Zen and the Art of Speedskating

The US national short track team now trains at the Utah Olympic oval, and I have never bugged Apolo Ohno, or even turned my camera in his direction (well, once I briefly did, it’s in my “king of pain” video from the fall world cup qualifier).

I figure that Apolo has everyone & their brother wanting to say hello 24/7, so I leave him be; and simply watch that whole short track team train outrageously hard (really, they do very intense high volume “Korean training”! it hurts to watch their brutal dryland workouts.)

But with the world cup starting a week from today, the hockey rink has been dismantled so Dutch TV cameras have a clear field of view; & so the whole short track team was out skating the big ice!!

Apolo on the long track?!?!? Welcome to my world! and I will take pictures of that!!

He was obviously having an absolute blast too.

Here is Apolo & Kip Carpenter, chilling & chatting:

I asked Kip if he knew Apolo from his own years of short track, Kip said:

Know him? I used to drive him to high school in the morning! I trained with Apolo 96-97-98. We were just kids then. Now we are “old guys”, and it’s been several years since we really have seen each other. It was nice to catch up.

I did give Kip some good-natured crap about the “old guys” comment, but they were teenagers then, and there is a world of difference between that and your late 20’s

Here is Chad Hedrick leading a whole pack of short trackers at speed.

They looked more comfortable in the turns than the straights, but that is to be expected.

These are members of the women’s team, also having a great time. I think they had just stepped on the ice a few moments before I took this, and these very talented athletes are experiencing a giant “whoa!!”

Clear your imagination for a moment, and picture this as the last lap of a long track 1500m

of course Apolo, or any of the short track national team members, could probably skate very fast at any of the middle distances, but why would he do that? It’s a nice fantasy to think about though.

In addition to Apolo, the Dutch, Russian, Norwegian, Finnish, and other national teams were all on the ice preparing for the world cup. Here are two dutch skaters from the DSB pro team (translation for Americans, DSB=The New England Patriots), hips right on their push and making huge turn pressure.

This is Norwegian distance specialist Oystein Grodum, This is one BIG DUDE. He is at least 6’6”, people immediately notice his odd looking arm swing, as it barely moves from what you see here, just a little directly forward & back. But if you have problems with your arm swing pulling your hips out of line (I do), adopting elements of this actually works really well.

Ivan Skobrev leads a train of Russians past US national team skater Ron Macky. Members of the Dutch TVM pro team sit in the background and watch closely. (Translation for Americans, TVM=Indianapolis Colts)

I think this is TVM skater Jan Smeekens, saying, I’m going that way! And he was, quite quickly.

And this is my buddy Brian Boudreau, an American master chasing some crazy fast Norwegians; they are ripping out several 25 second laps in a row here… that is over half a mile at an average speed of 36mph! absolutely scary fast!

Brian has also recently caught the blogging bug, you can see his writing over at Flyin Brian, I sent him some images I took from today, and he has his own interesting take on this morning’s very busy session on the long track.

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Filed under: from home

The leaves are gone, the air is crisp, but the grass is still green in low-angle late October sun. Winter has not sent a proper Vermont “hello!!” yet.

The west has its own mountainous charms, but it’s not New England in late fall.

I miss it.

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Filed under: on the road

This is inline world champ Jessica Smith, flying through the morning sunlight, during an easy race prep workout….

In the background is one of the oval staff, messing with the electronic timing system.

Tomorrow, and for the rest of the weekend, that system will see a lot of use, as the world cup qualifier & America’s cup I begins.

I often talk about “doing your best, & being at peace with it”, and even though that is absolutely true; in the coming races, there will be definite winners & losers. And for those who spend the majority of their waking hours trying to become the best, it’s an awful feeling to be on the losing side.

Although Jessica Smith is a skating rockstar, and should have no problem making the team, there are an unusually large number of skaters this year who are truly in contention for only a few slots.

Last year I missed the team by .1 of a second, and it’s something I will take to my grave as a failure (after great starts, my turns were awful, failure is the right word).

