I am truly excited about entering your blog contest, offering 2 bloggers the chance to be on the 2010 Vancouver USA blogging team, and report live from the Vancouver winter Olympic games-
For some reason, your contest stipulates that the bloggers must be either an enrolled university student, or female,. However according to www.genderanalyzer.com, this website is written by a 60% verified woman.
Given that the IOC is has terrible difficulty measuring the boundary line between a woman and man (see the current case of runner Caster Semenya) and frankly, always has, I consider that this digital DNA test of my words to be blogosphere-certified proof that I qualify for your contest.
Here are some reasons you should add me to the 2010 USA Blogging team-
This blog will crack a million page views this year, with 700-1000 readers a day. I did this covering a microscopic sport in terms of raw participants
I am an extremely productive blogger, over 700 posts so far, you will get loads of content from me. Content is King.
As a 2 time Olympic trials competitor, I am no armchair quarterback. I deeply understand what these athletes go through, and do my best to show the unwritten story of their world
I ran the daily updates of Chad Hedricks’ website during the 2006 Torino Games, and it won the Macromedia site of the day.
I know most of the US Speedskating Olympic team, and am honored to call many of these unique individuals friends. Many international athletes have visited my website as well.
Triple threat: Words, images, and video. I rock all 3 in the Blogosphere.
I’ve LIVED winter sports my whole life, first hockey, then XC ski racing, and the last 8 years as a national caliber Speedskater.
P.S. Your judge Bonnie Blair & I do know each other in the “two dozen conversations” kind of way, so you should probably disqualify me on those grounds alone. Even so, you would be absolutely nuts not to invite me along as a member of the 2010 Vancouver Blogging team.
I promise you posts that will leave computer screens steaming with stories that need to be told, moments that generate digital buzz like a jar full of wasps.
dove headfirst into the pain cave till my legs locked up completely (and my knee bend was much less than this) and was still .58 too slow for the Olympic Trials qualifying 1000m time.
Oddly enough, I am ok right now. My “brother-by-another-mother” Kirk last week gently reminded me how blessed my life is. I have an amazing kid, a great wife, I love my job, see the sunrise over the mountains driving to work. Etc, etc.
Yeah, speedskating matters, but other things matter more. My glass is 99% full, and not just with coffee or wine.
Will I feel a pang watching the 1000’s at Olympic trials instead of racing them? Of course I will. But I will miss being around RZ more during my stay in Wisconsin. My daughter is figuring out walking now. Such a determined little girl.
Chad Hedrick’s little one started crawling this week too.. Babies are everywhere!
So many awesome athletes, people who train their friggin brains out & live for speedskating, missed qualifying for Trials by tiny amounts. I started writing a list, but it was too long.
I understand why one should have qualifying times for a prestigious competition, but is the current list of times performing it’s job, or are these times making an already small sport, even smaller?
While recovering between 250m accels yesterday, Parker Vance and I were talking about the good times & bad times of throwing all of your body & soul into long track ice speedskating.
We both agreed that on the good days, you just want to skate for the rest of your life, and never stop pursuing this wonderful sport until you are dead & buried in a box.
However, on the bad days, you just want to take the skates off, bury them in a box in your backyard, and get on with your life!
I went as hard as I could, threw down my best race, and missed the 1000m Olympic trials qualifying time by .24 on Sunday, and .39 seconds on Saturday. It hurt, a lot, and I am not talking about race pain.
I will have my final chance to qualify next weekend. I know I will be skating faster than the qualifying time of 1:16.08 soon, but maybe not soon enough.
Pictured below is my transition into corner #3 on Saturday. Given my 27.2 second lap time, this is roughly 33 mph. Shoulders square, good lean & drive. Technically, this was about as good as I can do. I did have a lactic-acid train wreck on the last 200m of this race, but that is the 1000.
I should not be as hyper-competitive about this as I am. Only 22 men in the USA have skated faster than the qualifying time this season, and they are all full time athletes whose job is speedskating.
I do work a lot, and have Daddy responsibilities on top of that. But yaknow, the forces that drive athletes spring from irrational wells within us. My mind knows I’m only about 1 second slower in the 1k than I was when I was training full time. My heart, however, is stupid.
It’s not age, I’m sure of that, this season more than ever. The hard thing is creating the time to train & prepare the very complex puzzle pieces that create a fast speedskating race.
One really good thing about being a Dad is that after the races, when I was feeling like burned crap, I hear this familiar squeak from the edge of the rink. I went and picked up my daughter, and skated a lap with her, making zoomy airplane noises.
She was so happy, and did not want me to stop. It lifted my spirits hugely. Thanks for being there RZ, your joy is so much more than any skate-induced pain.
I wanted to write a whole lot of you at once. I have over 100 of you on an email list, and you represent the core of active masters speedskaters racing in the USA.
I’ve surely missed people though, I’m just one person, so PLEASE forward this around– it’s important.
