

I have trained so many different ways, over so many years, to fix the last lap blow-up, but I am what I am, and a 3.6 second fade is average for the body I was born with. Many pure sprinters are like this.

Short track does seem to help my fade more than anything else, even more than a whole summer of marathon inline racing. Probably because it helps hip strength to hold the position in the turns.

(info for non speedskaters, anything over a 2 second lap fade in a 1000m is bad, I did load the training pretty hard this week too.)

Overall I am happy though, I skated a 38.12 in my 500m earlier in the day, and this race was a 1:16.3, and those are excellent early season times for me. Usually my first race of the season is a high 38 & a low 1:17. So this is an optimistic weekend.

Both of these races qualified me for Olympic trials in October 2009. 54 weeks from now.. Hmmmm…

I joked with my pair Roger before the race that people always skate PB’s when paired with me.

At masters worlds & US nationals last year, 75% of the races for my pair were PB’s. And sure enough, Roger skates a PB in this 1000m race! His splits were more like a true allarounder. 18.16 / 27.40 / 28.04

2 Comments »
Filed under: RACE DAY, Audio/Video

Posted on 03 Oct 03:40 pm

Goodbye Bike!

One moment– Riders being called to the start line for a race about a week ago.

I did not realize this when I shot the picture, but think the fellow on the left is longtime speedskater/bike racer Mark Chrysler, who was a regular at the summer training crits.

I mostly did local training races, and when I tallied it up, I was surprised to find I had raced 20 times this summer and consistently placed very well. I did not think I would be fast this year at all.

Also it was very satisfying to feel part of the “bike trash” racing culture again for the first time since I got serious about skating 7 seasons ago.

Cyclists are certainly a different crowd than speedskaters, but the bike season is over, ice racing is here, and now I have several painful months of converting bike muscles to “static position skate muscles” (going from skate to bike is so much easier).

Last year I PBed in every distance but the 500 & 1000, let’s see what happens this year. I think I have a shot at a 1500 PB, maybe a 3k on a fast ice day, but probably no others.

Of course, I might have other priorities overwhelm my time. 1998 US olympic trials champ, and new dad Cory Carpenter recently joked with me & said “just sell your bike, you won’t be riding much for a while”.

However if it means I will end up with a kid as cute as Cory’s, then I will let go of the bike with a resigned smile, and the skates with a few fond tears.

2 Comments »
Filed under: from the coffee shop

Posted on 02 Oct 04:52 pm

Pictures & Fallout

I’ve got mounds of images & video from the first weekend of racing at the oval, and am trying to put the first video of the year together, however before I ask a “real world” question about the current US financial crisis, here are a few images (and results from the races).

Brent Aussprung’s shadow a few moments before being called to the line. Never, ever try to get a skater’s attention during these few quiet moments. They are usually going pretty deep into an intense focus.

I have a theory about sprinting, compression=speed. There are few who can compress their stroke like 1998 gold medalist & former 500m world record holder Hiroyasu Shimizu. This static image does not communicate his amazing tempo.

Compression is not just for sprinters though, this is Pat Meek and Dutch skater Sietse Heslinga both zooming along at top speed about 400m into a 1000m. Compression=Pressure, pressure=speed. I was an english major, so I will leave it up to a true mathematical mind to explain the exact equation.

John Loquai has wrestled with many injuries over his athletic career, from multiple concussions when he was playing hockey, to surgery on his left ankle, plus back trouble last year. Now he has hurt his right knee, he tried to race on it, and truly struggled.

Here he is, with US National Team coach Bart Veldkamp.

John has such astonishing talent, and works SO hard. But this sport can just break your heart in such cruel ways. When several of his teammates came over to console him right next to where I was standing, there was so much raw emotion there, I turned off my camera.

Heal soon my friend….

(Topic change)

This is a blog about speedskating, but other things intrude, like the massive current financial crisis.

I woke up a few days ago to the news that the place I bank has just been seized by the government. How nice!

I have been looking at plane tickets to Europe in February, and compared to the first time I went there in 2004, prices have TRIPLED! Yeeeow!

I might need to replace my blades this season; prices have also gone through the roof due to the weak & flaccid US dollar. So that is not happening.

All of these things, although minor compared to what many are experiencing, are direct consequences of our current economic condition. So my question is this:

How is the current crisis affecting you? In speedskating or in “real life”?

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Filed under: from home

Posted on 28 Sep 08:19 pm

Liam Update #2

The first races of the year were at the Utah oval this weekend. Liam Ortega continued his strong recovery from his head injury.

Here his is watching his teammates April Medley & Ashlee Barnett wizz by during a 500m

I asked him how he was doing:

I don’t have any memories from the day of the accident, but one of the trainers here at the oval told me that when I woke up, & was told I was going to the hospital. I said “What! That’s expensive!!”

Its awesome to be back here & seeing how everyone is doing on the ice.

The lasting effects from the accident are mostly testing my patience to get back to working out, & staying positive. However I did lose my senses of smell & taste.

I do have the 4 basic tastes, sweet salty, sour & bitter. But I have the memory of how things taste, more than actually tasting things, so my mind is kind of filling in the gaps. When my mom asks me if dinner is good, I can’t really tell her, since I am missing 10 or 12 flavors.

Not having a sense of smell is kind of funny, I actually have better hygiene now, because I don’t want to be the smelly kid by accident.

I’d like to compete again soon. Hopefully at nationals, but I will leave it up to the Doctors.

Interestingly enough, I saw quite a bit of traffic coming into this blog from some Dutch speedskating discussion boards. Evidently a crowded rinks/helmets discussion is going on there too.

I want to make a comment, about how when stuff happens, that is when your close family & friends really count…

This is Liam’s mom Kate, taking a video of him skating at nationals last year

She has been in Utah since his accident, helping out till he is cleared by the doctors to drive again, and here they at the oval on Saturday.

Recently I have been told, that once you have your own kids, and you hear about something happening to someone else’s kids (no matter how old the kids are) it just hits you in a different way.

As I am just a few weeks away from becoming a dad myself, I’ve watched Kate & Liam, and felt that small stirrings in my own self (Jess is being kicked by it, no stirrings at all)

Someday soon I will understand this more clearly.

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Filed under: from the coffee shop

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