This year, I’m not in realistic contention. In fact I will only be able to race on Friday, then am driving right from the rink to the airport & going to a wedding in NYC.

Although much will be made of those who make the team, the strength of any team is often directly proportional to the depth of the competition required to make it. That implies there will be many who are phenomenal, dedicated, try hard, and don’t make it.

Many skate fans remember Dan Jansen & what he went through. I think an equally interesting story is his brother, whom from what I understand, trained every step that Dan did for 12 years on the national team, and although he was a world cup quality skater, he never made the Olympic games.

So here’s to Mike, and everyone who steps to that start line, and throws down their best, even if it’s not “good” enough.

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Filed under: from home

Speedskating isn’t a sport. It’s a lifestyle.
-Teri Willingham

After reading this on Teri’s blog, I can’t get it out of my mind. This statement carries with it joy, pain, winning, losing, pros, cons, awesome people & some rather dysfunctional weirdness.

Maybe speedskating is a “normal” sport in other places, but so many people in Utah MOVED here to do it, it’s a very odd, intense, friendly, & frequently bizarre subculture.

There certainly something about speedskating that lends itself to an absorbing focus. Maybe it’s because do it very well demands a complete athlete who tries perfecting the physical, technical, and psychological elements needed to skate fast (no one ever does for more than a fleeting moment, therefore…)

It sucks when your obsession does not go well; but for a moment on Friday morning, I removed the monocle of skating from my brain, & looked east to the sun lighting the sky behind the Wasatch-

Then west to the Oquirrhs.

Finally, the sun bursts forth, & my foul mood changed for the better, I’m ready to skate again with redoubled commitment, and actually am looking forward to this weekend’s 1500m!

After an easy race-prep workout at the rink, a man with a heavy Finnish accent walks up to me, and says: “hey, are you Andrew Love? fantastic website!, thanks so much! There is nothing on the web quite like it.”

This never fails to blow me away, Robert Brandt is a Finnish distance skater in the USA for some intense training before Finland’s fall world cup selection. I hope he makes it, he has skated the world cup before. Finland is having a renaissance of good sprinters, and now there are some strong men like Robert trying to put their mark on the distance races as well.

(Saturday addition)

I forgot to put my memory card back in my camera after downloading these sunrise pictures. CRAP! So all I have is words about this weekends races.

Robert is really enjoying skating on the fast ice here, in fact it was so fast, one of his contacts blew right out of his eye in the backstretch of his 500m.

He almost smacked the outer wall while skating the final turn half-blind, and he STILL set a PB in the 500m by a half-second! He was on a fast pace to crush his 3k PB as well, but the speed caused him to misjudge a turn, and he stepped on a block, wham!

He’s fine, and was very excited about the lap times he was skating. Results from the races can be seen here.

International skaters are beginning to arrive in town from all over. Swiss athlete Roger Schneider battled the altitude & jet lag, and came within 1 second of his own Swiss national 5k record. An excellent 6:30 5k.

When I remarked on his fast race, he grinned and said “next weekend!”

8 time inline world champion Pascal Briand is also in town, and starting to build towards his own world cup goals. I met him when I skated in Norway several years ago, he’s a good guy. Speaking of Norwegians, their national team should be here shortly.

As for American skaters, with fall world cup trials only 1 week away, people are starting to become pretty intense, stressed, the training load has been reduced and its almost time to really throw down. There was some excellent racing today.

My own 500m still is suffering from minimal summer gym time, but I set a 1500m PB by 2 seconds!! Whooo! 1:57.88!!! I never thought I’d see a number like that in front of my name. I’m not shy about hollering after a PB, and I whooped with joy when I saw this number on the scoreboard.

Always celebrate PB’s! always!!

Paul Narhwold also tried the float-for-300m-then-RIP!!! pacing plan, and knocked a second off his own PB as well. Go Paul!!!

To skate a world class time, the elites need to push the “ludicrous speed” button right from the starting gun, and have the fitness/technique to sustain soul-bending velocity the whole way.

But for us mere mortals, there is something to be said for easing one’s way into the lactic-acid bonfires of the 1500.

