The road to Sochi 2014

-Good Nap!
  Okay so what popped into my head just now as I am bouncing around with a much better feeling, or vibe lets say, after a fruitful practice finally this morning is this: Success is measured by failure. I have been having so many bad practices now for maybe a week and a half. What that does is make success come sooo much easier, or rather the feeling of success and progress. I actually did not even have the GReAtest practice, in fact my blade stripped at around 5 after eight, only half way through and after that I skated terribly, not trusting my right skate at all. However before that I was actually skating somewhat! we were doing pure speed all practice, the tuesday norm., starting with 3 3lap accels, then 6x 1 lap build and 1 lap all out, the the same but with two laps all out. Then we did an all out relay with two even teams of four, which was super fun but would have been more fun without the strip. Then a nice easy cool down relay. In between, the elites talked with J.R. and Chris McClaughlin, another Cali skater who is not training right now, but has been sort of clinging around the outskirts of the club. J.R. made another adjustment to my right blade which I think helped. he advised to not fuss too much with the blades until the boots are broken in more and I get a better feel for the ankle area. He said the Best Feel boots are all about getting used to and breaking in the ankles - letting it mold around the ankle. He had a pair.
  In the beginning of the session, I was really having fun just skating fast!! I was a little out of control at times but at others, I was feelin cool and staying with the guys. We did some 9.2s and 9.1s which is fast for me. I am really finding that if you miss one push in the turn, you lose time and space. If my right entering the turn is good but the left gets shorted a bit, well then I end up going way wide out of the turn on two feet and losing ground. Then obviously if I miss the right but have a good left, which is rare, I will lose on the most powerful push in the turn. The first example is most often the case. I think its because if I really trust the left and it gives out on this horrible ice, I will take a painful trip into the boards. The pressure is so high at 9.1 and the margin for error so small!! It's crazy.
  I did get a chance to talk to J.R. a little about Lakewood High.
  The dryland was 4x 30 updowns each leg and then 4x 15 turn cable crossovers. J.R. was giving out lots of pointers to everybody and demonstrating how its done - he's still got it for sure. During the turncable, he told me to look up and immediately it got harder. He stressed working the core because then you can tense them and contract there instead of contracting the shoulders and neck which he said I do a lot of when I skate. From now on, i'll do the turn cable with a loose neck, looking up and swivel the head to make sure its loose. lol. He really is impressive how much he sees, which i guess really means that Wil is impressive. everything always comes back to her it seems which reminds me I have to e-mail her. Latrrr.