1. Marty Haire is organizing a purchase of some really FAST long track Skinsuits, with USA MASTERS printed on them. These will be the equal of the Nike Swift Skin. Contact Marty !!immediately!! if you want to be part of our group order, at isk82fast@yahoo.com
2. My main reason for writing is to let you know what you will need this fast skinsuit for. Two INCREDIBLY exciting events will be happening this year, absolutely unprecedented in USA masters racing-
3. For the first time, the International Masters Sprint Speedskating Games, (the true Masters Sprint World Champs) will be coming to the USA. They will be held at the Pettit Center in Milwaukee, February 6th & 7th. It will be a true 500-1000-500-1000 Metric meet.
4. We expect about 100 European masters will be making the trip to this. Dutch, Germans, Norwegians, Finns, Russians, Swiss, as well as our Canadian buddies from across the border. It will be an unforgettable experience. A world-cup style event for working folks.
5. The Europeans asked for an event in Salt Lake City as well- so the weekend previous, January 30-31st, there will be an International Masters meet in Salt Lake City. A short allaround (500-1000-1500-3000), as well as a sprint classification. We have been promised fast ice, and the Masters records book will be re-written. Be part of that.
6. At International Masters events, about half of the athletes are really serious. The other half are there to have fun, experience some international fellowship/partying, and do something they love deeply. It’s the best kind of Speedskating, as everyone is welcome, skate these events, and you will come away with friends from all over the world. The language most Europeans use to communicate with each other is English, so it’s easy to chat, and we all have a common shared passion.
7. Registrations for these events will open the first week in October at http://www.imssc.org/index1.html, For worlds, it closes December 10th, for SLC, January 9th. Worlds has a registration limit of 40 Americans, but I am hopeful most wait-listed skaters will be able to compete. It will be a 200 skater meet! SLC has no registration limit. Register early, and train hard!
8. If you are in Milwaukee or SLC and want to help with the meet, send me an email, we can always use volunteers. LOTS to do.
9. The Executive Director of US speedskating, Bob Crowley, once asked me: “Andrew, what do Masters want?”.
Hard question. Masters are 39% of US Speedskating’s membership, there are at least 800 of us, and ZERO percent of their budget. If you want to help me answer Bob’s question, and increase our visibility within the organization, email me privately, and be part of a group recommendation to him. I made a few proposals to US Speedskating this past spring, and the board was bewildered and tabled them. More voices than just me stands a better chance.
10. I’ve seen many international examples of how National associations work with their own Masters . Some are very good, others quite dysfunctional. We have allies within US Speedskating if we can articulate our needs, and back our ideas up with some political weight of numbers.
11. This is a pivotal time for Masters Speedskating in the USA. We need to be recognized/organized the way cyclists, swimmers, track & triathlete Masters athletes are, and the way many European Master Skaters are. I hope to take the first steps with you. Quality events are crucial. Then comes other things
12. Thanks for reading..
-Andrew Love
USA Rep to the IMSSC
Huge thanks my IMSSC deputy, Martin Haire, who was instrumental in getting us the Masters International Sprint Speedskating games this year at the annual meeting in Bjugn, Norway. Thanks Marty!!
p.s. If you want a taste of what Masters Worlds will be like, Here are 2 videos I have done from these events. This is what they “feel” like.
The hidden gift (and expense) of Speedskating is travel, You must travel to train and race, and in those travels you fall in love with unique parts of the world you would never otherwise have visited. This sunset welcomed me on the drive from Green Bay to Milwaukee. Over the years, I’ve come to love Wisconsin.
Endless farms, rolling hills, and trees hinting at fall’s palette eventually gives way to urban Milwaukee, and that can only mean the Pettit national ice center. A cold place that has scorching hot skating on race days.
Here is Brent Aussprung, opening a 500m in 9.9,and then the exact same spot on the track about 25 seconds later.
I love the body position similarities & differences between 30 meters into a race, and 430 meters… Brent is just on fire right now, there is much to learn from this 4th degree black belt— umm, I mean world-class sprinter. But really, is it not the same level of effort? Precision? Lifetime of dedication?
However the performance many people said “did you hear about—“ was the previous weekend. Jonathan Kuck broke the 3,000m Pettit rink record, averaging 29.64 mph for this just over 2 mile race.
What is notable about Jon’s race is that it was not an especially fast ice day, and he told me he was under a big training load & his legs felt heavy. Wow.
This is Jon himself, quite happy.
He’s a physics major– I wonder if that changes how he looks at skating, compared to liberal arts/english majors like myself?
Although the 3000m is a race elite men rarely do, contemplate for a moment the studs who have held this rink record. Gianni Romme, Derek Parra, Trevor Marsicano, and now Jonathan. That is some “heavy medal” company.
There is a youth movement going on right now in Speedskating, and it’s great. Although I do not know the route Jonathan took to get where he is, it seems that many elite long trackers are coming from grass roots short track.
It’s absolutely appropriate that the USOC dumped a nice chunk of change into the inline-to-ice program. Look for athletes anywhere you can find them. But how about a short track to long track program? THOSE seem to be very fertile fields.
