Friday December 17th

I am in Salt Lake City. We (the Kruegers, Mitch, and I) arrived last Saturday. We arrived that early in order to adjust to the high altitude and get used to the very different Utah ice, famous among speed skaters for being super fast. Beginning Monday, we skated for the first time with the second team that trains here other than the National team. We were indeed impressed with the ice but we also felt the altitude affecting us. Normal sets which should have been a breeze left my lungs burning and my head swirling. Later in the week, the beginning of the day would go well but then I got a headache.

  The scenery is awe-inspiring. Surrounding us is a rim of mountains and we are in a "bowl" of stucco houses which are all pretty much identical. It is eerie. The other night we returned home from a sweet drive up the mountains just for kicks and when we got home, I jumped out of the car, ran up to the door only to realize with a pang that it was not the house we are staying in. I went next door and had my hand on the door knob before I realized that again, this was not our house! This just proves how similar all the houses are. We had been staying in the house 5 days already and we could hardly make out which house was ours. The ride up the mountain was truly incredible. The peaks are jagged and steep like the cartoon peaks where its too sharp on your foot to stand on the tip. It was dark by the time we got up so we'll return Sunday after racing ends.

  So! To the racing today! We had time trials only. The deal was, every one skated a 1000meter time trial (9 laps) and then the top 16 compete throughout the weekend for: a) the national senior title. b) the top 6 overall go to the next set of world cups. 24 men were invited plus two skate-ins. Skate-ins are guys who are not ranked in the top 24 but are fairly sure they can make the top 16 and are allowed to skate the 1000meter time trial. I was ranked 24th. I skated a time of 1:30. 3 when my previous personal best was 1:31.8. I am satisfied. I did not make the top 16, but I definitely was not 26th fastest time. I don't have the exact results but I was around 19th. So I will compete against the other athletes who did not make the top 16.