P.S Don Neslon just emailed me some images of my 1500m today!

here it is 600m in- my back could be rounder, but all in all, not bad..

and here is 1350 meters in, swimming in a boiling vat of lactic acid…..

for those that really care, my splits were 25.51 (300m) 28.33 (400m) 30.33 (400m) and 33.71 (400m). Not fast compared to a world cup skater, but quite fast compared to me.

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Filed under: RACE DAY

My friend Kirk Fogdall is back in town, so he showed up at this weekend’s race to watch, connect with friends, and skate a few easy, just-for-fun laps.

I will start this post with an outrageously cute photo. These are his huge feet & 18 inch blades, standing on him are the feet of his two year old, Eliza.

Onward to racing! Up till now, I’ve been the guy in the plain blue skinsuit with the badly fitting hood.

No more, now I am the man in red, (same ugly sunglasses though)… DSB is on the skin 3 times, and the USA only once. Hmmmmm….

Credit for this photo is to the very talented Teri

This picture makes me really happy, (and here comes another loaded statement) I think 2 weeks of intense short track has done more for my long track skating than 5 months of summertime inline racing.

I’ve NEVER seen body position like this in my turns, and it FEELS different too.

I’m slowly getting my strength & snap back in the gym. When I do, I should skate well. This 500m race was a 37.65, and I’m pleased.

But I am not the only guy in red-

This is Michael Stein-Stewart on the left, in red, and Matt Shannahan on the right, also in red.

An unusual thing is happening in this photo-

These guys got it going so fast in their 500, Matt’s white armband just flew off his arm about 50 meters after the start, you can see it zooming upward into in the air behind him. It went way up, and by the time it slowly floated down, these guys were some distance down the track.

Both of these young guns were on their way to mid 36 second races. Shannahan can hold a really nice body position when he is at top speed. This is him a few meters from the finish, look at that compression & driving knee!

It’s crazy to think a human being can balance on 1mm of steel while traveling at 34mph, but this is visual evidence.

Oddly enough, I have Matt to thank for the fact that I skated my fastest 1500m ever today (well, I actually tied my PB, but I skated that race on some scary fast ice at master’s worlds, so this was a “moral PB”).

Matt is a PURE sprinter like me, and as we were talking before the race, he said

“yeah, when I race 1500’s. I just go really easy for that first 300, and then I push really hard on that second corner, and just build every turn as hard as I can from there”

Hmmm.. That sounds better than my usual “go-fast-then-throw-up-with-400m-to-go” strategy.

It worked like a charm. It’s only the second time I’ve ever been under 2 minutes, and my last lap was 3 full seconds faster than my normal 1500m final 400-die. It still hurt a lot, but faster & more controlled.

I last raced on September 22nd, and I was “throw my skates in the trash” pissed off afterwards. Not today, life felt MUCH better.

An intensely self-competitive nature is mixed blessing. For athletes, managing & focusing it effectively can be the most important “equipment” choice you can make.

My wife’s job has her working Saturdays from now on, so my regular race-footage videographer is gone, so it will be a challenge to continue getting quality stuff. For example: I missed getting a picture of Caleb Eaton’s brilliant 1000m, that cut 2 seconds off his PB! His 1:17.5 possibly qualified him for nationals, but maybe not, as the electronic timing was not set up for these races.

But I will end with one final picture. The national allaround team is starting to race, but they seem to be concentrating on skating smooth & in control, far from their maximum efforts.

Here is Chad Hedrick & Trevor Marsicano just grooving a 3k. Trevor just returning from a solid pre-season of short track & pretty much sat on Chad’s shoulder like this the whole way. Both looked relaxed & solid.

I love looking at top skaters in images & slow-mo. You can see Chad’s blade direction, & note it’s almost the same as the above picture of Matt at top speed.

Put the blade down pointed straight, and finish the push pointed straight. For distance or sprints, it’s hard to do, yet essential for speed. The difference between sprinters & distance is in how deep they sit & tempo, but the push mechanics are almost identical.

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Filed under: RACE DAY