I was in Wisconsin for a wedding though, skating was just combining family & fun. My dear cousin Mike Snow married his best friend Stacy.
I will not bore you with details, but the emotional effect of a great wedding is like that moment during a long drive, when the sun bursts through the clouds & fills the world with wonder, and you wish you could stop the car, get out, and never leave this spot, this perfect right now.
This weekend, someone asked me “Andrew, how old are you?”
Without thinking, I answered:
Well, I am younger than I was in June
Given the quizzical look I got, I had to explain this, to myself as well as the questioner: This spring I was in my worst shape in about 6 years. A new baby + my wife’s illness, & I had gained about 10 lbs, as well as lost some muscle mass .
At the end of June, I started training hard again. After a lot of hard work, I feel so much better.
Although Olympic trials might have been what got me into gear, my finishing times at trials are secondary compared to how I feel. How old am I really? Almost 39. However I definitely feel younger than I was in June.
Isn’t that the gift you give yourself, really. With all this working out? To feel better? To step outside of time?
My friend Bill Armstrong is also younger than he has been in years, just cut about 4 seconds off his 1000m PB this past weekend. He is training with the tough guy Bob Fenn, and that will make you younger (or you will die trying).
I’ve seen this transformation over and over in people who have gotten really serious about speedskating. I’ve seen Bill think about it for some time. This year he has really thrown his whole self in, and it shows. And although we might point to a race or event we are training for, it’s the decision to prepare for it that matters.
I’ve been so focused on training & daddy-hood, that I have not written. I have this feeling at the rink, that if I don’t focus 100% for every rep, I will have an “epic fail”.
Olympic trials in 35 days!
So the camera stays in the bag, and my brain stays on skating technique. At home, the kidlet is just as demanding, tons of fun, and sucking up my last ounces of strength.
However my friend Eric did something awfully funny. And I got permission to republish here—
see, Eric was skating along Abby Road one day–
For all my skating friends!
Hey jude, dont skate so bad.
Spin some bearings and make it better.
Remember, hips under, & push through your heel,
Then youll begin to skate much
Better better better better better better, oh.
-Eric Rijk Kraan
Thanks Eric for the laugh!
I need it, I am writing from the Salt Lake Airport, on my way to Wisconsin for my cousin Mike’s wedding (Yes, I will visit the Pettit & skate/race too.. why not?)
But Jess & RZ are staying home. It’s so hard to leave, especially when your baby tries to climb into your luggage.
She is standing on my skates right now. A baby is more important than a perfect bend.
The rats who were the original focus of the study did forced wheel running, and according to the NYT-
Allow a laboratory mouse to run as much as it likes, and its brainpower improves. Force it to run harder than it otherwise might, and its thinking improves even more.
Sounds like skating hard, chasing your buddies, or with a coach urging you onward with the weighty judgment of the incorruptible stopwatch.
So thanks Brian, my brain feels better after that workout we did. And I always thought skating in circles was brain crushing. How wrong I was.
Before I mention my disastrous first race of the year, here is Elli Ochowicz, showing dryland perfection. She has 10 years on the world cup circuit, and barring unforeseen catastrophe, will make her 3rd Olympic team in short order.
This is some impressive dryland balance & super deep sitting by this 3-time USA sprint champion– she was doing this with such slow motion precision you could have balanced a glass of fine merlot on her shoulders. Note the extended foot is off the ground too. Ouch.
There was “early season” racing at the Utah oval, and even though I know I should not be upset at how awful my 1000m was, as it is still September, but I’ve been working too damm hard to skate like I did.
On paper, I should be able to skate the 1:16.08 to qualify for Olympic trials in the 1000m. I’ve already qualified in the 500m, but I don’t want to be a one-dimensional athlete, even though over and over, this is what my body tells me I am. So I train hard for the 1000m out of bull-headed determination.
In the race itself, I rushed my start & first corner, had 3 major slips in the first 150 meters, skated my slowest 200m opener EVER, and my hopes for the time I needed disappeared before the race was 16 seconds old. It wasn’t my body, it was execution of technique under pressure. The final time hurt more emotionally than the intense physical pain of the race. 1:18.7
(insert appropriate 4 letter word here, repeated over and over… I am really pissed at myself, this is 6 seconds slower than my PB, and at least 3 seconds slower that what I expect from myself for a 1000m while under a training load)
I should have lifted on Saturday after racing, but the muscles where my hips join my back are completely shredded/sore/aching. So instead of risking injury in the weight room, I’m taking the weekend off, concentrating on family, and the mental/visualization/positive attitude aspects of racing.
So hand me that glass of Merlot, I need to picture that perfect race, over and over.
What percentage of speedskating is mental execution of technique under pressure? What percentage physical? If you are an athlete, be honest with yourself about this.
Now be honest with yourself about your division of TIME you invest between these two aspects of a racing performance.
I am failing right now.. The body is about 90% there, the mind is not. Just a couple of weeks to turn it around.
